I recently visited Paperboy in Austin after hearing a lot of hype, but my experience was more "good" than "great." First off, the parking situation is extremely limited, which made getting there a bit stressful. On the bright side, I was seated quickly, which was a nice start.
However, I was immediately put off by the open kitchen where you can see the cooks preparing food without wearing gloves. This lack of hygiene really grosses me out and made me uneasy about the meal to come. I ordered the sweet potato hash with carnitas, but it was disappointing to find hardly any meat in the dish. While they did give me more when I asked, I shouldn't have had to request it.
The overall vibe of the place seemed a bit off, though it wasn't terrible. What really baffled me was receiving a cold biscuit. How and why are you serving cold biscuits? Food should be prepped to be hot when served, and my entire meal suffered from this lack of warmth.
On a positive note, I got a pop tart to go, and it was amazing. It’s worth visiting Paperboy just for the pop tart and maybe a coffee. However, considering the limited parking and the fact that the food and vibe didn’t live up to the hype, I would recommend finding somewhere else to eat. There are plenty of other spots in Austin that offer better food and a more pleasant dining experience.