Bar queen Bridget Dunlap has added “restaurateur” to her résumé. Three-month-old Mettle has debuted on Austin’s East Side, sporting edgy metal-clad dining rooms accented by stencils of delicate fennel blossoms. The cool look goes well with an equally cool, moderately priced menu by chef Andrew Francisco, formerly of Olivia. Mussels were small but fresh, basking in a robust Southeast Asian laksa broth redolent of coconut milk and curry. Although we gave the salmon tartare extra points for interesting garnishes—tart purple oxalis leaves and Thai chiles—the fish needed to be about one day fresher. But it was quickly overshadowed by amazing tacos of crispy-edged beef tongue with warm flour-corn tortillas. And those were bested by meltingly tender fried chicken sided by a swath of buttermilk–grain mustard “sauce.” Flatiron steak, unevenly cooked and way rarer than ordered, needed a better accompaniment than homemade potato chips in sog-inducing Mornay sauce (a play on chips and queso?). But our favorite dessert—a salty sweet-soy-sauce ice cream with a square of chocolate ganache—was, in a word, brilliant. (9/13)