Bistro 88

This restaurant is closed as of July 26. 2011 more

Great Food and teh best bistro in this part of town. more

I can't believe I didnt know about Bistro 88 sooner! Once inside the doors of Bistro 88 you feel like you have been transported to another time. The art and decor is very relaxing! They have great sushi and great food and the service cannot be beat! The staff definately makes sure you are being taken care of, Micheal was our waiter and he was great. Best service I ever had! My daughter and I visited Bistro 88 on Saturday and were both VERY satisfied with every bite of our meal. My favorite rolls are the Spicey Sara and the Tiger's Eye! I've also had the Jalapeno Chicken which was very tasty. Bistro 88 has become our new favorite place to go! Great Food and service. Pros: Freshest Sushi Cons: I wish I new about them long ago more

We love Bistro 88 because the service is great and the kitchen is always consistent. There are few dishes that keep us coming back (miso sea bass, spicy sara roll, carrot jalapeno soup) but we haven't found a menu item we didn't like, so far. Great atmosphere. The waitstaff has turned us on to a number of great wines we now buy for home. We often bring out-of-town visitors here, and they are never disappointed. Pros: varied menu with an Asian influence Cons: can't afford to buy the art on the walls more

My first impression was feeling as though I was in a Sean Connery Bond movie, in Hawaii. The Japanese artwork, some black and white photos, the plants, music and just the overall decor and feeling. \r It is a romantic, comfortable, restaurant. the food is well presented, with generous portions and the service is spot on. The wines are eclectic and the Sushi bar is wonderfuly fresh and well prepared-yummy!!!\r And, you will not go wrong with anything from the main menu. Everything is great.Too much to mention. We will go back again, and again. The desserts are wonderful too! \r And, to top it off you won't spend your paycheck. Well priced compared to a lot of other restaurants in Austin.\r There is also ample parking so you don't have to fight downtown.\r Actually, Bistro 88 is way better than pretty much all of the restaurants downtown. For ambience, service, food, etc.....Wondeful experience time and time again. Consistently great. \r Cheers guys for making it memorable...We will pass on the news. Pros: Service, food, Ambience, music Cons: None that I was aware of more

The service last night was great. The waiter gave excellent recommendations for the wine pairing with the food and was attentive without being overbearing. Went back this past weekend (August 2009). Loved the Sushi Tuna Tacos. Relatives in from out of town. They loved it! It is always a great feeling when relatives from out of town like where you take them. We ordered from different parts of the menu and everything was great. Pros: Great Sushi, Seafood, & Steak Cons: None - more

My S.O. and I dropped by the Bistro at a family member's recommendation. We couldn't decide between the sushi bar and the dining room, but eventually we opted for the plush chairs and white tablecloths in the main room (you can get sushi anywhere in the place). There are, incidentally, some pretty excellent paintings on the walls, which don't exactly make sense alongside the blue aquariums of fake jellyfish and waterfalls, but whatever. My S.O. and I both get easily overwhelmed by the size of entrees, and the Bistro's menu was so varied and long, we decided it would be a great chance to taste a lot of little things. We started backwards, in a way, moving from potstickers to the lamb chops appetizer (accompanied by a good glass of cab), then switching to the sushi menu (and sauv blanc). Apologies to food purists who would have reversed the order, but we just ordered what sounded good as we felt like it, and man, it was good that way. I especially recommend the lamb (!!!) and the spicy Sarah roll. Our server, Michael, was extremely helpful and supportive of our unorthodox ordering. He was knowledgeable about the food and happy to offer recommendations and wine pairings and entertaining commentary. All in all, it was a satisfying experience: some of the best sushi I've had in Austin and tucked away in such a surprising place. If you're tired of fighting for a seat downtown, I recommend giving Bistro a try. Pros: Menu variety, good food, fine art, personable servers. Cons: The waterfalls and fake jellyfish. What gives? more

The food is fantastic, service is very nice, the ambience is very romantic and quiet. I reserved a table and inivited several friends to dinner. Everything went smooth. When we get there, the table was ready for us at a corner of the main dinning room. Among my friends, one does not like meat and another one does not like vegetables. At the end all of them enjoyed their food.\r \r The dish is like French style with some Chinese influence, with a long Sushi menu. The list of entries could be a little longer though.\r \r Overall, I think this is definitly one of the few best restraurants I have been to inside US. Pros: super delicious food, good service, nice ambience Cons: entry menu is a little short more

