Jack Allen’s Kitchen Sits on Top of the Austin Comfort Food Scene

When Jack Gilmore, who had pretty much single-handedly kept the Z’Tejas chain afloat for quite some time, opened Jack Allen’s Kitchen in Oak Hill some years back, many questioned his choice of locations, and primarily his decision to open JAK in a building that had housed literally a half dozen failed restaurants.

Well, time has shown that Jack’s decision was spot on. Not long after the restaurant opened, the comfort food themed place had something on a weeknight that no restaurant in that area had seen for a long time: a wait!

Jack Allen’s works because the head guy is very talented and because he cares passionately about his concept. The food just flat out rocks and I still can’t enough of the Smashed Guacamole or the Deep Fried Beef Rib. And did I mention the catfish? or the Green Chile Burger?

More Jack Allen’s have come online since the original. They even made one work over in Westlake at Davenport in a spot where nothing had succeeded in quite a while. It’s really quite a remarkable story bookended by Jack’s son Bryce’s great run with the Odd Duck and Barley Swine restaurants.

My daughter played high school basketball with Bryce’s wife Molly. I was talking to her dad at a party and I asked about what holiday dinners were like with two chefs in the kitchen. He smiled broadly and then asked: “Are you kidding?!”

You have to love this story.