The Backspace

Reviews

• Don L.

  star star star star star 12 June 2026

  This place is right in downtown near dirty 6 yet it is far from that experience.
  
  Pizza - this is their business! Oh, and of course wine! :D
  
  I highly recommend getting here early for the bar or make a reservation. It gets busy and the food is worth it!
  
  They have a great pizza oven/fireplace (see pic). I have never had a bad meal or experience here to date. Ive been visiting for a few years now.
  
  The atmosphere, the warmth of the oven, the great wines, and that wonderful pizza make for the perfect formula for a great time!

• Shradha A.

  star star star star_border star_border 7 June 2026

  1. Their pizza flour is imported so I could enjoy an authentic Neapolitan pizza
  2. The ambiance is romantic, dim-lit and cozy
  3. The prices are quite high - the menu on their website is incorrect
  
  A Neapolitan pizza is supposed to be really light and not doughy but this one was a bit. To be fair, we had just tried bufalina the prior weekend so the expectations were quite high.

• Chris D.

  star star star_border star_border star_border 1 June 2026

  We have been going to the Backspace for years, and have celebrated some great occasions there.  Saturday night was an awful experience.  Now the food was still amazing, but the service was worse than it has ever been.  And to make matters worse, the AC was out.  Texas + August + No AC = a real bad experience.  I don't understand why they wouldn't have notified people prior to the reservation, but it was miserable.  
  Took forever to get the food, and the check, which was another tables check.  The waitress said it was ok, was around the same amount as mine.  :|  Are you kidding me?  I said, no, I don't think so, then the manager came over to show me what my bill would have costs to show it was ok.  Really strange.  Then I asked about the AC, and he truly acted as if he didn't care.  Very frustrating.  
  
  Love this place, and the food is great, but not likely to go back because of this experience.  Way too many good places to eat in Austin to not have AC or a waitstaff or manager that care.  Real shame.

• Ryen B.

  star star star star_border star_border 25 May 2026

  Was craving pizza and salad. Backspace was just what I needed. We ordered a farro salad, giardiniera salad, and margherita pizza to go. To be fair, I'm sure it's better dining in, but it was still really tasty. Would return and eat at the restaurant next time.

• Sam P.

  star star star star_border star_border 16 May 2026

  I love finding cool, little unique pizza restaurants so was excited to try Backspace.
  
  Loved the location and decor. You could see the history in building, years of different paint layers in the walls which cool.
  
  That said I wish I could have given it higher stars. There are numerous reasons for my three - I do like restaurants with small menus and high focus but this was just a bit too paired down with one beer on the menu - and let's be honest pizza goes with beer better than it does with wine.  And the wine was just okay.
  
  The olives were great and we loved the burrata appetizer which was special that night. However pizza was the let down - the meat eaters enjoyed their pizza though it was a little wet from sauce and could have been crisper.  But our cheese pizza was not great - it was well cooked but the problem was the arugula salad on the top which was super salty. I could not eat more than one piece.
  
  It was also super warm - cannot tell if they do not have AC or if it was simply broken as we were sat behind a huge portable HVAC system. Luckily we got some air from that !!
  
  Just okay but disappointment as we were hoping for so much more.