Swift’s Attic

Swift’s Attic was stellar, food to service to ambiance. We didn’t make reservations, were told about a 30min wait or we could grab an opening at the bar which we did after waiting only 10minutes. The bartender, Brian?, was very personable and knowledgable about all the dishes, giving great guidance in what to order. We ordered one or two at a time so we could feel out the sizing and our hunger level which I would recommend because the dishes will just come up ready or not. Our final choices:
Melon & Lardo w/​pickled watermelon, mustard seed gastrique, basil, & sour chili.
Naked Egg «Ravioli» w green beans, shaved radish, crispy prosciutto, tarragon.
Korean BBQ Flank Steak w/​crispy kimchi jumeok bap cake, grilled scallion, sweet galbi sauce. Squid Fries w/​roasted garlic aioli, charred lemon and fresh dill (so fucking good).
Crispy Pig Ear Lettuce Wraps w/​Apple-​cucumber salad, basil, peanut sauce. And some totally killer grilled Brussels sprouts with honey, golden raisins and almond slivers. Go here. They’re brunch kicks ass too!

Awesome food and very pleasing food presentation. We came here for dinner and tried scallops, Korean bbq, goat shoulder, pork cheek, commander crunch and coconut Panna cotta. All tasted delicious! Love the drinks here also. Our waiter was excellent as well!

Such a gorgeous space
But wow, service was so slow
Good for a cocktail

Probably more 4 star, but I really enjoyed my experience here and want to give them props.
When I arrived to meet a friend already waiting for me at the bar, she said «these are the best edamame that you’ve ever had!!» I was skeptical, but they are pretty darn good.
The shishito peppers were excellent as well.
Cocktails were very good, as were our main courses. Service was fantastic.
Granted, it was late on a slow Wednesday night, but everything was well-​prepared and executed. Good job!

Hipster, divey, and fun — Swift’s feels like a secret club. Set upstairs (in the attic) is a well appointed, if not dark, dining room, bar, and lounge. I discovered it because friends said «you have to have the burger» which is always a red flag for me. But I went, had the burger, and was very happy. I’ve now been back several times, each of them during lunch, and I have yet to be disappointed.
Portions are on the small side, but that’s not a bad thing, and I have yet to leave still feeling hungry. Service is what you would expect from a place like this, which is what kept them from getting the fifth star. The menu is smallish but has enough options to make picky eaters and gastronomes alike happy. I always think of it when I’m approaching lunch in Austin, and I think you’ll be happy there too.

I dig this place. Great atmosphere, great drinks, great food. I’ve been here a number of times and it works well for casual dates and «burn time before the main event» occasions.
The food is fantastic. They do it tapas style, so the portions are small, slightly on the expensive side and sharable for two (usually). I don’t think I’ve had anything on the menu that I didn’t like, the best thing, usually saved for last, being the Popcorn and a Movie dessert tapas: «Buttered Popcorn» gelato, homemade candy bar, drizzled with a root beer sauce and sprinkled with bits of caramel corn. Soooo good.
Usually I’m picky about price vs volume of food — but Swift’s selection is so nice and it is so well set up to share in wonderful flavors, I let that go. Again, a great date place.
I’d have given it 5 stars, but my one tiny gripe is the service. It’s not horrible, mind you, and in fact, I’ve had some wonderful servers attend to my date and me. However, there have been times when the the front host desk seems a little «stand offish» and when it’s crowded in there, there is not a lot of room to stand and the host desk doesn’t help out with where to stand. It can cause a few awkward moments. My suggestion is just to power through it, ask for a seat at the bar (which, by the way is manned by some great bartenders), and go enjoy the food!

Stopped by here while on a trip across the country. I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy the food as I usually am a very picky eater; Swifts Attic has a more eclectic menu than I am used to eating but everything was absolutely delicious from the squid fries, goat shoulder, teriyaki steak with coconut rice, beets, etc. We sampled a good portion of the menu and for someone like myself who is a chicken fingers and fries kinda girl, I really enjoyed it.
The atmosphere is lovely and could not be improved upon.
My only issue was with the drinks. I had a dirty martini that the glass was only ²⁄₃ filled, and the waiter never brought two drinks I ordered. Other than that, pretty good service. Great food and ambiance.

