Vinaigrette — Restaurant in Austin

The best outdoor seating area in Austin, hands down.

I've been a customer of Vinaigrette for around 7 years now, and it's played host to some of my favorite and most cherished meals of that time, seated in the shadow of their gorgeous welcoming oak tree.

I'm giving atmosphere 4/5 instead of 5/5 because the indoor area is the exact opposite- loud, boomy, and can be very overstimulating for me when it's busy. But I don't want that to dissuade anyone, because the outdoor area is that magical.

I used to work at a local event space down the street, and Vinaigrette was such a popular choice amongst people who came in and my colleagues, that we kept Vinaigrette menus on hand for people to order from. It's a great option for takeout for meetings, retreats, or similar events where you have the budget.

Their prices are on the higher end for salads, but the portions are incredibly generous (I often end up with leftovers). Also, overall their prices seem on-par with other spots in town these days. Some of my most memorable and cherished meals have taken place in their oak garden.

My go-to order has always been the La Pepita salad, no chicken/extra beans (vegetarian). I like this salad so much that I don't know if I've ever ordered anything different. Pro Tip: order a side of tortilla chips with this salad for an extra crunch

Must-try items: Kale Fritters, Frozen Vinny Palmer (beverage) Not my favorite: Sautéed Kale (it's often way too salty for my taste), Mac & Cheese (I don't love the texture or flavor, and find it a bit grainy)

My servers have always been incredibly friendly as well.

With how much prices have risen, I rarely eat out in Austin these days. Vinaigrette is one of the few exceptions that I feel is still...

We had the most unusual experience last night. I’d been here once before, probably 2-3 years ago, and it was really great, so I was expecting the same standards. Unfortunately, this was not the case. It was drizzling on and off, and my fiancé and I requested to sit outside (plus we had our dog with us)... but the two ladies inside— one was behind the bar area and the other was a server— hesitated and looked at each other, then one said to the other, “are we gonna do this?”??? As I just stood there looking at them, waiting and just totally bewildered, were they questioning whether or not they were going to sit us and serve us?? It was really odd, but they finally took us outside and wiped down 2 chairs so we could sit.

Onto the 2nd part of this odd experience. The server’s dirty, stained surgical mask was resting atop or under his top lip the whole time. When he carried out my salad, his thumb was in it. I wanted to send back then, but opted to just dump out that quarter of my salad. Then to round it all out, when he brought out the check, instead of, ya know, just sitting it on the table, he directly handed the check to me???? I didn’t reach for it or anything, either. That threw us both all the way off, and the more I’ve thought about it, I really felt/feel some type of way about... like a racial micro-aggression towards my fiancé. They are now tipless, and I agree with some of the other reviewers, it has definitely affected their service. No incentive to provide exceptional, or even decent, service. I’ve been a server, and I tip based on service — as is the purpose of tipping.

In summary: Dreamy ambience, mediocre $20 salads,...

Visited Austin for a concert with my boyfriend and was craving a salad/sandwich combo. One of my friends recommended this place, so we decided to try it out.

Food was good, kale fritters (i think that’s what they’re call) were really good!! But the customer service was so bad. :/

We got sat, our waitress (white Female) took a while to come to our table, but I understand that sometimes you get busy since I am a server myself. Once she got to the table, she did not introduce herself and just asked us what we wanted to drink, we both said waters since we were still looking at the menu and it was our first time there. She then proceeded with “any kale fritters?” I politely declined and said we will keep looking at the menu, but thank you. She then rolled her eyes at us and turned around. I looked at my boyfriend with my eyes wide open and so did he, we were actually in shock since we are always so polite to our servers, and this was the first time this happened to us. I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, maybe she was having a bad day. But, right behind us was were two girls (white F), and they were politely greeted, and receiving good customer service throughout their visit.

It was obvious that the audience were white customers, and we were the only hispanics there. Since I am a server, I know other servers stereotype latinos to be really bad tippers, so they tend to give bad customer service. It’s really disappointing to think that, but that’s usually how it is.

We still tipped 20%, but due to the customer service we had, we will not be going back, which is unfortunate because we actually enjoyed the...