Everything You Need to Know About the Austin Food & Wine Festival 2023

The Austin Food & Wine Festival returns to Auditorium Shores this weekend, full of food, wine, drinks, and fun. As with production company C3’s other big event Austin City Limits Music Festival, those looking to attend Austin’s largest annual food festival — taking place from Saturday, November 4 through Sunday, November 5 — have the best success if they arrive with a game plan.

After operating for over a decade, the massive food event seems to have found its ultimate formula. Daytime events are filled with bites from noted Texas chefs and cooking/wine demonstrations from both locals and traveling celeb chefs. As for the auxiliary events, alas, Rock Your Taco — where Texas and national chefs competed to see who made the best taco — is no longer happening. Replacing that is the new Made in Texas sip-and-stroll on Saturday evening, where participating chefs will made Texas-y foods. And then Dallas chef Tim Love’s alfresco grilling event returns on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., available for VIP attendees and a la carte tickets.

Only attendees with VIP tickets can attend the Made in Texas event, also happening at Auditorium Shores. Of the lineup, be sure to grab food from Austin chef Amanda Turner of Southern restaurant Olamaie, North Carolina chef Cheetie Kumar of Mediterranean and Southwest Asian restaurant Ajja, Nicola Blaque of San Antonio’s the Jerk Shack, Ling Qi Wu many excellent Austin Chinese-Asian restaurants (Lin Asian Bar, Qi, Ling Wu Asian Restaurant, and Ling Kitchen, etc.), Mike Diaz and Laura Sawicki from Austin Korean restaurant Oseyo, and Austin’s own Top Chef contender Jo Chan behind her new French restaurant Bureau de Poste.

To help improve your experience, Eater crafted this weekend schedule focusing on the main event, the Chef Showcase. Whether you are a first-time visitor to the fest, or simply missed last year, read on for tips on what to bring, how to plan, and the best bets for a winning weekend.

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The Basics

Ticket tiers: This year’s fest offers three ticket options. The popular weekender pass ($275) allows full access to both the Saturday and Sunday daytime park events; tickets are only available via resale. The VIP pass ($750) adds early entry to the daytime weekend festival as well as a dedicated lounge, and the Made in Texas evening event. Then there are single-daytime tickets for Saturday and Sunday ($195). Love’s grilling event is available through resale tickets ($150).

• Hours: The main weekend daytime events begin at 1 p.m. and end at 6 p.m. finish (this is a later start than previous years). The Made in Texas tasting event takes place on Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. Also keep in mind that Daylight Savings Time ends on Sunday morning, which means we turn the clocks back and gain an extra hour in the day.

• Cooking demonstrations: During the daytime events, there are 17 food, wine, and liquor seminars at staggered times. Note that the chef “demos” take the form of something akin to a live television show — the personalities will lecture, cook, and answer questions, but the food isn’t actually served during the classes. (Grab a snack or two before you head in.)
• Drinks classes: On the other hand, the beverage classes do serve wine or spirit samples to go with the discussion. Note that most of these seminars fill up early, so arrive at least 20 minutes in advance for a better chance at a seat.

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Things to Remember

• Bags: As with most festivals and concert venues, only small purses, tote bags, and drawstring bags will be allowed into the venue. Non-clear bags like small clutch purses and fanny packs cannot be better than 4.5 inches by 5.5 inches and can’t have more than one pocket or opening. Clear bags need to be smaller than 12 inches by 6 inches. Anything with more than one pocket, i.e. backpacks, isn’t allowed.
• Important items to bring: Texas fall park essentials are advisable: sunglasses, sunscreen, a hat or cap, some wet wipes (your hands will get messy from food samples), and comfortable walking shoes are all recommended. You’ll be in a park setting during Austin’s fall allergy season, so take Zyrtec or Allegra as well (allergies are no fun). A notebook and pen aren’t bad things to have, either, to remember favorite wines and snag chef autographs, and a fully charged phone is ideal.

• Weather: The temperatures will warm up from the week’s earlier cold front, with highs of the 70s during the daytime. There are forecasts of very slim chances of chain for the weekend. Keep this in mind when you’re getting dressed.
• Rideshare: All drink samples are included with ticket prices, which can potentially lead to bad decisions. Download and update your favorite rideshare app for a safe and responsible ride home from the festival.
• Food lines: While most food lines are short, they inevitably happen every year. To sample a broader range of options, split your group between two lines and pick a time and reconvene to sample both dishes. This cuts waiting time without extra effort.
• Choose carefully, and share: As with any food festival, there is simply too much for most regular humans to eat in one sitting. Plan accordingly by first not finishing dishes you don’t care for; second, prioritizing your anticipated and/or favorite restaurants as first bites, and third: sharing a single portion between two people when you begin to run out of steam.
• Drinking strategy: Throughout the weekend, be sure to ask for light pours of cocktails and wines (or share with a companion) — it’s better for you and prevents food waste. Hydrate early and often — grab some water hourly to combat your drinks. It’s also perfectly okay to throw out sips of wine you don’t care for (or can’t reasonably consume safely) on the lawn — just watch your aim.

