Red Ash
Italian restaurant · Downtown
Colorado Tower, 303 Colorado St #200, Austin, TX 78701
Highlights
Wood-fired Italian fare & dry-aged steaks, homemade pastas, wine
Wood-fired Italian fare & dry-aged steaks, homemade pastas, wine
"Red Ash isn’t the type of place you just casually visit. Maybe that’s because the steak menu is made up of 50-day dry-aged porterhouses and massive NY strip steaks. Or maybe it’s because the wait to get in has been over a month long since they opened their doors in 2016. But plan far enough in advance, and you, too, can be sticking a candle into a giant, dry-aged filet and singing yourself "Happy Birthday" to the sounds of a busy kitchen, a bustling dining room, and a giant woodfire grill. You might get lucky by calling on the day of and asking about cancellations, but if you want a guaranteed table, you’ll need to start planning early. Reservations open up six months in advance, and prime time tables book up about four months in advance (and about two months for the late-night seats). If you’re mostly here for steak, you can get a very similar steak at Red Ash’s sister restaurant, J. Carver’s, with a little less planning. Get access to exclusive reservations at this spot with Chase Sapphire Reserve. New cardmembers get $300 in annual dining statement credits." - nicolai mccrary, raphael brion
"This popular, upscale Italian hotspot is known for its diverse menu of classic dishes with a sophisticated twist. However, the best reason to spend a pretty penny at Red Ash has to be its standout wood-fired steak selection, with choices like 50-day dry-aged porterhouses and substantial New York strips. If your appetite isn’t leading you in a bovine direction, you can indulge in homemade pastas like spaghetti and cappelletti. Due to high demand, reservations are highly recommended for a table in Red Ash’s chic dining room." - Taylor Tobin
"Red Ash isn’t the type of place you just casually visit. Maybe that’s because the steak menu is made up of 50-day dry-aged porterhouses and massive NY strip steaks. Or maybe it’s because the wait to get in has been over a month long since it opened in 2016. But plan far enough in advance, and you, too, can find yourself eye to eye with a slab of meat that started aging almost two months ago. Of course, it’s more than just steaks—it has “Italia” right there in the name. Expect to find lots of rustic Italian dishes and rich pastas, reimagined through a fine dining lens. You might get lucky by calling on the day of and asking about cancellations, but if you want a guaranteed table, you’ll need to start planning early. Reservations open up six months in advance, and prime time tables book up about four months in advance (and about two months for the late-night seats). If you’re mostly here for steak, you can get a very similar steak at Red Ash’s sister restaurant, J. Carver’s, with a little less planning. Get access to exclusive reservations at this spot with Chase Sapphire Reserve. New cardmembers get $300 in annual dining statement credits." - nicolai mccrary
"Verdict: A meal at Red Ash is often heavy-handed—expect lots of butter, garlic, bone marrow, and cheese in just about everything—but that's okay because you come here to celebrate big occasions. It’s basically a rustic Italian restaurant imagined through the lens of a swanky downtown steakhouse. The pastas are homemade, and almost everything is cooked on a live wood fire. It’s also one of the only places you’re going to find a 50-day dry-aged steak in town, which is sadly about half the time you’ll need to start planning in advance for a meal here. You might get lucky by calling on the day of and asking about cancellations, but if you want a guaranteed table, you’ll need to start planning early. Reservations open up six months in advance, and prime time tables book up about four months in advance (and about two months for the late-night seats). If you’re mostly here for steak, you can get a very similar steak at Red Ash’s sister restaurant, J. Carver’s, with a little less planning. Get access to exclusive reservations at this spot with Chase Sapphire Reserve. New cardmembers get $300 in annual dining statement credits." - nicolai mccrary, raphael brion
"Red Ash isn’t the type of place you casually visit. Maybe that’s because the steak menu is made up of 50-day dry-aged porterhouses, double-cut filets, and massive strip steaks. Or maybe it’s because the wait to get in has been many months long since they opened their doors in 2016. The dining room feels industrial, with concrete walls covered in graffiti, brushed metal railings, and hanging Edison bulbs illuminating the two-story space. It’s loud and busy, and there’s never more than a split second when you’ll see it at anything less than full capacity. Everybody’s here to celebrate—for some, anniversaries and birthdays, and others, that they finally got a table after 12 weeks of waiting. photo credit: Richard Casteel photo credit: Richard Casteel photo credit: Richard Casteel photo credit: Richard Casteel Pause Unmute Start with roasted vine tomatoes and burrata before moving on to a wood-roasted bone marrow and wild mushroom risotto. Quickly recharge with a gem lettuce caesar salad before diving into their extensive menu of handmade pastas. There’s nothing subtle about the pastas here, but sometimes you just want to dig into a bowl of rich, savory braised-beef agnolotti with fresh truffles and roasted veal jus without thinking too much about it. Most of them are available as entrees or sides—we recommend grabbing a few side-sized orders so that you can try more. After all that, move on to a large steak for the table. The 30-50 days it spends aging adds some funk, but it’s balanced out by a few spoonfuls of roasted shallot butter over the top. A meal at Red Ash is often heavy-handed—expect lots of butter, garlic, bone marrow, and cheese in just about everything—but you come to Red Ash to mark a birthday, promotion, or successfully finishing a tube of ChapStick. It’s one of our favorite Italian restaurants in Austin, with classic flavors and decadent preparations. Just be ready to plan pretty far in advance. How to get into Red Ash Italia You might get lucky by calling on the day of and asking about cancellations, but if you want a guaranteed table, you’ll need to start planning early. Reservations open up six months in advance, and prime time tables book up about four months in advance (and about two months for the late-night seats). If you’re mostly here for steak, you can get a very similar steak at Red Ash’s sister restaurant, J. Carver’s, with a little less planning. RESERVE A TABLE WITH RESERVE A TABLE CARDMEMBER BENEFITS FOR Get access to exclusive reservations at this spot with Chase Sapphire Reserve. New cardmembers get $300 in annual dining statement credits. SEE EXCLUSIVE TIMESAPPLY NOW Food Rundown Bruschetta Of Prime Steak Trimmings Ever wonder what a steakhouse does with all the extra steak trimmings? At Red Ash, they cut them into little bite-sized nuggets, grill them up, and toss them over a few thick-cut slices of grilled bread. It’s also covered in mushrooms, a slab of cheese, and a few decorative greens to help you cope with the fact that every bite might shave a few days off your life. photo credit: Richard Casteel Wood-Roasted Beef Bone Marrow This consists of a few large, roasted marrow bones served over a bed of grilled Italian bread. The bread is cut thick enough to hold up to the mountain of bones it's holding, and does a great job of balancing out all the rich, beefy marrow and cheese. photo credit: Richard Casteel Tagliatelle A La Bolognese All of the pastas are made fresh daily. The tagliatelle is cut into wide ribbons, then topped with a pretty classic bolognese sauce and porcini mushrooms. It’s great, but we recommend a half-order so you can try more of the menu. photo credit: Richard Casteel Double-Cut Bone-In Filet Most of the steaks are priced by the ounce and served pre-sliced with roasted shallot butter. We like to go for one of the 30- to 50-day aged steaks for a little extra funk. But we’ve never received a steak that didn’t arrive at textbook-perfect doneness. photo credit: Richard Casteel" - Nicolai McCrary
