The Driskill Hotel’s Revamped Glamour

The Driskill Hotel’s grand windows overlooking Brazos and Sixth Streets have seen horse-drawn carriages and streetcars give way to electric SUVs as Austin has evolved into the tech hub it is today. But the character of this stalwart—the region’s first-ever luxury hotel when it opened its doors in 1886—has remained the same.

As the hotel marks its 140th anniversary, it’s also unveiling a renovation this month that preserves its historic character while upgrading all 189 guest rooms and suites, plus the lobby and common areas. And as a bit of a tasty preview, over the past year the team has also rolled out a revamped culinary program that pays homage to the hotel’s legends. Just one story: In 1934, Lyndon Baines Johnson brought Lady Bird Taylor to the on-site Driskill Grill for breakfast on their first date.

The latest iteration of the Grill, a new steak house from McGuire Moorman Lambert Hospitality, leans into all the lore. The soaring space channels the ghost of the original owner—cattle baron Colonel Jesse Driskill—and Austin’s Wild West past with unlacquered brass, walnut burl paneling, a pewter bar, and a palette of earthy greens and merlot red.

Executive chef April Bloomfield, a James Beard Award winner celebrated for her nose-to-tail butchery and command of seasonal produce, anchors the menu in classic American steak-house fare backed by an in-house aging and butchery program. 

Bloomfield’s bar menu at the Victorian, the hotel’s Western-style pub that opened last year, has also offered something of a preview—food rooted in Southern flavors but shaped by her British background and gastropub sensibility. The Victorian burger and fish and chips hold down the menu, while Texas Twinkies (jalapeños stuffed with bacon jam, then fried) add a little swagger.