Smoked by AI · Austin · people
Brandon Watson
Critic · Journalist — Austin restaurants, bars and food retail, in two modes: prose reviews with prices, and opening reports.
Listed with the critics and writers in Austin.
Brandon Watson has written about Austin food for the Austin Chronicle and for CultureMap Austin, and the two halves of his work read differently. His Chronicle reviews carry dish-level criticism with the prices attached: reviewing Vigilante in March 2017 he counted the menu's misses and said the samosa croquettes fell apart for want of a binder. His CultureMap pieces are opening reports that carry the date, the address, the owners and the menu, and they make no claim about the cooking. He was still writing for the Chronicle in January 2025, on whether farm-to-table still means anything in this city.
Their own reviews and picks.
Their own judgment, in their own words, by the piece it appeared in.
- The Austin Chronicle ↗their review · 2016-08-04
- DEE DEE : Farm-to-Table Northeastern Thai Food
“Dee Dee's version of the papaya salad is electrifying, the brume of fish sauce lost in sour and heat, all absorbed by (you guessed it) sticky rice.”
- DEE DEE : Farm-to-Table Northeastern Thai Food
- The Austin Chronicle ↗their review · 2016-04-07
- Small VictoryDowntown
“There's few bars in town with the commitment to quality that Small Victory has. I am hard-pressed to think of another cocktail bar with an actual wine program.”
- Small VictoryDowntown
Pieces they wrote about these places.
Reporting, openings and roundups. Kept for the trail, and not read as their endorsement — a writer relaying someone else's award is not recommending it.
- The Austin Chronicle ↗they interviewed · 2025-01-16
- Emmer & RyeRainey Street
“For us, it's how delicious, how flavorful [our menu] is. Life is so busy nowadays, you only get a couple of things that a restaurant is known for.”
- Odd DuckSouth Lamar
“It was frustrating to see places take advantage of it for purely marketing purposes without actually committing to the concept of 'farm-to-table.' I knew at the time that this would probably lead to fatigue or lack of interest.”
- Emmer & RyeRainey Street