The Early Word on Aroma Italian Kitchen and Bar

The South Austin Italian scene got a jolt when Aroma Italian Kitchen and Bar opened a few weeks ago. The project from former Threadgill's GM Dave Whitney and chef Jason Garcia features Neapolitan pizza and Italian entrees in the new development engulfing the Broken Spoke. Weirdly, only Yelpers have weighed in the restaurant; check out their first impression below.

THE DATE NIGHT NEWS — Yelper Hilary M. assesses the atmosphere: "The interior is perfect for a nice night out with friends, a date night (we even saw what was obviously an awkward online dating first date while we were there), or a girls night out. It's the traditional dark italian restaurant feel but with modern furniture updates to make it feel more open." [Yelp]

THE 'MEH' NEWS: Yelper Jeremy K. says the restaurant is a "solid meh": "I had the fish "stew" which was $19.00. The portion was large and the fish and other seafood did not taste as fresh as I'd like. In fact the shrimp tasted a bit too "fishy" to be tasty. It's hard to complain this far from the ocean, but for $19 bucks I expected better. " [Yelp]

THE CRAZY MEAT PIZZA NEWS — Yelper Jessica M. checks out the pizza: "The pizza was also great, the crust was crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle. We ordered the crazy meat pizza (like three or four different meat toppings) and while the meat was delicious, it really weighed down the pizza and made it kind of wet, I think we will try for less toppings next time." [Yelp]

THE WEIRDLY HIGH STAR RATING REVIEW — Yelper Melissa A gave Aroma four stars but had a number of negative notes to give, including another criticism of the seafood stew. "I like the way the restaurant is laid out with the bar and open kitchen on one side, and the seating on the other. Plus the patio looks great and is dog-friendly--though jerky people are constantly racing up and down Lamar with loud vehicles so not sure how relaxing it will be out there. It might have been better if they could have orientated the patio away from the street more." [Yelp]

THE BOOT SCOOTING NEWS — Yelper Emily H. enjoyed her experience but has some concerns about overall Lamar development trends: "We sat outside to enjoy the people watching. This included a somewhat alarming attempt by some very old men in boots and cowboy hats trying to cross the four lanes of traffic to get to their boot-scooting venue. This was never an issue before, when there was basically a large dirt area the size of a football field surrounding the area. Suffice to say, they need a crosswalk at Aroma from one side to the other to help these gentlemen to make it to the next decade. If they made me nervous on the way TO the spoke, I can only imagine the trip back, in the dark, with a few beers under their belt buckle." [Yelp]

THE VEGAN NEWS — Yelper Gayrathi B. runs down the vegan situation: "Need to have more vegan pasta options to appease a good portion of the clientele these days. I must add the chef was really nice and came and spoke out to me and said he would make a vegan entree for me. He made a polenta based with grilled portabella and arugula salad dish. It was too bland to my liking and hence sent it back. I stuck to the marinara pizza." [Yelp]
· All Aroma Italian Kitchen and Bar Coverage [EATX]
· All Good News/Bad News [EATX]