We were staying at a hotel a block away and the concierge grabbed us a reservation here, so we were walking in blind.
I’m typically not a fan of hipster places that try too hard to be unique, so I was a bit skeptical. The menu sounded pretty strange and everything seemed like it would one of those dishes that would have been really good, but they tried to get too creative and messed it up.
The server told us about the option to have the chef cook us something of his choice, but we opted to pick our own instead. We weren’t quite ready to trust their taste.
We got the Pork Cheeks, Goat Shoulder, and Korean BBQ Flank Steak as our main items, with a few sides as well. I can’t remember the sides, as they were completely overshadowed by the entrees. The entrees I was so skeptical of ended up being incredible. It’s hard to pick which was our favorite, but we thoroughly enjoyed every one of them.
After we finished the main course, we went ahead and ordered a couple of desserts; the Dinner and a Movie and the Funfetti Tres Leche. Again, both were great.
Throughout the meal, the service was exceptional, and they ended up covering the desserts for some random reason, despite our protesting.
I’ll definitely be back next time I’m in Austin.

Dinner review. New years eve prix fixe.
Devils on horseback — ⁴⁄₅
Steak tartare — ⁴⁄₅
Butternut squash — ³⁄₅
Shrimp remoulade — ²⁄₅
Black eyed peas — ³⁄₅
Lobster Tagliatelle — ²⁄₅
Seared scallops — ⁴⁄₅
Popcorn and a movie — ⁴⁄₅
Coconut panna cotta — ³⁄₅
Funfetti tres leches — ³⁄₅
Cocoa blondie — ²⁄₅
Overall, «I’m a fan.»

It has taken me a while to finally dine at the swanky Swift’s Attic! It was an interesting night out in downtown Austin — great ambiance, crafty drinks and creative dishes. Our group of 5 ordered about 13 dishes + a dessert and it was a decent amount.
We were seated at a rather small table for a group of 5 (more like a 4 person table), though it didn’t seem like there was anything else available. Our server was very pleasant with an upbeat attitude however, one busser was a little off. When the busser brought an extra dish to our table, we told her we had only ordered 1 not 2. She proceeds to tell us that she had already brought it over and insisted we needed to eat it. Very odd and slightly rude. Afterwards, we told our server and he took care of the issue.
Anyhooo, let’s move on to the more memorable (and worth noting) dishes of the night.
The awesomeness:
Charred Edamame with pop rocks — delicious and very tasty, you must add the pop rocks to give it that extra crunchy, popping texture.
Devils on Horseback (figs & gorgonzola) — absolutely amazing. I usually don’t like gorgonzola but the combination of that with the figs and candied bacon, so divine! Got that salty & sweet flavour.
The beet salad & Grilled Butternut squash were delicious. Both dishes were dressed nicely and the flavours oh so rich for a plate of veggies. YUM.
The Korean BBQ Flank Steak — flavour flavour flavour Wow. Party in my mouth! The steak was tender, the rice cakes were a tasteful addition! And the sweet galbi sauce brings the dish together. Slightly over salted, but nonetheless very good!
The oh-​so average dishes:
Corn Fritters — nothing special about this dish at all. Just fried batter with bits of corn.
Orange is the new quail (on fresh sheet) — quail meat was tough and the dish was rather salty.
The fungi dish — creative use of the different types of mushrooms (even had snow fungus — a delicacy in Chinese food). However, this dish was by far the saltiest dish EVER. Lighten up on the soy & salt! You needed to gulp down a glass of water after each bite.
The fried pig ears lettuce wrap — heavily sauced with not so crispy pig ears were hard to chew and tough. Perhaps the heavy sauce had made the crisp ears into soggy ears.
Funfetti tres leches — pretty much grocery box cake in little bite size pieces. Pricey for what it is.
So there it is. My experience with Swift’s Attic. Overall most of the dishes we ordered were good, minus the few exceptions. Dishes were inventive and creative. Will come back again.

Great lunch specials. We came here for a work lunch with about 17 of us. They took care of us great, the service was nice and quick and the food was delicious. I had the burger which was nice and juicy. None of the coworkers had any complaints. And they gave us a treat for the birthday girl.

Have been here once for happy hour drinks and another for brunch. Drinks were good, moscow mule was very enjoyable.
For brunch, we had a turkey hash and patty melt. Both tasted good, the bread on the patty melt was great and tasty.
It was around 1:30pm on a sunday and we didn’t have a wait, and who doesn’t love dollar mimosas?!

