Great, very cute spot thats always reliable for a cute brunch or a fantastic mac & cheese. Just be prepared for a bit of a wait! You can always grab a drink or snack across the way at Quickie Pickie.Had the brulee grapefruit and pancakes this time, along with a mimosa carafe, all lovely and tasty.And Im loving their spooky season decoration!
Incredible staff. Everyone was so gentle and caring about customer needs. Absolutely adore the ambiance and the food. I don’t read a lot of reviews, but you won’t regret your experience here.
Lovely spot with a delish brunch. I’ve only been for brunch so I can’t speak to lunch + dinner but I imagine it’s just as good! The space itself is an old local pharmacy and I adore how they’ve kept the aesthetic and so many antique pieces in the design + decor. All the dishes I’ve tried have been great except the biscuits which I got once and were just okay (not fluffy at all sadly 😢). Big brekkie is a solid choice and my husband really enjoys the egg in a bowl dish. The brûléed grapefruit is one of my fav brunch sides and their drip coffee is always top notch. Plenty of indoor + outdoor seating. A neighborhood staple for sure! 💚
The menus is online and you use an app for the entire meal. This style of dining with an app and everyone having a phone in their hand is not for me. The staff did not ask how the food as and it all seemed very impersonal. Food was ok but I did not have anything I would come back for. On an up note the restaurant is super cool and has a good vibe. If I were the owner I would get rid of the app and let the staff take care of the tables.
At first glance, (and with help of location and proximity to Paperboy and Franklins, etc.) Hillside Farmacy feels like a go-to spot for a lite bite or a properly made classic cocktail. After all, it is French, in theory, and you expect simple classics made well. Being one for a bit of denigration, I joked about the painted window offering oysters whereas the menu offered none. Speaking of menus, their in-house order menu is different in small ways from there online. Which I have found to be true of many places during these covid times. They have 5 items for breakfast, 2 with grits as an option for, but they had no grits. They had no avocados. My girlfriend and I split the yogurt and granola which was simple but the ingredients felt solid enough. Good honey. The chicken salad sandwich was not good. The salad was overly wet and it came with tomato and lettuce and not all the other delicious ingredients the menu claimed. We ordered carajillos as well and they were basic and unmixed. Licor 43 sitting at the bottom and no spoons on the table so I stirred with my dining fork. Since there was no classic table service I decided not to wait. You want a good carajillo try radio maybe. Im in the service industry several places in Austin and I was disappointed in the experience. I actually hesitated to give less than 20 percent tip for a second but then came to my senses.
The place is nice. Love the vintage decoration and the cocktails. The food is ok. Will come back.
Great atmosphere and a black owned business in a neighborhood at risk of gentrification. Awesome collection of cocktails and hand made sodas and the food was really great.
I had a great experience at Hillside Farmacy with a group of girls. We sat outside around the corner and appreciated the semi-privacy. You order through a QR code on the table. The one down side (I would remove half a star) is that there is no place for notes or to ask questions when ordering your food/drinks. I especially appreciate Hillside Farmacy trying to keep everyone safe but it would have been nice for a staff member to stop by our table to see if we had any questions.The food and drinks were fabulous. The Grapefruit Jalapeno Margarita was my favorite (pictured). Others enjoyed the red sangria and Moscow mule. The Texas Cheese Plate was great but a little lacking. There wasnt much of the wildflower honey or seasonal fruit to pair with the cheese. However, the veggie burger, beef burger, and fries were all delicious.
Great food, friendly staff, and a chill atmosphere for a Friday night. Easy ordering through the menu application.Fun spooky decor up for Halloween as well!
Visited for brunch. The service was rushed and the staff was uninterested. The Bloody Mary was devoid of spice and flavor. The Irish coffee was clumpy and served already mixed as if the person who made it had never had an Irish coffee before. The butter on top of the pancakes was hard and remained so to the end of the meal. The half of a strawberry on top of the pancake was sad and disappointing and frankly, useless. The Mac and cheese was wet and devoid of flavor except for the breadcrumbs mercifully dropped on top. The location is awesome, the patio beautiful, and the interior tastefully decorated. It has good bones but they need alot of love both for their product and their customers before I recommend it.
Gave up before ordering. Had to wrestle with barcode and finally get it all sorted and wanting my cocktail but then I have to key-in a credit card. They should be upfront about this sort of requirement. The place looked nice but theyre asking their customers to do way too much work to grab a bite. Guess all part of the new normal?
