Starlite

Totally sad they closed. Well screw it, I’m still reviewing.
MAGNIFIQUE. Myself: truffle leek risotto [Amazing. I had to take small bites. Very SAVORY], duck confit [the tarragon was a bit citrusy for me, but the dish itself was amazing. Well-​complemented with sweet potato purée], and the glorious mac n cheese. For my good friend Bentley, the potato and leek soup [YUM scallions!], the grilled cheese sandwich made with brioche, and the mac as well.
Dessert: pots de crème and a crème brûlée. On the former, twas resplendent. Nothing like a good pots de crème. I might say category-​defining. It was one of those painful ordeals where you want the last bite but courtesy says you should offer it. And if not offer it, at least split it. The crème brûlée was also nice. I appreciated their extra torching of the crispy top layer at my request.
Starlite, you will be missed.

I cant believe starlite closed!
I was feinding for some cheese grits this weekend! :(
I am eager to see what is next from the partners at starlite.

If you like this place, go soon. They are closing:

I decided it was time to come downtown for a good brunch and what better way to do it, than with some fellow Unilocalers for a Sunday Bloody Sunday at the Starlite. It was fairly busy by 11:30 am and we decided just to stick it out at the bar and have drinks and some brunch.
We got Bloody Mary’s, orange juices, Mimosas and coffee. Sipped on those for a little while and then decided to order some food. Allison said the grilled cheese and tater tots were good, so I decided to give it a go. I sipped down my Bloody Mary and decided it was time to drink me some mimosas. The staff behind the bar were very attentive and always made sure we were set in anything we may have needed.
The food took a little while to get to us, but I understand. With in a ½ hour the place was packed and there were several people waiting inside and out to come in. My grilled cheese was huge! I had to cut the ½’s in ½, but it was so packed with cheesy goodness, no complaints from me. This was the first time I’ve ever heard of chicken and waffles (it’s not on the menu FYI)
It’s a waffle with a large fried chicken breast on top. Looked good. Don’t knock it ’till you rock it.
YAY! For unseen circumstances and good bloody mary’s and mimosas-​our little secret :) I’ll definitely come here again.

We picked Starlite for my hubby’s bday for two reasons: Unilocalers raved, friends raved, and they had a GC on
. The bistro menu looked great, diverse and very reasonably-​priced, so we picked the bistro over the slightly higher-​end fine-​dining menu.
Which ended up not being a disappointment at all. If what we had from the bistro menu is any indication, the fine dining menu must be out of this world. We started the evening with the beet salad. Very good. For dinner, my husband ordered the NY strip steak with fries, done medium rare. The steak was cooked perfectly and the fries crisp and delicous. I ordered the pan-​seared chicken with potatoes and asparagus. It was December 2, and after eating turkey two days in a row I felt a little crazy ordering chicken (and pureed potatoes at that) but one bite put my fears of being bored to rest. Pure heaven. The chicken was incredibly tender, and had been seared with the skin which was crispy and flavorful. The reduction served over the chicken and potatoes was one that put all the gravy I’d eaten out of my mind. I could have licked the plate.
The atmosphere in Starlite is warm and charming. It is a great place for a romantic dinner. The space is (I imagine) a converted warehouse, with high ceilings and soft, chandeliered lighting and interesting artwork. Very shabby-​chic. The floors are carpted so for us, the noise level was just fine. The music sometimes seemed a little odd for the space (lots of club-​like music… which seemed out of place) but it was soft enough that we really didn’t think too much of it.
The only thing that didn’t get five stars from me was the service and the dessert. The gal who served us was sweet but very perfunctory, and the dessert just didn’t live up to the dinner. At another restaurant, the dessert might have been the high point, but at Starlite, it just didn’t shine as much.
All in all a great experience and I can’t wait to go back when I’m a little richer and try the fine dining.

Starlite has become a particular favorite of mine, and for a while it seemed like I could just not get enough of their New York Strip and fries. The steak is deliciously marinated, the fries hot and seasoned and crispy. The place also serves a fantastic cocktail menu, my favorite of which is The New York Ginger, a delicious version of one of my Old School faves. It’s a Manhattan on the rocks with gingerale, not overly complicated, but perfectly blended and delicious. The place also has a deep dark secret that I am sworn to Allison N. (P.) that attracts me and my friends on those evenings when we are looking for a quiet lace for a few of us to enjoy a cocktail and a pleasant conversation. I shall never reveal said secret … except wait, it’s blown already, and that’s the one thing that cost this place a couple of stars.
See, there is this great back bar, all the way towards the rear of the building, and you used to sort of have to KNOW it was there. There was always a good bartender up there, the atmosphere was totally chill, and it was a fantastic place to end an evening. Our friend Andy used to refer to it (in a way that might be offensive had Andy not been Jewish) as the Anne Frank suite, as it is hidden upstairs and is a very very well kept secret. However, When the redesigned the menu, they apparently made this part of the building off-​limits to anyone not spending the big cash, and that nearly kept us from ever coming back there. I mean, we had my best friend’s BACHELOR party dinner there, fer Pete’s sake. IT took s little strangling of the manager, verbally speaking, and they saw reason, so we haven’t sworn off the place, but it was a rough experience.
There, the secret is out. I am totally glad I got that off my chest. Only took 23 New York Ginger’s.