Love the lamb chops. Love the owner who is almost always at the hostess desk ready to greet you with a charming smile and a friendly handshake. And -- as always -- the wine was delicious. Forget The Grove outside the loop, it'll be a hamburger joint in 6 months. Pros: Gorgeous, Romantic, and Customers are appreciated. Cons: Those darn robot fish keep drowning. more

The Chilean Sea Bass (Hong Kong Style) was pretty good but the mushroom risotto was bland and mushy. It had no texture at all and the accompanying eggplant side tasted more like an oil-filled sponge than flash-fried. At least they got the fish right. It was moist, flaky and seasoned perfectly. I had a few rolls of sushi but the rice was not like any rice used in Tokyo. The flavor and texture was off and I don't even think the proper grain was used. Stick with the cooked foods selection. more

My guests and I were looking very forward to dining at Bistro 88. We could not have been more disappointed with the food and service. This is not a 4 star restaurant! On Friday, August 10, we arrived around 8 pm and although there was some confusion about our reservation, we were seated promptly. And there we sat for a long time unable to get service of any kind. We honestly had to stop a passing waiter to get our drink order and then it took another 15 minutes for us to get our cocktails. It took another 15 minutes to get anyone to talk to us about the food and specails. It took another 15 minutes for anyone to take our order. So nearly an hour passed before we could even have our food order taken. It took nearly thirty minutes before our first course arrived. In all this time, we saw our waiter for a total of two minutes, maybe. Our dishes were not as they were described by our hurried waiter. Food presentation was awful. The items were tossed about the plate in a mess. No one checked on us. It was a painful and wasted night as we saw it. Our patronage clearly was not appreciated. When we were leaving I looked for anyone in charge to have a word. We were told that he was busy, but if I didn't mind waiting... And that was the problem. When I go out to eat, and pay what I did, I expect to be waited on, not the other way around. I do not recommend this place to anyone. Cons: Awful Service. Bad Attitude. Not fine cuisine. Difficult to find. more

First off, we love the food. My husband and I always get the Sea Bass. He gets the Miso style and I get the Hong Kong style. One is marinated and the other steamed. Absolutely fantastic! It is so wonderful that we cannot bring ourselves to try much else. But, we have sampled the sushi and although we are new to it, novices if you will, we have been very pleased. In fact it was an excellent waiter at Bistro 88 who not only steered us right on the Sea Bass but he also turned us onto the sushi. But, sadly, the service has declined lately. After reading the previous review, I have to agree. ( Actually, it was reading that review that prompted me to put in our two cents worth.) The last few times we have eaten there, our servers have not been helpful nor attentive. I'd just like to say that good or excellent service when paired with good or excellent food makes for a dining experience. Lately, we just go and ""eat"" our Sea Bass. We have not had the dining experience you would get from a better restaurant and that we have had in the past at Bistro 88. I guess getting your Sea Bass to go is always an option. Pros: Sea Bass, Fresh Fish and Sushi, Cons: Bad, Slow Service more

Sushi is fantastic. Daniel does an amazing job. Very fresh and generous servings. Kitchen food was up to the usual high standards. My only complaint this time is with the service. Although we had not been back since around Valentines day, we were regular customers all through 2006. We were very sad to see that our favorite waiter was no longer there. So, instead of the usual excellent service with competent recommendations on food, sushi and wine, we had to make due with an obviously young, inexperienced and unmotivated server. It made a huge difference in our experience. Our waitress knew absolutely nothing about wine and practically nothing about sushi. She could only tell us what she liked and smile. Now, I will say that she was polite and very pretty. On the other hand, I think she knew that she was not up to the task and therefore kind of avoided us. Other people seemed to be delivering our food throughout the evening while our server spent much her time away talking to her coworkers at the bar. This is the exact opposite of the service we had come to expect at Bistro 88. Our waiter in the past was incredible. He had a commanding knowledge of wines; was an expert of sushi; and knew nearly every detail of what was on the menu. I just took it for granted that to be able to work at Bistro 88 meant that you had to be of that caliber. On this occasion, it was like going from a Four Season's level to a Chili's restaurant level in service. Dirty plates from the previous courses cluttered the table until we had to flag someone down to remove them. We had to pour our own wine. Used silver was left on the table, and new forks and knives were never brought out. That type of stuff. I truly hope the owners address their serious problem in service. The young girl serving us was not qualified to represent the excellent food and reputation of Bistro 88. It makes one of my favorite spots a ""below average"" experience. more