With all of that in mind, go forth and eat and drink well at Austin Food & Wine Festival 2023.

The Schedule

There’s a fun, choose-your-own-adventure element to the festival that leads to varied experiences for different guests. Those inclined to catch a glimpse of the big-name chefs can spend some of their days in the seminar tents, while others simply opt to drink and graze on food samples for the day. In conversations with past attendees, most say that attending one chef demo, one drinks class, and roaming the rest of the time makes for an ideal day. When thinking through your day, here are some suggestions:

The Fire Pits

Try every single dish from the fire pits. It’s always worth it.

• Saturday, November 4: This is the festival’s San Antonio day, with chefs Adrian Abella and Camille de los Reyes (Filipino American restaurant Sari-Sari Supper Club), Jason Dady (of multiple restaurants), Leo Davila (Asian-Latin restaurant Stixs & Stone), and Esaul Ramos (barbecue restaurant 2M Smokehouse BBQ and brand-new barbecue restaurant Blu Lacey in Castroville).
• Sunday, November 5: This day’s lineup pairs really exciting Dallas chef Misti Norris (New Texan restaurant Petra & the Beast) with Sofia Tejeda (Hotel Emma in San Antonio), Meredith Shaffer (New American resort restaurant Tillie’s in Dripping Springs), Harold Marmulstein (American restaurant Salty Sow in Austin), and Vinnie Cimino (Southern restaurant Cordelia in Cleveland, Ohio).

Chef Showcase

When approaching the numerous tents in the Chef Showcase area, there’s more to try than one person can reasonably accomplish. If you’d like a priority list, here are a dozen bites to seek out.

• Mashama Bailey of Austin Southern hotel restaurant Diner Bar (this seems to be the James Beard Award-winning chef’s first time at the festival)
• Laila Bazahm of Spanish tapas restaurant El Raval (the restaurant’s first time at the festival)
• Krystal Craig and Ian Thurwachter of Austin Italian restaurant Intero
• Liz Everett and Stephanie Everett Martin of Austin truck Ensenada ATX
• Joseph Gomez of Austin taco truck Con Todo
• Kris Hammond of Austin Japanese restaurants Sazan Ramen and Daiboku;
• Corey McEntyre of Southern restaurant Milo in Waco, Texas
• Colter Peck of New Texan restaurant Elementary and wine bar Hopscotch (the restaurant’s first time at the festival)
• Anthony Sobotik and Kendal Melton of Lick Honest Ice Creams (hopefully Melton will also dish out pastries from her bakery pop-up Vivian’s Boulangerie)
• Kristina Zhao of San Antonio Chinese restaurant Dashi Sichuan Kitchen + Bar

Food & Drinks at Vendor Booths

Around the festival grounds are sponsored vendor booths and stalls. Of note:

• Little Ola’s Biscuits: Fine-dining restaurant Olamaie’s casual sibling will sling miniature biscuits paired with CBD-infused jam at CBD edibles company Earlybird throughout the weekend.
• Hattie B’s Hot Chicken: The Nashville-based hot chicken chain will be opening its very first Austin restaurant in the winter of 2024, and it’ll preview some bites at the festival.
• H-E-B: Yes, H-E-B. The beloved grocery chain will serve foods from its in-store restaurants most likely.

Booze picks

As is the name, along with food is wine and booze, and there is plenty at the festival. If your time (or your tolerance) is limited, here are our picks for drink stops. Some upscale and craft brands to prioritize include:

• Sonoma’s St. Francis Winery & Vineyards
• Click Different (The European Union-funded campaign promotes wines from the French Bordaux region and Germany.)
• Portland’s Aviation Gin (Since Nickel City co-owner Travis Tober is one of the gin company’s national brand ambassador, expect the Austin bar to be mixing up cocktails.)
• Japan’s House of Suntory
• Barbados’s Mount Gay Rum

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Rideshare Redux

The closing hour of the festival is spirited, and excess consumption is par for the course. Remember to be safe when heading home.

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800 W. Riverside Dr., Austin, TX 78704 (512) 495-9163 Visit Website