Austin Grill

This place is awesome! Ask for thomas he is an amazing waiter! From the drinks to the tableside guac to the chips and salsa (ask for the queso-​you wont be disappointed!) this place was a great find! #destinationhappy!

Chips were stale/​chewy.
No coffee available; they said the machine has been broken for a while.

Great time.
Great margaritas.
Service was good. Delivery was a little slow.
I would come back.

We just got back from an excellent experience at Austin Grill downtown.
I was on my way home after a long work day and my daughter, a bartender in the area, was pulling a double, so this was just a break for her. But we wanted to spend some time together.
I was cold, so I asked for coffee; their coffee machine was on the fritz, so against my protestations, the general manager (John Layton?) insisted on going to Starbucks for me. Gratis. A large cup.
We had Guacamole, which our server Joshua prepared at the table, and it was fine, and we had something that was like a Chinese egg roll but Mexican. Can’t remember what it was but it was good.
The reason for 5 stars is the absolute warmth and friendliness from everybody; they made us feel great.
I’m not a tourist, I’m a city girl through and through and chains are not usually my cup of tea, but Austin Grill will definitely get my business again.

App fail. Can’t delete review?

Great wings and amazing bar service! I can’t believe it’s been a few days ago when we went to this business. It was busy and I dont know how but the waiters were able to hold their own. Great music and even greater drinks. Ill be back!

My wife and I were walking back to our hotel when we saw this restaurant and we decided to stop in and eat. We were so happy with everything about the restaurant! Starting with the kind hostess who sat us immediately, then we had such a pleasant waitress that answered all of our questions about the menu and happy hour. The drinks and food were outstanding and we wish we had found the restaurant earlier in our trip because we definitely would of been back to eat there again it was that good! We went on Tuesday so my wife had the taco special and I had the amazing BBQ combo. My wife also had the «Tornado» frozen margarita and the chocolate lava cake which she wouldn’t stop saying how great they were! Heck, even the chips and salsa that were given to us while waiting for our food were incredible! Great restaurant, great food, great place to go eat!

Stopped in for a drink the other night. First thing that strikes me as I sit down at the bar is the smell of the place. Let me be clear it wasn’t a good smell. Like dirty old mop and the same dirty water had been used for several days in a row. We had one drink and left. The bartender couldn’t have been any nicer. She was very pleasant and outgoing. The smell was bad enough we had one drink and left. The restrooms are in the basement. I did have the opportunity to almost get knocked down a flight of steps as one of the employees came barreling down the stairs at full speed. No apologies mind you.
Bottom line. It’s a dump of a place close to the Verizon Center. Very nice people but with SO many other places to eat close by. Why risk getting sick.

I’m probably piling on at this point, but man, was this bad. I expected a whole lot more for this place being in Penn Quarter — with all of the really good restaurants around this particular area, Austin Grill has a WHOLE lot of stepping up to do before they can match their surroundings. A WHOLE lot.
My coworkers and I were greeted right away and seated at a table in the back. After a couple of minutes, the server came up and took our orders. And that’s about it for service. It took WAY too long to get the check — we were waiting there a good 15 minutes just to be acknowledged — and the server was just… she seemed like she just didn’t want to be there, which I can’t blame her for, considering what we had.
The food was an absolute embarrassment. I had a «burrito in a bowl» and it was more or less lettuce, tomatoes, onions and meat thrown together in a sloppy mishmash of «stuff». No flavor whatsoever. And the portions were laughable. I finished my entrée in five minutes flat and sat there expectantly… what? That was it? You’re kidding me, right? Even Chipotle could do a better job of this. And HAS.
The chips and salsa were the best part of the meal. And even the salsa was just… ugh. No spice, no flavor. Watery tomatoes swimming in a sea of juice. The chips were good, actually — freshly baked (or microwaved, most likely) and hot, and they were enjoyable. But considering that I paid almost 20 bucks for my meal, this shouldn’t have been the best they could do.
Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. It takes a LOT of missteps to get a 1-​star rating from me. I’m not overly picky or fussy or anything (at least, I don’t think I am). But this was just flat-​out bad.
Never again.

