Bartlett's

Bartlett's, previously Houston's, has been serving fine food in Austin since 1990. In 2010, the owner of the Austin location Tim Bartlett took the Austin location independent and renamed it Bartlett's. Sadly Tim died at the early age of 61 in 2013, and after a couple of ownership changes, the restaurant has made few changes and the current chef Arik has worked with Bartlett's for years prior to becoming Executive Chef. The food is always great; everything on the menu is well thought out and well executed with quality ingredients to work with. In the very rare instance that something goes wrong, believe me Bartlett's will make it right - and then some - example below. The food is heavy on the meat side, with some outstanding salads, but they're all paired with some sort of protein. So vegetarians, you'll be happy with some of the appetizers as well as the sides and of course salads minus the protein. It's not like you won't be eating well.We ordered the spinach and artichoke dip as an appetizer, and it is outstanding. The artichoke dip is creamy and mixed with spinach, a hint of garlic, some sour cream and Reggiano cheese. The artichoke leaves were fresh and easy to eat.Also ordered the tortilla soup - don't miss it. It comes with chicken breast cut up and the broth is thick and cheesy with tortilla strips and avocado slices on top. This is not your typical soupy chicken tortilla soup, it's a thick and hearty chicken tortilla soup.The salads are also outstanding, of note is the Grilled Chicken Salad and the Asian Noodle Salad with Beef Tenderloin. All the meats are grilled over an open flame as opposed to frying, which adds an outstanding hearty taste for every dish. The Grilled Chicken Salad has charbroiled chicken breast, thinly sliced on top of mixed greens with a honey lime vinaigrette and peanut sauce dressing with tortilla chips on top. Wow. First time I ever ate this salad I sat at the bar and ordered one and it was so good I actually ordered and ate another one. I think they serve it in heaven and you never get full. Same with the Asian Noodle Salad - the dressing is spot on, the beef tenderloin prepared perfectly and mixed well with the thick noodles in the salad. The salad has mango, peanuts, avocado, Thai herbs and an Asian dressing. You can order either of these dishes with or without protein. For dinner, I ordered the 100 Hour Marinated Ribeye and my dining companion ordered the Applewood Smoked Pork Chip. The 100hr Marinated Ribeye is one of the best steaks I've ever eaten. The ribeye is a thin cut, and at 14oz plenty to eat but not too much. The marinade has pineapple, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic and is great. Even though it's marinated for 100 hours, it does not break down the protein in the steak and it's still meaty. There's a little note on the menu about this steak that they only make so many and when they are sold out, they are gone. I have been to Bartlett's once way too late for my normal dining pleasure (about 8:30PM), and I was told that they just sold out for the evening ...horrors! I jokingly asked if they had a 90 hour marinated ribeye available...ha-ha, no. But the manager came over in the middle of our meal to apologize and asked how our dinner was and of course it was great and gave me a card for a free 100 hour marinated ribeye the next time I came in. Now that's class and that service.The Applewood Smoked Pork Chop was also outstanding, brined in orange and vanilla mixture, and served with a delicious red onion jam. All entrees are served with sides, and there is no issue with substitutions. As a matter of fact, I ordered a side salad for my ribeye and I asked for the grilled chicken salad without the chicken as the greens and dressing are great. There are several desserts on the menu as well as a secret hot fudge sundae, which is seasonal. If it's in stock, ask for it. You get a huge bowl of ice cream with sundae fixings and a pitcher of hot fudge. The Apple Walnut Cobbler is also outstanding, served warm with vanilla ice cream. The cobbler is not too thick and the apples are sautéed in a brown sugar mixture. The Key Lime Pie is also great, tart and bright. The ambience at Bartlett's is very clubby and romantic. It has dark brown woods, with a softly lit dining space and soft lit lights at every table. The dining room is so well appointed that unlike most other restaurants where you can't seem to hear yourself think when it's full, Bartlett's is just the opposite. The bar can get loud because it gets full while people are waiting for dinner, but that's what a bar is.The service was brisk and professional with at least three people waiting on you at your table.I highly recommend Bartlett's for a special occasion or any occasion where you want to splurge ; it's a bit on the pricey side, but I'm a firm believer in ' you get what you pay for', and the value for what you pay at Bartlett's is outstanding.

