Dai Due goes down as one of my all time favorites in Austin. I’ve eaten both breakfast and dinner here more times than I can remember, and every experience is perfection. It’s one of my favorite restaurants because I’ve never seen anything like it, either in- or outside of Austin!
The rustic restaurant started as a pop-up supper club and a butcher stand at a farmers market. In 2014, it turned into a brick-and-mortar restaurant with accompanying butcher shop in east Austin. Their food is locally sourced….including the meat! Expect to see entire smoked hogs wheeled through the butcher shop, chicken being chopped to sell, and guests coming and going to buy duck lard and various cuts of meat to take home and cook for dinner.
I recently stopped in to try a special on their menu: the 8 Oz. Dry-Aged Wagyu Cheeseburger with Cheddar, Pickles and Sauce Especial. This is a Tuesday-only menu item.
If you’re in the dark about Wagyu beef (I was….), here’s why it’s so awesome: Wagyu is a Japanese beef cattle breed that produces highly marbled (aka extra fatty) beef. But it’s not just the amount of fat; it’s the type of fat that this beef contains. This fat has a higher melting point and higher mono-unsaturated to saturated fat ratio, meaning that it doesn’t just taste better….it’s also healthier! #winning. (Go to wagyu.org to read find out more about Wagyu than you’d ever care to know…)
This meat is harder to find and more expensive than the typical ground beef you would find in a burger, so it’s a special treat that Dai Due is offering on Tuesdays! Everyone in Austin needs to try this burger.
Another word to the wise: if you see anything with the phrase “whipped lard” on the menu while dining at Dai Due, order it!
While I love a good glass of wine with dinner, one of my favorite things to get at Dai Due is a house made soda. Every time I go they’re different, but this bright red drink was the “Beet Red Soda” flavored with anise. It had a spicy flavor, similar to Big Red gum!
The Fried Rabbit Livers with Bread and Butter Jalepno Aioli were a fun and unexpected thing to try! Because Dai Due is also a butcher shop, they always have creative items on the menu (like rabbit livers!) But let’s face it…anything that’s fried will be pretty tasty. ; )
Be sure to stop on the way out the door at their shop where you can buy certain canned and pickled items, as well as selections from the butcher shop. One of my favorites in my fridge right now: Dai Due’s red serrano hot sauce!
Dai Due
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