My wife and I are new residents of Mueller Park and wanted to give this restaurant a try. We were offended by both the auto service charge of 20% as well as the extra credit card fee in excess of 3%. The service was indeed excellent, and if they had not imposed an auto charge of 20% we would have tipped 25%. The extra credit card fee is just absurd and should be a cost of doing business, not an additional way to pad profits. Just raise the prices and don't be insulting. It was like going to the Starbucks window and having them "ask you a few questions" about how high you would like their tip to be. We hope the management will reconsider these auto fees as we would like to return but will not until this policy changes read more

Excellent food! We loved it. This is petty, but I'll put it out there. The order things were brought out (fresh mozzarella, escarole salad, meatballs, Spanish mackerel) wasn't great. Salad should have been first, and ending dinner with the fishy taste of Spanish mackerel was not so great. read more

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We checked this spot out on a date night last week and really enjoyed the food and service! L'Oca d'Oro is a small-ish restaurant, dimly lit, with an inviting bar area. The hostesses were warm and funny and we immediately felt welcome. As she sat us by the window, one of the hostesses excitedly let us know that we'd come at a prime dog-watching time of day and she was not wrong! The menu is nice and brief so you don't have to worry about analysis paralysis from too many choices. I got the spaghetti cacio e pepe and my husband got the polpette which is Wagyu brisket and pork meatballs. The cacio e pepe was delicious! Not life changing, but that's the nature of cacio e pepe --it's a simple dish. The meatballs, though? Amazing! We were debating whether it was better than the meatball at Doc B's the whole time. My husband says it's almost as good and I say I've never experienced a better meatball in my life. It just melts in your mouth and the sauce was a nice complement as well. A 20% service fee is added to the bill automatically and our server made sure to let us know that when he brought the check. I really appreciated that because I'd forgot even though there's a pop out that tells you as much on their website. read more

L'Oca d'Oro is a cute restaurant located in Mueller Park. The food has great flavor and is definitely very fresh. The portions are very very small and considering the price point and the little amount of food you get, I do not know if the value is there to make me frequent this place very often. I enjoyed the depth of the flavors, but wished there was more. In all, however, I still a good dining experience. The pastas were cooked super well and the desert suggested to us was really unique. We had the Brioche con gelato which featured a in-house made black pepper gelato. Honestly, the pepper in the sweet dessert was a bit of a strange combination, but adding it on top of the brioche really neutralized the spiciness and made the whole dish come together. Another thing to note is that each bill has a 20% gratuity tip added to it regardless of the kind of service received. (I went with 3 other people and found this fact surprising - usually tip is only automatically added for large parties) While I am fortunate to have been greeted by a helpful waiter who suggested great dishes to try, I can see this being an issue should the restaurant get busier or if a customer is unprepared for this. read more

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Another amazing experience at this dining gem. We were there for an early birthday celebration, mine. Twenty-nine again. We shared the fresh mozzarella and two pasta dishes. Happened to hit it at happy hour. Josh, our server, was incredibly nice and attentive. Jeremy stopped by and wished us well. So wonderful. We are loyal to L'oca, and this impressive night proved why. read more

Personally, I would not recommend this place. It was my first time going here for a special occasion and for the price, it was wildly not worth it. First, the pasta I ordered was extremely salty. Then when we had leftovers, they took it to the back to box it up. Later when we opened our leftovers, there was significantly less food than what was left on our plates. This was very upsetting, even more so that the boxes are not microwave safe. The service was fine, they were all nice but do expect an Austin type vibe...the restaurant itself was beautiful, but a lot more children than I thought there'd be. read more

I order the mozzarella appetizer and it's all I've been thinking about the rest of the week... besides the cannoli which is insanely good. Foods amazing and I'll be back within the week. Staff is wonderful. read more

L'Oca d'Oro - Snapper - Italian Near Me - Austin, Texas

This place never disappoints! The best seats in the house are at the counter top where you get to watch the masters at work. They knew how to tempt me! Haha. All the dishes they were whipping out looked delicious. Definitely need to return to try the other dishes! My sister tried the mozzarella, fresh house made focaccia bread with cultured butter, and bucatini cashew e pepe. Also, try their cocktails and wine too - you can't go wrong. read more

