Guidebook for Austin
Food Scene
Torchy's Tacos
2809 S 1st StThey have amazing tacos!
Contigo
2027 Anchor LnThey have fantastic drinks, great atmosphere
Elixer Coffee
4209 Airport BlvdElixer is a food truck you can walk to from my house. Try breakfast at Gravy too!
Just a block away from Rainey Street bars, Emmer & Rye is serving complex, farm-to-table food in a bright open kitchen. A seemingly endless number of chefs are back there executing dishes with surgical precision. The menu simply lists ingredients, so each dish placed in front of you is unrecognizable. Common ingredients and fermented things you have never heard of mingle in each perfect bite. Typically cacio e pepe (which is just pasta, pepper, and parmesan) is super-basic, but this place managed to make it the best thing you have ever eaten. Emmer & Rye’s version uses aged Swiss cheese, and is sprinkled with delicate dandelion greens.
69 locals recommend
Emmer & Rye
51 Rainey StJust a block away from Rainey Street bars, Emmer & Rye is serving complex, farm-to-table food in a bright open kitchen. A seemingly endless number of chefs are back there executing dishes with surgical precision. The menu simply lists ingredients, so each dish placed in front of you is unrecognizable. Common ingredients and fermented things you have never heard of mingle in each perfect bite. Typically cacio e pepe (which is just pasta, pepper, and parmesan) is super-basic, but this place managed to make it the best thing you have ever eaten. Emmer & Rye’s version uses aged Swiss cheese, and is sprinkled with delicate dandelion greens.
Geraldine's
605 Davis StGreat food and atmosphere! Awesome brunch!
Last Straw
1914 E 6th StYum!
Launderette
2115 Holly StHipster
Odd Duck
1201 S Lamar Blvd
Komé
5301 Airport BlvdSuishi!
Ramen Tatsu-Ya
1234 S Lamar BlvdBest Ramen
Barlata
1500 S Lamar BlvdTapas!
Sway
1417 S 1st StAsian Fusion Deliciousness
Clark's Oyster Bar
1200 W 6th StSeafood
Perla's
1400 S Congress AveGreat outdoor scene and delicious food and drinks. Great people watching
Airport Blvd
The group behind Parkside, Olive & June, and The Backspace recently opened a new Spanish-influenced concept, Bullfight. The menu is full of tapas and dishes you’d find in any city in Spain -- jamón ibérico, paella, tortilla -- intermixed with modern interpretations. For drinks, it has both classic cocktails and a wine list consisting of all Spanish wines.
32 locals recommend
BULLFIGHT
4807 Airport BoulevardAirport Blvd
The group behind Parkside, Olive & June, and The Backspace recently opened a new Spanish-influenced concept, Bullfight. The menu is full of tapas and dishes you’d find in any city in Spain -- jamón ibérico, paella, tortilla -- intermixed with modern interpretations. For drinks, it has both classic cocktails and a wine list consisting of all Spanish wines.
Hillside Farmacy
1209 E 11th StTOMS Austin
1401 S Congress AveGreat atmosphere
Starbucks
1201 Barbara Jordan BlvdYou might need a coffee!
Drinks & Nightlife
drink.well.
207 E 53rd StBackbeat
1300 South Lamar BoulevardThe Roosevelt Room
307 W 5th StParlor & Yard (in the old Arro space) is the kind of bar day-drinking dreams are made of. On weekends, it has a brunch buffet where for $20 you can have all the fried chicken, biscuits & gravy, flank steak Benedict, and pressed sandwiches (and more!) you can eat, along with $2 mimosas. Once you’re thoroughly stuffed, move over for the games. Parlor & Yard has a sunny, AstroTurf patio decked out with a shuffleboard, ping pong, and foosball table ready for sparring.
12 locals recommend
Parlor and Yard
601 W 6th StParlor & Yard (in the old Arro space) is the kind of bar day-drinking dreams are made of. On weekends, it has a brunch buffet where for $20 you can have all the fried chicken, biscuits & gravy, flank steak Benedict, and pressed sandwiches (and more!) you can eat, along with $2 mimosas. Once you’re thoroughly stuffed, move over for the games. Parlor & Yard has a sunny, AstroTurf patio decked out with a shuffleboard, ping pong, and foosball table ready for sparring.