For brunch, Starlite gets 5 golden stars from me and here’s why:
«The Downtowner» — eggs your way, nicely spicy sausage, crispy lean bacon, cheese grits and tater tots, all topped off with a mini stack of blueberry pancakes. It’s a belly satisfying meal for 12 bucks.
Wasabi Bloody Mary. Enough said.
Their clever way of differentiating if your refill should be caffeinated or de-​caffeinated, by using different color coffee mugs.
The DJ spinning fun music during brunch. (Don’t worry, it’s not too loud and won’t hamper your conversation).
The interior’s retro décor and hip wall art. Also the plentiful natural light makes everything look good (including people!).
A back room that’s semi-​private, perfect for a holiday brunch with all your friends.

Went here for brunch last week, and it was ok. Not great.
The place has a fun vibe, very L.A., they had a dj spinning great tunes. (My friend and I totally rocked out when he threw Micheal Jackson’s «P.Y.T.» on the turntable) and the place is bright and fun.
We both got bloody marys, which were pretty good, though after seeing other people’s drinks, I’m thinking I should have gone for the bottomless sangria. My friend ordered the breakfast with pancakes, potatoes, sausage and grits and all of her stuff was pretty good, especially the grits. I, unfortunately, ordered the Shanghai breakfast, which sounded like it was basically going to be a deconstructed crab cakes benedict. Instead, it was this awkward crab carrot slaw thing that just wasn’t very flavorful. I mean, when you say something has Thai spices, shouldn’t it… well…taste like something?
So, I’d go back, but I think there’s better out there for brunch in Austin.

I wanted to try this place because of all the great reviews. Thank you
for showing me how I can dine here on a budget. I would not have come here otherwise. I’m very sure that my experience wasn’t like the same experience of the other diners. I think alcohol, large quantities of it, had something to do with it. Shall I give you two reviews? One from the diners next to us, and one from myself.
From the drunken girl in the green sweater:
I LOVE THIS PLACE. I came here with a group of my friends who are into high prices and high fashion and $ 10 drinks. Just check out my girlfriends’ Prada purses and $ 200 haircuts and highlight jobs. However, we are NOT douche bags and high-​maintenance divas. We even discussed that so loudly for 5 minutes so that everyone in the restaurant could rest assured that we were not douche bags. Also, because I was drunk, that meant that I had a license to be obnoxiously loud and cry about how single I am. When my female friends went to the bathroom, I made it a point to hit on the male friends that were left there. Even if it takes another 3 bottles of wine, I’m going to get one of them to sleep with me.
Review from me:
The first thing I noticed was that this place was loud, and not very busy. In the bistro dining section, there were a few people and 2 large parties. Both parties were obviously trying to have a battle over who could produce the most decibels. One table to my left was having a loud conversation about being called douche bags. «WE’RE NOT DOUCHE BAGS, WHO CALLED US THAT?» A word like that doesn’t need to be said loudly in a fine dining establishment. Thanks for being annoying. Over the course of the meal, a girl in the loud party to the left moved a lamp, and the shade on it broke. Nice move.
My friend and I ordered the mushroom risotto, roasted salmon, duck confit, and the pots de crème. The mushroom risotto with a drizzle of black truffle oil was very tasty. That’s some mighty fine risotto, however the portion size was about the size of a toddler’s fist. I don’t have a problem paying for dishes with expensive ingredients, but rice and mushrooms aren’t all that expensive. More please? One of the wait staff decided to be a plate snatcher. Before I was finished with the risotto (and I had every intention of licking the plate clean of the black truffle oil), he came by and grabbed it. I still had the fork in my mouth when he grabbed the plate, and he waited for me to put the fork down so he could take that too. What’s up with that?
The parties at the next table are now screaming at the top of their lungs about their personal dating lives. Lovely. Thank goodness I wasn’t here on a date. The sound was torturous.
My friend’s roasted salmon with was tasty. And my duck confit was the most tender and non-​greasy duck I have ever have. However, the sauce on the duck was over bearing and the flavors were too strong. The pots de crème was a nice try, however, the crème had a very thick dry skin on top. Also, the crème was slightly grainy, but I couldn’t tell if that was from the crème itself or just the skin. Also, parts of the crème were fine like a custard should be, but parts of it were watery at the bottom. I seriously think that batch was made 3 – 4 days ago.
Overall, not great. I’m not missing much. The environment was awful. If I wanted loud and obnoxious, I would have gone to an authentic Chinese restaurant. Service was painfully slow, however taking away our plates was not. I had to plate guard for the rest of the night. Some of the food were hits. Some were misses. For those prices, none of them should have been a miss.
Starlight, star bright, I won’t be missing this Star tonight.