Considering I was a tourist from Los Angeles, I only expected Austin to have great bbq and nothing else. I was more than pleasantly surprised to discover this gem of a restaurant that rivals the best asian fusion/sushi restaurants in LA! I highly recommend any of the appetizers including the smoked salmon asparagus roll, baked avocado, and the seared scallops and tuna tartar. The sashimi and sushi were incredibly fresh and delicious. If I'm ever back in Austin, this is one restaurant I have to come back to. more

I can't believe some of these bad reviews!!! Are they from competitors? Grumpy people? I just posted to my blog that we went to Bistro 88 over the weekend and I have to applaud them for *consistently* exceeding my dining expectations. I don't think I've ever ordered anything here that wasn't ""lick the plate"" good. We tried their sushi on Sat. ""Sara's Choice"" and it was fresh, spicy and delicious. I can't bring myself to order anything but the Miso Sea Bass for an entree. It is served with green beans and a roasted tomato and rice and all are covered in an balsamic caramel sweet syrup. It is addictive. My other favorites are their house salad because they put a similar balsamic dressing on there, the potstickers and their creme brulee! Even though it's in a strip mall and has some weird decorating, the food will impress. We always go here for special occasions and consider it the best restaurant in Austin. Pros: Miso Sea Bass, Great Service, Consistent Quality Cons: Weird decorating and odd location more

Bistro 88 seems to be on the radar as far as fine-dining restarants in Austin, but I was always leary of the strip mall location. But I was ready to overlook the tacky decor for a good meal-- let's just say the food did not make up for the wall-to-wall mirror nor the ""bubble fountain"" that is displayed prominently in the middle of the main dining room. We decided to order from the ""tasting"" menu; what came was a complete disspointment. We ordered four items and each one was worse than the last. The ""crab"" cakes were especially bad, lacking flavor and had the wierdest chewy texture. The smoked salmon wrap was really fishy and the stuffed avocado was greasy ... I could go on, but you get the idea. For close to $60 per person, you could say we left there completetely turned off. Pros: decent service Cons: bad food, expensive a more

Do Not, I Repeat, Do Not get those crab rolls. They were terrible. My boyfriend and I went based on a ""good review."" The food was not up to par in the least. We ordered seperate dishes but our sides were the same, I find that very disturbing, and not creative for a ""fine dining"" experience, and the food was chilly. I would avoid the Bistro, it was not worth the money they charged. I do not recommend this resturaunt. Cons: Food more

First off, Bistro 88 had been in our top five favorite restaurants in Austin for awhile. But my husband and I noticed that Bistro 88 is getting away from its fine dining roots. The service is now sloppy and rushed. It's all about sales. Our waiter went on and on about wine, but really said and knew little. We passed, so our dinner was served before we had finished our salads! Also, they now sell sushi, which really really isn't their strong suite. There are at least two dozen places in Austin that does it better, so why go that route? (To make more money?) Also, if you're going to serve sushi, the waiter's should at least have some knowledge about it. Our server knew nothing about sushi ettiquette or the Japanese terms for the sushi, and didn't seem to care. Bistro 88 should get back to it roots. Pros: Prawns Cons: Sushi, Service more

Bistro88 is one of my favortie restaurant in Austin. Their food is great, and they always provide the professional service that you cannot get anywhere else in Austin. Only bad thing is, you gotta tip extra because they are that good! Pork chop and seafood bisque are my favorite dishes. They took out one of my other favorite, prawn with mango champaigne sauce, from the menu. They bring samples for dinner and that tastes great as well. I do not recommend bistro trio or sesame shrimp. Pros: Service, Food, Pork Chop more

Having only been in Austin for 2 years, we had tried many restaurants in the local area near Lakeway. This restaurant had always had an intruguing menu and is something we always wanted to try. We decided to try Bistro 88 for lunch today. Let me just say that the meal was one of the most delightful we've had in Austin. Perfect preperation, presentation, quality of ingredients and service was all outstanding. I can equate very few restaurants in Austin to this fine establishment. more