Name: Enoteca Vespaio
Telephone: (512) 441-7672

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Found this place while showing a friend visiting from Korea around the first weekend of ACL. The place has a great vibe to it, casual and modern. We ordered the Margherita Pizza and Risotto balls between us. The pizza, thin crust with olive oil was a great treat from the heat of the street we escaped from. The risotto balls were also very good. As good as the food was, and it was indeed good, the service is what really shined. Class act and appreciated.
Michael B. , 9 years ago
I’m trying to eat “clean” which means I starve myself from gluten, cheese and sugar and then celebrate a weeks worth of healthy meal choices with a big heapin’ plate of manicotti and a cold Peroni from Enoteca.

This place never disappoints. 100% deliciousness. I never go anywhere else for Italian food.

Thank you Enoteca for filling my belly up with happiness again!
Kimi J. , 9 years ago
Try Enoteca Vespaio, little brother to next door upscale Vespaio. A group of 6 of us initially tried to go to the latter on a Friday night but were disappointed to learn of the 45 minute wait. We tried Enoteca next door and were immediately able to be seated on the outdoor side patio. I split a chopped salad with my wife and had the veal ravioli and both were nice. Service was very knowledgeable and accommodating; we had several custom orders in our group and a glass of wine that wasn’t to our liking and our server handled it well.

According to our waiter, the only difference between this place and next-door Vespaio is the wood-fired oven in the back. Both restaurants order food items together for a bulk discount and the kitchens are connected. However, only Vespaio gets the giant oven so if you’re craving a wood-fired pizza or steak you know where to go. Enoteca still has pizzas, but they aren’t wood-fired.

The other notable thing about Enoteca is the contrast between the inside and outside. Inside the restaurant it’s dark, sparsely occupied, and rather plain. Outside was a completely full and well-lit patio. On a soft summer night I challenge you to find a better spot to take in South Congress. Dogs are allowed on the patio (whatever). Two areas for improvement would some ivy on the patio wall and some soft Italian mood music.
William J. , 9 years ago
This is just my absolute favorite restaurant in Austin. I’ve been there 20+ times for brunch, lunch, and dinner. Only once or twice was the pasta less than perfect (but still pretty good.) Everything is so tasty and made from scratch.

My favorite things to get are the Suppli, the Melanzana & Zucchini, and the Margherita pizza. So good! For brunch I always stick with the Frittella pancakes, eggs, and their caramelized onion-yukon gold potatoes. Great ambience at all times. I love this place!

Vespaio definitely reminds me of authentic Italian pasta. Once I tried this amazing Pear Ravioli in Florence and I always hope to see it as a special on Vespaio’s menu because I think they are the only restaurant in Austin who could do that dish justice. So if anyone important reads this, please consider my request!
Lisa G. , 9 years ago
We had a 5 star experience on our first visit to Enoteca Vespaio – great food, excellent service, all around great experience.

We went in around 9 on a Tuesday night. The restaurant was fairly empty and we were seated immediately. The restaurant is pretty casual and has a nice feel. Definitely not a fancy place. They have a very nice wine Italian wine selection, not huge but a good range of options. I ordered a glass of Barbera wine. It was excellent.

At our waiter’s suggestion, we ordered the rigatoni polpette, melanzane & zucchini, and a pizzeta that was on the specials menu. They were all excellent and interesting dishes. The rigatoni is a large bowl of polpette (meatballs) and rigatoni pasta in a marinara sauce, covered with mozzarella that has been melted by baking the dish. Our waitress, Jessie, called it a ‘man’s dish’ and she was right. It has about 6 meatballs that are very moist and flavorful. The menu says the dish has arrabiata, which refers to an Italian spiced marinara sauce. The sauce on this dish has a slightly spicy flavor that really complements the pork meatballs. Wow, this was a great dish and a lot of food. I ended up taking 3 meatballs and some pasta home with me.

The melanzane & zuchhini was also excellent. The menu describes the dish as ‘crispy eggplant & zucchini w/ arrabiata & melted fresh mozzarella served w/ spaghetti aglio olio’. The ‘crispy’ part comes from a nice coating on the eggplant (melanzane) that is lightly fried. This is not the often overdone, heavy breading that comes on eggplant dishes at many Austin Italian restaurants. The eggplant and zucchini are layered in a pile that’s covered with melted mozzarella. Wow, was it good. The spaghetti agli olio was heavy on the garlic, which was great and really complemented the stack of veggies. Another great dish.

My daughter got the pizza special that had veal sausage, carmelized onions, apples and mozzarella. Another great dish. The crust is Neapolitan style, so thin and crispy, yet still chewy. A really nice combination of sweet and salty.

Even though we were full, we decided we had to try dessert. There is a dessert case at the entrance to the restaurant that draws you in to some amazing options. We decided to go for some lighter options – tira misu, lemon panna cotta and a polenta cookie. The thing I like about Italian desserts is they are not quite so heavy and sweet as other pastries and desserts. The options we chose did not disappoint. All were excellent and we cleaned our plates.

For all this goodness, we spent about $75 plus tip. It was so worth it. In addition to all the great food, our waitress, Jessie, was great. All her suggestions were spot on. And the overall service was great. We will definitely go back to Enoteca Vespaio again…and again and again!
Mike S. , 9 years ago

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Enoteca Vespaio

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Enoteca Vespaio

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