UPDATE: Here’s a map
I don’t cook. Not even a little. However, I made it through college waitressing and bartending in fine dining restaurants in Austin and have lived in the capitol city for 17 years. I also interned at the Texas Restaurant Association and was once published in Restaurants & Institutions magazine thinking I may end up a food critic. I love eating out.
More than simply eating out, I love finding the amazing treasures that only locals know about. I want finds that are slap-your-mother good. Meals that are instantly added to my “last supper” list. (see Death Row incarceration, etc) When I travel, I skip the concierge, find a bar and seek counsel from the waitstaff and bartenders on where to go. Waiters pride themselves on knowing ‘the best’ while concierges are paid by local restaurants for referrals.
So while I have no business cooking a meal for anyone, I can certainly share my favorite picks and feel confident that you’ll dig at least some of them. Assuming that most of you will be in town for up to five days, I’ve compiled my top five breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals to cover your stay. And as a bonus, I’ve also included my top five happy hour spots. My approach is based 100% on my personal preferences, so check out Yelp for additional context or validation against your preferences. Enjoy and please leave comments if you try (or also recommend) any of these recommendations…..even if you hated it. Salud!
Top 5 breakfast or brunch meals:
1) Maria’s Taco Express – potato & egg, chorizo & egg breakfast tacos
2) South Congress Café – classic eggs Benedict with smoked gouda potato pancake and horseradish cream – or – wild boar pozole
3) El Sol y La Luna – Machacado breakfast plate – or – machacado breakfast tacos on homemade corn tortillas (machacado is scrambled eggs with dried beef, onions, tomato and jalapeno)
4) Chez Zee – Maryland crab cakes Benedict
5) Kerbey Lane – one word, pancakes (go to the original location on Kerbey Ln.)
Honorable mention: the entire Sunday brunch table(s) at Fonda San Miguel – haven’t been in while so couldn’t solidly recommend, but I remember it felt like death by mole.
Top 5 lunch meals (interchangeable with dinner if you want super casual):
1) Vivo – beef fajita tacos ON CORN tortillas – or – chile enchiladas – or – puffy tacos
2) Guero’s – thinly sliced beef tacos on corn tortillas with charro beans and rice – or – tacos al pastor (pork with pineapple pico de gallo) – or – chicken al carbon tacos on corn. BEST margarita’s evah.
3) Enoteca – Fettucini al fungi, rigatoni with spicy Italian sausage, or penne puttanesca
4) Mekong River – B6 (vermicelli with chargrilled pork & egg rolls) – note, service is not the main attraction here
5) Little Mexico – Jerry Jeff Walker dip, carne guisada plate (warning, this is not a traditional tex mex joint, don’t go for fajitas or enchiladas here) – 2304 s. 1st Street
Top 5 dinner meals (chi-chi picks relative to the lunches):
1) Uchi – their entire menu of sushi and/or specials. Make a reservation now. Seriously. Now.
2) La Traviata – endive & prosciutto salad, mussels, rigatoni with lamb meatballs, fettuccini con fungi, osobucco (who am I kidding, everything is good here).
3) Wink – their entire menu, local farm-fresh produce meets Austin fine dining
4) Sullivan’s – only for the steamed Alaskan King Crab Legs & creamed spinach – eat at the bar if not too crowded
5) Ranch 616 – the buttermilk biscuits & kitschy cowboy-chic attitude alone are worth it, but I’ve had great luck with their mixed grills especially when quail is available
And drum roll please…..Top 5 Happy Hour Joints:
1) Belmont – great patio & people watching
2) Cedar Door – Mexican martini’s and great patio
3) Rain – definitely a gay bar, without a doubt the best patio in Austin, and did I mention the dancing?
4) J Black’s – can get a little scene-ish, but really great snacks and people watching
5) Gingerman/Woodrow’s – great beer selections (note: Gingerman is moving, so may or may not be open – call first)
Wait – what about barbecue???
It occurred to me that I didn’t include any barbecue picks on these lists – if you have a craving for barbecue, you’re in the right spot. Hit the Salt Lick (BYOB) for a total Texas barbecue experience – especially with a large group. Honestly, though, my top pick strictly based on the food is Rudy’s. Warning: Rudy’s is also a gas station. They offer the best barbecue chicken I’ve ever eaten.
Nice list! Can I add my favorite tex-mex place in Austin? Polvos ( http://tinyurl.com/chdk5f ). Get the chips and salsa for sure, al pastor tacos, and my personal favorite the chicken mole tacos on corn tortillas! It fills up during SXSW, but worth the wait and a great value at lunch.
Kathy – fantastic list. I can’t wait to try out every place on the list (okay, I’ve actually eaten at a few of them already but that’s not going to stop me trying them again). So far your taste for good food has not disappointed!
