The Wayback Cafe Reviews

The service was excellent and very accommodating, but the food was just average. This is a small place with about eight tables. It has a nice view of the back yard and the cabins look great. As a new place, I would have thought that the owner should visit each of the tables; she did not. She was talking to a table when we entered and then disappeared. This should be lesson 101 in starting a new restaurant. We don't like "hot", but our shrimp and grits could have used additional spice.

We had a wonderful time at the Wayback, staying several nights in the well appointed cottages and eating several meals in the delicious cafe. The grounds are beautiful and peaceful and inviting. The food at the cafe is tasty and very well prepared and presented. The cocktail selection is well thought out and innovative. But better than all these things is the staff. They are incredibly inviting, fun, engaging, and professional. We so enjoyed literally every single person we dealt with and were sad to tell them goodbye. Culture like this can make a place and it’s not accident at the Wayback!

We love going to the WayBack! The atmosphere is relaxing and the food is amazing. Such a wonderful place for dinner and drinks. We go often and it is always a great experience! We will go back again for sure!

I was trying to find a way to send something special to a small group of gals in Austin since I was unable to attend due to COVID. Sydney was very accommodating, and the drinks were delicious. I was happy with the service and was able to complete everything over the phone.

Serene, relaxed, little paradise. Beautiful cottages set in a private setting among trees with a wonderful small restaurant with farm to table meals. Close to everything in and around Austin ( lakes, downtown, hiking,, UT, shopping...), but so private and quite. Owners make sure you are taken care of and have a great experience. Highly recommend!

Made reservations via OpenTable for a birthday celebration. There was only a large table outside on the patio with people and two people inside. There were two waitress and one manager. Our waitress took our drink order and we asked to start with the meatballs. The guys can beers came quickly while the ladies waited on their wine and cocktails. Then two large groups came in and we lost our waitress. When the manager came over to see how we were we asked if we could order. She took our order. Everyone on the table ordered and then the manager told us about the steak special. Bragging about some new chef from Chicago. As such, two people changed their order. She didn't ask how they wanted their steak which I thought was odd. A couple of minutes later the waitress came and asked for the chef. The birthday girl ordered the pork chops. The menu stated pork chop, heirloom tomatoes with spinach. When the food showed up the heirloom tomatoes had pesto on them No where was pesto listed on the menu. On our OpenTable profile it states we have a nut allergy in our party. After trying to wave down the waitress, my husband got up and practically followed her to the kitchen where he asked if it was pesto on the plate. The waitress disagreed with him that there were nuts on the dish it is pesto. The chef or his line help was like there are nuts in the pesto. Of course, they took the food back and remade it. The rest of our table could see the kitchen react poorly to having to remake the meal. There is a small curtain to the kitchen but you can still see in where we sat. The other three ate their entrees while the birthday girl waited. New plate came with no pesto but all of it was over salted and the pork was NOT cooked. The chef must have been in such a hurry he seared the pork and added salt as a substitute for pesto for flavor. Of course, they didn't charge us for her meal and offered us free desert. Well, I hope you would have anyway since it is her birthday. The second waitress not our original waitress really made the birthday girl feel bad like it was her fault she didn't express she had a nut allergy. Really why don't you put on the menu the dish has pesto. Can we agree that it is at least 50/50 blame? It was extremely rude. Then to have the food come out under cooked. It was just too much. No mention was every made about the birthday the reason we were there. Not charging for a meal that was under cooked isn't as great as they tried to make it. She was still hungry. Providing her a desert for messing up her meal when you should give her a desert for her birthday. Everyone else food was fine but nothing to write home about. For the cost really not worth what you pay. There are better restaurants in town for the price point of The Wayback. The service is not very professional for the price point either. When the waitress took our starter plates away she put the silver ware back on the table. Either leave the starter plate so the silver ware doesn't have to touch the table or bring us fresh cutlery. However, whatever you do don't touch the cutlery. Then you add the issue with parking. They have hand made signs to show you were to park in the gravel as their paved lot is obviously not large enough for their restaurant to be full and the cottages. For me too many negatives to even give a second shot. Price, parking, rude staff, non detail menu and lack of professional service. If you have an allergy be sure to ask what is on the plate as they do not list everything on the menu. Such a shame we wanted to at least like it as Bee Caves Road needs more good places. How a place performs when things go badly shows their professionalism, sadly The Wayback didn't perform well.

