Offers meatless and dairy-free food using produce from local area farmers. Has daily specials, sandwiches, plates, desserts, and weekend brunch. Weekday happy hours 3-6pm. Weekend brunch 11am-3pm. Oil free, gluten-free, and soy-free options. Blue-walled interior. Move here in 2012 from E North Loop. Open Mon-Fri 11:00am-10:00pm, Sat-Sun 11:00am-3:00pm.
Category: Vegan, American, Organic, Raw, Juice bar, Beer/Wine, Take-out
Reviews (45)
First Review by pjw2000
Contributions +11
We had a very good dinner - Edit
Great food, a nice selection of beers, mostly regional, and very friendly service. Highly recommended and definitely return on our next visit to Austin.
Contributions +24
One of the best! - Edit
Excellent vegan fare. We came all the way from CT to dine here after seeing recipes in The Happy Cow cookbook.
The Seitan cold cut sandwich was great, just one of many options on the diverse menu. Prices are incredibly cheap and the service is quick and friendly.
Pros: low cost, outdoor seating
Contributions +1418
Comforting Counter Culture - Edit
Deliciously tasty, affordable comfort food, all 100% vegan. Locally sourced ingredients when available. Regular menu enhanced with daily specials. Kids menu, delectable desserts. Beers and wines. Happy hour specials on appetizers, drinks. Clean comfortable space, dine indoors or on patio outside. Very small parking lot, with plenty on street parking on nearby side streets. Friendly, knowledgeable, helpful staff. Non-vegans in our group really enjoyed the food. Recommend Buffalo Mac & cheeze balls for starters, roasted sweet potatoes & beets for a side. Everything was so good, looking forward to next visit to Austin to try more of the food.
Pros: Delicious vegan comfort food, 100% vegan, Friendly knowledgeable staff
Cons: Small parking lot
Contributions +31
Great vegan spot - Edit
Great food. Great atmosphere. Great kombucha. Highly recommended.
Contributions +14
Solid Brunch Spot - Edit
Awesome food, great vibe, super friendly people. All vegan, serves wine & beer but sadly no mimosas. Good kombucha & coffee though! Highly recommend
1 Response
Peanut4 24 Nov 2016 - Sorry you missed it but we DO have mimosas on our menu. You can have them with the Juice Of The Day, Lavender Lemonade or Fresh Orange Juice. We hope you come back and try one (or two:) soon.
Contributions +174
Such good food! - Edit
We tried so many different things and they were all so good. I was especially fond of the "cheese"plate. Very yummy! Very friendly and attentive staff.
We couldn't eat all of our food and got the rest to go :)
Pros: friendly staff , good food, good selection
Contributions +32
awesome spot - Edit
Very good service and food. Nice patio
Contributions +14
An Austin Must! - Edit
This place is amazing! I'd been hankering for some biscuits and gravy and their biscuit and gravy bowl hit the spot. For $7.50 I got so much food and left feeling stuffed. The lavender lemonade was very refreshing.
I had to wait a few minutes for a server to get to me, but it gave me time to look over the menu. Everyone was very friendly.
My only complaint would be that it was a little warm, but it's the middle of the summer and much hotter outside.
Pros: 100% Vegan Locally sourced Friendly Variety of cho
Cons: Just a tad warm during summer
Contributions +53
Disappointing - Edit
I was very excited to go to Counter Culture but was disappointed with the service and quality. I probably won't ever go again (mostly because I no longer live in Austin) and if you're only in Austin for a short time, I would pass on it; however, if you live in Austin or eat strictly raw then try it out, hopefully you'll have a better experience than I did.
Cons: Expensive, Poor Service
1 Response
Peanut4 03 Jun 2016 - Almwyo-
We are sorry to hear about your experience. Our servers are human beings and once in a while they do make a mistake. If you had visited more than once you would see this not a typical event.
Sounds like you are able to make dehydrated flax crackers, paper thin jicama rounds, fermented cashew cheeze and have a high speed blender to make raw desserts. Most people don't though and lucky for us they appreciate and love our food and our small vegan run business.
The pesto rawvioli and bruschetta have pesto in common and that's it. The dishes are clearly written out on our menu. I'm sorry if you missed this or our server didn't go over every item that you ordered.
Our dishes are low in oil and salt, we try to offer healthy vegan food. Our coconut cream pie is date sweetened and a customer favorite. The main two ingredients are real coconut meat and dates.
We source local and organic ingredients as much as possible, compost, reuse and recycle over 98% of our waste (only a small handful of restaurants in Austin to do this) and pay our staff a livable wage. If we priced our items any lower we could not pay our bills.
Sounds like we just aren't for you and that's OK. We take to heart criticism that we can use and improve ourselves.
Contributions +1669
tasty and friendly - Edit
Great service from very friendly staff. Sitting on the patio in the shade was great. Had the Buffalo Mac and cheeze balls. Good flavor with the ranch. The key lime pie was amazing. one of the best ever
Pros: friendly staff, delicious food , key lime pie!
Contributions +20
ups and downs - Edit
Delicious food. Simply excellent. They are not terribly accommodating when it comes to substitutions or requests. A bit disappointing since I love CC so much.
Also, if you're low fat/oil, this is not the place to eat. They have a couple of E2 options, but not many.
1 Response
Peanut4 06 Jun 2016 - Thanks for your visit. Our kitchen can be very busy and it's hard to accommodate various substitutions or requests without making the kitchen slow down.
We do clearly state which foods are soy, gluten and oil free. We are the only restaurant in Austin that notates E2 items on the menu, which includes 20% of our menu. We do not oil our grill or fry anything in oil. Please ask a server next time you are in and we can go over options if you don't see them.