I wanted to love it here, but we didn't. The artichoke dip was great and I loved that it came with salsa. Between two of us we got the world famous ribeye and the au jus sandwich. I got some special veggies (corn and peas with a mint dressing). Unfortunately, my food arrived and the sandwich was not even warm. The prime rib was fine, but the temperature of it took away from the experience. I also had four bites of the ribeye and it was pure gristle, so I unfortunately didn't love that. I have heard so many good things about Bartlett's over the years, and I wanted to love it, but it really missed the mark for our first visit here.

Long a staple of North Central Austin, Bartlett's was a date-night choice before a Broadway in Austin show. Known for their steaks and prime rib, that was the choice for the evening. Prime rib was beautifully medium rare (12oz cut), but the star of the show was the Grilled Artichokes. Charred on the outside, almost creamy on the inside, with an accompanying remoulade sauce. Could have used a slice of lemon to add some acid to them, and perhaps a little salt, but that's easy enough to do at the table.Our server was in training that night, so no deductions for this, but "accompaniments" weren't served with the dishes: the mashed potatoes had no butter and none was brought with it, and the remoulade and horse radish for the prime rib weren't brought until asked, either. That's just learning what to serve, and it's partially on the person at the expediter role to ensure. It was very easily corrected, and it's just part of learning the service pattern as a new server.For the price, the prime rib should include at least one other side, a small amount of asparagus or mushrooms, as the potatoes are very heavy and something to cut the balance between heavy starch and protein/fat would be appreciated.All in all, an adequate dinner and someplace we'd come back to if we needed a known-good, but nothing memorable (which in some cases can be a good thing).

Having never been to Bartlett's, my husband suggested it as they are "famous for good steaks and prime rib" and who doesn't love a good cut of meat?We did make reservations for a Sunday evening so were able to be seated right away, unlike those without reservations who were told that the wait was 45 min to an hour.Our waitperson was new and in training so gets extra grace because we've all been the new kid trying to figure things out. They were friendly albeit a bit lost and confused but with more training, I can see that they might become an asset to the establishment. The person doing the training, the one she was shadowing, offered little support or guidance from our view and that did her a great disservice in my opinion.We ordered the Grilled Artichokes and honestly, these were the highlight of the evening, although we had to flag down another waitperson for the remoulade listed as the accompaniment as the server who delivered our chokes failed to bring it and our server was no where to be seen.In fact, our server never returned to our table the entire time we were enjoying our appetizer and we had to flag her down just to place our entree order.Going with the Roasted Prime Rib seemed like the right choice. After all, it's what they are apparently known for and the menu describing a Rosemary salt crust, garlic mashed potatoes and au jus sounded delicious.It was underwhelming to say the least. There was very little flavor in any of the meal, save the horseradish sauce on the side. I did add copious amounts of salt and pepper to my own dish but there was no saving the au just which tasted incredibly diluted like something you might serve to someone who has a cold and needs just a hint of flavor to drink their fluids.Rosemary itself is such a powerful herb and I got no taste of it at all throughout the meal. and the "Garlic Mashed potatoes" were akin to something that might have been brought to a family gathering and left sitting out a bit too long. They weren't cold exactly, but they lacked flavor and the consistency I'd expect from a fresh side so I expect they had been sitting out and rewarmed a few times for our meal.To be fair, it wasn't horrible. It was edible and I was hungry, but it wasn't worthy of the price point and I've definitely had superior as more affordable restaurants.There was nothing inspiring about their desert options either so we opted to make our own desert at home. Was it the worst restaurant we've been to? Nope. Will we make an effort to return? Also no.

