Pieous — Restaurant in Dripping Springs

Pieous never hit my radar until I penned an article on the Best Pastrami sandwiches in Austin. One by one, comments rolled in recommending Pieous be added to the list.

When I pulled them up on Google Maps, I saw they had an Austin zip code, but they were located more than halfway to Dripping Springs off Highway 290. That's an hour and nine minutes from my house in Manor.

I always say I will travel anywhere for good food, so on a recent Sunday morning I hopped in the car and drove to Pieous. Darn it...I forgot 290 was expanding and under construction everywhere. Add 20 more minutes to the trip.

The Parking lot was full already and I figured there was some birthday party going on. Nope, it turns out people just really like this place.

They like it for good reasons. Pieous is housed in a gorgeous facility similar to the look and feel of many breweries around Austin.

Their main inside space has long picnic tables, as well as smaller four-tops and bar seating. Pieous also has a small private room, complete with tables, couches and TVs. Beautiful outside patio too.

What Pieous does have, that many breweries don't is really good food, led by of course - pastrami. Seriously, you can't miss the fact they do pastrami, it's at the top of their menu

If you think Pieous is a one-trick food pony. Oh no, patrons love their Neopolitan-style pizzas, salads, pasta and pastries. Yes, they have beer and wine for sale too. Also unique sodas, iced teas and coffees. Even Topo Chico for the hipsters.

The Food

If you're going for pizza, they offer 16 different pies in four broad categories - The Classics, Meat Pies, Signature Pies and Vegetarian.

With so many great choices, I would try the Margherita, The Fat Queen or Rocket if you are there for your first visit. I would love to try their Bacon Bleu, or the House on Fire when I return. Check out their website for all the ingredients on each one.

I mentioned my original intent was to sample their pastrami. The half pound sandwich is $17.55. However, you can get pastrami by the pound ($28.18), as a keto plate ($21.49), as Pieous Plate ($18.48) which includes house marinated onions, a Kosher pickle and two types of mustard; or thow caution to the wind and buy the whole delicious brisket ($199.08).

Their style of pastrami is a hybrid between two styles most offered in Austin, slab, which is more like a Texas brisket or New York deli, which is thinly sliced. Pieous' looks like it's a little thicker sliced, but not slab.

The sandwich was incredible. You get a slightly smokey background taste, but the forward taste is whatever spice blend they are putting in their brining process. I didn't ask about it, but whatever they are doing works well.

Pieous also offers a number of Panuozzi. For those not familiar with this Italian street food, it's similar to the better known calzone. If this sounds like your thing, I suggest The Baby Billy ($16.63) half turkey and half pastrami, or the Prosciutto & Fresh Mozzarella ($14.55). They make the mozzarella in house, and it tastes perfect.

If you're getting the feeling that you should make your own hour-long pilgrimage here, I have done my job well. But forget me, I'm just writing about it. Their talented and dedicated team is making the magic, every day - fresh and from scratch....

I've been wanting to try this place for several years now. I figured they've been around long enough to have their stuff together. Not so! There's people working inside, and outdoor tables set to sit at, but doors are locked and absolutely no signage about how to order or what the situation is except a small paper in the window saying "take out only". We turn to leave since we are nowhere near home and have nowhere to take out any food and a young guy comes out and tells us we can order from the table. Ok. He says he will check on what beverages they have in stock, and never comes back out.

I'm hungry and I've dragged my husband and a friend all the way out here from North Austin, so we just order. The food comes out quickly at least. The pastrami is as great as anticipated but I feel like it needs to come with a little more than just a side of pickles for the price. Especially since the mustard and onions were so understated that it was basically just a meal of meat and bread. Good meat and bread, but not as good as it could be.

My husband's pizza was flavorful but the crust under the toppings was limp, soggy mush. Floppy crust is fine, but not like this. You should not need a fork to eat a pizza ever.

I don't know how this place stays in business. Lots of local traffic maybe? I feel like they must have passion for the food up top, but the extremely slipshod customer service and poor crust integrity are inexcusable. We're a year into covid, every restaurant is different but they should all have a system by now for welcoming their customers, like better signage or an outdoor payment/ordering area. I usually don't get so worked up about customer service, but for the price of everything, especially the jacked up drinks, I think I just expected more.

I usually don't feel this disappointed in a place. I probably just overhyped myself,...

My husband and I have lived in Dripping Springs 4 years and recently decided to try Pieous after hearing some not so great reviews. The first time was great - pizza came quick and was good and not burnt. The place wasn’t crowded either. Second time was fine, our crust was a little burned. Third time was jam packed. The line was out the door but we stayed knowing it would be a wait. After 30 minutes waiting in line we finally order, they charge $4 for fountain drinks, ask for a 25% tip and my husband bought me a $13 glass of wine (that I told him not to because it was so much but he sweetly did anyway). Our two boys were starving after an hour wait on the pizzas to be cooked (the crust was burnt) and so naturally my kid reaches across me and spills my almost full glass of wine accidentally. They didn’t bring out any plates or utensils with the food so in the midst of seeing us trying to clean up the wine they leave the pizzas without anything else, don’t ask us if we need anything. Finally I get someone’s attention and ask if my wine could be replaced because it was accidentally spilled and the guy rudely said not my problem. Doesn’t seem like the restaurant is hurting…but fine, you don’t have to be rude about it. I’m very put off by this most recent experience. Photo to show it was a good bit of wine that spilled. $13 down the drain… why are they asking for a 25% tip when you are literally working out getting every thing you need just to sit down and eat...