The atmosphere of this place is amazing — and the location? Fabulous.
I loved the wicker basket lampshades, the cool music, and the awesome décor. It’s a cool vintage chic, definitely a great place to happy hour with someone you want to subtly impress.
However, I was pretty underwhelmed by the food. We had the following:
1. Shrimp hushpuppies — good, tasty and crunchy, though I will always prefer a nice tempura batter
2. Pork cheek bao — I HATED that the white bun was charred on the outside. I get that they were trying to give it their own spin, but it just tasted bitter to me
3. Calamari fries — super tender, very nice
4. The naked egg ravioli — basically a poached egg on top of prosciutto and green beans — with TONS of liquid at the bottom of the bowl. The liquid kind of turned me off, It didn’t taste like that much to me, and diluted the liquid egg yolk
So all in all, you can find some good things here, and the happy hour is a GREAT value, but some of the dishes I got were just a bit off. Would try again!

*only visited for brunch*
Came to swift’s attic for Sunday brunch and oh my the ambiance is everything the reviews say. It’s so unique and beautiful– and you genuinely feel like you’re in an attic, but a clean one!
Didn’t order one but the Bloody Mary bar was amazing looking. We sat near it but neither of us fancy tomato juice, it was so fun watching people build their own.
We got the TCB — so gooey and delicious and super filling! As well as the chicken and dumplings phở. Which was also delicious but a bit salty. The dumplings are fried and the chicken is too, such a fun take on a classic dish!
$ 1 mimosas– awesome.

Came here on a swanky date and it is definitely a great spot for that sort of thing!
First time here, but I had been wanting to check it out for ages! I made a res on their website and even though we were almost 30mins late due to the parking nightmare that is downtown Austin on a Sat night, they still sat us immediately!
My date and I had almost every cocktail on the menu (so I can’t recall each one), but the Ice Ball Oldie was great and as the ice ball melts releasing more and more of the flavor, you can order additional shots of the Woodford Reserve Rye to keep your cocktail going. We also had the Prince Edward’s Ass (which was very refreshing) and the Blackberry Bonded which was just fantastic all around! I also ordered their only armagnac (because it is a rarity to find one, let alone a decent one) to pair with one of their desserts (which I will get to later) and it was divine!
For the food portion, my gracious date and I started with an order of corn fritters (omg, that rum raisin butter though!?!) and pop rocks edamame. I had been looking forward to trying the edamame since I’d heard about it because, c’mon, Poprocks! I am sad to say, while tasty, it was underwhelming as the sea salt poprocks are served on the side instead of already sprinkled on the edamame, which I think would have been better served.
I ordered the goat shoulder and my date the Korean flank steak and shared our plates. I was enamored w/​the flavor and savoriness of the meat and smoked-​fig tomato ragout. I was not so smitten w/​the Korean flank steak. My date loved it, but I can’t exactly put my finger on why I did not really care for it. It didn’t under or over, it just kinda «whelmed» me…
We then got the desserts! We got two and shared, once again. We had the Commander Crunch (which paired surprisingly and exquisitely well w/​the armagnac) and one of the seasonal desserts that I cannot recall the name of because I was close to 6 cocktails in at that point (I had my cocktails and then the remaining half of my date’s because it turned out he was a lightweight whose eyes were bigger than his liver) and already close to a food coma. Whatever it was, it was also delectable!
I have to say, food and drinks aside, the standouts for the night were the service and the décor! Seriously top notch service! Our waitress, who was abfab was able to make thoughtful and informed menu suggestions for both the cocktail and food menus, which I appreciate. Also, I like that, even though you have a waitress, everyone kind of works together, so our table was always bussed, our water glasses always full, and when we needed extra small plates a passing by waitress to another table turned right around and brought them to us.
The décor was just great, you feel like you are walking into a rustic speakeasy w/​a contemporary vibe.
I definitely want to go back and explore more of their menu (maybe their happy hour) and a friend’s recommended Big Ass Burger Monday. Either way, Swift’s Attic, you have not seen the last of me!

