Iron Cactus — Mexican Restaurant in Downtown Austin

Start with the table-side guacamole. A server brings the molcajete, the avocados, the serrano, lime, cilantro and onion, and builds it in front of you at the heat level you ask for — mild if you are feeding kids, aggressive if you are not. It is the single most ordered thing in the building, and it is the honest introduction to how the rest of the kitchen works.

After that, the fajitas. Certified Angus Beef, chicken, shrimp, veggie, or the combo, marinated and finished on cast iron so they arrive at the table still sizzling loud enough to turn heads two booths over. The brisket enchiladas, the stacked pork enchiladas and the bone-in stuffed pork chop are the other plates regulars order without reading. Vegetarians and vegans are genuinely covered here — vegan tacos, veggie fajitas, veggie enchiladas — rather than handed a side of rice and beans.

One thing that separates the kitchen from most of the street: no seed oils. Everything is cooked in avocado oil and butter, which changes how the fried items taste and how you feel three hours later. The full lineup, with prices and photos of nearly every dish, lives on the lunch and dinner menu.

The tequila program is the reason a lot of people walk in the first time. More than 100 tequilas and mezcals line the wall behind the downstairs bar — blancos, reposados, añejos, extra añejos and a rotating handful of small-production bottles that never make it to a grocery shelf — and the bar has been named among the top tequila bars in the United States for exactly that reason.

Margaritas are made the long way: fresh-squeezed lime, real agave, no sour mix, no pre-batched neon. Order the classic on the rocks to judge us fairly, then work outward to the prickly pear, the spicy mango, the jalapeño, the blood orange, or a Cadillac poured with an añejo you would otherwise drink neat. Flights are the fastest way to learn the difference between a highland and a lowland blanco without committing to a full pour.

Happy hour runs on the bar level most weekdays, and the full tequila list and cocktail lineup is on the tequila and drinks page.

Three floors means we can host almost anything downtown Austin throws at us: a rehearsal dinner for twenty, a conference reception for a hundred and fifty, a holiday party that takes the rooftop for the night, or a full building buyout during SXSW and ACL weekends. Semi-private areas work for smaller groups without a room fee.

An event coordinator handles menus, bar packages, AV and timing directly — you talk to a person, not a form-letter. Capacities, room-by-room detail and the inquiry form are on the Austin private event spaces page.

We are at 606 Trinity Street, Austin, TX 78701 — the northwest corner of 6th and Trinity, in the heart of the downtown entertainment district. The Austin Convention Center is three blocks east, the Driskill and Congress Avenue are two blocks west, the Rainey Street district and Lady Bird Lake are a ten-minute walk south, and the Texas Capitol is about eight blocks north. If you are staying at a downtown hotel, you can almost certainly walk.

Parking downtown is the usual Austin puzzle. Valet is available Thursday through Saturday from 4:30pm at the stand at 500 San Jacinto between 5th and 6th — $15 validated with a same-night purchase at participating 6th Street businesses, $25 standard, $45 overnight. Otherwise there are several garages within two blocks, and rideshare drop-off on Trinity is straightforward outside of street-closure nights.

Hours are Monday through Thursday 11am to 10pm, Friday and Saturday 11am to 11pm, and Sunday 11am to 10pm. Kitchen runs all day, so a 3pm lunch is a real option. Reservations are recommended for the dining room and rooftop, especially Thursday through Saturday and during festival weeks; the bar is walk-in.