My absolute fav restaurant. My Birthday Restaurant. My date with myself restaurant. My watch sports restaurant. I literally don't eat all day before coming here for dinner. Best Salads and I love the chef salad with buttermilk garlic dressing! note: does have egg, bacon, cheese, and croutons. This is not the time for healthy with this salad. Spinach artichoke dip with that roasted salsa is all the yumminess and more. So creamy & spinach full. Left overs of this are delish in eggs.The pear Martini is phenomenal!! Decadent but also cold and dirty.The bartenders know what's up. The female bartenders are so magically talented here. You have to just watch them as they flow with the technique & showmanship. Although I prefer to sit at the bar booths, I love the open kitchen which is visible from the dinning room tables. Top quality meat; ground daily for the burgers. The Hickory burger is my go to with the loaded baked potato. Vibe is always on point whether that be the low key candles as romantic, the fire pit on a cold evening, or game night at the bar (there is one TV that is old & color is bad which is a vibe in itself). For some odd reason I hope they never upgrade. In the winter you can dine outside by the warm cozy fire. Or after dinner, I like to sit out and watch the sunset to finish my drink. The service is outstanding & team oriented to ensure customers are satisfied and "attended" to. The personalities of those coming in is fun to observe. Including myself as I always have "watchers" given I am sports tuned in, eat extremely slow to fully enjoy each bite, hyper focused on food flavors, and a generally silent vocally person with a very loud energy who LOVES to dine alone. I have heard tables trying to figure me out. I do the same with them; it's fun!Sometimes I get invited to join them :-)To end your meal, you must have the Sundae. My only improvement feedback for Bartlett's to move the Sundae back to a regular on the menu. For some reason it was moved to every other month. I only go when the month they have the Sundae. Right now that is January, March, May, you get the every other month thing. You can't go wrong with a meal here and drinks on the patio after to extend your evening. I always spend $130 on just myself inclusive of pre-dinner & after dinner drinks, app, meal, and dessert. Basically all full courses. It is worth every single drip of beverage and bite of the meal. Enjoy!

Ordered takeout for our New Year's Eve dinner. The process was seamless - you can order online through Toast - there's a link from the website. They even show the estimated wait time which for NYE was 45-55 minutes which was understandable.We ordered the steak tartar, the noodle salad, and of course the grilled artichokes.Everything was packed nicely and there's a dedicated carry out counter so you don't have to check in with the host.First time ordering the steak tartare and it was everything. They focused on the taste of the meat and just enough capers and red onion. It also came with a nice sambal that was tangy with just a tad of heat. The noodle salad was good with a sweet and savory dressing. I added seared tuna but it wasn't necessary. As always the grilled artichokes are divine and even as a to go item. It has a very tasty smoke flavor and the remoulade is a perfect dipping sauce.Good take out experience though I can't wait to dine in again as well.

The service was immediate and Phil was super nice and helpful.At 11AM on a Thursday, the place was pretty packed and the medium age was about 55. Smells from the kitchen waft over and immediate make you salivate as soon as you walk into the restaurant.The food was pretty good; I wouldn't rate anything above a 7.5. It was a solid meal (is it better than a reasonable steakhouse, I cannot say it is). **Apple Cobbler was the best thing on the menu!

Bartletts never disappoints, always consistent with there food being absolutely delicious. Service is very good most of the time, and the ambiance is great! I love going for brunch and sitting at the bar, I like how it's a bit more on the casual side while serving fine dining meals. I'm a huge fan of getting a steak there they come with this super juicy tomato crusted in cheese and it's really just spectacular.

We had a great time visiting Bartlett's for the first time yesterday. The food, the service and the ambiance were all 5 stars. Make sure to try out their BBQ ribs and artichoke tip. We will be coming back soon!

I love everything about Bartlett's. The atmosphere is dimly lit and swanky, love the huge wood beams on the ceiling. Right when you walk in you smell the deliciousness of food being grilled over mesquite. Everything we've had here has been wonderful but the grilled artichoke app is beyond great. The prime rib is always perfectly cooked and the Asian salad is excellent. Also great drinks and service. Can't recommend Bartlett's enough.