5 Stars. Even I’m amazed that I’m giving them five stars.
Let’s begin with the service. I highly recommend being the only occupied table in the place — as we were last night — for you shall receive very attentive and professional service. Water glasses promptly filled, sound recommendations for wine, apps and entrees from a server who actually listened to the patron before pushing today’s «get it out the door» meals, and overall a very friendly but not intrusive service.
Before the meal bar service was great, too, with the bartender recommending I try the Live Oak «Oaktoberfest» beer after he had handed me my hefeweissen, and proceeding to give me about a 6 oz sample. Same with the sangria which Veek noticed after she got her glass of Pinot (another good recommendation); they gave her a good sized sample to try and it was delicious. Evil, but delicious.
We sat in a small narrow space perfect for our large group, never too loud nor cramped. The décor is nice in there, tasteful and understated.
The food was very good, at least in the opinions of the five people seated near me. The server recommended some appetizers, my favorites were the Mushroom Risotto (maybe the best thing I ate all night there), the Crispy Oysters, and the Ceviche.
I ordered the NY Strip Frites, but substituted the fries for asparagus and mushrooms. Everything was cooked perfectly to order, I ate every morsel.
Prices were on par with the level of service and quality of food, we’ll be back for sure.
So enjoy your five stars Starlite, I don’t hand them out too often. And thanks for a great celebration of a friend’s 40^th birthday.

Worth noting: a few things have changed at Starlite. They’re now featuring a bistro menu downstairs and fine dining upstairs. This means that if you dine below, you’re more likely to get out of here comparatively affordably, while upstairs, you’re more likely in for a pricier but decidedly more secluded dining experience. It’s a good idea, and no doubt means that they keep the lower level full while promising some of the same intimate dinners lovers of this place have come to expect upstairs.
They’re still figuring a few things out, and while originally it didn’t seem like they were kosher with those of us from downstairs enjoying a post-​dinner drink upstairs, that situation was deftly remedied. I do love the fact that they’ve made this place more accessible to the masses, and retained some of the charm we’ve come to expect. We’ll be back.