Best,
Aaron
Nice list, Kathy! Got a few others to add:
Shady Grove, Hyde Park, Magnolia, Trudy’s, Hut’s
Glad to see my faves made the list… Maria’s Taco Xpress, South Congress Cafe, Uchi, and Rain!
I also have to throw in HomeSlice for SXSW’ers who find themselves on South Congress and in need of some GOOD pizza.
Ooh, Becky, great catch. Homeslice has the best pizza EVAH!!! Seriously.
Oooh – all great additions. Becky, you are responsible for Maria’s making the top spot! James, I seriously thought about adding Polvo’s, I think it’s probably going to be more popular than Little Mex. Doogs – Shady Grove cheese fries….mmmm
Oh boy, my SXSW faves are
1. Taco Shack in the Frost Tower (Breakfast and Lunch rock)
2. Mongolian BBQ
3. MeeKong
4. Copa (good heavy texmex, hotsauce and queso rock)
5. Jamba Juice (anytime of day – TELL THEM TO LOSE THE STYRO CUP, however!)
6. El Sol y Luna has moved to Sixth, I haven’t been there yet, but it’s a good local for the fest!
7. Apple Annie’s has great bacon.
8. The Hideout on Congress for non-corp lattes.
Hey Kathy, these are some great recommendations. I need to trim to run around the blog a few times to take off the weight I gained reading your post.
I’d like to recommend people check out Texas Chili Parlour on Lavaca and 15th for a classic bowl of X, XX, or XXX chili or frito pie.
John – thanks for the addition. I was so happy to find out that El Sol y La Luna moved rather than closed!
Steve – I LOVE Texas Chili Parlor – spent many a Sunday afternoon there back in college. I love the trio they have where you get a salad, small XXX chili and small queso. Perfection!
And how could I forget the Tijuana at the Jackalope? Bacon-wrapped and fried hot dog served with cheese, onions…and…well who cares, it’s a bacon-wrapped fried hot dog. And it’s amazing.
John, Kathy –
Let me know when you come down to el Sol y la Luna. Its right accross the street from FG SQUARED. I went there yesterday for the first time in my life, and I was so pleased. Not only was the food awesome, but the people working there are really friendly. The house margarita on the rocks was perhaps the best I have had outside of Matt’s El Rancho!
Steve
Kathy ~
Great list!
For BBQ: In town, add Stubbs & Iron Works. For a mini-road trip – Kreutz in Lockhart, Luling City Market. TO DIE FOR!
I agree with Taco Shack for bkfst tacos – best chorizo! But also hard to beat the Picadillo at Cisco’s.
For true TexMex nothing beats Joe’s Bakery on East 7th but I wanna keep that a secret for the locals! shhhhhhhh!!!!!
Mel
Great list Kathy! I have three additional resources people might be interested in:
1. Locals and visitors alike should take a look at this set of mini tasty tours that feature great food and drink deals during SXSW.
2. Also, if you’re looking for a specific great dish, Dishola is a great resource.
3. Finally, Addie Broyles, the Statesman’s Food Diva, will be posting regularly about food goodness during SSW on her Relish Austin blog.
Great list – real winners in there.
We compiled a list of restaurants that are downtown and close to the events. What we’ve found is that most people attending SXSW don’t have a rental car and are not willing to miss the next party or session for a drive/taxi ride to a restaurant. In a sense, they are landlocked.
More, here:
http://sxswiseasy.com/
See you around.
Hey Joe, thanks for the additional resource. The good news is that most of the picks are downtown, although I know there’s definitely a lot going on this & next week. It’s specifically because I know time is precious during the conference that I wanted to make sure and provide some assistance from a local perspective – and the die hard foodies, will find a way to make it work, no doubt.
My bad. Looks like (from the added map) that exactly half are downtown and the other half are within a cab ride’s reach.
True foodies will no doubt travel for good eats during the fest.
Here are some other blogs that have been posting food selections:
http://www.sxswbaby.com/index.php/C5/
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/490018
http://www.yelp.com/events/austin-yelp-deals-at-sxsw-week
http://ionrock.org/blog/2009/03/08/Eating_in_Austin
Have a great South By.
Two places I can’t believe I left out – Brown Bar for HH and Lambert’s in the barbecue note. Lambert’s is ‘fancy’ barbecue, but it’s really delish and also downtown.
Kathy:
Awesome list and colorful commentary! For those of you who don’t know Kathy and are possibly questioning her qualifications to be be Austin’s Official Food and Beverage Ambassador, I would like to formally endorse her. Name a food you’re in the mood for – ANY FOOD – and she’ll tell you exactly which restaurant/s serve it best, and as a bonus she’ll tell you exactly how to order it. She knows how to make simple changes that make already great food “more greater.” (I’ve seen this woman make those waiter’s who pride themselves on not writing anything down grab a note pad.) For nearly a decade Kathy has been the first person I call when I need eating out advice, and to this day she’s got a perfect score.
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