Austin isn’t a huge city like Chicago, but its pretty big and getting much bigger everyday. There are two main highways that go north and south – I-35 and Tx-1 (which everyone calls MoPac).
I-35 divides east and west downtown Austin. Up until 5-10 years ago, East Austin was pretty rough – with the exception of a few hipster clubs. It has now exploded. There is tons of housing, bars, and exceptional restaurants over there.
There’s a river (technically a Lake, but it looks like a river) that runs through downtown. South of the Lake is South Austin – which is an artsy, hippy type area. North of the Lake is the heart of downtown.
What’s in Austin
· The state government – as a result, there is the capitol, the governor’s mansion, etc. The capitol is located at 11thand Congress. Congress is the main north/south surface road in downtown.
· University of Texas – there’s not a ton to see other than a campus, but if you want to see it, its just north of the capitol. Its at MLK, which is 19th. Its very large. You can’t miss it.
Museums
· LBJ Presidential Library – right downtown near UT campus
· Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum – a popular destination
· Blanton Museum of Art – on UT’s campus
· Hope Outdoor Gallery – Downtown area where the City has set up a bunch of outdoor spaces for artists to come and make art. Its pretty cool to see.
· Here are a few others – including some offbeat ones: http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2012/oct/17/austin-10-best-museums-galleries
Outdoors
· Austin people are crazy outdoorsy. So there are tons of hiking trails, beaches, boating, kayaking, walking, pools, etc. There are a few major parks – Zilker Park and Barton Springs being two of the most famous.
· If outdoor type activities interest you, you can check out this - http://move-to-austin.com/austin-tx-outdoor-activities/
· The main Lake through downtown does not allow motorized boats – except for tourist cruises. There are plenty of those – both with and without dinner – if you are interested. They also have multiple bat cruises.
Bats
· The bats are huge. There are literally over a million bats that live underneath the Congress Ave bridge. This may only be in the warmer times of the year, but they come out every night at dusk and fly to a local farm. Its pretty impressive to see. It’s a LOT of bats. The best place to see the bats (and not stand on Congress Ave) is to go to the bar at the Line Hotel at Cesar Chavez and Congress or at Geraldine's off Rainey.
Restaurants
· When I first moved here in 2011, I didn’t think the restaurant scene was all that great. Since then, it has EXPLODED. There is now an outstanding restaurant scene with every type of food imaginable.
· Here is a link to the local paper’s top 25 of 2018 list: https://apps.statesman.com/austin360/eats/lists/47/2018-best-restaurants-austin/
· Some of those, obviously, can be quite expensive.
· While Austin now has all kinds of amazing food, they are definitely known for BBQ and breakfast tacos. If either of these interest you (and the BBQ should – its really outstanding), let me know.
· As for anything else – Italian, TexMex, Thai, seafood, steak, burgers, sushi, whatever – there are a lot of great places. If you let me know your preference in type of food, general cost and atmosphere, I can give you some specific suggestions.
· For specific suggestions, see the end of this email.
Night Life
· Austin is definitely known for its night life. There are A LOT of bars and A LOT of live music. There are bars that have any type of live music you like – including Donn’s Depot and the Broken Spoke, which are the places I take my Dad so he can listen to really old, great country music. For specific music venues –
o Downtown attached to the W are two places –
§ Moody Theater – this is where they film the weekly Austin City limits TV show. It’s a great place to see a show.
§ 3Ten – a smaller, more casual venue.
o Paramount and Stateside – two old, classic theaters downtown
o Emo’s – on the east side, a big, cool music venue
o Broken Spoke and Donn’s Depot – talked about above
o Stubbs – Great outdoor venue downtown. There are also a few bars across from Stubbs – like the Mohawk – that will have live music
o Sixth Street (discussed below) – every bar will have music
o Antone’s – another cool music venue downtown
· The most famous area of Austin is called 6thStreet. Specifically, this is the part of 6thStreet that is West of I-35 but East of Congress. They close down the street to cars on Fridays and Saturdays. Its interesting to see, but its called Dirty Sixth for a reason. Its mostly really drunk college-aged people. Its not an area I would normally hang out, but its worth seeing.
