AUSTIN CAMPUS
Get hands-on training, real-world experience, and career support at one of the best culinary schools in America.*
*2026 Best Colleges for Culinary Arts in America, Niche.com
Pursue Your Culinary Passion in Austin, One of the Top Food Cities in the U.S.*
Escoffier’s culinary school in Austin, Texas, provides practical training in the culinary and pastry arts, with a focus on sustainability. From bold barbecue to Tex-Mex favorites, Austin’s dynamic and eclectic food scene can offer students endless inspiration.
Campus Features:
- 6 professional-grade kitchens
- 8 learning kitchens
- Student-run Agricultural Learning Center
- A smoker
Austin students can benefit from training under experienced Chef Instructors and a hands-on industry externship, all while experiencing the city’s vibrant culinary scene, local farms, and exciting food events.
Learn More About Our Austin Programs
Culinary Arts
- Diploma in Culinary Arts
- Associate of Applied Science Degree in Culinary Arts
Program Length:
Diploma Program: 30 weeks
Degree Program: 60 weeks
Program Highlights:
- Students spend much of their time learning to prepare dishes through actual practice.
- They strengthen their talents at food preparation using classical and universal cooking methods and learn to prepare items in quantity.
- Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts emphasizes menu planning, portion size, quality standards, employee training and food cost control.
- Purchasing, selection and storage of foods and the use of leftover food to minimize waste are also covered.
- Students also study sanitation, hotel and restaurant safety, and public health rules for handling food.
Pastry Arts
- Diploma in Pastry Arts
- Associate of Applied Science Degree in Pastry Arts
Program Length:
Diploma Program: 30 weeks
Degree Program: 60 weeks
Program Highlights:
- The curriculum combines lectures, demonstrations, baking, and evaluation for an integrated approach to the pastry arts.
- Students will be introduced to: sanitation practices, baking science, nutrition basics, basic baking math, recipe conversions, purchasing practices, and more.
- Skill development also includes producing charlottes, Bavarians, custards, mousses, soufflés, meringues, frozen desserts, light desserts, holiday classics, and more.
- Curriculum covers the cultural differences of desserts, as well as the history and importance of international desserts from regions such as Latin America.
- Course work concentrates on food safety and sanitation in the professional kitchen.
Explore Farm-to-Table Cooking at Our Agricultural Learning Center
Our Austin Agricultural Learning Center is located just steps away from our professional kitchens. As a student, you could get the opportunity to:
- Grow, cultivate, and harvest a variety of seasonal fruits, vegetables, and herbs to use in the classroom.
- Explore the process of turning farm-grown ingredients into flavorful dishes.
- Experience the importance of localism, seasonality, and sustainability in culinary arts.
The Agricultural Learning Center could help students make informed sourcing decisions that may enhance both their cooking and their connection to food.
How Culinary School Helped Top Chef Host Kristen Kish Succeed as an Austin Restaurateur
“I think that when I look back on my career now and the things that I know in my restaurant from a technical foundation standpoint, I learned that in culinary school. You go and do a stage, the fact that you know what terms mean. If the chef is like, ‘Can you go cook this sauce to au sec, and you’re going to add some chicken jus and cook it to nappe?’ you know what that means. Because that’s how you talk in restaurants.”*
Watch This Short Video Tour of the Austin, TX Campus
Ranked one of the Best Colleges for Culinary Arts in America 2026 by Niche.com
95% of Austin students who applied and qualified received some financial assistance in 2022-23*
Austin, Texas, is ranked in the Top 10 Best Food Cities in the U.S. by U.S. News & World Report
*95% of Austin students who entered postsecondary education for the first time received some financial assistance in 2022-23 for those who applied and qualified, College Navigator, National Center for Education Statistics
Explore Financing Options
*The percentage of Escoffier Austin students who received an income-based federal Pell grant and/or a grant or scholarship from another source, National Center for Education Statistics.
*International students are not eligible for Title IV financial aid
Meet Your Austin Campus Chef Instructors
Student and Graduate Stories
How our Austin culinary school helped students pursue their goals
*This information may not reflect every student’s experience. Results and outcomes may be based on several factors such as geographical region or previous experience.
Need a place to live in Austin?
Explore a variety of options from our select
housing partner.
Meet Austin Campus President: Marcus McMellon
Marcus’s culinary journey began in East Texas, where he grew up working in his grandparent’s vegetable gardens and accompanying them to farmer’s markets on the weekends. He turned this early interest into a variety of positions in several restaurants.
In 2001, Marcus began his career in Culinary Education with Le Cordon Bleu Cooking Schools, serving as VP of Finance and Operations during the construction and start-up phase of the Austin Le Cordon Bleu campus. Additionally, he held the positions of Campus President and Chief Financial Officer for two other Proprietary Education providers in the Dallas area.
Austin Campus
6020-B Dillard Circle
Austin, TX 78752
1-833-443-0618