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It's been a while actually (I think it was about 2 years ago). This place just came to mind again because I live in Mueller and wanted someplace I could walk to for dinner this evening. I'll never go to this restaurant again. I'm still haunted by that last experience. Dry, flavorless, overcooked chicken. Awful pasta. It was truly one of the worst meals I've ever had. Two years later and it still haunts me by how terrible it was. Glad I was finally able to remember to actually leave this revue. If you want something delicious, you'll find tastier food at Olive Garden. And for clarification - I'm a former chef (14 years experience, including Michelin starred restaurants in NYC) and I've eaten at some truly memorable restaurants. This place is NOT one of them. I could go on and on... sometimes I'm tempted to give them another chance. But I looked at the menu just today....so.....banal read more

Something unbelievable happened to me after visiting this restaurant. It was three of us girls celebrating a birthday and we were all out of town. The hostess was super nice and sat us outside so we could enjoy the lovely weather. We shared an appetizer and we each ordered a main dish with the intention of sharing everything. The entrees are on the smaller and the flavors were completely unexpected, specially, the Spaghetti Carbonara which was overwhelmingly peppery. The lasagna was kind of sweet which I liked but someone else in my party did not. Overall, let's just say different. We had complementary canneloni which of course we appreciated very much and then we got the bill. I didn't have my reading glasses so I did not inspect it carefully. I thought it was kind of expensive especially because we didn't have any alcohol, but I just paid and went on my way. Get this... the next day I receive a call from the restaurant letting me know that they made a mistake on the bill and that they would be correcting it that day. Huh? I'm obviously not complaining but I was shocked that 1. They caught it and 2. They reached out to let me know. BRAVO! Thank you for your impeccable service, and honesty. read more

L'Oca d'Oro - Cannelloni - Italian Near Me - Austin, Texas

Excellent dinner tonight. We did the pre-fixe menu. The appetizers were delicious. The speck was outstanding, lightly smoked and slightly salty. The mozzarella was delightful. The focaccia was a standout. Next up were the pastas. The lemon pasta was delightful - very lemony and delicious. The carrot lasagna was absolutely surprising. Served in a very creative way - three little rolls standing straight up with bech sauce - it was outstanding. Following the pastas on the menu were chicken mille-feuille with a mushroom sauce and olive oil-poached swordfish. Both dishes were very, very good. I would order both again. For dessert, they had a chocolate chip cookie that was more like a lava cake, baked fresh to order, and a pannaotta. Both desserts were absolutely delicious. The wine pairings were also perfect. Five out of five - would definitely go back again. read more

My favorite thing about this place was the bathroom tiles. We took our friends here for their anniversary and it didn't land as well as i thought it would. It was February and pretty cold, we were sat outside but the heaters weren't working so that was a huge factor in the experience. It made us cold and uncomfortable, it made the food cold. We really just wanted to get out of there. Besides this, the food was mid for the price. I think you're def paying for the mueller location rather than the quality. Don't think I'll try this place again. read more

Great Italian restaurant for a date night or large group birthday dinner! I came here with a very large group of ~16 people for a friend's birthday and I was blown away by the great service; the waitresses were very friendly and brought out our food/drinks so fast. I also loved that they added a personalized birthday menu setting for my friend. I absolutely LOVED their cocktails here - the One Above, One Below drink was so refreshing and gets you pretty buzzed fast (haha). The housemade pastas were all wonderful - the cavatelli al pomodoro being my favorite. I didn't like the green corn panisse or chicken milanesa dish as much, which was part of the third course of our pre-fixe menu. But, the desserts were wonderful! I would definitely recommend this place! read more

