Brewery tour sounds awesome. Specific recommendations?
I'll hit up Mickelthwait, La BBQ, and/or Terry Blacks in July. My son's living right off Guadalupe 1 mi north of campus... want to do more walking from there vs. driving.
Austin - BBQ (and other impressions)
- Thread starter PrtLng Lion
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I'll hit up Mickelthwait, La BBQ, and/or Terry Blacks in July. My son's living right off Guadalupe 1 mi north of campus... want to do more walking from there vs. driving.
Wish it would have been like that when I was there. Sat morning they told me it was online order and curbside pickup only. Online said needed to order 42 days in advance. Good for them that they're doing so well, but that makes it tough for passers-by like me to get it.
You can order up to 42 days in advance for curbside.
You do not HAVE to order 42 days in advance. As long as you plan a week or at least a few days in advance you should be good.
Right now you can order for any day this week for curbsde ( 3 LB min)
Franklin Curbside Pickup
Sounds like they've changed things due to covid but Austin just dropped to stage 2 precautions so they may revert back to the norm soon and by your next visit. But the norm is waiting in line for several hours minimum.
There are 2 parts of town that have a high concentration of breweries to visit if you want to check out several of them. One is on the southwest side of town near Fitzhugh road area. These properties tend to be large, sprawling outdoor spaces with nice tasting rooms. The most popular one is Jester King but they make farmhouse style sours, if you don't like that style then I'd check out other places in the same general area. The other is in an industrial park in north central Austin, near the intersection of Metric Blvd. and Braker Lane. In this area Austin Beerworks is probably the best one but there are 7 breweries and 1 cidery within 2 miles of each other.
What style of beer do you like? I can give you some more specific recommendations based on that. There are lots of breweries to choose from scattered all over town. For example, if you like IPAs a stop at Pinthouse Pizza would be good. They make a hazy IPA called Electric Jellyfish that many consider the best beer in Austin.
BTW you should check out 313 Pizza off Guadalupe near campus. That's near your location and their Detroit style pizza is excellent.
ICKSNAY on donuts. Are you sure you don't mean kolache? Quite a few Czechs immigrated to Texas in the late 1800's and brought their style of cooking sausage - a favorite of Texan BBQ, and their sweet or savory pastries Kolaches
ICKSNAY Luby's - they are dissolving their business This Cafeteria-Style Chain Will Close All of Its Locations By August
Long live Buc-ees – Buc-ee's Beaver has the Fun Stores
ICKSNAY Luby's - they are dissolving their business This Cafeteria-Style Chain Will Close All of Its Locations By August
Long live Buc-ees – Buc-ee's Beaver has the Fun Stores
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Lots of good info here. Via313 is great - there’s one in Oak Hill I hit regularly.
Austin Beer Works is a good space with good beer. I’ve never been to ABGB, but a friend swears by it
ABGB is a cool outdoor space and they make some award winning Pilsners if that's your style. Live Oak makes a great Pilsner, and Hefeweizen, and they have a great property by the airport. My favorite beers are Porters and Stouts so I personally consider Austin Beerworks' seasonal Sputnik the best beer in town. I wish they made it year round and I it's likely out of stock everywhere by now.
OP, this link is good starting point for all things Austin Beer. Make sure you verify the info here before visiting, the post is outdated. For example they say Hopsquad isn't open yet and they've been open for over a year. Similarly NXNW permanently closed quite some time ago.
Austin Beer Guide
If you want to stick close to downtown/campus area then Zilker Brewing and Lazarus Brewing are nearby east of I-35. Blue Owl is also in that vicinity, they specialize in sours so it can be hit or miss depending on your preferences. Oasis Brewing is worth a visit for the view over Lake Travis. Don't get food at the Oasis restaurant though, it's not good. The bar food at the brewery is better (still nothing special) and so is the view since they have a higher deck than the restaurant does.
im game for any type of beer. Variety would be great. I drove past Via313 a bunch of times- will stop in there in July. Thanks for all the input!
I had a sausage and cheese kolache at SH Donuts! Or at least I think that’s what it was called. Pastry filled with ingredients- was really good!
If you happen to go between Austin and Dallas stop at Czech Stop in West, TX (bit north of Waco right along I-35) for kolaches, they are amazing.
Been to Franklins and it is worth the wait and it is all that it is cracked up to be. However former partner has split off and opened up Lewis BBQ in Charleston SC and that is a direct rival to Franklins
I hadn't heard that but the BBQ pitmasters seem more like a family that likes to pass on their trade rather than competitors. Louie Mueller BBQ in Taylor is where a lot of the Austin local BBQ pitmasters got their start. Aaron Franklin used to work there. LeAnn Mueller of LA BBQ is a relative. John Mueller, who has some personal demons, has run a number of highly rated BBQ businesses over the years and is another relative. Evan Leroy had good success at Freedemen's BBQ (now closed) but left to open Leroy & Lewis with another partner. Just a few examples.
I think the distance between Austin, TX & Charleston, SC squashes any direct rivalry or competition between the two.
Unless it is in the general sense it rivals aka as good as, etc.
Yes, agreed. And it makes me wonder why there is still so much terrible BBQ out there once you are outside of regions that are known for it. My family members in the Lehigh Valley always tell me about new places opening up and how bad they are vs. Austin. It seems there are great business opportunities if you are a competent pitmaster and are willing to move around the country to underserved BBQ locations.
The only traditional BBQ region that I have ever visited was North Carolina, so I am far from an expert. I've had a lot of tasty BBQ that probably pales to the old standards down south. In addition to all of the usual start up hurdles that a new restaurant has to deal with, a BBQ joint has to deal with trying to get their pits approved by local zoning boards. BBQ is delicious, but how many folks outside of the historical BBQ regions want to live downwind of a wood BBQ pit 24/7?
That can be a problem even in BBQ markets. This was an issue here in Austin about a few years ago and some BBQ restaurants paid to install smoke scrubbers to help mitigate the smell and calm the neighbors down but that doesn't completely remove the smells. In the end I think the neighbors lost the fight.
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