This has been my favorite restaurant in town. Everything I have tried is amazing. Why this place isnt rated higher is beyond me. The food tastes so good for the price, but its so much cheaper than other restaurants with plates that are much more expensive. The malt vinegar fries and burger are amazing and so is the creme brulee. The chicken dish was amazing, but Im not sure its the same as the one I tried back in 2019. The atmosphere is lovely on the inside and outside. All that said, they dont have some of the things on the menu I loved like the fried green tomato sandwich that was on the brunch menu. I wish they would bring it back. Could you please?
You have to place your order via your phone (not with a server) so not a great place if you want a typical sit down breakfast experience
Awful experience. Went there on a date night and was really disappointed with everything ordered. You have to order through an app and tip BEFORE your service. I got my food about 30 minutes after my boyfriend got his.The sautéed veggies were too salty that we couldn’t eat them. My burger and fries were over cooked and the avocados were clearly unripe and like hard pieces of plastic yet they still served them to me. And the vanilla pound cake was a thin, mushy mess… we’re still not sure what was on it.We couldn’t tell the server about the problems because they don’t have one. Just a person dropping off food orders. The prices were what put me off the most as the cheeseburger with bacon and avocado was $22. Hopdoddy, Shakeshack, Whataburger have much better burgers for the price. This is our 3rd and final time at this restaurant. The food/quality is just mediocre for the prices.
My go to when in town for fresh, locally sourced brunch or lunch. Although their pancakes are superb, I went for the shrimp and grits this time and they were like none other Ive ever had. So many beautiful layers of flavors and textures. Highly recommend.Next to some cute shops and State Cemetery... you can make a whole afternoon in that area. They take Covid safety seriously while maintaining good, friendly service.
My partner and I came here for brunch on our anniversary and were severely disappointed. There are no servers and you scan a QR code to order, which is fine and not uncommon as of late due to the pandemic, but I had to pay and tip before my order was confirmed and our food was brought out by someone who barely stuck around the make sure it was correct. A model we subscribe to at quick, cheap, to-go dining options, not a formal sit down meal.In addition, we received our entrees before our appetizers, and didn’t even receive those until we asked for them at the end of our meal. We were not given utensils and nobody was around to refill our water pitchers without us asking. For not having a server, there was a lot of myself or my partner having to walk inside to ask for basic necessities to our meal.Finally, my partner’s order was incorrect but at that point we didn’t even feel it was worth raising any additional complaints. And to be perfectly honest, my “Eggs in a Bowl” was not even that enjoyable to eat. The biscuit bottoms were bland, my poached eggs were overdone and there was so much arugula that there wasn’t much room for any other flavors or textures in any bite.Walking away, the only positives I can give the place is that the gentleman acting as the host was very kind and apologetic and offered to refund us for our lost appetizers, the overall vibe of the place has a charming old-southern feel, and the house punch we ordered was actually rather good. I’m not sure if they just had a really off day (patrons around us outside also had issues they were vocalizing), or if that’s how this place has been limping through the pandemic, but I would never choose to dine here again.
I came in excited to try the brunch and really wanting to like this restaurant. We ordered through the online system (which was clunky and inconvenient, but not exactly the restaurants fault), and were unable to flag down any staff to ask questions about the menu items.When the food arrived, the bun on my burger was damp from water being on the plate, and there was a cold slice of American cheese on the sandwich in place of the cheddar advertised on the menu. My partners mac and cheese was tasteless, cold, and looked like it had been prepared days beforehand.When the staff brought out our food, they didnt speak to us and replied with an attitude when we asked for ketchup and hot sauce. They did not come to the table other than to deliver our food.On top of the service and food being wildly underwhelming, the prices were higher than you would expect for a standard brunch. Save your money and support a business that is able to service their customers.
Very friendly staff and very delicious food! Self serve type of menu which makes it super easy to pay if you are in a rush! Everyone was super helpful. A must stop in Austin!
Always love Hillside Farmacy. First time not going for brunch, and the high quality of food is of course not lost! I would give the burger itself a 4/5 as the patty was just slightly lacking in flavor. The fries on the other hand were absolutely incredible!! Some of the best I’ve had in recent memory. The Brussels sprouts were out of this world and the sautéed greens were delicious as well. 4 stars only because this time around the service was a little bit sub-par.
I suspect that pre pandemic this place was great but now it needs help. The wait staff is not friendly and the online ordering system sucks. I appreciate that they are trying to social distance, etc. But either way, someone has to bring the food to the table so they might as well stop by occasionally and ask if you need anything, or have a question about the menu.I hope I can change this review in the future.
