On a nondescript East Austin street, a basket of umbrellas sits beside bright blue doors set into a white brick wall. The umbrellas are there to shield customers from the elements—because this is Birdie’s, a restaurant that forgoes reservations and often draws lines down East 12th Street.
Inside, Birdie’s resembles many popular Austin restaurants—open kitchen, minimalist wooden furniture, exposed metal piping overhead—but this neighborhood spot is unique enough that Food & Wine called it “worth getting on a plane to Austin for.”
After years working in some of New York’s top kitchens, Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel and her husband Arjav Ezekiel moved to Austin to open a fine-dining Italian restaurant. But when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, they found themselves short on funding and reimagined their plans. They stripped away the elements of fine dining they deemed unnecessary and kept the ones they valued.
Instead of hostesses, they introduced an order-at-the-counter system. Although they initially planned to hire a sommelier, Tracy told Arjav, “You have good taste in wine. You do it.” (He has since been named a semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation’s “Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service.”)
The couple built a small team and prioritized staff well-being—offering full benefits, paying generous wages that made tips a bonus, and closing the restaurant on Sundays and Mondays, as well as two weeks in December and two weeks in August to avoid burnout.
At Birdie’s, diners wait in line to order all courses at once at the counter. From there, they can choose from 24 indoor seats—including counter spots with views into the open kitchen—or one of 50 seats on the covered patio. Roll-up panels create shelter on rainy days and open up to allow for breezy al fresco dining when the weather is nice.
Although the service begins casually, the dining experience feels polished and relaxed. Guests can order additional desserts or wine using a QR code at the table, but attentive servers are always nearby—clearing plates, checking in, and pacing the meal for a more traditional, sit-down rhythm.
The menu changes frequently, highlighting seasonal ingredients from local farms and dishes grounded in French and Italian technique. Plates are designed for sharing, with one standout appearing as a permanent fixture: a playful take on beef tartare fashioned like chips and dip. It features raw Texas Akaushi tossed with Texas pecans, rosemary aioli, and wheatberries from Dripping Springs, served with a jumbo slab of carta di musica, the paper-thin Sardinian flatbread.
Every February and October, Birdie’s transforms into a red-sauce Italian pop-up called Aiello’s—an homage to Malechek-Ezekiel’s grandfather, who immigrated from Calabria.
“I’m inspired by local farmers,” Malechek-Ezekiel says. “And the neighborhood feel of the restaurant is important to us. No matter how we evolve, we’ll always be a neighborhood restaurant.”
