Lake Travis | Westlake

Restaurant brings foreign flavors to dishes

Reina Morris, owner of Buenos Aires Café at 13500 Galleria Circle in Bee Cave, has received several requests to bring her Argentinean-themed restaurant to other areas of the country, such as New York City and Houston. But, Morris says, she would prefer to keep her operations local to Austin.

“No, no,” Morris said. “Two restaurants are enough.”

Morris opened her Bee Cave location in 2010 after running a café on South First Street in Austin for five years. She has also opened a downtown Austin location and continues to manage that café as well. But the Bee Cave location is closest to her heart, she says.

“I live in this area, I love this area, and I thought this would be a good place for us to be,” Morris said.

Buenos Aires Café offers a selection of Argentinean fare that features French, Italian and Spanish influences. The menu includes five different types of empanadas, such as the verdura empanada, which is made with spinach, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese and onions.

Morris, a native of Buenos Aires, said she incorporated traditional family recipes in her menu, as well as experimental European dishes her diners have come to love.

“We found the dishes that people like, and for me it was always about trying to provide the quality of the food rather than the quantity,” Morris said. “So I like the normal-size dishes, but everything that we do is from scratch. We make all of the dressings, and all of the stuff is organic and antibiotic, no hormones—stuff like that. I love that.”

The café serves pastries, lunch, dinner, desserts and also operates a full bar that offers happy hour between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. The lunch menu, which includes soups, salads, empanadas and signature sandwiches, serves the lomito beef sandwich ($13.99), one of the café’s most ordered dishes. It is made with 6 ounces of certified Angus beef tenderloin with a choice of either chimichurri sauce or Dijon mustard and is served on a French baguette.

While her restaurant is known for her Argentinean dishes, Morris also surprises customers with special offerings to expand their palates for European food, she said.

“We’ll play with our specials,” Morris said. “That’s our opportunity to have people try something different.”

Buenos Aires Café, 13500 Galleria Circle, Bee Cave, 441-9000, www.buenosairescafe.com

Hours:

Mon.–Sat. 10 a.m.–9 p.m.

Sun. noon–3 p.m.