I’ve been going to Hillside Farmacy since it first opened many years ago. I usually bring all of my out of town friends here just for the oysters and fries. I’ll get the only downside out of the way first. The place is expensive, this is just a fact. Those fries are absolutely amazing, but they’re $7 a plate so I do expect a lot from them.Price aside, the food is absolutely spectacular! They get some of the best oysters from the northeast (primarily Massachusetts and PEI). I can not recommend them enough.It also has a wonderful ambiance (albeit is definitely a hipsters paradise in case that’s not your thing) and well crafted drinks. They built up their porch a few years ago and now have great outside sitting areas too. If you’re looking for a great spot and don’t mind spending a little extra, Hillside is highly recommended.
The 3 stars is because of the staff, and how they treated a family with children. They sat us outside where the sun hit, we asked to move to the shady table and rudely said no.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐The food is amazing. Just not while youre cooking in the sun. We asked for an umbrella, No. Had to ask for water, wasnt cold. And this place makes you feel like youre an inconvenience. Take it to go. The food is great
I love this place! The salad could be a little bigger but every bite was spectacular. Highly recommend for classy dates and cute brunch time.
Went here about 1:30 on Saturday afternoon in June and got seated right away. Menu had about a a dozen brunch items - we ordered the cheese plate, eggs in a bowl and big breaki - all generous portions! Eggs in a bowl was delicious: eggs, lots of greens in delicious dressing, avocado and a biscuit. Ambiance is super cool - wood cabinets, glass bottles, tons of charm! Bathroom and fixtures are unique. Great seating indoors and out :)
The place is cute overall. The food is not bad. Its not great, but its not bad. The bacon was very good. The biscuits and gravy were not worth it. We waited about 30 minutes for our food (table of 6, 1 plate each), which was definitely longer than expected. I did not enjoy the attitude of our waitress unfortunately. My father is hard of hearing and it was noisy and her tone was rude asking him to repeat multiple times when we heard him fine.
Dont go here!! You have to do everything on a app, no one to help you. Most of the menu items are out of stock. I wanted to order a mimosas and was told could not order before 10, however that was no where on the menu. $12 for a bowl of greens with a avocado.
This place had the perfect brunch vibe during our visit. I would definitely come back to try a few more items!Food: The pancakes looked amazing and tasted pretty great! Aside from that, the breakfast was delicious and my friends and I would all return again for the food! Everything was cooked well and tasted great.Service: the service was a little slow and took quite a while to get our checks to get a move on with the rest of the day. However, when we did have service, it was always friendly and helpful!
Nice small place with a limited menu. The food is made with quality ingredients.
Delicious farm to table restaurant. I started with the Oktoberfest beer. The Farmacy Plate was a perfect combination of sweet and savory and was quickly gobbled up. I followed up with the chicken dinner and crispy Brussel sprouts.The chicken was delicious with the barley and couscous filling in for the quarter portion of chicken. The Brussel sprouts were perfectly crispy and added a nice crunchiness to the meal.I would come here again for sure but Rosewood looks good too.
Good food and creative way to do food service. Small portions but fitting for how much it costs and portion control.
Giving 5 stars mainly because of the atmosphere. The food is pretty good and the ingredients are fresh. A bit overpriced for the portion size but the atmosphere is great for a group looking for an easy brunch menu. The wait is shorter than they tell you (I’m my case 1hr was closer to 20-25 minutes). Overall, no complaints!
This place is fantastic. Great atmosphere, great food, and portions big enough you can go family style.
DO NOT waste your time with this pitiful restaurant. Hostess literally yelled at me while I’m holding my baby for not having a mask on & demanded I wear one outside. Completely unreasonable & brainwashed.
Over hyped, just bad.I was recommended but maybe they changed management?
Loved this super cute cafe. It was raining the day we went and sitting outside for brunch was beautiful and so relaxing. Loved the pan cakes however the options are limited. But worth a try. Beautiful setting ❤️
The place has great vibes including staff. That place makes me feel at home and happy. Keep up the good work management and staff yall making the world smile.
Friendly staff. glad to see they are requiring masks, I support that policy. had a nice cocktail.
Thoroughly enjoyable experience! Neat boutique restaurant atmosphere in historic building. Food was impressive, ranks right up there, compliments to the chef. We started with Panzanella salad, which really highlighted the benefits of their farm-to-table supply chain (I want to get all my tomatoes, micro greens and feta from their source!); then Texas favorite interpretation of Mac-n-Cheese w/ Taleiggio and aged white cheddar, bacon (baked w bread crumbs). Our entrees— The trout and pork chop were creatively executed and perfectly delicious. Craft cocktails were great. Their ordering app was so easy to use (we ordered drinks then one course at a time to avoid any risk of all coming out together) — food came out promptly and if you wanted human touch and to shoot the breeze about the food the servers were happy to do that, so we didn’t feel put off at all by ordering from our table on the app, actually admire them for innovation to manage around labor shortage in pandemic. Price value excellent. And free convenient parking to boot. Well done Hillside Farmacy, will definitely visit again! One suggestion: update website to reflect fact that currently, with vaccines, not requiring diners to enter w masks, same as any restaurant in Austin or DFW.