The food and atmosphere at this restaurant is wonderful--much like a Cape Cod bistro--or the private back lawn of your favorite outdoor wedding reception venue. A waiter told us that the vast majority of guests staying at the cottages on the premises rely on the restaurant for all 3 daily meals, which is understandable given the delicious food and superior service. This is the kind of place you drive by, dismissing it as a dining option, but definitely worth trying for dinner on the lawn, porch (recommended) or inside. Very cool atmosphere. The only thing keeping this from a higher rating is that the parking is REALLY a problem. With nowhere to park, cars overflow onto Bee Caves Road, and a member of my party fell in the dark and hurt themselves while walking through the rutted gravel to our car since there is inadequate lighting. Since the shoulder is not designed for this, it is crumbling and I also worried my car would bottom out while getting in and out. The waiters and hostess are aware of this and are very accomodating at offering up advice on where to wedge your car in...but this is a structural problem and not a staffing one...and it needs to be fixed before someone gets badly hurt or worse.

First time coming here and we will definitely be back. We are new to the area and always looking for a good dining place. We came across this restaurant on Yelp and decided to walk in. It was a Sunday morning/afternoon and we did not have a reservation but they had open seating at the bar. Our drink orders were taken immediately. To start off, we had the "Morning Bun", a cinnamon roll with roasted pecans on the side. The cinnamon bun was warm and freshly baked. Quite delicious especially with the pecans. Highly recommend and it's enough for two, really even for three people if you just want something sweet to start with. I had the Omelet and my friend had the Avocado Toast. The omelet came with spinach, bacon, goat cheese, and potatoes on the side. I ordered mine without bacon and added a side of sourdough toast. I have to say this was one of the BEST breakfasts I have ever had! The omelet was hot and fresh and the ingredients were amazing. And since I have been in Austin, I have not been able to find good sourdough bread but this was the best sourdough bread I have had since moving here. The ambiance is quite nice inside but they also have outdoor patio seating. We opted to set indoors at the bar, but given the size, it can get quite loud and I would likely go for outdoor seating next time. The service was okay; I did read other reviews about the service and while we didn't have a problem getting service, we were sitting right at the bar. But I did see customers leave their tables just to come up and ask for something they had ordered but hadn't received. I like iced tea and they brew their fresh. But I was given my tea in a small tumbler, like something you would make an old fashioned in. They have large "beer can" style glasses and my friend received her cold coffee in the bigger glass. I went through the tiny glass of iced tea almost as soon as the server brought it out. She never offered to refill and I had to ask for more. Why wouldn't you serve iced tea in a normal sized glass like any other dining establishment? I asked if they could make my omelet with egg whites and was told "no". No egg whites? I have been cooking for more than 40 years and even cooked in a few nice restaurants. It takes only SECONDS to separate yolk from the whites. If your cooks don't know how, I'm happy to come by and show them. I have never heard of such a thing. You can't possibly be so busy that you can't take the 10 extra seconds it takes - and honestly, it really only takes about 5 seconds. And I was told no "special requests". I just wanted to add mushrooms to the omelet. Sad that I can't add something simple like mushrooms and you can't do egg whites. Last, we had no idea that reservations were needed. We were offered immediate seating at the bar or outside; we opted for the bar. However, when we arrived, all tables but one were empty. When we inquired about this, we were told the tables were all reserved for people coming in soon. We dined for quite a long time, and when we left, two of the tables were still empty. Sitting at the bar is very comfortable, but it would have been nice if we could have had one of the tables that remained empty the entire time we were there. But again, amazing food and we are looking forward to a return visit to try lunch and dinner and I highly recommend for breakfast.

