Bufalina is the bar that taught East Austin to drink natural wine without making a sermon of it. The pies come from a wood oven, the bottles come from small growers, and the room hums like a neighbourhood kitchen.
Published Dec 30, 2025 · By Daniel Okafor
Bufalina sits at 2215 East Cesar Chavez Street, a few blocks east of I-35 in the heart of the East Cesar Chavez stretch. Chef and owner Steven Dilley opened the original room in 2013, and the wine program grew into the reason regulars keep a table here. The James Beard Foundation named Bufalina a 2024 semifinalist for Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program, which says plainly what locals already knew.
This is a wine bar that happens to make some of the city's best pizza, and it anchors the Austin wine bar scene. The list runs deep on low-intervention growers and benchmark European bottles, organized by feel rather than by region, so the person pouring can read your night and hand you the right glass. The staff treat the wine as a conversation, not a test, and that openness is a big part of why the room keeps its regulars.
Order by the glass first. The by-the-glass selection rotates weekly and leans toward skin-contact whites, lighter Italian reds, and the occasional pet-nat, with most pours landing between 11 and 16 dollars. Pair whatever you choose with the Margherita, built on San Marzano tomato, fior di latte, and basil, then leave room for the clam pie when it appears. Skip the urge to over-order food; two pizzas and a bottle feed a table of three. Our guide to the best bars in East Austin sets the wider field.
The room itself is small and disciplined. A short marble bar faces the open kitchen, a handful of tables fill the rest, and the wood oven throws the only real heat in the place. There is no television and no soundtrack fighting for attention, which is rare on this side of town and very much the point.
The crowd reads like the neighbourhood it grew up in. Early seatings pull couples and solo diners who came for one glass and a pie, while the later tables fill with industry regulars and East Side musicians winding down after a set. Eater Austin has long listed Bufalina among the city's essential wine destinations, and the steady press has not changed the easy, low-key feel.
Timing matters more here than at most bars. The 4pm open is the move for a quiet seat at the bar and a real conversation with whoever is pouring. Weekend nights after 7pm bring a wait, since the room is built for intimacy rather than volume, and the door does not take a name lightly.
What keeps Bufalina on an Austin list is restraint. The wine program could coast on trend and the pizza could coast on hype, yet both stay sharp and honest year after year. Judged on its own terms, it is one of the most complete eat-and-drink rooms in the city, and a second location, Bufalina Due on Burnet Road, carries the same standard north.
Bufalina pairs naturally with East Austin's wider drinking circuit. A short walk away, Suerte keeps the mezcal and agave thread going, while June's All Day and Contigo carry the wine and patio nights across the East Side. For the full picture, our roundup of the best bars in Austin and the wider Austin bar guide set the scene.
