Where Celebrities Ate in Austin During SXSW 2024

South by Southwest came and went for Austin earlier this mid-March. And now that there’s been some time since it ended — yes we know it’s been a while, but bear with us — Eater Austin is just getting around to recapping where so many big-name celebrities and actors dined while in the city during the mega-festival below.

• Actor Rachel Zeigler — who starred in Y2K which premiered during SXSW — stopped by excellent dive bar Dirty Bill’s where she and co-star/rapper/actor Fred Durst (yes of Limp Bizkit) posed for a photo. And yes, she posted the image on Instagram with a Beyonce Texas lyric.
• Prince Harry and Meghan Markle notably stopped by Austin restaurant La Barbecue for smoked meats, as previously reported by Eater. The Duchess of Sussex was a keynote speaker on a SXSW panel too.
• Celebrity chef, television host, and cookbook author Giada DeLaurentiis went to both downtown Italian restaurant Sammie’s and East Austin wine restaurant Birdie’s during the festival. She had participated in a SXSW panel about her new website Giadzy.

• Actor Jake Gyllenhaal has a noted fondness for Japanese restaurant Uchi, so it was no surprise that during SXSW — when he was in town for the world premiere of the remake of Road House — that he stopped by Uchiko for a meal.
• Actor Maria Tomei (who starred in SXSW film High Tide, which had its world premiere during the festival) and musician/producer/DJ Questlove (who played a set at a SXSW party and generally enjoys Austin dining) got to eat Egyptian Texas barbecue courtesy of KG BBQ and pizza from Oddwood Brewing with Austin restaurateur C.K. Chin (Toshokan, Wu Chow).
• Celebrity Chicago-based chef and restaurateur Rick Bayless dined at Austin Mexican restaurant Nixta Taqueria during the festival. The meal made sense since Nixta chef Edgar Rico and Bayless cooked at Willie Nelson’s festival’s dinner event the Potluck during that week.