I took my boyfriend here for a nice dinner. What can I say, he’s spoiled. XD
So my experience was excellent. I had originally wanted to head to Uchi, but they were booked, and every other fine dining establishment in this town apparently only takes reservations for parties of 5 or more. What the frak? How in Hades are you supposed to have a nice date that doesn’t make you look like an unprepared asshat in this town?
Anyway, I loved Starlite. We went on a Wednesday at 8:00pm, and the place was near abandoned. There were three couples downstairs in the casual dining area, and us and one other couple upstairs in the fine dining are. That said, I’m glad — I thank it would’ve gotten too loud if there had been many more tables.
It is worth noting that both menus — the fine dining and the bistro area — are limited. Three or four entrees, as many salads, and a few appetizers are the entirety of the selection for fine dining, and the bistro area doesn’t have much more. This worked out fine, since everything on the menu looked so bloody good we had a hard time deciding as it was.
The waiter was outstanding — for once in Austin, a fine dining establishment didn’t send me someone who wanted to be my best friend. He was respectful, helpful (especially with the wine selection), and accomodating. My only complaint with him was that I had to fill our wine glasses twice, but I’ll forgive him, since the Little House upstairs is small, and his continued presence would have been interpreted as hovering, which I cannot abide for $ 100/​head. When I make it back, I will assuredly request him again.
The wine selection is thorough, and while I didn’t recognize many of the vineyards, the waiter was able to help me select a wine that went perfectly with our meal and was also very enjoyable. Between my boyfriend and I, we killed the bottle. The chef sent complimentary duck confit (sweet potatoes, warm frisee, taramind) to begin that was fantastic and set the mood for the evening.
I had the Roasted Sweet Pear salad (cave aged cabrales, baby arugula, toasted walnuts, and banyuls vinaigarette). It was exquisite. There was a fantastic balance of the tart and sour cheese, crisp and lightly salted walnuts, and sweet pears. The arugula made for an excellent green, and I was extremely pleased with the entirety of the experience. I followed the salad with the Icelandic Cod (not listed anymore), which sat on a squash succotash, with julianned vegetables, and a savory cream sauce. It was outstanding — the fish was perfectly tender, the succotash hearty and whole, and the cream had a sweet, tart flavor that left your mouth watering from savory yumtasms.
My better and prettier half had the Canyon Farms Heirloom Tomatoes (champagne black peppar granita, capriole goat cheese, and saba) and he loved it. The tomatoes were extremely fresh and that perfect balance of firm and juicy, the granita was sweep without being overpowering, and the cheese rouded things out with a savory finish. He followed with the Organic Linguini (english peas, double cream, sun dried tomatoes, bitter greens), which he liked other than the bitter greens. The sauce was creamy, the noodles tender and full, and the flavor was outstanding.
Our only negative experience here was the desert — we had what was described to us as a «crème brule with a peanut butter sauce» and turned out to be a round of custard with peanut butter sauce and a sliced and aged strawberry on top. While it didn’t taste terrible, it was very disappointing relative to the quality of the rest of the meal. Plain custard with peanut butter crème? While the flavors were complimentary and the peanut butter crème was well made, it was disappointingly plain and NOT sinful. This was the only piece of the meal we didn’t finish.
In all, I had an excellent experience at Starlite. True fine dining has apparently finally reached Austin — staff that is high enough quality to act appropriately, excellent food with a set of complimentary designed appetizers and salads, and reasonable (for the genre) pricing.
Our total was just under $ 200 with two salads, two entrees, a bottle of wine, and a healthy tip.
My compliments to Josh, the chef.

Starlite, oh Starlite, where have you been all my life?
I lived downtown for so long but always thought you were the Kerbey Lane-​diner type, but knew that could never be for me. I thought you were just like everyone else. I was so wrong, you’re just so different from everyone else.
You like sparkling wine? I LOVE sparkling wine, no one else (diner wise) has ever shared my appreciation for sparkles both light and dark (literally sparkling Malbec to sparkling Riesling).
You like salmon? Oh my god me too! Wow, we have so much in common! You will put it on any salad and give it to me on the side for what, $ 3?
I like Francoise Hardy, do you? You have a cocktail named after her?! Um, Starlite, I know this is a little forward, but I think we could have a future together…

I went to Starlite last night, I’ve been a few times prior and overall it was a good experience.
FOOD
The food was nice, I enjoyed the peppered tuna — pretty good but a little over done — it came with a cauliflower gratin which was awesome, the best part of the meal in my opinion. I also ordered the watercress salad which was OK but nothing exceptional and the strawberry shortcake which I disliked extremely. In the strawberry shortcake’s defense my boyfriend enjoyed it — I am not a fan of citrus sweets and the shortbread was lemon shortbread. I ordered a dirty martini and it was right up there with the best of them.
SERVICE & ATMOSPHERE
The service was right on spot, very polite, like-​able and efficient. Our particular server would say «cheers» every time he left our table — I’m not quite sure why… but I really liked it — perhaps it was b/​c it made him seem easy going and positive. On the other hand, the atmosphere in my opinion, is a little dated. There is a beautiful chandelier in the middle of the restaurant as the main focal point but other than that its pretty bland. There is a large wood paneled wall that divides the bar area from the dinning section and though it serves it purpose it looks very 80s and Colorado cabinish. Mirrors surround the walls of the restaurant but they are placed so high up that they serve no real purpose but maybe to add extra light. Overall I think they need a little make over but it’s still workable.

*Ahem*
What is all the fuss about?
We went to brunch here and while the atmosphere (large windows, lots of light, large mirrors, wood paneling, artwork, weird misplaced chandelier) was awesome, the food was less than perfect.
I had heard so much about the tater tots. Rave tater tot reviews, even! Perhaps my dining companions were brainwashed by Napoleon Dynamite? Who knows?! The tater tots were… tater tots. The eggs were good, the blueberry pancakes (that measures two inches in diameter) were decent.
The whole thing just left me kind of wanting more. When you have a space such as this one, with great bones and beautiful design, you want the food to stand up to it’s surroundings. Perhaps the surroundings just set me up for disappointment when it came to the cuisine.
Chef Hines needs to impress me on my next visit, or I can’t see myself visiting this location again.