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Food is really good. Great flavor combinations and appearance. This place is pricey. The individual plates are not that expensive, but the portions are tiny. If you split an appetizer with someone, and each get an entree, you will probably walk away hungry. The prices add up quickly in a group setting. A group of four, each ordering 2 cocktails, we spent about $315. Gratuity is automatically added to the receipt. Which is a pity, because our waitress was not great either time I've been. This last trip, our waitress was the kind that brings you one tiny thing then smoke bomb disappears before you can ask her a question (she avoided making eye contact quote deftly). We had to go to the bar and ask for a straw because she still hadn't brought it to us 20 mins later. When she saw us doing that, she rushed to the table afterward to explain she couldn't reach the straws herself Also beware if they ask you "would you like some more focaccia," they should really ask "would you like another order of focaccia," because they will charge you again. We made that mistake! read more

Went for my birthday last night after hearing/reading so many good reviews. The food was great and timed perfectly. The atmosphere was good for a community restaurant casual cafe sort of thing. It would probably be fine if you wandered in and sat at the bar. Our waiter was terrible! 17 minutes before he acknowledged us, another 10 min, we flagged him down to ask for water and if he could take our drink order. Then another 10 min later we ordered our courses. Our drinks didn't come out until after the 1st course. We ordered a bottle of wine to have before the second course, but it wasn't brought until after we were done eating our second course. At this point, we were frustrated, so we sent the wine back canceled our remaining order and left. Very disorganized and stressful experience. read more

We're friends with the owner so take this all with a grain of salt. But we became friends over the food he made and he continues making great food. We go here for special occasions and are always happy we did. read more

Absolutely delicious. Highly recommend for any foodies in or traveling to Austin - service is top notch, share all your plates because you'll regret not ordering more! the drinks are amazing as well. great job team! we'll be back! the sourdough foccacia was the best bread ive EVER had. read more

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Tl;dr Solid food, slow service (there's also 22% gratuity added on automatically); not worth the price paid (over $180 for 2). The food was pretty great, especially the focaccia. I wish it came with more than 2 squares because every item came with a delicious sauce. Meatball was solid, with a tasty and uniquely warming spiced marinara. Mozzarella was tasty, and you can't go wrong with black garlic. The butternut squash was good, if not a tad underdone. Speaking of underdone, my mafaldine was on the brink of being too al dente. Dessert took over 30 min to arrive. I didn't see a server the whole time to even raise notice. No apology about the wait. For the time it took I'd at least expect an act of good Will such as the item being comped (again since this is a pricey place) read more

A very average meal overall. I would say the drinks were the best part because they were so refreshing in the heat and at the end of the day. I wasn't particularly impressed with the pasta or the meatballs. They were good, but didn't blow me away. I will say though, service was absolutely impeccable! Really appreciate everyone in the kitchen though! read more

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Highly disappointed. Three stars is generous and only because I appreciate good food, but everything else was a BIG MISS. My friends and I reserved a private dining experience (25 people) and was asked to sign a contract that enforces a minimum $2,000 spend. That's not particularly an issue if we hadn't gotten HALF A MEAL out of it! Every single person left dinner HUNGRY! After spending $2,000+!!! The fixed menus were all vegetarian, which isn't "problematic" per se, but I would have appreciated some protein in ANY of the appetizers or entrees! In fact, for our table of 25 people, there was probably enough food to feed 12 of us... not a single dish was a "full portion" for one person and everyone shared the small plates during the entire evening. Highly disappointed considering the clear communications outlined in the emails leading up to the dinner. Furthermore, our waitress was frazzled beyond belief. She couldn't handle the drink orders despite having a "numbering" system for each person's seat. She was moving plates around unnecessarily and was not at all attentive to detail. We clearly asked for an extra order of the rigatoni which took forever to come out then was given to the wrong person... who almost accidentally ate it had we not noticed ourselves and screamed across the table to fix the situation. The panna cotta sucked. First off, there are maybe 2 bites worth and my table of 12 people was given 2 Panna Cottas to SHARE for dessert (entire party was 2 tables of 12-13 each). That was a DISGRACE!!! Are you kidding?! We have a FIXED MENU for everyone and y'all are so STINGY to make 12 people share a two-bite dessert (1cm deep or less) ???? It was NASTY too! We specifically went inside to ask for a surprise dessert for one of our guests. The manager and waitress agreed to do something special. Want to know what they did? Wrote "thank you so much" with sharpie on a piece of paper and stuck it under the dessert plate... EVER HEARD OF CLASS?! Even a basic restaurant would pipe cursive writing on the plate directly! My local Whole Foods department could do better on a minute's notice! Last but not least, they printed the pre fixe menus on cute pieces of paper which was a pleasant surprise... until we flipped it over to see it was a RECYCLED PIECE OF PAPER FROM SOMEONE ELSE'S PRIVATE EVENT! Insane! Y'all couldn't even use a new sheet of paper when printing our menus? That you resorted to using an old messed up menu? Congratulating two randos we never met? I guess congrats to them! On the bright side, the tiramisu was decent (a bit dry tho) and the pastas (rigatoni, bucatini) and squash were good. Appetizers were good but TINY portions. 3 appetizers might fill up ONE hungry person before their entree. Mozzarella 5/5, grapefruit salad 3/5, corn patisse 5/5. Cute vibes outdoors, staff needs better training, private dining needs to be revisited. I will never be back. What a shame! read more

