Cafe CastroNova

Doesn't Recommend

Austinsmiletexas

Joined 3 years ago

1st step in and its a turn OFF....as a Restaurant....... I found out about this local restaurant in Lakeway through major Restaurant website. I figured it would be great by the nice part of town it is in and the menu seemed so appealing. From the menu I thought it may be similar to a 3 star restaurant. I received a gift certificate as a gift and chose this restaurant off their list of restaurants by zip code.

My friend and I arrived on a Wednesday evening around 7:30p.m. for dinner. There were hardly any cars around which was the first bad sign. My friend and I preceded to walk into the entry of this restaurant with not a person in sight to greet us. It smelled SO heavy with cigarette smoke as soon as you walked in. It was horrible! We peaked to the left and saw a few empty booths with no one around. We then preceded to peak to the right and saw a bar with 4 people in the area. There was another little side room to the right with a handful of people at a table...with booths around. No one said hello and welcomed us in. We walked out thinking it was just a bar. I decided to just go back in myself to see if maybe the restaurant was located in another area. This time I walked up to the bar and the bartender said hello. I asked if this particular area was the dining room and she said yes. Enough was said and I walked out and won't ever go back. The food must be amazing because the atmosphere was horrible. I guess thats why no cars were there that evening. I don't see how this place will survive. I called the major Restaurant website I used and explained my experience with my impression of this BAR and she immediately gave me a new $25 gift certificate to a REAL restaurant for free no questions asked!

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jacquew

Joined 4 years ago

Absolutely awesome place to hang out, chill, and dance.. The restaruant has fabulous food, but the bar/lounge next door has wonderful sofas and chairs that you can fall back and relax in to smoke a cigar, drink a glass of port or exquisite wine. Free wi-fi is a bonus. A "coffee shop" for night owls. Very eclectic mix of all ages. This place is all about fun, networking and hooking up.

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CSMobileUser

Joined 5 years ago

Amazing food, service, and atmosphere!. You walk in and feel welcomed they have a great little thing going there at this small little place in Lakeway. They have great staff and woderfull food! I highly recomend to go there. We have been going for quite some time and the smoke issue has actually dissapeared. So maybe youshould go try it again.

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lacy1967

Joined 4 years ago

great everything!!. honestly i love this place! its cute, everything tastes good, and the service is great. i love their brunch (eggs benedict is a must!) everything they have (that i have tried) is great. i highly recommend this place. its great for families (you can color on the tables). good martinis as well. all though they do have smoking in the bar, there really is not a problem in the dining area.

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austex62

Joined 5 years ago

nice little joint. Very quaint but a little to smokey for me. Nice people and good service. But you have to like cigarrette smoking to enjoy your experience.

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jimmyvegas

Joined 8 years ago

Great food. Great lounge. Great service.. I got a chuckle out of the review complaining about smoke. The reviewer must not have read the huge signs everywhere at Castro Nova stating that the Casbah (the name of their lounge) is a cigar bar...duh..However there are two sides of the lounge which provide a very good smoking barrier if smoke bothers you. There's also an very good ventilation system. Besides that, Cafe Castro Nova is a small, swanky, very well put together restaurant and lounge. The people that run it care for their customers. Food is very well prepared and of high quality. The lounge is one of the best places in Austin to relax, socialize, have a finely crafted cocktail and enjoy a cigar if you will. They occasionally have well selected live music there.

Thank you Castro Nova for running a wonderful establishment and providing a quality experience for your customers. Keep up the great work!

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HalWood

Joined 5 years ago

Awesome. Great Family owned restaurant. Friendly, great food, loved it. Bar area is like you walked into the set of Cheers.

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Contributor

Joined 10 years ago

Editorial Review by Citysearch Editors. Locals flock to the restaurant featuring an eclectic menu that changes seasonally including seafood, meat dishes and breakfast.

Doesn't Recommend

austin_guru

Joined 6 years ago

SMOKE-SMOKE-SMOKE is what you get in the BAR Area!!!. Walked into bar area and we were completely overwhelmed with SMOKE. If enjoying a Cocktail in a bar scene is what you want, this is not the place. We were immediately seated in the restaurant side but the area was much to stiff for us. We will not visit again.

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s_jones

Joined 6 years ago

I LOVE WHAT THEY HAVE DONE!!!. I have been coming to this restaurant since they began a year ago and BOY has it changed! At first they had some serious problems, but they have really stepped up to the plate! (Pun intended) The counter service was awful, but now it's table service. The decor has become more intimate and the new lounge?? WOW! Gotta try their Jack Chicken.