Dai Due
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Dai Due is not just a restaurant — it’s a love letter to Texas. This butcher shop and supper club on Manor Road in Austin sources every single ingredient from within the state, from the wild game and Gulf seafood on your plate to the beer and wine in your glass. Founded by chef and hunter Jesse Griffiths, Dai Due has earned a Bib Gourmand rating in the 2025 MICHELIN Guide and was named one of USA Today’s Restaurants of the Year in 2025.
The atmosphere is rustic and unpretentious, with a small open kitchen and a cozy back room perfect for the supper club-style dinner service. Brunch is served Friday through Sunday, and dinner runs Tuesday through Saturday. The menu changes frequently based on what’s available from Texas farms, ranches, and waters — you might find dry-aged longhorn one week and wild aoudad sheep the next.
For diners managing food allergies, Dai Due is refreshingly transparent. They maintain a dedicated dietary restrictions page on their website that spells out exactly what they can and can’t accommodate. The kitchen is small, so cross-contamination can’t be guaranteed against, but for severe allergies they’ll use a separate clean pan and fresh gloves. Perhaps most notably for the health-conscious: Dai Due is completely seed oil free, cooking exclusively with animal fats, olive oil, butter, and fermented sugarcane oil.
Dietary and Allergy Accommodations
Gluten-Free
Dai Due offers multiple gluten-free options across their menu. Meats are prepared simply on the grill with salt, and the kitchen avoids gluten-containing ingredients in many dishes by default. The one caveat: celiacs must avoid the fryer, and there is no gluten-free bread available. Instead, the kitchen will happily substitute crudités for bread. All breads are made in-house, so the staff knows exactly what’s in them.
The restaurant recommends that celiac diners review the sample menus on their website beforehand and come prepared with their top three dish choices to discuss with their server.
Dairy-Free
Dairy-free dining is manageable here with communication. Butter is used in the kitchen, but Dai Due asks that you specify whether butter should be included or excluded from your dishes. Since they cook primarily with animal fats and olive oil, many dishes can be prepared without dairy if requested. Let your server know up front whether this is a preference or a true allergy — they handle the two differently.
Nut-Free
Pecans, pistachios, and peanuts appear on the menu, but Dai Due notes these are “easily avoidable.” Staff are knowledgeable about which dishes contain nuts and can steer you toward safe options. As with all allergies here, communicate the severity so the kitchen can take appropriate precautions with separate pans and fresh gloves if needed.
Keto
Dai Due is a natural fit for keto diners. The menu centers on high-quality proteins — grass-fed beef, wild game, Gulf seafood, heritage pork — cooked in animal fats and olive oil. Skip the house-made bread and any starchy sides, and you’ll find plenty of satisfying, low-carb options. The seed-oil-free kitchen and emphasis on quality fats align perfectly with keto principles.
Paleo
This may be one of Austin’s best paleo restaurants, even if it doesn’t market itself that way. The Texas-only sourcing philosophy, seed-oil-free kitchen, grass-fed meats, wild game, bone broth, and high-quality cooking fats (animal fat, olive oil) check nearly every paleo box. Avoid the house-made bread and grains, and you’ll have an exceptional paleo meal. Butter coffee has also been available on the menu.
Pescatarian
Dai Due sources sustainable Gulf seafood and regularly features fish dishes on both the brunch and dinner menus. The brunch fish and chips are legendary (reviewers call them “the best in town”), and dinner may feature grilled Gulf fish depending on the season. Options will be limited compared to the meat-heavy menu, but what’s available is sourced with the same care and quality as everything else.
Unmet Diets or Allergies
Vegan
Dai Due is upfront that vegan options are extremely limited — only 1-2 dishes on any given menu. This is a pork-centric butcher shop at heart, and lard is widely used in the kitchen. Vegans are better served elsewhere.
Vegetarian
Slightly better than vegan with 2-3 options typically available, but still very limited. The restaurant acknowledges this openly. Brunch tends to have more flexibility than dinner.
Whole 30
While the seed-oil-free kitchen and quality protein sourcing align with Whole30 principles, strict compliance is difficult. Sugar, dairy (butter), and certain preparation methods would require very careful ordering and verification with your server.
Kosher
Dai Due is not kosher certified. No separation of meat and dairy, and pork is central to the menu.
Halal
Not halal certified. The restaurant is self-described as “a pork-centric restaurant” with lard widely used throughout the kitchen.
Reviewers Rave About
- Dry-Aged Longhorn Cheeseburger — Made with wagyu beef ground with Dai Due bacon on a house-made bun with beef tallow fries. One of Austin’s most talked-about burgers, though some say you should save room for the more adventurous dishes instead.
- Grilled Aoudad Meatballs — A staff favorite and a dish that showcases Dai Due’s wild game expertise. Spicy, perfectly seasoned, and unlike anything you’ll find at a typical restaurant.
- Smoked Pork Porterhouse — Arrives perfectly cooked with a dark, semi-sweet caramelized honey crust. Reviewers call it one of the best pork chops in Austin.
- Brunch Fish and Chips — Widely praised as “the best in town,” this brunch staple uses Gulf-caught fish and is a must-order during Friday-Sunday brunch service.
- Deli Hash — A hearty brunch dish featuring house-made charcuterie and locally sourced ingredients that embodies the Dai Due philosophy on a single plate.
- Centex Breakfast — A layered bowl of brown rice, kimchi, fried egg, and greens that even the Austin Chronicle named “Best Breakfast Dish for the Vegetarian Outlier.”