Any suggestions for dinner? Staying in the corner made by I-35 and SR 69. It seems that I’ll be arriving significantly earlier than my work colleagues, so I guess I’m on my own tonight. TIA.
OT: Heading to Austin for a couple of nights.
- Thread starter LionJim
- Start date
I like Lupe tortia for Mexican. Cover 3 for sports bar.
Best place is Jack Allen's kitchen. But a little pricey. All TX sourced good.
Can't go wrong at Rudy's BBQ or chewy's.
But I'd go up to the domain, do some window shopping and just hit any of the 100 places there.
Best place is Jack Allen's kitchen. But a little pricey. All TX sourced good.
Can't go wrong at Rudy's BBQ or chewy's.
But I'd go up to the domain, do some window shopping and just hit any of the 100 places there.
My buddy was just there for work. He said that there are a ton of bars and restaurants on 6th street. He and his colleagues were on foot and navigated off of 6th street heading to a specific restaurant. He said that it got pretty scary in a hurry. Apparently there is a large homeless population in Austin, and while they keep them away from the main tourist strip, they are pretty close and he was confronted by some apparently mentally handicapped individuals. So, if you decide to walk, make sure you don’t stray from the beaten path.
Doesn't Tener the Terror roam the territory around Austin?
Only drunken frat goons, the homeless and drug addicts like “Dirty 6th” and the area around it). Sixth west of Congress is fine. They’ve pretty much concentrated most social services - and the attendant problems — in the Red River area between like 6th and 9th.
LJ - head to South Congress, South 1st, South Lamar, Rainey Street or the Warehouse District for food and such. If Tex-Mex, I’m a fan of Polvo’s on South 1st or Matt’s on South Lamar, but there’s something for almost everything
Edit - saw that SR69 (which I hadn’t heard of) is a spur of Koenig Lane. If you follow that West, it changes names a few times but becomes 2222. Right before you get to 360 on your left is a good BBQ joint called County Line
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If I get advance notice, I can always text my friend who’s like “Mr. Austin”. He’s a social butterfly and is always checking out the food/beer scene.
LOL, I'm in the barfly larvae stage, still waiting to evolve into a social butterfly.
Lived in Austin for two years. A few favorites (although many new restaurants have opened since I moved):
Uchi or Uchiko- Some of the best sushi you will get anywhere.
Odd Duck
Ranch 616
LaBarbecue
Lamberts
Searsucker
Frank if you are into gourmet hot dogs and beer.
If you're looking for low key, Lavaca Street Bar has a "food truck" inside called Turf N Surf. I had the pulled pork tacos from there 2/3 times a week for lunch since it was a block from my office. By far my favorite food to eat in Austin.
Also make sure you do breakfast tacos at Torchy's and get a drink at the hotel bar inside the Driskill.
Uchi or Uchiko- Some of the best sushi you will get anywhere.
Odd Duck
Ranch 616
LaBarbecue
Lamberts
Searsucker
Frank if you are into gourmet hot dogs and beer.
If you're looking for low key, Lavaca Street Bar has a "food truck" inside called Turf N Surf. I had the pulled pork tacos from there 2/3 times a week for lunch since it was a block from my office. By far my favorite food to eat in Austin.
Also make sure you do breakfast tacos at Torchy's and get a drink at the hotel bar inside the Driskill.
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I'll second on Stubbs.
there's an in and out burger right down the street from you!
If you wander down to South Congress, there are some good yuppy bars like Hopdoddy Burger Bar
Definitely should check out the Big Top Candy Store on S Congress, good times!
Head to South Congress and cruise around there. Hit Gordo’s in the food truck lot for a gourmet desert. Highly recommend getting Barbacoa tacos from the taco truck there or any decent Mexican restaurant there.
I am literally on a plane from Dallas to Austin landing in 20 minutes. Taking my wife to see George Strait tonight.
Rudy's is best BBQ I've ever had here in Texas.
Hope you enjoy your trip
Rudy's is best BBQ I've ever had here in Texas.
