Press X to doubt.
I lived in Austin and dined at dozens of highly rated/reco'ed restaurants from food trucks to high end. My conclusion is that Austin does not have great food (though I do agree with your conclusion on breakfast tacos). This is not a uniform conclusion of course–Uchi and Barley Swine are in fact legit.
I don't claim they are. I mention them, because, in my experience, those are emblematic of the restaurants that top the recommendation lists year after year and are actually good.
Which restaurants top your list?
Personally, I find Fukumoto, Ebisu, and Komé, pretty good overall, and my personal favourite is Bon, actually in Bee Cave. I don't think any of them would be considered "fine cuisine", but that I also like.
Agreed the food was legitimately not-good at most places. There are some good ones ( Clarks Oyster Bar, Habesha Ethiopian, Evangelines ) , but mostly it was bland and the home cooking is downright disastrous.
Tex-Mex is imo Americanised mexican food which doesn’t suck lol. Again, good restaurants will serve you excellent food.
Austin definitely has the best Breakfast tacos, and just tacos in general. SF has terrible tacos (burritos are different).
Every time someone mentions City X has terrible food without mentioning what restaurants they tried, Im immediately suspicious.