Good food but a bit pricey. Cool atmosphere. Poor wait service. I was the only one in the place and the waitress sat at the bar on her phone with her back turned to me. I had to yell to get her attention.
Drinks are excellent, food was mediocre, service was terrible. We had to walk inside multiple times to ask for things like water, boxes and even silverware and napkins when our food was delivered to the table with out them. They seemed surprised we were even asking.
We found this place on Yelp and it said it had great food. We got there and the place was slammed. 45 to 50 min wait. We asked if they allowed people to sit at the counter and the lady said yes, we found two seats next to two nice ladies from Seattle. It took about 7 min for anyone to come and give us water it warm and when I asked for ice she gave some to me but not my husband. We asked for ketchup and she told us to go get it off another table. (Who does that) the nice lady who served is got us a bottle. I would love to tell you our waitress name as she never said it and it was not on the receipt. She seemed miffed when we asked questions since it was our first time and did not know the process. She was a small blond lady in a dark dress. She was nice to people around us who were drinking but we dont drink and she didnt bother with recommendations. She pretty much ignored us the whole time. The food was pretty good. We didnt realize we only get one piece of bread cut in half (be prepared-they dont butter the toast) and I love getting barely toasted cold bread with frozen butter to try and spread on. I could not eat the jam as I am allergic to berries and when I tried to ask if there was another choice she walked away. We did not get the salad with our eggs so it would have been nice to get an extra piece but oh well. The atmosphere is really cool and kitchy. There was another man who was nice and got us silverware. I asked the ladies from Seattle if she was kind of nasty to them and they said she warmed up after they ordered drinks. Mind you this was 10:30am so drinking is not my idea in the morning. What surprised me was two young girls came in and looked young and she never carded them. That surprised me as I thought it was a thing to card someone that young. Maybe it was a bad day or.she was stressed but she seemed nice to everyone who drank so not sure why we got the bad treatment. Never asked us about refills and gave us our check and we paid and left. I have to say you need to check out the restrooms here. They are so cool. Take a chance the food was good. See if you have a better experience. I took a picture of our receipt.
Arrived here for brunch and was seated at the bar. Wanted a quick bite due to being on the road that day. It wasnt busy, but not dead either, but it took almost 10 minutes before someone approached me, right as I turned around to speak with hostess about getting me an actual table due to lack of being noticed at the bar. Finally got service, and upon realizing Ive been ignored, was over serviced during my short meal. Had a avocado and fried egg sandwich, which was delicious, and their brunch punch.Will not discount this place out completely due to one experience, but may seat at an actual table next time just in case.
One of my favorite breakfast spots in Austin Hands down. Staff are always friendly and super welcoming. The building itself is absolutely beautiful and holds historical significance in Austin. Hillside Farmacy is definitely a city gem!
Awesome building, cool concept, it gets 3 stars as a restauran. I am a strong believer of the meal vs the experience. As a restaurant, this place gets 3 stars for the overpriced and extremely limited menu, and only above-average taste. Nice place to come grab coffee or some mimosas. They did have a very interesting menu of hand crafted sodas... Server was nice enough to let us know that tickets were taking over 45 minutes before we ordered, hard to understand with only 8 items in the menu... Just look at the plates in my picture... a scrambled egg with 2 sausage links, barely tossed greens and toast = 45 minutes
The food was ok. The vibe was very weird. You dont have a server and have to order online. But it makes it hard if you have any questions, and makes the experience awkward and cold. Vaccines are out there and the numbers of people with VOVID are going down so no need for these strict measures at this point. Would never go back again. Oh and on top of that you have to tip at least 15% for them to bring the food to the table and take the plates away. Must be nice to get paid that percentage to do almost nothing.
Stumbled across this little gem! Outdoor seating, easy ordering through their in house electronic menu, drinks that delicious, and a plethora of food options.
Hillside Farmacy is such a lovely spot. The owners are so wonderful and their staff reflect the spirit of community, good food and calm that they value. Covid precautions felt very safe and we will definitely be back again. This was the first post covid date night spot for us and we felt safe and so well taken care of!