We dined here tonight and it was a mildly disappointing meal. My wife did enjoy the Blackened Redfish with Crab meat, she called it "good". My daughter characterized her squash as something she could make at home easily by baking a squash and putting some Ragu spaghetti sauce on it. My 44 Farms Cheeseburger was, well, a cheeseburger. Hat Creek does a better burger. None of the dishes were anything special or something we would be inspired to order again. Service was decent although I believe the server was new since he didn't know the menu. The kitchen was fast which is always nice. The place was extremely noisy with a large party of women having a night out next too us. At $85 with tax and tip it was at best a below average value meal.

I stayed with several girlfriends at the Wayback for a girls' getaway and we dined at the restaurant one night. The cottages and the grounds are lovely, but it would be nice to have furniture on the porch of the cottage so that was usable space as well. The furnishings in the cottage are gorgeous, but not conducive to getting really comfy. The coffee table was a large white ottoman and we were nervous to open and drink red wine. The restaurant was nice and the food was fine but nothing memorable. Our main complaint was that we didn't feel welcome or comfortable there. We found out they were having a singer-songwriter night the evening we were having dinner in the restaurant, and so we asked if we could move our table outside so we could enjoy the music. When we were seated though, everyone was very quiet to listen to the soft music and so we realized we would be better inside. We asked if we could move inside so we could talk freely, but were told the inside was now full (even though we never saw that to be the case while we were there). Our waitress assured us the musicians would be amped so we would be able to talk, but even though the amp was turned on, we still got dirty looks from the owners/managers for the rest of our dinner even though we whispered the whole meal. I've been to plenty of restaurants where a musician was playing and I have never felt as uncomfortable as this for just trying to have a conversation at the table. If they had told us that was how it would be we would have happily gone someplace else for dinner. Overall a beautiful property but I won't be back because I didn't feel welcome.

We stayed one night for a couples get away. We arrived at 2:30pm and had drinks and the entire staff is great! Drinks are good, breakfast was wonderful. Chef was fantastic. There are a few comments I would like to make about the cabins-- our mattress didn't have a mattress cover, thought that was weird. The room took a long time to cool down but it was 105 degrees so that was the issue I am sure. The TV is as small an iPad, lol. We love to watch movies at night and this wasn't really an option the way they have it set up. Also there was no creamer for the coffee, and their was coffee filters in the room but it was a keruig coffee maker- didn't understand that. The entire property is beautiful and would make a great place for couples, weddings, reunions etc.

We had dinner as a large party here (~12) and both the food and the service were excellent. While the menu is quite limited the stuff on the menu is outstanding. I had the 14 oz Ribeye and it was prepared perfectly and I'm told that the Halibut was excellent. The Cheese and Meat appetizer plates are real good but a bit pricey. We were seated outside which is okay this time of the year. That likely won't work in July and August. One whine is they won't keep separate checks. They will divide the check equally for up to six parties which is not fair to the parties who aren't drinking wine or dine lite...

We went for a birthday celebration brunch and they didn't even acknowledge it. Not even happy birthday to our two guests that had a birthday. You could easily elevate this experience by welcoming your guests and doing a little something to make them feel special. Staff is not well trained.

Quaint little cottages with tiny pool.. rented cottage 8, super cute and bed was very comfortable. Pool is very small and not very exciting. We were supposed to come from Dallas/Austin when the ice storm hit so we had to reschedule and they charged us an additional $250 for the date change. We did not eat at the restaurant.

My wife and I just ate at the WayBack. It was so nice being at a restaurant that was truly local from the owners to where the food is sourced. It was very comfortable and the food was delicious. We will be back very soon with friends and family. Actually, I'll probably be back tomorrow morning to grab a coffee at the drive thru coffee house on-site. Very thankful for this addition to the area!

