Veracruz Fonda and Bar — Restaurant in Austin

I was very excited to give this a try because I’ve been frequenting the trucks for years and I’ve been walking by for a few weeks now. However, I didn’t look at the menu before because I assumed they would offer their tacos just with the addition of the bar. I went in on Memorial Day, they were busy outside but sat us inside without a wait. We waited about 10 minutes at the table without a server and still couldn’t decide what to order because the menu wasn’t clear on portion sizes. The tacos were listed for $8 and I assumed that meant for just one!! Because of the Veracruz name and associated truck prices I was not expecting to overpay for tacos. We almost left then but decided to give it a chance. I just ordered the coffee special at first (there isn’t a description on the menu and I didn’t ask) and it was the highlight of my meal. Seriously, it was so good — steamed milk that was super foamy and really balanced coffee served with a mini pan dulce for dipping. We still struggled to find something to order because we didn’t expect the prices (that’s on us, but I don’t think it’s crazy to assume affordable options when you’re expecting something taco-truck-adjacent). We ordered the chilaquiles expecting a big portion to share because it was $18. I thought it was sort of reasonable for them to upcharge on a plate because of the location, but when they set the bowl down in front of us we didn’t even know what to say. There was one single fried egg, one very small piece of steak, a little scoop of beans, three pieces of platanos, and maybe 15 chips. It was giving “deconstructed” chilaquiles, which is frankly abominable!! To be fair it was a beautiful dish but not what we expected at all. The plantains were awesome, and the ranchera sauce and beans were also very good. The meat was unmemorable and the egg wasn’t seasoned at all. I could have eaten 2 servings of what we got on my own, and my boyfriend and I left still hungry and out $40 (two coffees and one small plate). Overall I think the food is interesting and generally good but I don’t think it’s worth the price. I wanted to leave a review to warn people like me expecting a filling meal at a Mexican restaurant that this is not the place for that. It’s also extremely loud — they don’t make it clear where people should wait so we had a crowd of families standing by our table while we ate since we were close to the door. The service was slow. Since no one checked on us after the runner brought our plate, my boyfriend had to go to the bar to ask for extra plates so we could split our portions. We also had to flag someone down to pay the check. Our coffees and food came out quickly but it seems like the waitstaff might be disorganized/understaffed. On a holiday I’d usually be more understanding, but considering the prices and atmosphere I think it’s fair to expect a lot more. I don’t think we’ll go back to give them another chance unless they rework the menu and start offering more satisfying options at a...

I hate writing reviews like this. We love the Veracruz downtown, it's one of our favorite places to go. We expected this one to be on par and sadly it just...wasn't. There were a lot of factors in our experience tonight that were great, and would in normal circumstances really push this review into the above and beyond category. But at the end of the night, sadly, our overall experience really negated those positive aspects' impact... however I do want to list them still, because credit deserves to be given where it's due.

The Manager/Host who greeted/seated us was utterly incredible. She genuinely I think was the most attentive and focused person I've ever had in that role in a dining experience. It felt like we had a personal concierge in a luxury hotel. She was genuinely fantastic.

For the most part, everyone really enjoyed their food in our party. I in particular loved my grilled steak and barbacoa tacos.

And finally, the food came to our table in a really timely manner... For half of us. And that's where our incident in particular really got out of hand... and weird.

We had come as a party of 11 to celebrate the accomplishment of a friend. Relatively quickly after being seated, our waiter took the orders of 6 of us, who were all on one side of the table. He put those orders in and then just... Left. He never took the orders of the other 5. We all just kept assuming he would come back and get the other orders, but the 6 orders he took literally came out to our table 20 minutes later, and one of our neglected party members actually had to call our waiter over to ask if the other five could order. The waiter made some kind of attempted joke as he walked over, something akin to "oh you guys want food?"

No apology, no explanation, nothing. They then had to wait another chunk of time for their food to be made, and of course the rest of us didn't want to eat until theirs arrived. Cherry on top, my wife and I were also double-charged a drink that we specifically told the waiter had already been paid for at the bar (we didn't get a receipt until after we had paid). At least in regards to our waiter, many in our party just left feeling very unappreciated and borderline disrespected. I genuinely don't know how someone just leaves a table after getting only... part of the table. The whole incident was odd and unfortunately, will probably cause many of us to think twice about coming here whenever...

While the food was delicious, there were several significant issues regarding dietary accommodations and staff attentiveness that I feel compelled to let others know about. Especially those with food restrictions and/or allergies.

My reservation specifically noted that we had guests with food restrictions: I am vegan, and my partner has a tree-nut allergy. We chose your restaurant because it is considered "vegan friendly" with clearly marked vegan dishes on the menu. However, when my "Vegan Furioso" plate arrived, the beans had cheese and the salsa contained crema. While I personally scraped off the cheese and avoided the salsa, it was concerning to find non-vegan ingredients in a dish explicitly labeled as vegan, especially when many vegans would consider this a serious issue. Dishes marked vegan should not require customer inspection. That's the whole point!

The other major concern was regarding my partner's tree-nut allergy. Despite it being noted on the reservation, the staff did not seem prepared. When we asked our waitress if an appetizer contained nuts, her response was dismissive. She pointed to a pumpkin seed and said, "that's a pumpkin seed," which did not address our question about tree nuts. When someone has a severe allergy, it's natural to seek clear reassurance about ingredients.

Also, we found the service to be less attentive than expected for a restaurant of this caliber and price point. Our waitress seemed annoyed when we asked questions about the menu, even those unrelated to our dietary needs.

I understand that mistakes can happen, but for a nicer, sit-down restaurant, I expected a higher level of accommodation and menu knowledge, particularly concerning critical dietary restrictions. I am used to nicer Austin restaurants being more proactive and knowledgeable in these areas. So I was very disappointed with my experience.

Again, the food was very good, no complaints there. But because of the service and lack of attentiveness to dietary restrictions, I don't see myself going back. I hate to say that! I wanted to...