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The food wasnt bad and didnt stand out too much. Quite expensive being a tapas style place with smaller dishes. I will say, definitely go for the Cannolis read more

Absolutely amazing food at a cozy Italian restaurant in Austin! I really enjoyed my dining experience and found service to be quick enough on a busy weekend evening. I had a floral spritz that was simply divine! As for the food, everything was superb and absolutely delicious! The restaurant is a bit small so you might be sitting a little closer than you want to but that's simply the joys of dining. The decor is simple and delicate which is really lovely. If you are in the area, you really should check this place out! read more

Amazing food, amazing service. We left our keys at the table and our waiter hand delivered them to us at the bar nextdoor. House made drinks and pasta were spectacular. read more

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A lovely dining experience and great service. The highlights were my truly delightful cucumber lime mocktail (which wasn't too sweet and had herby undertones that made it taste like a cocktail), the smoky sourdough focaccia with honey butter, the mozzarella with pistachio purée, and the crunchy sweet decadent brioche with gelato and figs. A matter of taste, but the apple pie panna cotta was too salty for us. And I like salty sweet desserts. If you like slow, leisurely dining, this place is really nice. read more

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I went to L'Oca d'Oro on a weekday night. Since they currently have limited outdoor seating, make sure to make reservations a few weeks in advance. For parking, there's paid street parking around the Mueller area, a parking garage on McBee street, and a lot across the street from the restaurant. Their menu and cocktailes change pretty regularly, so you'll always have something new to try! I got a zucchini pasta that was very flavorful and creative. The eggplant milanesa was probably the most surprising dish. The eggplant was tender and the sauce really complemented it. The cocktails were also very tasty! read more

L'Oca d'Oro - Italian Near Me - Austin, Texas

I came here with a friend and we both loved the food! The focaccia was especially delicious -- I probably could've devoured 3 baskets by myself. We also got the fresh mozzarella and rigatoni. Both were amazing and we almost wanted to order more food! While the service was super friendly and accommodating, it is a little slower than expected. Be prepared to spend about 2 hours here for dinner. With that being said, it's well worth your time! read more

L'Oca d'Oro - Mozzarella - Italian Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Everything was delicious but the dish that stood out the most for me was the ricotta cavatelli! It literally tasted like pure ghee, which is liquid gold for me. In other words, the cavatelli was pasta in liquid gold...will definitely come back for this dish! read more

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Great food, great service, but overpriced for what it is. Drinks are meh. I was by myself and craving a glass of nebbiolo, but they didn't have it or anything similar by the glass - just 4 red wines are available by the glass. I wouldn't be averse to a bottle, but the average was around $80 and the vintages were very young. I asked for an aperol spritz - they don't have aperol, but make their own in-house amaros; it was alright. Their cocktails are also super creative. I appreciate the uniqueness of their offering, but wish they had some more basic options as well. I had the tomato salad, which was alright; I was hoping for more ripeness given the time of year and the restaurant's focus on local sourcing. Tomatoes are one of those things that's 'hit or miss,' IMO it's not fully within their control so won't knock them for it. The bucatini was delicious - perfectly chewy pasta with a lot of flavor from the ammoglio sauce and basil oil. It is a very oily dish, so you need to be into that. Service was friendly, attentive and fast. After the mandatory 20 percent service charge and credit card fee, the meal was $65. read more

