Dona Emilia's Bar & Grill

05/15/2008 Posted by 20Fan

We went to Dona Emilia's for the Mother's Day Brunch...and were a very disappointed. Perhaps we went in with expectations too high. There were five of us and we unanimously agreed -- The buffet was just 'ok' for the price paid, $22 each. Not much variety, and the chefs cooking omelets could not speak English. The most disturbing thing was when we found out an 18% gratuity had been added to our bill for a BUFFET, are you kidding!!! The server ended up making an enormous tip for essentially dropping the drinks at our table - AFTER we had to ask the manager to be waited on after being seated for about 10 minutes and not being waited on. It’s not that we would not have included a tip, but to have an enormous one added for a party of 5 for a Buffet is outrageous. It is very unfortunate that we have no plans to be a repeat customer of this restaurant.

Pros: Ambience -- sitting outside on the patio.

Cons: Food, Service, Cleanliness of the Restraunt

09/20/2007 Posted by syacu123

i dont care what it costs or tastes like but if there's good live latin music it is great. don emilia's gets the idea. if your located in the live music capital of the state having live music "duhh" is important. keep up the good work and happyhour. also maybe in the future the live music will play longer into the night.

08/12/2007 Posted by rebeccatex

Great food, fabulous buffets! My husband and I own a bar, and one of our bartenders suggested Dona Emilia's last Easter as a last-minute brunch idea. We normally do a big family Easter, but this time it was just my husband, son, and myself. We were seated immediately, which was surprising on Easter with no reservations. There was a "short list" of well-priced selections, not a buffet, and I had the BEST omelete I've ever had at a restaurant, while my husband enjoyed a South American style steak & eggs rancheros that he thought was excellent. Our six-year-old son enjoyed his meal, too, and we all loved the atmosphere. The bottomless mimosas (passion fruit and blackberry) are delicious and a great value. The prices were very low compared to other Easter venues, so we returned on Mother's Day for their brunch. Calling an hour ahead got us reservations and immediate seating when we arrived, and their buffet was FABULOUS. The ceviche is the best I've had in Austin. We've been back several times for brunch and dinner and have always had great food and service at a reasonable price. Being in the hospitality business ourselves, we like to give business to those bars and restaurants whose service people frequent our place (Barton Springs Saloon - have to include a plug here), and we appreciate good value and service. Dona Emilia's is one of our favorite places, especially for special occasions. Next Easter we are reserving the upstairs room for the entire family. We recommend this place to everyone! The food is unique and delicious, the atmosphere is cool and refreshing, and the service is wonderful.

Pros: Great food, service, atmosphere & value

Cons: limited downtown parking requires using their valet service

08/07/2007 Posted by colombianguy218

The food they are making that will cost you an average of $3 to make they charge at least $20. I had a plain piece of beef with egg and bacon which is also called "bandeja paisa" and it was horrible the meat was dry, the eggs where cold the only thing I couldn't complain about was the bacon (for obvious reasons). If you are trying to find good colombian and latin american food this is really not the place to go. I would give to solutions to the problem try to make it yourself and get your ingredients from fiesta or if you really dont want to cook either move up or down the continent by getting some of the amazing brazilian barcecues that can be found in austin or some gourmet mexican food that also can be found around town. I am still waiting for a latin american restaurant in austin that will be able to give me the comfort food that I miss.

Pros: Really good Flan which I forgot to mention.

Cons: Everything else

11/05/2006 Posted by pwrtsi

I Travel to Austin once a month sometimes twice, everytime i Eat at Dona Emilias, The food is Great, Being born and Raised in Colombia i look for the typical food places in the area since i know how the food should taste, Dona Emilia's is the only restaurant in the area that comes close to home cooking from my grandma the one that really fills you up. Only thing that everytime the Typical dish i Order is the Bandeja Paisa and it just keeps getting smaller and smaller. that's the only dissapointing thing. The Ajiaco always has a different taste so there is no expectancy of the same taste. food seems to be getting pricier and pricier. The wait staff is great, the Host is friendly food arrives in the spected time. Great choice i Recomend it!

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09/17/2006 Posted by foodie1790

I went in to have a drink on a recent Sunday evening around 9:00. Hours are listed until 10:00. I was told that they were already closed. ACL weekend? Why post the hours when it is not honored. I understand wanting to go home early because I, myself, am in the service industry. However, there were several tables in the dining room, one on the patio, and several guests sitting at the bar. Sorry that I inconvenienced anyone there. It will not happen again.

Pros: would not know of any

07/24/2006 Posted by eridez

We had about 15 people in our group. Their events coordinator set us up in the upstairs lounge which had great (and interesting) drink and appetizer specials available. They had two plasma tvs but our group was "networking". The space is large, but not private. And even though we could hear other folks talking, it looked like everyone was having lots of fun.

Pros: Food, Service, Space

04/12/2006 Posted by atx31

I eat a lot of South American Latin cuisine and what is being served at Dona Emilia's are mostly common dishes that they are charging way too much for. Tamals should be about $6 and a Bandeja Paisa platter about $8-9. It is what farmers/ranchers eat for lunch in the Andes. Shame on this place.

04/10/2006 Posted by austinfoodster

Online reservations, great, but when I called to confirm I spoke with a very unfriendly, young male host. That should have tipped me off to the level of service I should expect. Bar service took too long, waiter took even longer. Drinks during dinner took far too long and several were just plain forgotten! The menu is deceiving, it looks like a delicious assortment but it's all rather bland. The food is not fresh, it's thawed. From the ceviche to the mango salsa I was consistenly disappointed. I've been to several South American restaurants and this one is by far the least impressive. It's as if Chili's opened up a Latin chain, making it overpriced for what it is. Good for a group because of the large space, and with good company you forget so much about the mediocrity of the food itself.

Pros: Spacious, Decent Parking, Good for Groups

Cons: Service, Value, Flavor

03/13/2006 Posted by clmosley

I are for the first time at Dona Emilia's about a year ago and loved the food. The Mojitos are really good as well. I bring alot of people there from out of town for lunch because in my opinion its the best South American Restaurant Ive ever been to.

Pros: Great Food!, Very nice Bartenders!

Cons: loud outside dining