Hello Texans! We decided on the spur of the moment to spend four days of spring break in Austin. It’ll be a first time visit for us. I have checked earlier threads, which have got me thinking about some restaurant recommendations. But I’m hoping that you can help me with some logistics. If all goes according to plan, we would be relying on public transportation and avoiding renting a car. With that in mind, what neighborhood would you recommend for a hotel, which both has things for a tourist to do and see, and also a lot of good food options or at least excellent public transportation to get to those food options and visitor sites?
Now that I’ve asked about the neighborhood, can you help me to figure out where we should eat. I don’t want to limit types of cuisines. What I want to know is what is Austin best at, and go to those places. But we are probably not looking for anything fancy. More of a casual vibe family. Thank you so much, and I look forward to seeing your suggestions.
Sasha I haven’t spent much time in Austin in 15 years; sorry. I went to UT there in the 60s and started my career there but the city has CHANGED!!! I usually don’t stay in the city but in San Marcos or way up north (I have relatives - or did - all over CTex) and I always want to hit some of my old faves.
The last time I was there, South Congress, South Lamar and another n/s street in between there, as I recall, is where I did most of my roaming, but I was hitting mostly food trucks. The road to Barton Springs also usually has some of the most popular spots, as I recall. If that’s the case still I’d think the south end of downtown or as close as you can get to the lake (used to be Town Lake, I think it’s Lady Bird Johnson lake now) would be ideal. I-35 is a mess; always has been. Particularly during morning and evening drive times. If spring break is when SXSW is going on – good luck on accommodations and victuals! Probably stay away from the UT area.
I though Mr. Happy’s report from a year or so was outstanding; I learned a lot.
Thanks. That report is the one I was mostly talking about, but it had a heavy focus on breakfast tacos! I’ll have to check out the concert dates and hope for the best. My own research was leaning me in a downtown stay. So far I have two bbq spots and bats!
Ok fellow Onions who live in TX. Our trip fast approaches. Please help! I’ll narrow it down. We are staying in downtown, very close to Franklin’s bbq (w side of hwy). We need 4 lunches and 4 dinners. I want to try TX bbq, but my little group doesn’t want to sink a 1/2 day into waiting for Franklin’s, even if they are “the best.” So what are the next “best” bbq places that might have shorter waits? And as for the other meals, please rec your favorites. Local flavor is great but so is ethnic. Casual atmosphere, somewhere between fast food and linen tableclothes. No one here is a big drinker. Anyplace easily gotten to on foot or by bus. Many many thanks.
Austin has changed in recent years and not for the better, Be careful where you stay and keep an eye out at all times. You say your spring break vaca is fast approaching. Are you by any chance combining it with a solar eclipse stay? Be prepared to wait wherever you go. And as far as Franklin’s or any BBQ place. I would never in a million years wait for hours in line… There’s only one other person on this board who I believe resides in Austin. Maybe he’ll chime in.
@Vecchiouomo is in Austin. @air and @luckyfatima are both there, I think, but neither has posted in several years. I know nothing of the public transportation system and what I read of the Austin restaurant scene these days I not only don’t know the restaurants, I don’t recognize the streets or locations. It was 350,000 when I was there, over a million now.
For bbq don’t overlook a short trip to Lockhart, Taylor or Luling. Old school.
Pick the cuisines you’re interested in and search Yelp, Then look at Austin American Statesman, Culture Map? Eater Austin? There’s an Austin 365 or something like that. Tx Monthly’s dining guide will probably be helpful if you look it up.
Spring Break? - maybe a lot of students will be gone to the Galveston, Corpus, Padre Island or Mexico. That won’t clear the city out like it used to but will help.
Thanks all. I didn’t realize we only had one Austin resident. Just some commentary on the above. We will be careful as in any city. We have no car so it is what it is. No side trips. We won’t be there on a weekend. Spring break is different for each school. My college kid had his 2 wks ago. We effectively have 4 part days there because we’re also remote working. Thus a 3 hr wait for Franklins would preclude us doing a bunch of other things. And not being local we can’t bring chairs either. And yes of course I will be googling eateries but I don’t know the people writing those reviews. I tried here first because we on this board share the same food sensibilities ie food is up there with the most important to do things while traveling.
This is a great taco list. IMO these are not ranked, just listed.
Go to their home page for a terrific and more varied list of restaurants.
Loro is a great barbecue fusion with a great chef of Japanese cuisine.
For interior Mexican, Fonda San Miguel gets the buzz, but I also like Las Palomas for seafood and other in interior dishes.
For Tex-Mex our family’s second dining room is LaPosada. Joe’s Bakery gets high marks, too.
For Texas style burgers, Sandy’s is a true experience.
For barbecue, the short drive out to Opie’s at this time of year will be gorgeous. If you can, go on a night when they have butter beans. If you want to stay in town, La Barbecue is a great choice.
I know zip about fine dining, having exited that scene about twenty-five years ago.
For breakfasts other than tacos, the Magnolia is a very Austin place.
On foot, Angie’s has great Carnitas tacos but is noisy. Angie herself is cool. La Barbecue is reachable. Just west of the Capitol, the Texas Chili Parlor is a fun place. Horrifying, but I love their five bean Frito pie with an Arnold Palmer. At the north end of the drag (which has a bus), El Patio is a classic Tex-Mex throwback. To the east, Joe’s Bakery is great Tex-Mex, better than El Patio. Grab some churros for snacking later. Nixta for a dinner. Maybe Olamaie. Taco Deli vegetarian tacos are available in many coffee places and are quite good. Down Lamar (on a bus line), the Odd Duck is fabulous. So is Loro. Just over the river aka Lady Bird Lake, Sandy’s is a very Austin burger experience, as is Dirty’s on the Drag. See my other list above.
