14 Romantic Restaurants for a Perfect Valentine’s Day Dinner

For the romantically-inclined among us, deciding what to do on the special day can be an overwhelming prospect. There are just so many options to choose from! Do we splurge out on a fancy meal? Stick to candy and Champagne?

Whatever your little heart desires, the odds are good that it’s offered at one of the many Austin restaurants with specials for the lucky in love, the future Mrs. and Mrs., and those of us who, to be honest, will probably get stood up by our Hinge dates for being waaaay too extra about that second outing.

Reservations highly recommended. For more things to do on the big day, visit our Valentine's Day listings.

---

At Emmer & Rye, executive chef Kevin Fink is offering a special prix fixe dinner menu for $100 per person with an additional optional wine pairing. The menu begins with a choice between oysters with citrus mignonette, White Sonora tart with chicken liver mousse and strawberry, a Carolina Gold rice cracker with lamb tartare and mint, and rye toast with caviar and chives. For entrees, there are glam choices like New York Strip, red snapper, or a vegetarian ravioli with ricotta, arugula, and lemon. For dessert, choose between caramel chocolate mousse with strawberry, toasted pecans, and brioche, and the adventurous lover’s option of orange sorbet with red beet vinegar ice, salted cream, and candied beets.

---

Mattie’s at Green Pastures is also offering a few holiday specials, like a $120 porterhouse steak for two, served with lobster mac & cheese, biscuit crumble, grilled asparagus, preserved lemon sauce béarnaise, and housemade steak sauce.

---

Guests ordering from the regular Odd Duck menu will be sent home with a rose and sweets on V-day, and can also purchase table service with their Grand Cru champagne for $160 (usually $185).

---

Barley Swine will be hosting an enhanced tasting menu for $120, plus $65 for beverage pairings. The contents of the menu are tbd, but exciting surprises are sure to abound.

---

Olamaie is offering a three-course set menu for $85 per person, featuring a choice between two dishes off the regular menu for each course. And homemade biscuits, of course. There will also be speciality cocktails and beverage pairings available.

---

The Peached Tortilla will be running a special $45 four-course menu, with $38 optional wine pairing, or more if you want to try one of their featured cocktails, like the Heat of the Moment, with pineapple tarragon and serrano-infused tequila, lime, and simple syrup. The dinner will showcase a number of dishes from chef Eric Silverstein's upcoming cookbook, The Peached Tortilla: Modern Asian Comfort Food from Tokyo to Texas. End the evening on a sweet note with a Vietnamese coffee sundae or a fried bao sandwich with peach ice cream and shiso salt, paired with Charles de Fere Jean-Louis Brut.

---

The Oaxacan cuisine superstars at El Naranjo will be serving a $52 five-course tasting menu including dishes like seared scallops in an herbal mole verde, Mexican-style beef tartare, roasted cauliflower with almond mole, and chocolate and raspberry lava cake.

---

La Volpe’s Will Eason is serving up a $75 menu beginning with a Prosecco toast and continuing with four-courses blending traditional Italian and Southern flavors. Mains include lobster risotto with butter leeks, seared scallops, and feta cream, beef tenderloin gnocchi with herb marinade, brandy demiglace, cipollini onions, bleu cheese, and wild spinach, and a lamb lollipop with whipped truffle purple potato, and broccolini in an 18-year balsamic glaze.

---

Pitchfork Pretty is celebrating with a special $75 seven-course menu, including a complimentary round of bubbles. After being sent all the bites listed on the menu, couples will have the option to choose three appetizers from each of the categories, plus one entree each. Think dishes like caviar with smoked egg yolk, cultured cream, and potato panisse, scallop with frozen radish, buckwheat and tangerine, or beef tongue with pickles, onions, white bread and sauce. Finish off with a grand finale of every dessert on the menu (to share, of course).

---

Second Bar + Kitchen Domain Northside is offering a weekend dinner special from Feb. 14-16, a $75 four-course menu with roasted red beet hummus to share, poached lobster and herb salad, black truffle-potato ravioli, a choice of braised lamb osso bucco or Texas red fish, and gorgonzola dolce or chocolate and red raspberry torte for dessert.

---

Monger’s is offering a seafood intensive $60 three-course meal. For entrees, choose between crab stuffed flounder with leeks and herbs, ora king salmon in a potato crust with red chard and grain mustard jus, roasted sea bass in truffle dashi with blistered tomatoes and wilted pea greens, or Surf & Turf. Top it off with chocolate cream pie, pineapple upside cake with coconut ice cream, or vanilla panna cotta with seasonal fruit.

---

At The Carillon they’re throwing a three-course prix fixe menu with dishes like coconut lobster bisque and seared loup de mer for $75, plus optional wine pairings for $25 from Sommelier Susie Scott at that most romantic of all locations: the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center.

---

Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille will be offering a $60 for the early birds, $75 after 6pm, meat-centric three-course prix fixe menu with their classic wedge salad and nine entrée options, including the filet Perry. They’ll be offering specials on their limited production Big Red for $35 per glass or $140 per bottle.

---

Geraldine’s is celebrating V-day with live music from musical and romantic duo Beth // James who are choosing to celebrate their bond by crooning at you while you enjoy specials supplementing the regular menu, including foie gras and wild mushroom flatbread with basil pesto, caramelized apple, and a preserved Meyer lemon relish.

---