Horrible. Under staffed, cold food, bad quality, over salted to try and cover up the bad taste. Sad, king street location has been outstanding. They should close down this locatuon

I give this place a one star, and non at all, just sad, I came to stop by here to grab a quick bite, and primarily I love Mexican food so when I came here it was nothing that I expected; I sat at the bar n ordered a chicken fajita, 14 $ plus tax for the price &I while I waited for my food to be prepared I watching the chef and he has no gloves on, he is cooking with glove of the hand he is holding the spatula, and his other hand grabbing the chicken to place of the plate, he is also sneezing upon his inner elbow and wiping his for head with his bare hands, & then plates the food like nobody is watching ,
Otherwise the food deserved a one star, the chicken was dry and surprisingly spicy, and no where in the menu said it would be, the rice was drenched in lime I couldn’t continue to eat, I wasted 14& and lost my appetite, I wanted to leave as soon as I got my plate, I would say if u want real authentic food this isn’t the place to come at all! Yuck

I am a fan of Austin Grill regardless of it being a chain restaurant. They usually have good food and a decent atmosphere. I would recommend it over most Tex-​Mex chains. However, sometime the service can be slow.

Austin Grill is part of the what I think of as the old school tex-​mex grouping (On the Borders, Chili’s, Chevy’s). This place is starting to look run down, almost borderline dive and the décor, particularly the colors (mustard yellow and ketchup red) were a little off putting. I was skeptical going in but had agreed to lunch there. While my coworkers got started with a couple of appetizers I just ordered the taco salad. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised with the salad — there was actually a fair amount of veggies that were in good shape and accented well by the flavoring, beans, and shell, there was a far amount of Spanish rice filler. My coworkers had the wings and guac and gave both a thumbs up – they also enjoyed their main items.
While our waitress was slow getting started she was nice. We also got a visit from the manager (got the impression he was new to this location and was making a round and visiting the late lunch crowd). The mid-​afternoon crowd seemed to be a tourist families /​local workers split. While I don’t know if I will ever be a fan I wouldn’t mind another visit and may even try one of the VA locations.

Food was good, service was TERRIBLE! I have never in my life received such poor service. Our server was Kimberly, I don’t know about the rest but she shouldn’t be in the business of serving people.
First, our silverware still had food on it from the previous use. So we asked her for new silverware and a cup of hot water. She came back with the water and quickly placed it on the table and walked off. We had to go to the front to get new silverware.
Secondly, I’ve been craving guac and was excited because they had it on the menu, before I could even finish my order of, «can we get the table side guac» she said they were out of chips for the day — meanwhile the guys who came in 15 minutes after us were served chips and salsa upon arrival — something we didn’t get!
Third, I ordered the fried fish tacos (delicious) with guac, she brought them out with no guac and had an attitude when I asked for more.
She didn’t come check on us at all, but then tried to act like a model waitress after our talk with the manager. Too late for that! Overall, I would NEVER go back there and suggest that you don’t either!

A good place for drinks, but my advice is to not eat here.
For being the highlight of the restaurant, the bar is small. They drink menu features tequila, and has some custom recipes. They also have a couple of Texas beers on draft to keep with the tex-​mex theme of the place. The drinks were well made, and the beer was of appropriate temperature for the styles.
The food is not on par with those drinks. The appetizers I ordered were the brushfire shrimp and the Tex Mex Crispy rolls. The shrimp tasted heavily of the fryer; that heavy flavor that comes from old, dirty oil. That is unfortunate as the spicy sauce they used could have made this a quite tasty appetizer. The crispy rolls also tasted of the old oil. I think that their friers may not be at the correct temperature as they were heavily saturated and dripping of oil.
For an entrée I had the Stevie Ray Combo. The beans and rice were good, as well as being the only edible part of the plate. The enchilada and taco looked and tasted old. Nothing on the plate was hot except for the beans and rice. Everything else just tasted like day old leftovers. The words rubbery and greasy are about the only two I can use to describe the meal.
Service was okay. The young lady who serves me took the order, delivered apps, and brought the check. It felt more like she was going through a checklist than trying to ensure a pleasant doing experience. I was not asked if I would like an additional drink from the bar, nor was I offered a dessert menu.
I will not be returning to the Austin Grill unless I’m in the area and crave a margarita. The food really was quite bad.