This is a new venue to Austin, much needed in this area. The Cafe is great, with an evolving menu and good wine list. The food is delicious, inventive and locally sourced. I understand there is also pizza, if the kids are not quite so inventive. It is set among the trees with a patio and view, and also grassy areas with tables. It is open for breakfast lunch and dinner, and also has a DRIVE-THRU for coffee/espresso drinks (thanks for that!). The service is very good, local and Austin-friendly. The Wayback also has hotel boutique cottages (peeked in and they are adorable and comfy), and a saltwater pool. We totally loved hanging out on a Sunday afternoon, and will definitely be back. Looking forward to spring and summer on the patio.

My husband and I escaped to The Wayback for a mid-week staycation to celebrate his birthday. We had the best experience during our stay! Our cabin was so cute! Bigger, honestly, than I expected from the pictures. Everything was stylish and clean. We had a cabin just for two - and it's not meant to sit inside and socialize. There's a bed, a desk and a lounge chair - which was great for us. If you want to hang out - there's lots of outdoor tables and gathering areas for that. We spent most of our stay by the pool and had a great time. And the cocktails and snacks were great! I loved the Watermelon Margarita, and my husband loved that he could get a cooler of beer on ice! We got the Texas Caviar for a snack and both enjoyed it. Be sure to note their cafe ours - we were there on a weeknight and with their temporary COVID hours the cafe was not serving dinner. We new this in advance though and were able to easily order dinner via Favor. Based on did get to eat and drink, I would love to come back for dinner though! And since our stay was during COVID - I have to say - I felt comfortable the entire time interacting with the staff and on the premises. They were always masked up and gave guests plenty of space!

Met up with friends and family for drinks and dinner before an event. It has a relaxing atmosphere with indoor and outdoor patio seating or you can sit out on the lawn under a tree overlooking a large open lawn. The restaurant has a variety of menu options to choose from. We shared the cheese board as a starter, with four cheeses that change daily. Several in our party had the half chicken and grilled vegetables. All said the chicken was very good and juicy. The vegetables were fresh and cooked perfectly. I shared the grilled cheese on sourdough. I really liked the caramelized onions, nice touch. Great place to relax and have a glass of wine or share a plate. Looking forward to returning and try the desserts.

We rented all 8 cottages for the weekend with 20 friends and it was heavenly. Every cottage was beautiful and so comfortable and appointed to. The staff was so helpful and just the right amount of attention. The food was delicious, the cafe was lovely, the servers exceptional. And, the ice cream is a must try! The pool was perfect to escape the August heat and the grove of oak trees served as the perfect place to hangout and relax. We can't wait to come back and would even stay for a Longhorn Football weekend. The location is absolutely ideal.

The cafe is a cute stop but I can not give this restaurant more than 2 stars. We had a nice birthday lunch planned for my girlfriend and six friends. Food was good, drinks were good, pretty average but the vibe & atmosphere make up for the food. Service slow. I brought 6 cupcakes to celebrate my friend's 50th birthday & was immediately told the charge was $5 per person to serve in the restaurant. Really? After spending hundreds of dollars on an overpriced burger and salad, you are going to nickel & dime me on cupcakes. It's a bad business model and we won't be back. My friend, who's birthday it was, felt a little awkward too. Thanks for that.

We went to the Wayback for dinner. We expected the limited menu and found things we liked, red wine, salad and short ribs. We waited a long time and the the wine was finally delivered and then both the salads and dinners were delivered. While the timing was poor, the food was good to outstanding. The atmosphere was pleasant and not loud.

Food very tasty; picked place due to chef-driven food onsite. Atmosphere okay...seen nicer but also this is conveniently located just in the city. Some highway noise. Smallish but pretty grounds. The place has loads of potential! I realize that with pandemic, service and other things were likely not optimal. Accommodations very nice, clean, room service good. But I would say overpriced for size of the unit.