Hope you enjoy your trip
I am surprised no love for Franklin BBQ. I know it's a lunch place but still...
https://franklinbbq.com/
Aaron seems to know what he's doing if u want brisket
https://franklinbbq.com/
Aaron seems to know what he's doing if u want brisket
You need the time to stand in line. Not usually a work stop type of place.
My friend goes all the time. I’m not sitting in a line for hours for bbq in Austin when I can get something almost as good at 6/7 different places by just walking up or calling. I’m sure it’s awesome, but so is Mickelthwaite’s, Black’s, etc.
I’ll throw in kudos for County Line (2 locations) and Rudy’s (3 locations).....I never miss hitting one or the other (usually Rudy’s) in my 3-4 trips a year to Austin.
Safe travels. I just arrived back home in Round Rock from downtown Austin (Westin Hotel) 30 minutes ago. It is hotter than crap down there and packed. Usually Sunday's are pretty sparse, but it was a zoo down there today. I have to go back tomorrow, all day for a business deposition. Going to take the train in, so I don't have to deal with parking. Unbelievable ladies all over downtown now, and all with minimal clothing with this hot weather. To be 25 again. Bring the heart medicine
I also never heard of SR 69 until CMT mentioned it. County Line on the Lake is good BBQ and a very pretty drive and view of west Austin. There are tons of great BBQ all over town. Rudy's is a chain (probably 30 locations in TX) but it is still good. A bit farther out is the Salt Lick in Driftwood, any of the three main stays places in Lockhart, or Muellers in Taylor. One of my favorite thing is stopping by any of the small ton BBQ joints as I'm going thru. I've never had Franklin's, which is supposed to be the best, because I won;t wait for 2-4 hours for food, no matter how good it is,
I think close to you will be a Papasitos. I think it is a pretty big chain now, but still pretty good seafood.
Chuy's is a decent mexican place with nice atmosphere (good frozen margaritas). South Congress and South First street food trucks are a great thing as well, but parking can be a pain.
Have fun and keep us posted.
Baseball Regionals this weekend. Longhorns play at 8. At least Aggy is on their way home thanks to the Hoosiers. Downtown and around campus may be crowded because of the baseball crowd.
Have to agree that County Line is a good BBQ place. There's one on Bee Caves Road as well as the one on 2222.
Testa and Centex: what do you think of Trudy's Tex-Mex?
We Are,
That must be it with the crowds. Didn't look like your normal college baseball fans. Didn't see any school colors. Just lots of skin. Trudy's is good. Hit the one on Burnet and 183 a few times. Used to do Brunch there many years ago.
My old Tex-Mex go to is El Patio, off Guadalupe and 30th, juts north of UT campus. Hole in the wall, and they probably are still using the same lard from 30 years ago. Lots of Longhorn pictures on the wall from days past. Earl Campbell and Daryl Royal, if whom I remember. They give you crackers with your hot sauce. Ordering chips brings you full round, greasy, hot chips (looks like a thin open taco chip). After dinner, you get a praline or sherbet. I haven't been there awhile, as I tend to avoid downtown. But, those Tex-Mex holes in the wall are fantastic.
I have no issue stopping at the small taco trucks and stands as well. East of Austin, in Elgin (on my way to Houston), is this little stand that has remarkable Chiccarones tacos.
For true interior Mexican food, we do Fonda San Miguel. Off North Loop, which is kinda halfway between Lion Jims hotel and County Line on the lake BBQ. Really, really good stuff. Also, wicked margaritas. I enjoy that place more than Tex-Mex now. I couldn't get enough Tex-Mex when I moved down here in 1984. My Mom used to make El Paso tacos once in a while (yellow box with seasoning for the ground beef), and that is what I thought Tex-mex was. Then came my first experience with Enchiladas, spanish rice, and refried beans, smother in hot sauce. First place in Austin that I hit was El Arroyo (5th street), and after that came the 25 extra pounds and the 75 extra LDL Cholesterol points.
