The Room
Chez Nous opened in 1982 in a small downtown bungalow on Neches Street — Couly Lyon and Robert Mascarin (both born and trained in France) building the most-credible French bistro Austin had hosted, and effectively starting the conversation about French cuisine in Texas. Forty-three years later the room is Austin's longest-running French dining room and the Lyon family still runs the kitchen.
The dining room is unchanged from the eighties: white tablecloths, a small bar at the front, framed Provence photographs on the walls, the kind of careful clutter that four decades of Lyon family service produces. The Texas Monthly has held Chez Nous in its top French-restaurant ranking through every review cycle since 1985. The Austin Chronicle has named the room a Hall of Fame entry. The format is intentionally non-cutting-edge.
The Food
The daily prix-fixe at $45 per person — three courses, a single seasonal entrée — is the order for a first visit. The escargots, the duck confit, the Dover sole meunière, the steak frites: every dish in the canon executed without parody. The brunch service is one of downtown's most-considered weekend offerings.
Wine programme is French — Bordeaux, Burgundy, Loire, Rhône — with an honest sommelier-built half-bottle list. Cocktails are classic French: a working Sidecar, a Champagne 75, a Negroni made with French vermouth. Service is the same Lyon family book that has run for over forty years.
Best Occasion Fit
Birthday: Birthdays at Chez Nous are warm, French-classic-led, candle-on-the-prix-fixe affairs the room has hosted for over four decades. The corner table is the seat to request. The Lyon family handles the moment with the discretion only a long-running family restaurant can offer.
Proposal: The corner two-top in the back of the dining room, on a clear evening, with the staff knowing the moment is coming — Chez Nous is one of Austin's most-discreet proposal venues. The Lyon family will arrange the moment without ceremony or production.
First Date: The bar at Chez Nous is one of downtown's most-enduring first-date seats. The escargots are the natural opener, the Champagne 75 is the second drink, and the room's quiet French register reads as warm without becoming theatrical.