We had grilled market fish and beef cheek pappardelle, fresh mozzarella, tiramisu. The beef cheek pappardelle was really delicious and impressive. However, market fish was super bad. Don't understand the cucumber sauce. I feel like the fish fell into damp cucumber. Tiramisu and mozzarella were fresh and good. The server was so friendly and cool. I love the ambiance which decorated in detail. read more

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I had a great best friend date night here! We took advantage of the happy hour pricing on wine and pasta. Loved the focaccia, meatballs, mozzarella, and the rigatoni. Service was great (sorry I didn't catch his name!) We will be back! read more

I went to L'Oca d'Ora for my daughter's birthday dinner. We had an excellent meal sharing appetizers including the focaccia and green corn panisse. We ordered a second focaccia to eat with our pasta. I had the Bucatini all'Amatriciana. The pasta was al dente, holding the savory and slightly spicy sauce. All of us enjoyed our selections (sharing tastes around the table) and greatly appreciated the guidance from our waiter. For dessert we shared the Cannoli (which changes seasonally) and the Tiramisu. The small restaurant has a right yet cozy air. You can see the kitchen from several, but not all, seating areas which is fun. We were there relatively early in the evening and had no problems hearing our conversations (including our family member with hearing aids). I definitely recommend dining here. read more

This review is for Happy Hour, as I've been to the restaurant twice for HH only. The ambiance is great. It's a really cute restaurant and it even has a little outdoor patio surrounded by greenery. It's clean and bright and they have a nice size bar with stools and tables and then the dining room. There is a ton of parking around the restaurant as well, and it's in that really great area of Mueller with the Drafthouse, Colleen's, Bao'd Up, etc. The happy hour runs from 5 to 6:30 everyday of the week, but in the bar and patio only. I was there on a Wednesday and a Thursday and had no problem getting a seat. I appreciate HH that extend past 6 since most of us get out of work and 5 and have to drive in Austin traffic. They have a combination of drink and food specials with 50% off. Which sounds awesome. But what isn't made clear if you read the menu online is it's only the starred items that are 50%. And when you look closely you realize that in the pretty nice size wine list, only one red, one white and one rose are starred. But, it'll still only run you $4 a glass and they're all fairly good so not too bad. They have two beers to choose from, but sadly only one cocktail (a house punch). For the appetizers, you can choose carrots, the crostini, the zuchini fries or the beet cashew dip. I've tried the crostini and the zucchini fries and both were good, but only because they were 50% off. $12 for one slice of bread (yes its a little larger and thicker, but its still just a slice of bread) that has cheese and tomatoes on it is insane to me. I don't care if it's Mueller. And the fries are a little bowl of zucchini sticks retailing at $10!! Again, worth it for $5 at HH, absolutely NOT $10. I haven't tried the dip or the carrots (but seriously, $9 for carrots?). Presentation is beautiful, but honestly I cannot get behind these appetizer prices at all. They are part of this fair wage policy where they add 20% gratuity to all checks. The service both times I have been there has been awesome, so I think it's great. It's nice to not have to think about tipping when paying like the rest of the world! So all in all, it's a nice cute place, I want to give it business so stop by, and I appreciate some $4 wine, but I feel it's in the vein of the "we want to be an Austin upscale foodie place" so the prices are a bit high and I think they can do more with their happy hour. As someone who lives down the road I would certainly frequent more if there were more options. read more

L'Oca d'Oro - View of the cute patio - Italian Near Me - Austin, Texas

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We went here with friends over the Thanksgiving weekend. We got the Sourdough and Mozzarella to start off the meal - and they were both good. I especially liked how Orange Marmalade was paired with the Mozzarella - it added more complexity to the dish. For our mains, we got Cavatelli, Pumpkin Risotto, Snapper and Lumache.. with the Lumache being our favorite. The sausage, mustard greens and pasta made for a perfect bite! That said, the other dishes had a great taste profile - but had small missteps in execution.. The Risotto though creamy and tasty, had grains of rice that were very undercooked. Snapper had chickpeas that were supposedly smoked, but tasted like they came out of a can and were definitely undercooked as well. We would definitely visit the restaurant again in the future when in Austin. The service, ambience, food, and their motto of paying their staff a living wage is definitely something I can get behind! read more

