The story
Le Calamar brings a French sensibility to South First Street in Austin, Texas. The restaurant, which earned a Michelin Recommendation in 2026, operates with a clear focus: produce-driven cooking that changes daily based on what farmers and boats bring in. The kitchen is unapologetically French at its core, though the menu also nods to American tastes—a Wagyu hanger steak au poivre sits alongside a delicate day boat fish cru with black poplar mushroom and kohlrabi.
The space itself is straightforward: there is a bar, air conditioning, and outdoor seating. Walk-ins are welcome at the bar, and reservations are handled through OpenTable. The restaurant does not have a phone—email or the OpenTable app are the preferred ways to reach the team.
The sample menu gives a sense of the kitchen’s range. Starters include fresh oysters with apple mignonette, a chicken wing à la Koffman, and chicken liver parfait with preserved d’Anjou pear. The steak tartare comes with pain de mie and Comté. For mains, there is pan-roasted chicken with sauce vin jaune and chestnut mushroom, crawfish rice with fennel and vermouth, and a roasted lion’s mane mushroom with béarnaise sauce. Sides like beef tallow pommes frites and gnocchi Parisienne with brown butter round out the meal.
A prix fixe menu is available for $77 per person when the whole table participates. It changes daily, but a sample iteration might include tuna cru, beets with grapefruit and fromage frais, crawfish rice, Wagyu petit tender steak au poivre, and profiteroles with dark chocolate and hazelnut.
The cocktail program leans into classics and riffs. Martinis range from a standard gin-and-dry-vermouth version to an olive oil martini made with Texas olive oil-infused vodka. There are several Manhattans, including a Paris, TX with smoked whisky and a Gruenepoint with Texas rye and yellow Chartreuse. The mezcal section features an Electron with carrot and cinnamon, and a Tommy’s Margarita.
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