
The outdoor dining in front of Fabi + Rosi is beautifully lit and quiet. So many good restaurants are on busy streets, which make the outdoor dining experience less pleasant. Eating outside at Fabi + Rosi is super chill and relaxing. I still don’t understand why outdoor dining is so rare in Austin. It is changing, but not fast enough. Todd Duplechan, of the husband and wife team that owns Lenoir restaurant, told me the other day that Austinites only eat cheap food outside. That was def true 20 years ago when it was almost impossible to find decent outdoor eating in Austin. I’m glad to see it is finally changing (maybe I’ll do a blog post of the best outdoor eating spots in Austin). if you are looking for a romantic outdoor restaurant, this is a good one. [Lenoir review coming soon 🙂 ]
Here are the dishes we ordered – click on the picture to see the slide show.
Fabi +Rosi describe their fare as “classic European dishes with a modern twist.” The menu has a nice mix of dishes and changes seasonally as ingredients come and go. As usual, we had a mix of appetizers and main dishes. We ordered the Mixed Beet Carpaccio, The P.E.I. Mussels, the Maultaschen – a wild mushroom ravioli, and a glass of Grüner Veltliner. All three dishes were excellent. This isn’t haute cuisine, but it is very well done, delicious food. The beet salad and the ravioli were interesting and creative. The mussels were delicious, but no different than the same dish at a half dozen other restaurants in Austin. A good standard – make sure to get extra of their home baked bread to dip in the leftover sauce.
I always like to say something about the wine menu of restaurants. We went to Fabi + Rosi again with friends after our date night, and three of us had a glass of wine. Their wines are well chosen, but they are not at the top of my list for excellent wine list restaurants. I tried a couple of the reds, which I thought were just okay before deciding on one for dinner. The best wine we had was the Lucien Albrecht Brut Rose. We also like the Grüner Veltliner, an excellent Austrian white that is dry and slightly floral. It was perfect with the ravioli. Yum.


The upshot Fabi + Rosi is a great romantic date night restaurant. Perhaps one of the best in Austin, because of the quiet cozy atmosphere. There are plenty of very good noisy, bustling restaurants in town. Uchi has great food, but don’t expect to carry on a conversation. The food is excellent, moderately priced, and high quality. And if sustainability is important to you, this should be one of your go-to restaurants.
The menu when we had our date night:
The wine menu: