Eighteenth Over Austin

My husband and I ate here for dinner last Thursday night. I was expecting a way different ambiance since it is a restaurant at the top of the Hilton. Unfortunately, the whole room was brightly lit with cheap furniture. However, the service and the food were amazing! We ordered some mixed drinks which were very good as well. My husband had the tuna tartar and I had tortilla soup and a chicken Caesar salad. My food was very good, but the tuna tartar my husband has was awesome! Also, the waitstaff (both a waiter and a waitress that worked together) were very courteous and made sure to inform us that the kitchen was going to take a bit longer with our food since the cooks were preparing meals for the large group behind us.
I gave this place only four stars because they need to make the décor and lighting way more elegant and romantic for evening, and they need way more staff in the kitchen.

The prices would be fine if the food was good, but my husband and I hated what we ordered even though we dropped $ 50 on the meal. The appetizers were obviously frozen, the meat was poor quality, and the food just tasted bad in general. We regret not just picking up a sandwich or something down stairs instead.
The staff was nice and the view was gorgeous, at least.

For a hotel restaurant, I was impressed with Eighteenth Over Austin. The cook at the omelet/​waffle station will hook up you with whatever your heart desires. There are also bins of egg, meats, etc bins on other tables as well as pastries, oatmeal & grits on another table. The service could definitely use some work as it takes too long to get water, creamer, etc.

Wow! The view is amazing and ambience is great! The Happy Hour was outstanding with $ 4 wells and wine from 4:00 — 6:30PM. With this amazing view, I am not sure why the place was not packed as this is probably the best view in Austin. I would recommend stopping by for Happy Hour and enjoying a good priced sip.

5 stars for the Buffet breakfast. It’s awesome. They are very efficient, know that you probably want to get in and out. The food (great omelet station) and service are great and the view is a nice surprise in the morning. Dinner, on the other hand is 3 stars. I sat at the bar and met some other people stuck here from the ice storm. The bartender was quite overwhelmed (it wasn’t packed, just a general flow of patrons) so service was slow. I kept it healthy with the Quinoa Wrap which tasted much better than it looked. I would definitely come back and stay here next time I’m in town, but might venture down the street for dinner if I didn’t have a lot if time.

Meh, typical hotel bar. It does have an ok view. But you have the usual over priced drinks and food.

A very solid hotel breakfast buffet. Features an omelette station, but don’t let the name fool you — they do made-​to-​order eggs, french toast and waffles as well.
The open buffet features an egg scramble, breakfast potatoes, biscuits ‘n gravy, and a bacon/​sausage station. Oatmeal, a selection of pastries and a fruit bar round out the offerings. The fruit could have been a bit fresher, but then again I visited in early January and that’s a tough time of year for fresh strawberries, honeydew melon, pineapple, etc.
No espresso service in the morning, which is unfortunate. Coffee is passable; I opted for tea instead.
Lunch/​dinner is also solid, if not a bit pricey. The menu has the usual American staples, all of which are decent.
A good way to grab some solid food while on the road. Not really the sort of place you’d come to if you are a local, except for the great views of downtown Austin.

Excellent breakfast buffet.

How sad. Came here after not having been here for a long time. When I came here before, it had just opened and they were were really excited, had a good chef and I was expecting great things.
Well, nothing happened. They clearly do not have the same chef. They took everything even remotely yummy off the menu. The only burger they had was $ 14. NUTS. Everything else was similarly over-​priced and unimaginative, obviously catering only to the hotel guests from out –of-​town who didn’t want to leave the hotel, had expense accounts and didn’t know any better. The inside looked like a hotel banquet room rather than a restaurant, with cheap chairs, tables, etc. In other words, upscale prices with downscale furniture and food. Bad value all around, I say.
The burger? Well, it was tasty, but it was actually too big and the bun could not handle the meat. The bun was good, but fell apart only ¹⁄₃ of the way through.
Having an 18^th story view gave it such potential. What a waste.

I tried to take my boyfriend here for his 30^th birthday, because he likes skyscrapers– and I thought a view of downtown austin would befit such an interest. Most of the time we like cheap eats, casual places. But it was his 30^th birthday so I waned to surprise him with something a little nicer.
So just to make sure, I called ahead and asked to reserve a seat near a window at 7:00 pm. I knew nothing of the place, so I wasn’t sure if it was going to be busy or not and I didn’t want to chance it. The hostess on the phone giggled when she took down the information, which I admit is hilarious, right? Table for two near a window at a restaurant at 7:00 pm!!! ROTFLMAO!!!
So that part wierded me out, but we showed up anyway at 7:00pm and walked into… AN EMPTY dining room. No one was in there! No bartender, no hostess, no waiters and most of all, no patrons! At 7:00 pm?! What is wrong with this place?

If you’re staying at the HGI, you’ll probably eat here at least once during your stay. Breakfast is free for Platinum and Gold HH members. The breakfast buffet is just okay — typical hotel breakfast — though I was happy they serve grits. I haven’t been a fan of their omelette chef — he tends to overcook them and I’ve given him a couple chances to get it right.
If you are contemplating whether to eat here for lunch or dinner, I can talk you out of it in a hurry. Their salads are decent and very large, but everything else I’ve eaten is just meh. The burger was not well flavored at all. The saving grace was the jalapeño roll, but it’s not worth spending $ 14 on a meh burger with a great bun. My friend’s shrimp was overcooked and didn’t have any flavor to it even though it was wrapped with bacon.
Coming up here for a drink would be fine — if you get Drew as your bartender, he is nerdy eye candy and makes strong drinks but is easily distracted.
I will say that the view up here is amazing, but that’s not a good enough reason to give it more than 2 stars.