I had a great time there during the DC Bourbon Bash. I had the knob creek smoked maple bourbon. It was smooth and had a little smoke to it but it was ok. It was the last place during my tour of bourbon delight.
The bartender, Lynn, took great care. I ordered 2 Samuel Adams Boston Lagers, Enchiladas, and Con Queso and chips. The food and beer were great and I also ordered A Long Island Iced Tea. It was perfect. Lynn put a hurtn’ on that drink. She nailed it. And use the correct glass. Lynn, I will be back.
I had fun meeting and talking with people, living here and from out of state. Austin is a great place to eat, drink, mingle and drink.

Came here for brunch and had a weird opening interaction. We were being tourists in the early part of the morning so we weren’t overly dressed up. Nothing too shabby but comfortable clothes for walking all over DC in the heat. This isn’t the Ritz Carlton either so we figured we were OK. We walked in and kinda received an abrupt «The bar is that way» and a point of the finger from the hostess. Don’t want to hold this against Austin Grill but it certainly soured me a little.
The bartender was awesome and she took really good care of us. She had chips and salsa out to us immediately and they were fantastic. I had the grilled chicken sandwich and it was a good call. It came with bacon, LTO, peppers, and I believe a little bit of Austin-​weirdness. The fries were a perfect compliment. I’d give it a shot if you find your way here…

They boasted the «best brunch in town», which is rather bold in a city laden with brunches.
As soon as we walked in, before we could even say anything, the hostes points and says «The bar’s over there.» Um… rude much? There was one table seated in the regular seating section and several people at the bar. It was just before noon, and they open at 11:00am, so I’m not sure what that was all about.
I had migas, they were pretty good. My favorite was actually the chips and salsa. Although I think they gave us the bottom of the bag of chips — they were all small dime size pieces.
All in all, I don’t know if I’d go back.

Dined here on a pretty calm Saturday night and the great customer service is the only thing keeping me from giving one star. From being sat by a friendly hostess, served by an efficient waitress, to being checked on by an attentive manager, everything went smoothly.
I can’t give a better review because the food just wasn’t very tasty. The queso was just okay, the chips were a bit hard and chewy and because I wasn’t very hungry I just ordered dessert as my main dish and I regretted it. I don’t regret dessert too often but the brownie was overcooked, hard, and crunchy not at all the warm gooey goodness a brownie sundae should be. The chocolate sauce was thin and sparse. I think their cook times just might be off in the kitchen because my husband’s rice was al dente/​crispy-​ugh.
I was so discouraged I didn’t even feel like complaining because I didn’t get the vibe that the kitchen would produce anything better so I didn’t give them a chance to correct the issues but I still want to give an honest review of what I ate. Probably won’t go back, there’s too many TexMex options in the area.

My friends and I stopped by here because we were starving and decided to go into the first place that we saw. We walked in and were greeted by the manager, who was really nice and friendly!
The place was pretty empty so we had no trouble getting seated. I decided to order the chil-​glazed tuna. When asked how I wanted my tuna cooked, I said seared but the server said they can’t do that but they could «put marks» on it, which I didn’t understand. I went with it anyways. The tuna came out and it was fine. It seemed seared to me? Hahah. I also got an order of fries, which were really tasty! I love beer battered fries and they had the perfect crunch to them.
Overall, the place is okay. The service was good, but the food was nothing special. I actually thought it was pretty overpriced for what it was.