Last week I went out with my Godmother, who I am living with. She was kid free that evening and wanted to try one of the many gluten free restaurants in Austin with me. Based on what time we got out of the house and proximity to our house we decided on Odd Duck.
Odd Duck is an Austin favorite serving farm to table fare. They started out as a food truck and now have a brick and mortar on South Lamar Boulevard.
So we got to the restaurant and went in. They told us that without a reservation it would be about a 45 minute wait. We were both excited about the restaurant, so we stayed and waited it out. So maybe before you go do make sure to get a reservation.
One of the many cool things about this restaurant is they had a waitress going around taking drink orders for people waiting. We both ordered a drink off the menu, all of which were a bit wacky and Odd Duck creations. Mine was called the Draft Paloma. It was the closest thing to a margarita I could get and most of the other options had alcohols that I tend to not like. I was very impressed with my drink and would get it again.
They do rotate their menu seasonally so you may go multiple times and have different options each time. This occurs for the drink menu as well.
It did not take the whole estimated 45 minutes for us to get seated.
We got seated at the bar and were helped pretty quickly. One of the cool parts about sitting at the bar is that they have an open kitchen. We sat and watched how the food was getting prepared. I liked that aspect and the transparency it shows. They want their customers to be able to see how their food is handled.
So I asked for a gluten free menu and she asked me if I had celiac. They modified the gluten free menu to have it celiac safe for anyone that is super sensitive. I thought this was absolutely amazing because many people do not go to those measures. Most people list which things are gluten free and then put the disclaimer that it could potentially be cross contaminated. The fact that they take care to make sure their food is safe for us with dietary restrictions makes me want to continue going back and supporting their business.
So we were deciding on what we were going to get, and we both were thinking the pork for our entree. Instead of us both getting pork and that being the only thing we had for our meal we decided to share that and get two appetizers. We got the grilled carrots and the roasted sweet potatoes.
Getting all three of these was a great decision. In our opinion it was the best way to go about it. All of it was so delicious and you could tell that they used quality ingredients by how well the final product turned out.
The funniest part is cooked carrots, and sweet potatoes are not my favorites by any means. But the flavors that they had in each of these dishes worked so well together that I did enjoy them, and would suggest them.
The pork was tender and juicy and I just did not want to stop eating it.
By the end of our meal we were both very full and decided to skip dessert, although they did have gluten free dessert options that sounded pretty good.
In conclusion, I think Odd Duck is definitely a must try if you are gluten free and in Austin for any reason. It is a bit pricey, but the quality of the ingredients and the care they take to keep us safe is worth it in my mind. I mean come on they have a celiac specific menu, who else does that.
So take my word for it and check out Odd Duck, you will not regret it.
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