You know what? I’m knocking a star off due to a recent visit. Here’s why: The service was barely okay. It was a Wednesday night (slow), but it appears they only had one waiter on staff to service the 6 tables of diners. He forgot the drinks we ordered (until we reminded him), and our entrees took much longer to arrive than it should have.
Also, a restaurant of this caliber should update its menu offerings with the season, and Starlite doesn’t. Flavors and ingredients that are fresh and appealing in the autumn don’t translate well to a sweltering summer night.
Overall, I was kind of bummed because it just wasn’t as good as it should’ve been.

What appears from outside to be another boring warehouse district night lounge is actually, on Sunday morning, a wonderful place to get brunch. I was able to get my hands on a
coupon for $ 25 here, and took advantage of the opportunity to try a new place with my aunt and uncle while they were in town.
The food was excellent, but naturally a bit small for a place of this quality. Ok, the side of pancakes was just a joke in size. Good, but a joke.
The orange juice — fresh squeezed.
The fritata — delicious and very well flavored.
Menos puntos for not bringing me a napkin after I loudly and clumsily spilled a full glass of water all over myself. Granted, I was being an idiot, but I expect when I’m paying this much to be treated like a presidential idiot when I’m being one.

Sexy Face Starlite, I’ve been wanting to visit you for so long so I was so happy to enjoy you for brunch this morning.
Your french toast is delightful. DE-​LITE-​FUL!
My boyfriend loves that ol’ missionary– style french toast with the small slices dipped in egg batter, but not me! Your big hunka munka french toast mountain screams reverse cowgirl! Reverse cowgirl!!!
So, that was pretty much awesome and I kinda commandeered his entire plate.
That’s only because I was pretty much starvvving after eating my Bangkok Breakfast which consisted of a single, yet delightful crabcake, a heaping spoonful of yummy jasmine rice and some julienned carrots and cucumbers.
Now, I am no stickler for grammar, but typically in American standard English, the «s» at the end of the word (such as the word «crabcakeS» on your menu) typically denotes the plural of an object. As in, more than one!
That little single crabcake was sooo good that I totally understand if one of your servers just popped the other one in their mouth on the way over to our table. Will be back!

Screw you Uchi. Your legendary long waits on Saturday nights (an hour and a half? At 6:30PM? Really?) forced us to change our plans (and blow my diet).
But lucky for us, our plans were changed to Starlite, and I couldn’t be happier. Since it was so early on a Saturday night, we had no wait and they were hugely accommodating even though we didn’t have a reservation.
I really like the space. It’s not too loud even with the high ceilings. After we ordered, we were presented with an amuse bouche of a deconstructed tuna nicoise salad on a «waffle» chip. My bouche was very amused. (I said this to my friend who replied with, «You’re writing your Unilocal review in your head right now, aren’t you?» I told her to shut up, that she didn’t know me. Dammit.)
We had a starter of the fried oysters. Damn. Those were good. Then she had the soup, a pureed white bean that, when I took one bite exclaimed, «This tastes like home!» I had a salad of beets, marcona almonds, orange, cambrazola cheese and mache. Holy shit. That was amazing. It wasn’t dressed and it didn’t need to be.
For my entrée, I wanted the veal cheeks and sweetbreads, but my friend freaks out over veal and since she doesn’t get to go out much, I didn’t want to put a damper on her meal. So, I ordered the bass. And wow. Just wow. It was served on sweet potatoes an pecans with a little bit of Brussels sprouts and topped with swiss chard.
My friend had a seared tuna that was sauced with… something. I’m not sure. And it was served with a cauliflower gratin to die for.
Seriously though, three bites into my entrée and I couldn’t eat another bite. We wanted dessert because they all looked so great, but neither of us could have fit another thing in our stomachs. I’d been to the old Starlite and remembered how good the desserts were there. Next time, I will save room for dessert for sure.
Go here. Go here now. I can’t think of a better place to blow your wa… llet or your diet (HA you thought I was going to say something else, didn’t you…).
Oh, and I didn’t think the prices were that bad. For all of that, plus two cocktails, a glass of wine and two glasses of preseco, the total bill was $ 135. Not bad at all…

I’ve eaten here several times over the last year. The very first time I went there I was disappointed, but I think I just ordered the wrong thing. The last time, I ordered a vegetarian plate (even though I’m a zealous carnivore) and it was absolutely great! I can’t remember everything on it (portobello mushroom for sure), but I couldn’t wait to try the next item on the plate.
Their warm spinach salad is really good. Other times I’ve had pork chops or a steak, and those were also great.
One of the first times there was with a first date; if we’d liked each other it might have been romantic, but we quickly learned we had mutual feelings of apathy toward each other. The food was good, though, and at least that gave us something to talk about.