Castro's Bar And Grill

I found out about this local restaurant in Lakeway through major Restaurant website. I figured it would be great by the nice part of town it is in and the menu seemed so appealing. From the menu I thought it may be similar to a 3 star restaurant. I received a gift certificate as a gift and chose this restaurant off their list of restaurants by zip code. My friend and I arrived on a Wednesday evening around 7:30p.m. for dinner. There were hardly any cars around which was the first bad sign. My friend and I preceded to walk into the entry of this restaurant with not a person in sight to greet us. It smelled SO heavy with cigarette smoke as soon as you walked in. It was horrible! We peaked to the left and saw a few empty booths with no one around. We then preceded to peak to the right and saw a bar with 4 people in the area. There was another little side room to the right with a handful of people at a table...with booths around. No one said hello and welcomed us in. We walked out thinking it was just a bar. I decided to just go back in myself to see if maybe the restaurant was located in another area. This time I walked up to the bar and the bartender said hello. I asked if this particular area was the dining room and she said yes. Enough was said and I walked out and won't ever go back. The food must be amazing because the atmosphere was horrible. I guess thats why no cars were there that evening. I don't see how this place will survive. I called the major Restaurant website I used and explained my experience with my impression of this BAR and she immediately gave me a new $25 gift certificate to a REAL restaurant for free no questions asked! Cons: Doesn't even look like a restaurant, Smoke filled bar, more

The restaruant has fabulous food, but the bar/lounge next door has wonderful sofas and chairs that you can fall back and relax in to smoke a cigar, drink a glass of port or exquisite wine. Free wi-fi is a bonus. A ""coffee shop"" for night owls. Very eclectic mix of all ages. This place is all about fun, networking and hooking up. Pros: Best drinks!!!!!!! Cons: I can't think of any right now. more

You walk in and feel welcomed they have a great little thing going there at this small little place in Lakeway. They have great staff and woderfull food! I highly recomend to go there. We have been going for quite some time and the smoke issue has actually dissapeared. So maybe youshould go try it again. more

honestly i love this place! its cute, everything tastes good, and the service is great. i love their brunch (eggs benedict is a must!) everything they have (that i have tried) is great. i highly recommend this place. its great for families (you can color on the tables). good martinis as well. all though they do have smoking in the bar, there really is not a problem in the dining area. more

Very quaint but a little to smokey for me. Nice people and good service. But you have to like cigarrette smoking to enjoy your experience. Pros: smoking acceptable Cons: smoking acceptable. more

I got a chuckle out of the review complaining about smoke. The reviewer must not have read the huge signs everywhere at Castro Nova stating that the Casbah (the name of their lounge) is a cigar bar...duh..However there are two sides of the lounge which provide a very good smoking barrier if smoke bothers you. There's also an very good ventilation system. Besides that, Cafe Castro Nova is a small, swanky, very well put together restaurant and lounge. The people that run it care for their customers. Food is very well prepared and of high quality. The lounge is one of the best places in Austin to relax, socialize, have a finely crafted cocktail and enjoy a cigar if you will. They occasionally have well selected live music there.\r \r Thank you Castro Nova for running a wonderful establishment and providing a quality experience for your customers. Keep up the great work!\r \r Pros: Great lounge. Great food. Great service. Cons: Hope it stays around for a long while. more

Great Family owned restaurant. Friendly, great food, loved it. Bar area is like you walked into the set of Cheers. Pros: Every wonderful Cons: Price a ""little"" high more

Walked into bar area and we were completely overwhelmed with SMOKE. If enjoying a Cocktail in a bar scene is what you want, this is not the place. We were immediately seated in the restaurant side but the area was much to stiff for us. We will not visit again. Cons: Expensive and Bar Area for SMOKERS ONLY!!! more

I have been coming to this restaurant since they began a year ago and BOY has it changed! At first they had some serious problems, but they have really stepped up to the plate! (Pun intended) The counter service was awful, but now it's table service. The decor has become more intimate and the new lounge?? WOW! Gotta try their Jack Chicken. Pros: Portions Cons: Need more waiters more

Hi. I have been to this place twice and I will NEVER go back. The first time I went with my boss, and they took about 45 minutes to bring us a simple turkey sandwich and a salad. Nothing fancy that should have taken 45 minutes. The next time, we had someone bringing lunch to our office, so she called it in and when she got there she almosted waited 40 minutes for the order. We get an hour lunch and have never had this problem anywhere else. This was horriable. Our visitor was not only an hour late, we had to re-schedule our meeting, and eat throught the rest of our day cause we had waited during our whole lunch. Horriable. I've hear this complaint many other times as well. Pros: Food is ok Cons: Horriable wait time for a simple turkey sandwich more

We came here with a group of about 12 people, and while there were only a max of 3 other tables being served, this apparently completely overwhelmed them. The server spilled red wine on our friend's shirt, forgot to bring out the salad that came out with a steak, and entrees weren't brought out anywhere near the same time. Additionally, they let us know that one of our friend's meal was prepared incorrectly, so she had to wait while the rest of us ate. While they did give our friend $30 cash to replace the shirt and didn't charge her for her meal or any of the drinks she had ordered, this still doesn't excuse the wait staff from the fact that we were at a ""classy"" place and good service is naturally expected. Aside from spilling shirt staining beverages and forgetting to bring food and screwing up people's orders, another down side is the fact that this place ran out of certain food and drink items. Is it just me or should a restaurant be prepared for a dinner rush? On another note, while dining out at this place we heard screaming and yelling coming from the kitchen. Wait staff gone wild video or... inappropriate? You be the judge. \r \r Most of the food was decent but not worth the price, but definitely avoid the jambalaya wrap. The pasta quandary dish was alright. Stay away from the Reuben, the bread is hard and stale. It really is luck of the draw with this place as far as dishes go. Be brave. At least the cheesecake was good :) Pros: Manager will take care of you if you are unsatisfied with your experience. Cheescake is tasty! Cons: Service, sandwiches, wraps more

Period. Seriously. I heard they are getting a mixed beverage license in march....Best restaurant in Lakeway Period. Seriously. Pros: Everything. Cons: Nothing. more

It so about time we had a good breakfast place out here in Lakeway. I've been coming to Cafe C since they opened. As typical with new restaraunts the seem a little clumsy at first but they have definitly found there groove. ;-)\r I think I have had about everthing on the breakfast menu especially the San Tropez Scramble, which I think I've now about 20 times. (is that an addiction?)\r Staff and owner are very friendly. Nice atmosphere. I'm very excited about dinner starting up. Pros: it's all good Cons: service can slow down a bit when its really busy but hey its Lakeway. more

The menu is not your average menu for the area with a few to become seriously infamous. The croissants were delicious and the wait staff is very friendly.\r \r I hope they do well. more

this cafe is awesome the food is even better. great atmosphere with friendly people working there\r makes me want to go back everydaqy either for breakfast or lunch and dinner im told is coming soon!!\r Pros: its all good more

They have 3 salads that are to die for,but my favorite is the spinach salad with sundried tomatoes, mushrooms, pine nuts, and feta cheese, with some kind of balsamic vinegar dressing.It is a must try! more

I loved my Chicken Focaccia Sangwich and i ordered it with garlic fries, which ive never had b4. SOOO GOOD!!! Pros: Garlic Fries!!! Cons: NONE. more

Until recently there has been very few breakfast spots in Lakeway as we all know. I stumbled on this restaurant a few weeks ago and the food is incredible! The service has improved dramatically with the addition of table service in the past few weeks too. You gotta check this place out! Pros: Really good breakfast and lunch, easy parking, good service Cons: When its busy, the kitchen is a little slow. more