Let me start by saying this place is pricy. If you’re a UT student without a trust fund, just keep on walkin’. I can be a cheap-​ass with the best of them but if I’m going to pay good money for a meal, it’s got to be memorable (in a good way). Seeing as I can’t stop thinking about the food at Swift’s Attic, I’d say it qualifies.
Swift’s Attic is part of a newish breed of restaurant usually called the «gastropub» that is like a non-​Spanish Tapas bar with a dual focus on delicious, interesting food in sharable, small portions (i.e. quality over quantity) and booze. I didn’t actually drink any booze on this visit so I’ll focus on the former.
Our server recommended 2 – 3 dishes per person, we each ordered two and there was some overlap of dishes ordered multiple times. Of what was ordered I only sampled three items:
heirloom tomato salad, the roasted beets, and the braised goat. All of these were superb.
The surprise winner was the one that wasn’t my order — the heirloom tomato salad. I don’t know what kind of crack was in this salad but it was beyond delicious. I can’t even describe the flavors but there was some kind of creamy coating on everything that was just out of this world. Aside from the chopped tomatoes and other things I can’t remember (apples maybe?) there were delicious croutons and OMGWHEREHAVEYOUBEENALLMYLIFE grilled cheese bits. (I don’t mean mini-​sandwiches, I mean chunks of cheese that were put on a grill to char the edges… you have to taste to see how good these were). I have been dreaming about this dish for a week now.
The roasted beets were also very tasty. They came with a vanilla yogurt sauce that had a hint of mint infusion and some kind of spikey lettuce.
I could come here alone, order those two dishes, be full and happy though a bit poorer in the wallet.
The braised goat came with ricotta gnocchi and was very soupy, but it was one of those dishes where the first bite you’re thinking «this isn’t bad» but by the third or fourth bite it’s grown on you. I really enjoyed it, but I think I could skip it on occasion to try other menu items. Skipping the heirloom tomato salad though… not an option. It will be ordered Every Single Time.
I did not try desserts this visit, but they sounded good.
I will note it is REALLY loud in here. My throat was sore after dinner from shouting to be heard by my companions. So I recommend coming here with someone you don’t have much to say to but can just make goo-​goo eyes at and play footsey.
I can’t wait to come back though.

Man, I wanted so badly to like this place. I really did. Let me explain — I was there with a big group (40+). Because we had so many people, the menu was pre-​selected for us. The tables were sat 4 to a table, and over the course of two hours each table of four split 15 small plates. After reading all the reviews and looking at the menu, I was pumped about eating here.
Long story short — only a handful of the items were delicious (the pork cheek, the cornbread fritters, and the kimchi cakes). Those three things were to die for. I HATE raisins but the corn fritters with the rum raisin butter were so damn good I could have eaten my weight in them.
Otherwise, the other 12 plates were simply «eh» or disgusting. Particularly, the fried cauliflower was awful — so disgusting. The flavor profile was wrong; so off putting. So many things were grossly under seasoned (the shrimp dish and the asparagus and mushrooms). Then, so many things seemed overthought. The goat and fig ragu dish was okay — the goat itself was great, but the combo of fig and sun dried tomato as a ragu simply failed as a flavor profile. Same with the panicotta dessert — the combo of curry, powdered peanut butter and panicotta was awful.
I’m not from Austin, but when I’m back I’d certainly never eat here again.

Quick tips: I can’t tell you how good everything is. I also love tapas style. Order at least 2 – 3 items per person and keep going till you are full! A few notable items 1) scallops, 2) tomato basil meatballs with green beans, 3) corn fritters with rum raisin butter.
Food: More good items — cauliflower was nicely cooked with the lemon curry. Finally, my table enjoyed the Korean BBQ flank steak, but I passed.
Ambiance: Cute and trendy. It was a fun eclectic scene on ACL weekend.
Service: Good service. Not great, but decent. It was also very busy night, so I will give them a pass.

What a cool place! Came on a Sunday for brunch after hearing some great recommendations. Really awesome décor– really feels like a fancy attic– and the Bloody Mary bar was decked out. Too bad I don’t like tomato juice.
Heard the cocktails were a must so we got a strawberry fields iceball and lindacello. Both excellent and strong. I liked the way the iceball tasted better when a little melted into the drink.
Bibimbap: interesting that we both decided to get Korean dishes for brunch. An interesting take on the traditional bibimbap dish, but very tasty and delicious nonetheless. Great flavors with a nice poached runny egg (just the way I like it), and the black rice was scrumptious.
Flank steak: delicious. Worth the extra money. Especially with the crispy rice on the bottom… mmm
Great experience overall, and AWESOME food– a round of applause for a trendy American restaurant’s take on Korean food.

Based on a local’s recommendation, my friends and I stopped here for drinks before our dinner reservation at Counter 3 Five VII and it was such an enjoyable experience we came back after dinner! During our two visits, I was able to try two of their specialty drinks:
* Lindacello– Basil infused Grey Goose, limoncello, pureed raspberries, topped with proscecco
* Strawberry Fields Ice Ball
I really enjoyed both drinks. Their signature ice ball cocktails are very interesting and unique, and we had fun playing the waiting game as our drinks slowly began to form through the melting process. On our return visit, many patrons around us were enjoying their dinners in the bar area and I really wish we would have had the opportunity to enjoy the food here as we were certainly impressed by the drinks and service. Oh well, until next time!