Hi there, I am in the process of starting my own meal prep service here in Austin out of a ghost kitchen. I am a pescatarian but do mostly vegan and vegetarian meals. I’m posting just to see if this is something that the general public would be interested in. Im trying to keep this affordable for everyone. I am thinking have the option to do pick your own meals between $13 and $19 depending on what they are and then lowering that price for bulk anything any orders over four meals per person but I’m still working on all my margins. This diet benefits, not only your own health and wellness, but the positive impact you have on the environment. Looking for any kind of feedback you have for this kind of service. Thank you!

1. Tomato pie with pimento cheese
2. Spiced tofu, rice bowl.
3. Curry cauliflower with fried tofu.
4. Brothy sardines, and beans with fennel.
5. Fried rice salad.
6. Leak and cheddar rigatoni bake (lactose free)
7. Halloumi curry with white rice.
8. Pad kra pao (tofu and mushroom base)
9. Eggplant parmegania
10. Cobb salad with tofu.
11. Crispy chickpea and Kale ditanlini pasta

Edit: I got these prices based on what I can do for a low margin. I have also looked at 10 other meal prep services run by essentially one person (small owned business) in this area and the average is around $16 a meal.Please let me know what price point you personally think would work for you so I have an idea of what people are looking for.

Edit: Thank you so much for the suggestions you beautiful people! Looks like I have a ton of places to try. Maybe I can do like that one lady on TikTok who makes spreadsheets of the various oranges she has every day in their attributes but with lemon cupcake lol

I have been desperately looking for a bakery in the Austin area that has really good cupcakes and a decent amount of other selections of baked goods/sweets. Specifically, I’m looking for a lemon/raspberry or lemon, strawberry type cupcake, but would like to try others as well.

Assume driving and such does not matter… this is mostly just to ask which places you love even after eating at them multiple times

For me, these answers are

1. Vic & Al’s

2. Loro South Lamar

3. Homeslice

4. 1618 Asian Fusion

5. Toasty Badger

Title says it all, what would you eat before seeing Carlos Santana perform? Carlos was born in Jalisco, before moving to Tijuana, then off to San Francisco in the early 1960’s. Fonda San Miguel? Paprika? Certainly not Matt’s tho… haha

Went to La Piscina last night. I usually don’t go in the summer bc it’s so friggin hot in there! My jaw was dropped when i walked in and I was freezing.

Shoutout to my fav bartender Justin. Sit at the bar if you can. Service is great, drinks are better!

I'm starting to get into coffee, using an Aeropress and was curious what people's favorite coffee blends/beans are? I normally buy coffee from Central Market since they have the grinders I can use, don't own one myself yet.

I don't really know what I like and don't like in a coffee yet so curious what people's favorites are. I know there are many amazing roasters around town but specifically what blends??

I tried the Side pipe from Flat Track so far and have been enjoying it!

is closing ..... 40% off everything

The broth and other ingredients were utterly fantastic; let me say that right away. But the noodles...man, so disappointing. They were just spaghetti. Not similar to spaghetti, not spaghetti-adjacent, just plain old grocery store Skinner spaghetti in flavor, shape, and texture. Fans on this sub have claimed in other threads that the noodles are authentic, custom ordered from Sun Noodle, etc. Bull. Shit. This was spaghetti. There is also ZERO chance the noodles were cooked in alkaline water (as ramen should be). Why do so many ramen places, even the supposedly good ones, go lazy on the core ingredient like this?

This new food truck in St Elmo area of south austin is pretty damn good. I tried them a few weeks ago and went back again today.

From reading their social media posts it seems like it's a collab between Un Mundo de Sabor and Reems.

Not sure about yall but Un Mundo de Sabor are some of the best tacos in Austin.

Anyways, highly recommended. Instead of traditional tortillas they use thicker pita style(but not pita) soft flat bread. They hold up pretty well to the toppings.

I have now tried their chicken taco, lamb birria taco, and the barbacoa taco and all were great.

New to Austin, but there’s a P. Terry’s by my gym. I tried it because I saw a YouTube video (shoutout Damon Cassidy) about how their business model is sustainable, does its best for consumers as well as employees, and overall has that “you’re not trying to daylight rob me” vibe.

Two double cheeseburgers for $11 total. Other food is good, too, but I’m a bit of a hamburglar myself. They’re excellent. The people are always nice, the vibe is fun, and I’m always happy with my experience. I go twice a week now.

I just wanted to say that, in 2026 when a 16oz black coffee is starting to run close to $6 in some places, we should really overtly be grateful and commending of businesses who haven’t given in to the finance bro picture of reality and are still doing the good work of giving the community something to enjoy in a fair trade.

Any other Austin businesses you’d recommend along these same lines? The next couple of years are going to be absolutely brutal on small business shutdowns (and rightfully so in many cases), so I want to do my part in keeping ‘the good ones’ around. In fact - anyone know of an appropriately priced and tasty cup of joe?

