From its reclaimed wood bar to its tongue-in-cheek name, The Rotten Bunch aims to bring upscale food to Avery Ranch with a down-to-earth style.
Co-owners Alan Thomas and Arik Skot Williams opened the restaurant in October after several years of owning Bartlett’s restaurant in Central Austin. Williams has lived in the Avery Ranch area for 10 years and said he thought the area needed an upscale dining option.
“We wanted a place we could go and have a nice dinner without having to go downtown,” Williams said. “You should be able to get great food without having to pay for parking.”
The restaurant features a menu Williams, the executive chef, described as Southern and Mediterranean alongside an extensive wine list. For Williams and Thomas, making wine a standard part of the dining experience was one of their main goals.
“We wanted to make wine approachable,” Williams said. “What is wine but rotten grapes? We can’t be pretentious with a name like The Rotten Bunch.”
He said he has worked in the restaurant industry for nearly 25 years but has been eating “for a lot longer than that,” and he focuses on the experience of being a diner.
Everything from the mustard to the mozzarella is prepared fresh in-house, and guests can watch the chefs at work through a large window in the dining room. A sign hanging over that window into the kitchen reads “Nunc Est Bibendum,” a Latin phrase meaning “Now is the time to drink.”
The bar offers four wines on tap in addition to its bottled wine list. Every pour is served in a wine glass marked with lines showing the exact amount of the pour.
“We aren’t hiding anything,” Williams said. “Everything from the food to the chairs is authentic.”
Whether customers visit to play darts on the patio or for a monthly wine tasting, Williams said he thinks The Rotten Bunch offers a perfect balance of comfort and class.
“Someone can work out [at the gym] next door and then come in for a nice glass of wine,” he said.
The Rotten Bunch
14900 Avery Ranch Blvd., Ste. B 100, Austin
512-276-2537
www.therottenbunch.com
Hours: Tue.-Thu., Sun. 4-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 4-11 p.m.; closed Mon.
