APT 115

EDIT To inform people that the lovely feedbacks and photos of food no longer reflect the present experience offered at APT 115. The Food here is no longer a tiny bit good as it was when chef Zhuo was there. I can no longer recommend this spot but will keep my previous experience as a testament to how fabulous the previous’ chefs food was and how incredibly unique and tasty the experience USED to be. Apt 115 WAS by all accounts a fabulous experience. Welcoming and friendly staff. An eclectic (in the very best way Austin has to offer) interior. But the food and wine pairing are where I found myself absolutely spell bound. I had the tasting here and I am awestruck and the cohesiveness, diversity and charm of the menu. It’s incredible. well worth going the day without eating just to savor every bite! I’m so glad I’ve found this absolute gem. There’s so many exciting and wonderful things awaiting your palette here.

I have been here numerous times and each time I am hesitant to come back because I think to myself “how can this possibly beat the wonderful experience I has last time?”. But without a doubt they always manage to one up themselves. Inventive menu, eclectic wine selection and exceptional service + neighbor hood vibe. Top 3 restaurant in Austin. Makes you feel like you are at home.

Apt 115 used to be one of the hidden secrets of Austin - fine dining food at casual restaurant prices. I'd been multiple times during the previous chef's tenure and used to rave about it to friends and locals. Unfortunately, with the departure of Chef Charles Zhou, this can no longer be said to be the case. The meal was mightily disappointing - a singular gulf (!?) oyster, a tasty tuna sashimi, the worst prawn cocktail I've ever had, an average duck leg (that frankly wasn't deboned correctly), a cheese board that is worse than the ones you can pick up off the shelf of Specs and a half grapefruit with sugar on top and a weird mint goats cheese. I've frankly never started laughing halfway during a meal due to the sheer lunacy of the food I was being served for the price. Oh, and what a long service it was - for 6 courses of which 5 weren't even cooked it took 3 hours! I highly recommend that anyone who enjoys good food to stay away from Apt 115. What used to be a shining star in the Austin dining scene is now a black hole.

BEWARE!!! The food was absolutely amazing! The customer service was also great. First, we found hair in a few of our courses. The chef looked stressed enough to where we didn’t want to have it remade and throw everything off. We were willing to ignore this until we got the bill with an automatic tip… I was a little thrown off and confused about paying before we even stepped foot into the restaurant. I’ve never done that before! I would also like to warn people that they do automatically force you to tip 20%. We are not from Austin so we were not aware of this! We had to pre-pay $260 to hold our reservation and then at the end of our meal we got another bill for a whopping $145 extra. We budget to the dollar and I about passed out when I saw that. Overall great place, but you can 100% pay significantly less at a Michelin starred restaurant in Europe. Literally going to a 2 starred restaurant in Rome and it’s 200€ per person, which is cheaper than what we paid here…

Had a really good experience here with my wife around 4-5 months ago. The wine was out of this world. I know next to nothing about different wine varieties so I let our waiter make the decisions and they did a great job. I do know what good wine tastes like and the wine here was out of this world and innovative. Literally the best wine I've had in Austin at any restaurant, although I'm not an expert. The dishes were small but all tasted good and were innovative. Service was very good, we were a bit early and they accommodated us quickly. I've recommended this place to a friend from Dallas and his wife who loves wine and good food and I bet they visit in the future. We'll hopefully be back again soon.

Amazing wine experts. Bring some friends and get ready to explore fine wine. Highly recommend coming here to drink delicious wine.

DON’T TRUST THE ONLINE RESERVATION PLATFORM. I paid the reservation in their online platform, Tock, and they accidentally forgot to include a credit to my account for dinner and overcharged me $130. Unfortunately I didn’t notice until I had already signed and paid. When I confronted them about the discrepancy at the end of dinner, they had me wait with my guests at the restaurant for about 30 minutes while they tried to get their machine working to get me a refund. Manager apologized profusely and said the system was not working and they were unable to refund me but promised it would be taken care of. Unfortunately that was never done and now I am having to dispute the charge through my credit card company… and APT 119 is denying my claims, and even sent in evidence of my signed receipt as proof. This was months ago and I usually get irritated by reviews like this one that don’t speak to the food/atmosphere, but I just want everyone to know you have to watch your reciept like a hawk if you made the online reservation. Make sure your credit gets applied and don’t trust them if they say they will get the refund back to you. The food was good and the waiters were very nice.

Had an absolutely amazing evening here! Some of the best wines I've ever had at any restaurant across the world - not just Austin - and it's combined with sensational food which is clearly created from a wellspring of passion and genius. You are soothed by incredibly cool surroundings with beautiful seating, wall adornments, and a vinyl collection of the highest caliber. Did I mention how wonderful and funny and delightful all the staff are? This unassuming little place is my new favorite restaurant in Austin. Just the absolute best place you can spend an evening in Austin!

Updating with another review. This place always is getting better--hard to do when you're at the top already. We had a tuna crudo w roe that was off the chart--even better than the murder point oysters--and the duck confit was incredible. Closing w a Solera Champagne (harvest 2012) to close w dessert put a smile on my wife's face. 5 stars aren't enough. ____________________________________ My reviews seem to disappear over time but this establishment is always fabulous and another great review is overdue! I just tasted a Fennel Confit that was both savory and addictive. A cheese plate is coming, and the Jamon (Spain) selections look decadent. We also ordered the rabbit--the menu changes all the time, and I've never had the same thing twice, but we've come here for years for the amazingy curated wine selection. I honestly could not speak more highly of any place for wine and small plates in an intimate setting. The staff are incredibly friendly and knowledgeable and the experience would not be complete without them. New Years Eve here is incredible, by the way, even if I'm off-topic--there is always a bomb wine and bubbles tasting. 5 STARS!