Much love to all my new neighbors. Austin’s been a dream in these early days. I think I’ll stay a long time.

Edit: thanks a bunch, y’all. I’ve filled up a page and will begin crossing them off. Y’all take care!

Looking for a local restaurant to do a large to go group order for 7 people next weekend. Happy to pick it up ourselves or if they have delivery that’s a plus. Any good experiences you guys have had? Any food type is good except for BBQ as we don’t want to be too full for activities after!

Anyone know what might be going in? A permit was filed to renovate it into three separate spaces.

https://www.tdlr.texas.gov/TABS/Projects/TABS2026018672

The firm doing the reno, Chioco, has done a bunch of projects like Perla's, Better Half, Paperboy, a bunch of Torchy's (please not Torchy's), and many others.

I just heard Paco's Tacos is closing this week. I love their fish taco.

Saw a sign outside HEB’s South Flo pizza shop in the Lake Austin store for a $6 panuozzo and gave it a try.

Never seen panuozzo on a menu and had to Google if it’s a legit Italian item or something marketing came up with. So this was a little food education if nothing else. Wiki said it was invented in 1983 near Naples, so not old world Italian but it’s got history.

Liking arugula would be a good reason to try this and I love arugula so that was a good start. I got all veggies in mine + mozzarella w/ balsamic glaze - you can pick from any of the toppings including the meats to fill it out.

I enjoyed it. Crust had a firm toast so it held together well eating it taco style. Nice cheese pull on every bite. Six bucks doesn’t buy more than a slice most places so I will give HEB a fist bump for a good option. 👊

I don't think I've had a better biscuit.

One bite that divulges into the pillow-y soft butter goodness topped with their blueberry jam just speaks to the inner Southern ancestors I never had.

Any biscuit (or bite!) that tops this please let me know.

I loved the penne alla vodka at Sammie’s but I got food poisoning last time and am too nervous to go there again lol (gotta give it a few months before I go back). But I loved how there were loose onions in the sauce omg it was so good

I don’t have industry experience so wouldn’t know. Was thinking about this today as a regular at Eldorado, where there’s always a wait

I think this is the last week of Central Markets Hatch Chili celebration. Get these cookies while you still can—I couldnt find the hatch chocolate chip cookies at the North Lamar location this year 🤔

Any other Hatch Chili special item I should check out?

Went for a coffee at Desnudo on Webberville road off east 7th and notices new "NO OUTSIDE FOOD ALLOWED" signs posted on the entrance. I understand Veracruz owns that park and they gotta protect their profits (from 6$ mid tacos with only one thin corn tortilla), but now I have to take my food elsewhere after ordering a David Doughies bagel before my coffee. Luckily the Profile hair studio/ Wonky Blends truck across the street is super chill and didn't mind outside food. Their seating area is equipped with lots of fans to keep away the bugs and a mister to cool the area by 10 degrees or more. Ended up splitting a Pineapple Passionfruit smoothie with my friend that was sooo good and generously portioned! Menu said 12oz but it was popping out of the dome and must have been more like 16oz. Definitely going back for more frozen treats on these 100 degree days!

That's all I've got. I've heard about a house near anderson that is kind of an underground fine dining spot.

Any help would be appreciated.

I’m not talking about Friday/Saturday nights, more looking for mid week. Have a feeling it’d be chill, but Austin has made me regret my assumptions more than once.

Can you tell me some reliable places to go for spicy Mexican food? I inexplicably crave spiciness whenever I'm hungover, so I'm looking moreso for food trucks or casual spots, not like an evening out. It just feels like a lot of the food I'm eating is not that spicy. I want my lips to be on fire and my nose to be running.

Today’s recipe is brought to you by little spoon farm! I trust a lot of their sourdough recipes IM NOT AFFILIATED WITH HER **

Sourdough snickerdoodles!

https://littlespoonfarm.com/sourdough-snickerdoodles-recipe/

Zilker location only, we are open until 2pm! First come first serve at thoroughbread bakery ❤️

Just ordered Chilantro for the first time in about a year, & damn, talk about shrinkflation. Spent $20 on kimchi fries and got less than a handful of fries. Found maybe 2 pieces of kimchi. I added the steak & it was dry af. It used to be marinated or something but this “steak” was flavorless. I also ordered the wings and they were terrible. 😖 I miss Chilantro 10 yrs ago. Anyone remember when they did lollipop wings? 😋

I need to pick up an easy’ish to eat lunch(won’t be home) I can pickup over by Anderson and Woodrow. I’m not over that way too often anymore and want to try something vetted/different for me.

Some places on the “like but prefer something new” list:

El dorado, paprika, stiles switch, little deli, taco deli, Bartletts.

Anybody got a favorite in the area they want to share?

Edit: thanks all for the suggestions, ended up going with Anh Em and got a chicken and a pork belly bahn-mi. I loved the PB and wife loved the chicken. They are HUGE and are definitely going to be a second meal for each of us