· There are other things besides just music also. There are always a ton of comedy shows – including the one I highly recommend, Esther’s Follies. It’s a music and comedy variety show that is actually really funny. And I took my Dad to it last year and he loved it (even though it does have some Texas-based jokes).
· There are also a lot of theaters, so depending on who is in town, you may be able to see plays, musicals, book readings, etc.
· The website I think is best to find out what’s going on at night is Austin360.com. If you go there and search for just a generic event on the date you will be here, a ton of listings will pop up for what is in town. Also https://do512.comis a good site.
Shopping
· North of town (depending on traffic, it could be 15 or 45 minutes), is the Domain. This is the area with all the high end shopping. I’d like to name the stores, but other than Tory Burch, I don’t really know anything.
· San Marcos Outlets – San Marcos is about 45 minutes to an hour south of Austin (on the way to San Antonio). These are like the 2ndlargest outlets in the US. They are really huge.
Sports
· UT sports
· Austin FC (MLS) starts in 2021
· Minor league hockey
· Minor league baseball
· Roller derby (haven’t been yet, but really want to go)
Specific Restaurants
· Tex-Mex – You’d think Austin would be a mecca of Tex-mex but its really not. I think the best truly Tex-mex is Uncle Julio’s – but that’s a chain. It is good, though.
· Tacos – Austin has fantastic breakfast tacos. The best places for breakfast tacos – in my opinion – are:
o VeraCruz All Natural taco truck - https://www.veracruzallnatural.com
o Papalote - http://yumpapalote.com
o El Chilito - http://www.elchilito.com
o There are plenty of others that have good breakfast tacos but those are my favorites.
o Torchy’s Tacos – this is probably the most famous taco place in Austin. Its very good and is usually on a list of best tacos in the country - https://torchystacos.com
· Barbecue – The most famous is Franklin (https://franklinbbq.com). The problem with that is you have to wait forever (literally 3 hours) in line. There are plenty of others that have great barbecue with much shorter lines. A few suggestions:
o Stiles Switch – This is where I usually send people because it is excellent barbecue with a short line.
o LA BBQ – This is excellent but there will likely be a line.
o Blacks – There are two Blacks BBQs in Austin – I think there was a split in the family. They are both very good.
o Coopers – This is downtown. I’ve only been there once but the original Coopers in Llano is always on the Top 50 list in Texas.
o Lamberts – This is also downtown. Its fancy bbq with plates and silverware but its very good.
o Micklethwait – This is a food truck on the east side. Its quite good.
· Sushi – Uchi and Uchiko are the traditional kings of Austin sushi. They are excellent but VERY expensive. The other recommendation is Musashino. Its excellent also.
· Other favorites
o Sway – This is a modern Thai restaurant. The food is terrific but they don’t accept resevations. And you share tables.
o Ramen Tatsu-ya – Great ramen place. Very casual but very good.
o Home Slice – Austin isn’t a great pizza town but if you like thin slice pizza, this is probably the best.
o Via 313 – This is a great “Detroit style” pizza place. Its very popular.
o Launderette – Small plates. Its really, really terrific. But they do not take reservations.
o Emmer and Rye – also small plates. Also terrific.
o Patrizi’s – There are a bunch of new Italian restaurants in Austin. Most of them are fairly fancy and nominally Italian. Lots of small plates. Patrizi’s is my favorite Italian restaurant. Its actually a food truck just outside of a bar. They have plenty of tables set up outside on which to eat. The menu is fairly limited but the food is fantastic. They have the best garlic bread I’ve ever had.
o Olamaie – So good. Southern/comfort food. The best biscuits you will have.
o Jeffrey’s – Probably the best of the steakhouses if that’s what you want.
o Clark’s – Really nice, fun oyster bar. Small, though. Limited seating. And – surprisingly – a terrific hamburger.
o Truluck’s – This is a chain but its really good. Seafood. Terrific crab legs, if you like that.
o Perla’s – Good seafood. Great patio on which to eat it.
· Brunch – This is a whole other ball of spaghetti. There are a lot of great places to eat brunch, so if you want to have brunch, let me know and I’ll come up with some suggestions. The one I suggestion I do have is Fonda San Miguel. Its probably the best brunch in the city (interior Mexican food) but its VERY expensive. Like $55 per person or something.
There are new restaurants that pop up all the time so I am sure I am missing some. If you have any other questions, let me know.