I’m going to start by saying that I appreciate being able to have a meal out “in the midst of a pandemic.”That being said, if nothing else, if the service is “order online and we bring it to your table outside”, great; if the water is self serve, even better; if the plates are paper, ain’t no thang; but if you’re going to charge $14 for the “big brekkie” let’s at least dress the greens with a little olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, and some salt. It shows that if nothing else you care about the food. I can literally overlook every other aspect with the consideration of contemporary events. But please, either bring your price point down or take a serious look at your menu an thing about each ingredient on the plate rather than topping pancakes with unripe peaches, give them a little toast. They get nice and soft and sweet. Perfect for pancakes. I’m sorry to say that the food felt like an after thought and in no way is any representation of farm-to-table not “brilliant” as one featured review mentioned.It’s also worth mentioning, that this is not the first time I’ve felt unrequited after eating here. Probably the fourth.I say these things kindly by the way. I’d love to see this place live up to its potential.Best of luck, Hillside.
Pricey but very unique for a quick bite. The food itself was decent, because how can you not screw up breakfast? We got eggs, toast, wedges, and bacon. It was all as expected. What Im docking this place for is the waitress was sub-par. We walked in around 9:30, it wasnt busy at all. She brought us to a very tiny table for two and we are above average people that need some room, so we asked if we could sit at 4 chair table next to us that was empty. She said no the place fills up too quickly so theyll need it. We grumbled and accepted the tiny table. It was also kind of wedged against the wall which just felt claustrophobic. The tables next to us never filled up btw. So the girl could have just been more sensible. Anyway, the food and coffee was decent enough. What really stood out to us was the environment which the place has a rich history of serving prescription drugs. You can see that in the decorations and atmosphere where they have old drugs lined up from the 50s-60s. It really is quite cool. Other than that, their staff needs to improve.
Food and atmosphere was very enjoyable. There was NO waitress, we had to order and pay online. Adding a service fee and requiring us to bus our own table loses a star!
Amazing food. Cute date spot
Terrible food. Pound cake was hard as rock. Had to order food from an app online which caused all the food to come out at different times. Pass.
If only they paid as much attention to their food as the decor I would have given a 4 star review. Great atmosphere disappointing service and cuisine. Coffee took 20 minutes to come out and was cold, along with all the food ordered to the table. Nothing was served even remotely warm and the place was severely understaffed. The ordering online did not work well and most items didn’t offer a place to select a table number which caused the staff to bring the orders to incorrect tables. As well as missing items from the orders, all this combined led to a poor experience. Just not at all worth the high price tag.
Absolutely incredible business that has the kindest staff, and delicious food! They have transitioned to following COVID-19 guidelines (above what is required for the state), and are also doing to-go in a safe and amazing way. Love their food, love their drinks, when you support them youre supporting an incredible East Austin gem!
An over priced weak breakfast. Youre basically paying for a continental breakfast with nicer plates.
The drinks and fries were good, but the veggie burger was awful, it was like peppered beat mush that fell out the back.
Food was pretty good and drinks were pretty good but service left much to be desired. A little pricey for what it is.
One of the best places in Austin for Pancakes, and great place for food in general.The decor is wonderful, as the restaurant kept the structure of the pharmacy that was there before. The staff could be more friendly, but this is all forgotten when you get the first bite of your dish.I specially recommend this place for breakfast lovers - as everything on the brunch menu is delicious.
I stopped in for a late lunch and started with the Pimento cheese, because, why not? I thought the flavor was great. I then moved to my burger where I felt the meat was cooked more than I ordered but still reasonable (this seems to be common for burgers). The fries had some spices and were really tasty! The decor inside has old pharmacy relics and the bar looks like an old pharmacy counter with a nice copper top.
Thank you so much for the free lunch! This has been a tough time for so many and it’s awesome that you guys are helping folks out!!!
Bad bloody mary. Bad breakfast sandwich.
So good! love the safer way to order, cute vibes & fresh food. 🤍
I’ve been to Hillside Farmacy a handful of times and thoroughly enjoyed each visit. I work in the pharmaceutical industry and it’s always neat seeing all of the knick knacks along the walls. The space definitely takes you back in time. Pictured below, is the “Big Brekkie” with extra sausage and it never disappoints. A little on the pricier side which I’m ok with since you’re paying for good quality food.
Worst food poisoning experience of my life.
I ordered 3 pork belly’s for me and my friends, they were each insanely salty— to the point of being inedible. I’m giving an extra star because the grits were good and I can tell the food is generally high quality. Probably an off night for the chef— but I won’t try this place again after that.
This place is so cute and the food presentation is delightful.