Your timing is impeccable. It only hit 99 degrees down in Austin today (a record), but at least it’s a drier heat. It’s not usually this warm so early in the season. We should be only be hovering around 90 degrees these days 
Enjoy your toasty visit to CenTex.
Enjoy your toasty visit to CenTex.
Your timing is impeccable. It only hit 99 degrees down in Austin today (a record), but at least it’s a drier heat. It’s not usually this warm so early in the season. We should be only be hovering around 90 degrees these days
Enjoy your toasty visit to CenTex.
CenTex- Sounds like a kind of dinosaur.
Gracias, Centex. Since we're out in Spicewood, we don't get into downtown too often. I'm getting too old and too impatient to deal with the traffic. Last time we were at Trudy's must have been 7 or 8 years ago when we were house hunting in the area. We liked the one on the north edge of the UT campus. There are a couple Tex-Mex places in Bee Cave and Lakeway that we like: Salsa's, Santa Catarina (Yucatan style), and the ubiquitous Maudi's. If you're ever out this way, It's All Good BBQ on 71 is pretty good. Opie's in beautiful downtown Spicewood is better known but is hit or miss.
A lot of dinosaurs post on this board.
Get off my lawn![/QUOTE]
That's gonna be the name of the rock band formed by BWI posters.
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Oh dear god no. You really need to come back and get good BBQ. If you liked Stubbs there are about 1000 other places you can go that are better.
Stay away from dirty 6th on weekend nights unless you are < 25 years old. This is the strip of 6th St. between Congress and I-35. It is a rather famous bar district, go cruise down it during the day if you want to see it. This area is not for the older folks and if you do go, get out of there before 2 AM when the bars close. That's when the crap generally hits the fan.
There is a homeless shelter called ARCH one block away from this area. That's not the only reason to stay away, but it's a factor. Unsurprisingly there are tons of drug issues in the blocks surrounding the shelter. Many homeless hang out outside it and don't even utilize it. It was really short sighted to put the homeless shelter one block away from an entertainment district. The city would probably like to move it now but they have 2 big problems. (1) The highest concentration of homeless needing help is downtown, so this location is beneficial for that reason. (2) No neighborhood anywhere in the city is going to agree to let the city put a homeless shelter in their backyard, so they'll have to move it to the middle of nowhere where it won't be around the people it's intended to serve.
This is first on my list if I ever get to Austin
I also had no idea what he meant by SR 69. To the OP: don't call it that when you get here, nobody will know what you're talking about. That road is tricky, it has like 10 names. East of I-35 it's 290, but 290 also runs down I-35 and then west where 71 (Ben White) is. This road is much more commonly known at 2222 (stated twenty-two, twenty-two) or Koenig (kay-nig).
I've never been a big fan of County Line personally, it'd be way outside my top 10 local BBQ joints.
This is the best brisket in town, and likely in the country. But I rarely recommend it to tourists because going there consumes 5-6 hours of your day. Another cool Franklin related spot just opened, check out "Loro." It's a joint restaurant from Franklin and Tyson Cole (highly regarded owner of Uchi and Uchiko).
Fun fact, they are expanding. They plan to have nearly 300 on tap when they are done and I've heard it will be the most beers on tap in the country. Crazy.
If you have the time for the wait and you like BBQ, it absolutely should be.
Sorry for the influx of posts, but if the OP still is looking for suggestions I'm happy to help guide you around town. Austin isn't a big sightseeing town, it's more of a food, drink, live music and outdoor activity place. You are here at a horrible time, the heat lately has been brutal, we hitting record highs. Usually the triple digit heat comes later in the summer.
BTW OP, you are staying very close to The Brewtorium, which only opened ~ 2 months ago. I just went for the first time and the food there was pretty solid, and if you like craft beer theirs was decent. There are a few good spots just east of I-35 on Manor Road for both food and drinks. Salty Sow is probably my favorite for food. If you want veggie options East Side Cafe is good. El Chilito is a solid casual taco joint. Haymaker is more of a bar vibe but they have solid bar food and it's one of the few places in town you can get poutine.
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