Old Thousand Modern Chinese Restaurant

Old Thousand is a neighborhood Chinese restaurant in east Austin offering an eclectic and inventive mix of flavors, ingredients and styles with modern interpretations of classic American-Chinese recipes.

Some of our favorite starters include homemade pickles, pork and shrimp potstickers, pork ribs with honey black vinegar glaze, squid and shrimp shumai with flying fish roe and crispy garlic, and fried chicken feet. Hot offerings include an old g noodles with pork bone broth and egg noodles and nai nai chicken rice congee. Cool offerings include the tea leaf salad made with greens from HausBar Farms and the ooh baby I like it raw featuring yellowtail, charred grape, honey grape pickling juice, and garlic chive oil.

For mains, Old Thousand offers noodle and rice dishes including the dan dan noodles with shiitake puree, crispy mushrooms, and tofu and the brisket fried rice made with smoked brisket. House specials include the hot pot with pork belly, Chinese sausage, mushrooms, duck confit, and chili-soy; honey prawn with local honey and pecans; spicy fish in a black bean chili sauce, char siu Chinese barbecued pork with steamed buns; and the crispy noodle nest with shrimp, baby scallop, squid, crispy egg noodles, mushrooms, and baby bok choy.

Dessert features include Chinese donuts, sesame balls with preserved blackberries, and a selection of snow-ice including the I can’t feel my face made with coconut snow-ice, dark chocolate, strawberry, and condensed milk and the what it sounds like when doves cry made with taro snow-ice, hazelnut, brioche, and preserved blueberries.

Old Thousand boasts a robust beverage program with offerings including wine, beer, and cocktails such as the house favorite fo shizi’ (shizi is the Chinese word for persimmon) made with Overholt rye, Lillet Blanc, persimmon syrup, and Peychaud’s Bitters.

Stephanie Chow, who was born into a restaurateur family that owned six Chinese restaurants, will serve as general manager of Old Thousand. Chow has a 20-year career in the industry and a degree in architecture, which has shaped her understanding of how an environment and a meal can nurture and stimulate an individual and build community.

The name Old Thousand is both a nod the restaurant’s address and a Chinese term for someone who is artfully clever—it’s also the name given to the wild tile in the Chinese game Mahjong. The 85-seat space features bright floral wallpaper, brass accents, a handmade 40-foot bar fashioned out of heritage oak, and red vintage ceiling tins and cabinetry reminiscent of an old Chinese apothecary.

The dining room will be open from Sunday – Thursday from 5p.m. to 10p.m., and the bar will stay open till 11:00 p.m and from 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday with the bar staying open until midnight.

For more information on the food and drink menu, please visit oldthousandatx.com and follow on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram under @OldThousandATX.

1000 E 11th St #150, Austin, TX 78702