Contributions +26
delicious ❤️ - Edit
I was in Austin for the day and stopped by here with my boyfriend (carnivore) and got a bangin quesadilla. Highly recommend this place!
Contributions +20
Delicious - Edit
We loved it when it was a food trailer and love it even more now.
Contributions +18
Really good! - Edit
I'm so happy I found this place! I had the beet mushroom walnut burger and it was perfect. Can't wait to come back tomorrow!
Contributions +35
Good food including oil free options and good service. - Edit
I was dining alone so I sat at the counter. The server was very attentive and pleasant. The food was all very good. I especially like that they have oil free options in every category on the menu.
While I enjoyed everything as it was served a couple items would probably be deemed not hot enough by some. Maybe this intentional as they serve many raw items.
The total bill wasn't cheap but as far as vegan places go it was very reasonable considering the quality.
Pros: Good sized menu, Oil free options, Great service
Contributions +705
Great authentic American food - Edit
We got the daily juice special, a Philly cheese steak with a side of potato salad and mac & cheese with a pac man salad and roasted vegetables.
Philly cheese steak was great - really fresh bread and the mock meat was perfect. I loved the potato salad - really refreshing on a hot day, as was the juice.
My partner really enjoyed the mac and cheese - very crispy, just the way he liked it, and the salad and vegetables were nice too.
For dessert I got the coconut cream pie, which was divine, so creamy and perfect in the hot weather. My partner got a donut hole with fair trade chocolate - healthy and light dessert which he really enjoyed.
Great service, reasonably priced, some fair trade ingredients, tasty food.
Pros: Fresh, all vegan food, Fair trade ingredients, Great service
Contributions +20
Solid Vegan Restaurant in East Austin - Edit
Arrived just before noon on a Sunday. A bit crowded outside but inside was relatively sparse. Ordered a hot coffee w/ almond milk and their breakfast burrito. Both arrived promptly. Burrito contained an aioli-like dip and pico de gallo. Burrito and sauces were extremely delicious. Had to get a to-go box for 1/4 of burrito. Great size for the price. Would definitely recommend to a friend and will definitely be coming back next time I visit Austin.
Pros: Friendly staff, Good value, Excellent food
Contributions +14
underwhelmed - Edit
Visiting Austin I was looking forward to my first all vegan restaurant experience, Counter Culture, but it wasn't as good as I hoped. The jalapeño cornbread was dry and didn't have much jalapeño if any. The beet burger was okay but not that great. Thought about dessert but not after the lackluster meal. Probably just an isolated experience, but I'm not that impressed.
Pros: All Vegan Menu
Cons: Not that great
Contributions +109
wonderful - Edit
We eat E2 & had a fabulous meal! It was great to find a selection of healthy & delicious food.
Contributions +618
Good vegan dining - Edit
Counter Culture is a pleasant vegan restaurant. I had the Southern baked Seitan. As advertised, it was covered with gravy. The presentation was very simple, and a little intimidating - two slabs of seitan on plate, with gravy all over. Quantity was not an issue.The side of mixed green salad was basic and adequate. The cornbread was good. The place is a good choice for dining in Austin.
Contributions +394
This Place Rocks! - Edit
The food was soooo good! You have to try the cornbread as a side. There were lots of options to choose from and it was all priced really good. The staff are also friendly and fast.
Pros: tasty food, cheap, great staff
Contributions +49
Austin awesomeness! - Edit
I went up to Austin on a work trip, as we were attending the vegfest. We decided to eat at Counter Culture and it was great! Loved the atmosphere, the artsyness and the delicious food. I would have liked to have been able to try more things though.
Pros: Cool atmosphere
Contributions +14
Our weekly lunch place - Edit
We make time to go to Counter Culture every week for lunch and love it. The menu is creative (this is where I first had jackfruit) and we very often order whatever the daily specials are. It's a funky little place in East Austin with inside and outside seating and excellent service. They are also very generous with their wine pours.
As of January 1st, they are now going to be open on Mondays!
Updated from previous review on Monday January 05, 2015
Pros: menu items, friendly waitstaff
Contributions +37
Yumm - Edit
So much variety and everything was labeled if it was gluten free, on the Engine2 diet (no oils), etc. There was something for everyone.
The burrito with sweet potato and the jalapeño cornbread were the best things I tried.
Contributions +30
Good food but he service can be wonky - Edit
The food here is great, particularly the brunch (I am a big brunch fan). They also do a great job of labeling the menu for gluten free, particularly healthy options etc.. That said I have found the service to be pretty hit and miss. Enough so to knock it down a star. I have had a range of pretty attentive to being flat out ignored for 40 minutes. That said the owner has been very response to complaints when they have raised.
Contributions +54
Love this place! - Edit
It's very clear what items are gluten free or soy free. The ingredients seem really quality and healthy. I always get the gf/sf mac-n-cheeze with cashew cheeze. Cool east austin vibe. Awesome!
Pros: Clear menu, Quality, Cool vibe
Contributions +184
love - Edit
Great first experience. There are so many vegan options, it took me forever to decide what to choose. luckily, I have a vegetarian boyfriend and we always split our plates so we can try more deliciousness. I loved our food and the sides were awesome, not your typical sides you'll find at a conventional restaurant. I loved my hibiscus tea, but next time I want to try the juice special.
Everything is homemade and I can tell a lot of heart was put into the menu and atmosphere. There was batik art adorning the walls, so cute. I look forward to this heat winding down so we can sit outside with the pretty twinkly lights. I felt so comfy and happy being there.
I really appreciate the owners philosophy on minimal waste, recycled to-go ware, local when accessible, and organic items.
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