Destination Dining Downtown

Perhaps there is no better example of the dramatic change in Austin's urban core than the Austonian condo tower. At 56 floors, the sleek edifice is the tallest residential building in the state, with 188 condos ranging in price from $500,000 to just over $7 million. Homesteads with such price tags are promoted as representing Downtown Austin living at its finest, complete with elegant amenities, breathtaking Hill Country views, and proximity to business, shopping, and entertainment opportunities. As an added enhancement, the Austonian also offers in-house dining and drinking establishments that aspire to local and national prominence. Executive Chef David Bull and his partners in the La Corsha Restaurant Group hired the cream of Austin's crop of cooks, mixologists, sommeliers, and servers to run the Austonian's three street-level venues. Congress restaurant, Bar Congress, and Second Bar + Kitchen opened just in time to usher in 2011 and have generated plenty of positive buzz since the outset. We assigned reviewers Claudia Alarcón, Wes Marshall, and Rachel Feit to render their impressions of the Austonian's dining destinations – quite possibly the cutting edge of Downtown Austin's future.