Making your way into Small Victory is a clandestine experience. The door downstairs is marked, though not obviously; then, you walk up a small flight of stairs, fling open the wooden door, and behold... a tiny, gorgeous bar, full of people, and the buzz of 10 conversations. The menu offers vintage cocktails like the Daisy de Santiago (Dominican rum, lime juice, sugar syrup, soda, yellow Chartreuse float) from a 1939 recipe. Or split a punch bowl with your crew; the current pick is Philadelphia Fish House Punch (brandy, Jamaican rum, peach brandy, lemon juice, demerara sugar).
36 locals recommend
Small Victory
108 E 7th StMaking your way into Small Victory is a clandestine experience. The door downstairs is marked, though not obviously; then, you walk up a small flight of stairs, fling open the wooden door, and behold... a tiny, gorgeous bar, full of people, and the buzz of 10 conversations. The menu offers vintage cocktails like the Daisy de Santiago (Dominican rum, lime juice, sugar syrup, soda, yellow Chartreuse float) from a 1939 recipe. Or split a punch bowl with your crew; the current pick is Philadelphia Fish House Punch (brandy, Jamaican rum, peach brandy, lemon juice, demerara sugar).
Mohawk Austin
912 Red River StStubb's Bar-B-Q
801 Red River StSixth Street Historic District
Not my scene, but might be yours!
Threadgill's World Headquarters
301 W Riverside DrThe White Horse
500 Comal StCountry dancing, Austin style!
East 6th Street
East 6th StreetLots of fun bars and dancing happening on East 6th
Rainey Street
Rainey StreetShopping
2nd Street District
211 Guadalupe StOutdoor shopping
It's outdoor, they have every major store you can think of. Anthropologie, JCrew, Coach, Madewell to name a few. Also some cute patio restaurants.
768 locals recommend
The Domain
11410 Century Oaks TerraceIt's outdoor, they have every major store you can think of. Anthropologie, JCrew, Coach, Madewell to name a few. Also some cute patio restaurants.
Essentials
H-E-B
5808 Burnet RdSightseeing
South Congress Avenue
South Congress Avenue
Texas Senate
1200 Congress AveEntertainment & Activities
Awesome indoor bouldering gym, no ropes or harnesses, shoes available to rent. It is a bit pricey, but worth it.
160 locals recommend
Austin Bouldering Project
979 Springdale RdAwesome indoor bouldering gym, no ropes or harnesses, shoes available to rent. It is a bit pricey, but worth it.
Within Zilker Park's 358 acres lies one of the crown jewels of Austin - Barton Springs Pool. The pool itself measures three acres in size, and is fed from underground springs with an average temperature of 68-70 degrees, ideal for year-round swimming. Over the years, Barton Springs Pool has drawn people from all walks of life, from legislators who have concocted state laws there to free-spirited, topless sunbathers who turned heads in the 1970s. Robert Redford learned to swim at the pool when he was five years old while visiting family in Austin. Today, Barton Springs still attracts a diverse crowd of people and has seen record setting numbers of visitors nearing 800,000 in recent years.
2454 locals recommend
Barton Springs Municipal Pool
2201 William Barton DrWithin Zilker Park's 358 acres lies one of the crown jewels of Austin - Barton Springs Pool. The pool itself measures three acres in size, and is fed from underground springs with an average temperature of 68-70 degrees, ideal for year-round swimming. Over the years, Barton Springs Pool has drawn people from all walks of life, from legislators who have concocted state laws there to free-spirited, topless sunbathers who turned heads in the 1970s. Robert Redford learned to swim at the pool when he was five years old while visiting family in Austin. Today, Barton Springs still attracts a diverse crowd of people and has seen record setting numbers of visitors nearing 800,000 in recent years.
Eat, drink (adult beverages, too!) comfortable chairs.
770 locals recommend
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema South Lamar
1120 S Lamar BlvdEat, drink (adult beverages, too!) comfortable chairs.
Getting Around
Downtown
209 E 4th StBus stop to get downtown is on Manor and Pershing http://www.capmetro.org/
24 locals recommend
Capital Metro Transit Store
209 W 9th StBus stop to get downtown is on Manor and Pershing http://www.capmetro.org/
Austin B-cycle Station
499 E 4th StBikes around town.