Our Story
Founded in 2012, Gusto Italian Kitchen + Wine Bar is located in the Rosedale area of midtown Austin. The neighborhood trattoria captures the warm, comforting, every-day flavors of Italian cuisine in its diverse menu. Dishes range from traditional Italian antipasti to hand-tossed pizzas, salads, fresh pasta, seasonal entrees, and scratch desserts made in-house.
A clean, inviting design by architect Robert Smith incorporates rich colors & fabrics and a large mirrored wall in the style of aperitivo bars found throughout the major cities of northern Italy (Venice, Milan, Turin).
Specially commissioned pop art adorns the walls along with an angelic mural on the ceiling by local artist Federico Archuleta. At the center - a long, lively bar featuring boutique family owned & estate-grown wines from Italy and around the world, craft cocktails, beers on draught, and fair-trade Italian roast espresso drinks. Outside on the expansive patio guests can dine al fresco in the shade at a table or lounge at one of the couch sectionals for happy hour.
What People Are Saying
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Family Friendly yet still sophisticated enough for date night.
— Texas Monthly
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This corner restaurant has enormous street appeal with it's shaded patio and warm, light-filled dining room.
— Austin Chronicle
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Feels like you are in Italy at Gusto.
— Austin Monthly
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Undeniably delicious.
— Tribeza
Meet Our Team
Cameron Lockley
Managing Partner
After graduating from the University of Texas with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in professional accounting, Cameron first worked as a senior accountant in Deloitte and Touche’s Dallas office on the financial statement audits of, among companies in other business sectors, restaurant corporations. Cameron then moved to Houston where he honed his front-of-house skills working for his cousin Grant Cooper (Ibiza, Brasserie 19, Coppa, Punk’s, The Dunlavy) at the critically acclaimed Catalan Food & Wine Bar where Chris Shepard (of James Beard Award winning Underbelly) headed the kitchen.
A self-proclaimed "citizen of the world", Cameron traversed much of Europe as well as the great dining cities of the United States during his formative years. “My travels have shaped the way I view food, wine, and the overall dining experience” says Cameron. “At the end of the day, my goal is always to strike a balance between professionalism and the human touch that results in genuine hospitality.”
Whether it is enthusiastically encouraging guests to experience a new wine, planning the details for a celebratory happy hour, or answering the phone on a bustling evening in the restaurant, one can be assured to always find Cameron with a welcoming Texas-sized smile. A graduate of the Leadership Austin Emerge & Essential programs, Cameron has served on the Leadership Council for the Austin Independent Business Alliance as well as the Advisory Board for The Wine & Food Foundation of Texas. He is an avid foodie and Austin enthusiast who spends what spare time he has at various farmer’s markets planning his next meal, laying out with friends at Barton Springs Pool or Lake Travis, and hiking with his fun-loving puppy Rafa at Red Bud Isle or the Greenbelt.
Federico Archuleta
The artist
Federico Archuleta was born and raised in the bordertown of El Paso, Texas, with Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on the other side of the Rio Grande. Like siamese twins, these cities are joined by bridges that hustle humanity, commerce, and contraband to and fro between the North and South.
Ever since Federico was thigh-high, he wanted to be an artist, and in his youth he crossed these bridges for cross pollination, letting that mad Mexican culture get under his skin and that big daddy American pop get into his hair.
Forsaking a formal art school education, Federico went for the "school of the streets" approach instead, recieving his education by directly working at jobs that honed his skills. This took him from creating mascots for platoons at Ft. Bliss,Texas to being a portrait artist on the market squares of Guadalajara, Mexico, all the way to Las Vegas and other cities as a display artist for Tower Records.
Our Farmers, Ranchers, Artisans and Makers
We strive to support and partner with local and regional farmers, ranchers, makers and artisans whenever possible. Here are just a few of the folks that we like to source from.