Took a risk trying this spot for the first time for our New Year's Eve pre-fix meal. Made reservations and had to wait 15-20 minutes. We then had to wait about 20 minutes until we received our first dish. I understand it was busy, but still waiting nearly 40 minutes for our first bite wasn't a good start. We tried about 5-6 dishes or so, and were disappointed in all of them. All the pasta was pretty bland and slightly cold. We did the wine pairings flight and wasn't too thrilled with the selections either. Also they didn't really pair them with the food. They would bring them out quickly while we weren't ready for the next. The atmosphere was a little odd as well. They had some random movie on a projector playing that went onto the ceiling so we couldn't even watch it. I will say our server was pleasant. read more

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L'Oca d' Oro (Golden Goose) is a warm, cozy and inviting environment void of pretentiousness. My 6 year old granddaughter led me here as they serve her favorite butter noodles with cheese. The service is phenomenal and our server Izzy helped me select the most amazing dishes. Multiple other friendly staff checked in on us. I had escarole salad and radiatore pomodoro verde, and would gladly order the same meal again. I actually wish I had leftovers right now, and look forward to going back. The wine was excellent, too. The dishes are prepared with locally grown produce and meats, and they pay one fair wage to their staff. More reason to support this wonderful neighborhood restaurant. Note they are only open for dinner. We were able to get in last night without a reservation. read more

Came here with my family to celebrate my wife's birthday. The restaurant was quiet and had a wonderful aroma when we walked in. We started off with a nice selection of appetizers. The mozzarella and meatballs were definitely the stars of the show. The dandelion toast was interesting, and the cabbage was flavorful as well. The grapefruit salad was pretty ordinary, and forgettable. Then we tried every pasta they offered (there were five of us) and some were outstanding (bolognese and one that tasted like carbonara) but there were a couple that were average (tagliatelle and the one with beets). Overall, we enjoyed our meal and the service and will be back when we are craving a nice Italian dinner. read more

This restaurant makes me think of an elevated version of the neighborhood Italian place. The inside is clean and bright and modern and the patio is nice, running along the sidewalk by the front of the building. They are in the first floor of a condo/apartment building in a nice up and coming neighborhood across from a park. Our server was informed and friendly. The food was more a take on Italian than your typical Italian fare. Excellent meatballs, but not with the usual ground beef, which makes them stand out. Their red sauce is like the Sicilian sauce we had while in Taormina, with subtle Moroccan flavor less like what you would find in Rome or Tuscany. All in all, the food was good, served hot, limited variety but tasty and service was good. read more

Takeout from here. Overall, food is very high quality. However, a couple things are keeping this from a little bit of a higher rating. The 20% service fee on takeout is a bit steep IMO - I tip on takeout but not 20% as the service isn't the same. The 3% CC fee is a bit offputting, not gonna lie - most other restaurants will just accept it as the cost of doing business. Portion sizes are a little too small for the prices. I like the food and without regards to price, it is some of the better Italian cuisine I've had in my life. But since I'm not looking at things in just a vaccuum, this is my rating. read more

Sat outside on a lovely Saturday evening. The waitress was so helpful explaining things on the menu and food was amazing. Loved the focaccia bread, meatballs and pasta. Will return for brunch! read more

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It was a special occasion dinner for me and my kids (adults in their 30s). Our favorite dishes: fresh mozzarella with pesto; Creste di Gallo, beautiful pasta served with pesto and chili oil; and Conchiglie, pasta with shrimp in a spicy butter sauce. As a special treat for my birthday, they brought us glasses of a housemade liqueur called Pecan Nocino to enjoy with our gelato. Service was excellent. Highly recommend. read more

L'Oca d'Oro - Creste di Gallo - Italian Near Me - Austin, Texas