Sometimes I forget how convenient it is to have New York as your home base. Sure, the rents are exorbitantly high, the subway isn’t running super well these days and you’re sharing your space with eight million other strangers regularly. BUT! Our three metro-area airports also make it super easy to jet off to another part of the country for the weekend if you feel like it. And that’s just what we did at the end of January when we decided to escape the chill and hang out in Austin, Texas for a few days.
Frank had been to Austin before for work, and I was dying to check it out for the first time. The amazing food scene was calling to us, and it definitely didn’t disappoint.
We were in Austin for just over 48 hours — although we still have a list of places we’re dying to go back to try, we covered some good ground and I thought I’d share a few recommendations based on what we loved.
Get to Know Austin and Their Beer!
We signed up for the Bike and Brew ATX tour for our first day in Austin, which was an awesome way to kick off our weekend. They provide the bikes, the helmets, a tour guide and a generous number of pours at a few local breweries. We loved this because it helped us become a little more familiar with the city from the bike, gave us the chance to see the beautiful Texas State Cemetery and learn a bit about Austin’s history, and of course allowed us to check out some fun Austin craft breweries. And don’t worry — the route is designed to be shorter and easier after each brewery, so you won’t end up in the bushes.
Sip Some Amazing Sours
As previously mentioned, we visited a number of breweries on our tour, but the one we came back to the next day was Blue Owl Brewing, a craft brewery that specializes in sours. I have to be honest… I wasn’t thrilled at the idea of a brewery with only sours because I don’t always find them to be the most drinkable beers. But this place is amazing. Try the Van Dayum Red Sour — you won’t regret it! Because of their setup and some Texas laws around alcohol, you actually purchase a beer glass that includes four pours of your choice, instead of just ordering a beer. This is actually really fun because you can sample a few beers and then you get to go home with a fun glass, too! They have a little patio out front that was the perfect spot to sip and soak in the sunshine.
If You Don’t Like Breakfast Tacos, Don’t Come to Austin
We stayed at a perfectly lovely hotel where they offered us breakfast in the morning, but we were way too excited for breakfast tacos to even bother with free hotel breakfast. Austin is a haven for tacos and we felt that it was our duty to try as many as we could. I have to say that the much celebrated Torchy’s Tacos, which started as a food truck and has since expanded state-wide, didn’t thrill me. And yes, we tried the original location and yes we tried the queso (which was honestly my favorite thing we ate there). The tacos were perfectly acceptable, but I wasn’t loving the bland flour tortillas.
On the other hand, Pueblo Viejo just delivered. The corn tortillas were fresh, the fillings were delicious and well-proportioned, the toppings were appropriately zippy and creamy and spicy in all the right ways. The Taco Don Chago has beans, cheese, bacon and avocado on it, and I would eat it for breakfast every day if given the opportunity. It’s decidedly not the prettiest taco, but damn was it good!
The Holy Grail of BBQ
Austin also boasts some of the best BBQ in the world, and since you’re in Texas you should be prepared to eat a lot of beef! While we would have loved to try Franklin, largely considered to be the best BBQ in Austin, we had just two short days in the city and didn’t want to spend half of one waiting in line for our food, which is what you’ll need to do if you want to try some of the restaurant’s famed brisket.
Instead, we hit up La Barbecue for our fix of brisket, sausages and sides. La Barbecue accepts pre-orders, so you can just waltz up to the pre-order window at your designated time and skip the long line outside (to be fair, Franklin offers a pre-order too but it’s limited and much more expensive to do so). Then settle in at a picnic table with a cold beer and get ready for amazing BBQ.
If you’re skeptical of brisket (aka you’ve had some that’s dry, stringy and unpleasant), just forget what you know and jump in headfirst at La Barbecue. The brisket was unlike any I had eaten before — juicy, smoky and so tender that we didn’t even need to use a knife to cut it. Alternating bites of brisket with the zippy chipotle slaw and creamy potato salad was a truly joyful experience. The sausages were also snappy and flavorful — we got one of each (chipotle and regular) and they were both fantastic but if you’re just going with one, go with the regular!
Everything On a Truck
Austin has a food truck for everything, from tacos and BBQ to donuts and Chinese food. New York has a good number of trucks, but I’ve never seen as many as I saw in Austin! It seems like every parking lot has a collection of trucks parked in it, and even some bars and restaurants have a truck parked outside in case you need a snack or a different food option.
My favorite truck that we visited (perhaps more of a trailer!) was Paperboy, a truck serving breakfast and brunch fare. I loved that their menu had something for everyone, whether you wanted a lighter yogurt and granola dish or an all-out bacon, egg and cheese sandwich.
I opted for an amazing sweet potato Texas Hash topped with kale, pork, pecan mole and a poached egg. It was the perfect balance of a decadent and energizing breakfast — the picture just speaks for itself! Can you really beat sitting outside in the sunshine while you down a delicious breakfast? I think not!
I’m already looking forward to our next trip to Austin — if you have any recommendations for must-eats, please share!
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