When it comes to Austin neighborhoods that have taken a speed run through the gentrification gauntlet, East Austin stands out as the prime example. An area once populated by residential homes and small businesses not designed to attract high-dollar spenders or visiting tourists, it now contains Michelin-recognized restaurants, high-end cocktail bars, chic boutiques, and expensive art galleries. It’s easy to feel like little remains of the area’s neighborly spirit and unpretentious charm when you pass by the glass condos on East Sixth. But Lynny’s, a vintage-inspired diner now open on East 12th, both respects the Eastside’s history and imagines a community-focused future for this trendy part of town.
Lynny’s is the first brick-and-mortar restaurant from Lynn Metcalf and Erin Gentry, both long-term Austin residents who are partners in business and in life. They first launched Lynny’s as a food truck on Gunter in the yard of MASS Gallery, a contemporary art collective that supports queer artists. The food truck – which is still operational – quickly gained a major fan base in the neighborhood for its strong coffee, playful lattes, and excellent buttermilk biscuits.
The interior of Lynny’s feels a bit like Luke’s Diner from Gilmore Girls, but if it was designed entirely by Portlandia characters. Vintage floral wallpaper, vinyl booths, bar stools at the coffee counter, and whimsical, cartoon-inspired murals create a space with genuine warmth and just a touch of kitsch. It’s a pleasant place to spend a sunny Austin morning, and the fact that the small dining space is regularly filled with neighborhood guests is a testament to Lynny’s friendly authenticity. It’s nice to see stylish young couples with small children, groups of twentysomething friends, adult children taking their parents for brunch, and longtime East Austin residents stopping in before work all gathering here happily and comfortably.
The restaurant serves the same menu as the truck, but the larger kitchen and coffee bar enable Lynny’s to add a small but focused wine program. You can order Cava, Gamay, and Chenin Blanc by the glass (along with a few other varietals), but the wine-based cocktails are the more fun move. I particularly enjoyed the Lynny’s spin on Tinto de Verano, a specialty of the Spanish coast that traditionally features red wine and lemon-lime soda. Here, the Tinto contains house-made lemonade topped with a hearty pour of Gamay. I did miss the fizziness of the classic Tinto, but the zippy lemonade and the red fruit-forward Gamay blend nicely for a daytime cocktail that’s very easy to knock back.
This space and its proprietors honor East Austin and have no interest in pushing a bougie agenda.
The espresso at Lynny’s is not for the faint of heart. It’s grown at Gentry’s family coffee ranch in Nayarit, Mexico, and it’s deep, dark, and intense. It’s this serious espresso that keeps the restaurant’s latte menu well-anchored. The Cartoon Latte, which takes its name from the Lucky Charms cereal floating in the milk froth, would be an overly sweet Instagram novelty if not for that powerful base. An offering that shows off the espresso to its fullest effect is the Sidecar, which pairs a single shot with a coupe of Cava. The coffee carries plenty of acidity on its own, so you might assume that the Cava’s tanginess would make for an aggressively sour match. But the wine actually softens the sharper flavor elements of the espresso and provides a harmonious sipping experience.
And now we’ll discuss the must-order item at Lynny’s: the biscuits. Lynny’s centers its menu around biscuits; they can be ordered on their own, as sandwiches, or as elements of specials. One such special, the biscuits and gravy, deserves a permanent position on the menu immediately. The biscuits bring a sweetness and a wonderfully crumbly texture to the plate, and their relatively small size makes this dish a rare and magical thing: a biscuits and gravy entrée that can be easily finished by one person without causing a stomachache. The gravy is smooth, savory, and well-salted, and Lynny’s serves the sausage as a mini-patty rather than crumbling it into the gravy itself. I appreciated this DIY portioning, and the egg on the other biscuit half features slightly crispy edges and a just-past-jammy yolk. Thinly sliced tomato on the plate behind the biscuit and torn parsley over the top bring appealing touches of freshness to this triumphant brunch plate.
The biscuits also shine in Lynny’s All Day breakfast sandwich, a towering stack of egg, sausage or ham, cheese, tomato, and chipotle peppers wedged between each half. That trace of sweetness in the biscuit plays especially well with the smoky spice of the chipotles and the salty cheese, and the garlic-drenched dill pickle spear served alongside adds even more punchy flavor. Lynny’s also offers non-biscuit sandwiches on griddled sourdough; the Ham Slam with egg, ham, cheese, and chipotles and the just-funky-enough Sauerkraut Slam with pickle sauerkraut, Granny Smith apples, and Swiss cheese are particularly strong orders. On the sweet side, the fresh melon salad with honeydew, pecan, and lemon vinaigrette cuts through the heavier dishes like a champ.
Lynny’s keeps things simple and gives the people what they want, and they do so in an environment that feels effortlessly welcoming. This space and its proprietors honor East Austin and have no interest in pushing a bougie agenda, and it’s this embrace of the neighborhood that will hopefully keep Lynny’s in business for years to come. Dining at Lynny’s reminded me of why I love Austin so much … an appropriate message to take away at this time, since I have a big announcement to make. This will be my final review as The Austin Chronicle’s food critic, as I’m going to be primarily relocating to Los Angeles right after the first of the year. It has been the greatest joy and honor of my career to share my restaurant experiences with you, and I thank the Austin culinary community from the bottom of my heart for your incredible hospitality, your creativity, and your delicious dishes.
Austin, you’re the best, and I’ll be back to see you very soon.
This article appears in January 9 • 2026.