Best Italian Food in Austin: Intero

I’m so excited to have Intero in Austin! It was opened by wife/husband team Krystal and Ian a few months ago, but I just ventured out to try it last weekend on a date night with Nate. It’s an Italian restaurant focused on using the whole ingredient, as well as a chocolate shop with goodies you can buy for dessert or to-go.

Ian has worked as a chef in Austin for years at places like Jeffrey’s and Vespaio, and he was on Austin’s “30 under 30” list in 2014. Krystal has owned her own chocolate company for about a decade and she’s pumped to finally have her own store front.

This is what I love about Intero:

They’re focused on using the whole animal and the whole produce, which is a pretty unique concept in restaurants. There’s so much waste in the restaurant industry, so the fact that Intero is trying to use all the odds and ends in the menu instead of tossing them is pretty cool. And they do it so beautifully!
It’s in the old Bud’s Motorcycles on E Cesar Chavez. Talk about the coolest building repurposing! The restaurant looks gorgeous.
The cocktails are awesome. We tried the hopped negroni (pretty subtle hop flavor from the Grand Hops Liqueur) and the Get Spritz’d or Die Trying (house limoncello, fennel, grapefruit, prosecco), and both were lovely.
The homemade pasta is wonderful….but I need to try more. I ordered the gnocchi for dinner, and it was a fluffy and pillowy, exactly how gnocchi should taste. Next time I go, I want to try a couple different pasta plates. Much can be said about an Italian restaurant based on their homemade pasta dishes….
They have a beautiful outdoor patio! If outdoor dining is your jam, Intero would be a fun date night spot for you.

Cheers to the good life, haha!

The menu changes nightly, so I’m not listing any “recommended items to order, although I will say that both the house made ricotta with sourdough flat bread and the dry aged duck breast with turnip torta were heavenly. I’d order them again in a heart beat.