Thursday, March 11, 2010

Food Bloggers’ Guide to Austin

The Food Bloggers Guide to Austin is a compendium of lists of Austin’s best in food and drink by Austin food bloggers. Check out what people in the local food scene have to say about Asian, BBQ, burgers, cocktails, pizza, and more. (Note: many of the destinations listed may require a car, but as a 6th time visitor to Austin, I can say that it’s definitely worth the detour.)

Food, Pure and Simple

• Asian Food in Austin – Foodie is the New Forty
• BBQ – Man Up Texas BBQ
• Breakfast Tacos – Taco Journalism
• Gluten-Free – ATX Gluten-Free
• Pizza – Austin Epicurean
• Tacos – Citizen Taco
• Vegan – Lazy Smurf’s Guide to Life

Unique Austin Experiences

• 24 Hour Eats – Tasty Touring
• Boiled Down List of Awesome – Boots in the Oven (and they KNOW awesome)
• Breakfast Joints, Austin Style – The Cosmic Cowgirl
• Dining Out Sustainably – Austin Farm to Table
• The Newest Food Trailers – Tasty Touring
• Local Favorites – The Rebeccamendations
• Street Food – Austin Food Carts
• Upscale Dining – Foodie is the New Forty

Beer, Wine, and Cocktails

• Drinks Around Town – Fabulous Drinks Austin
• Happy Hours – Misohungry Makes it with Moonshine
• Where to Whet Your Whistle – Misohungry Makes it with Moonshine
• Wine Wednesdays – Fabulous Drinks Austin

Great work, guys!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

South By Southwest is For Foodies

There are a number of great parties happening during SXSW and one of the aspects where party-organizers try to out-do one another is through not just an open bar, live music, and contests and prizes, but by offering food. And with each year, the party snacks get more and more interesting (although not always for free). Combine that with Austin’s thriving food truck scene, and you have some great combinations going on. From Pastries and Pasties to a Street Food Fest right outside the Convention Center doors, SXSW is for food lovers!

Here’s a great list of all of the events happening that focus on food. And the ones that caught my eye:

• The SXSW Street Food Scavenger Hunt
• The Austin360 Food Blogger Bash
• Milwaukee Beer and Brat Bash
• East Meets Fest at Uchi
• IFC Crossroads House (various events)

And don’t forget to check out our Where to Eat During SXSW 2010 guide.

SXSW Tips: Bring Some Snacks and Reusable Water Bottle

If you’re traveling to Austin for SXSW, I highly recommend bring some snacks from home with you. I like bringing snacks that are portable, healthy, and non-perishable.

Don’t forget that SXSW is a blur of beer, BBQ, and tacos, so some fruit or veggies will be in order at some point. Otherwise you might find yourself burning out on a diet of coffee, breakfast tacos, Tex-Mex, BBQ, and alcohol. Many people forget to eat some fruit and vegetables.

Things you can bring include dried fruit, nuts, granola, trail mix, instant oatmeal (I like Kashi brand), apples, oranges, crackers, cereal bars, and granola bars, just in case. You probably shouldn’t eat only queso and brisket the entire time you’re there, and you’ll be pressed for time, often, which means bringing your own can really be a lifesaver. Plus, the food in the Convention Center’s tradeshow area...leaves something to be desired.

Bonus: if you have a room with a fridge (I think you can get them for a small fee at the Hilton) or kitchenette, visit the Whole Foods on Bowie and West 5th (via cab or Dillo) and pick up some healthy snacks and water. If you try to walk, budget enough time to get there as it’s about a mile away from the Convention Center.

And with all of this extra drinking going on, it’s especially important to drink water. Stay hydrated. You’re going to be drinking, talking, standing, walking, and more, with really long days ahead of you. I often request a cup of water with every drink I have. (Don’t forget to tip your waitstaff.)

Bring a reusable water bottle, which you can fill at your convenience. Even a small one will do if you don’t want to be overburdened with stuff. (A small bottle of ibuprofen is also handy for rough mornings, if you know what I mean.)

Where to Eat Downtown During SXSW 2010

A guide for the car-less, created by the authors of sxswbaby.com. You’re hungry, you don’t have a car, and you have a short time to find some food in between commitments in downtown Austin. (Unlike some other interactive and web conferences, meals are not provided by conference organizers.)

So where to eat? I’ve pulled together a list of spots for your perusal. The focus here is listing mostly restaurants that:

1. are close to 6th Street, Red River, and the Convention Center
2. don’t require a car (cabs are unreliable and in extremely short supply during SXSW; if you even have a rental car, finding parking downtown can be a hassle; and even if you have a bike, your friends may not)
3. inexpensive and casual, or are of good value
4. fast-ish (to a relative degree)
5. not national chains like IHOP or PF Chang’s

Sidebar: I highly recommend eating at off hours. Eating during SXSW can make you crazy. By the time you figure out where your friends are, what they want to do, how sober they are, and gather up the troops to get lunch or dinner, you end up walking into a restaurant with a huge party and get quoted a wait time of 1-2 hours. Go as soon as the last panel ends, especially during SXSW Interactive. It doesn’t matter if you can’t gather everybody up. Just go!

Additionally, I’ve made a Google Map of all of these spots. I’ve also created a short URL for my map on bit.ly. Just enter in http://bit.ly/sxsweats. To access on your iPhone, simply add my map to your My Maps listing in Google, and then sign in from your iPhone on mymapsmobile.com. Or use the iPhone application My Maps to view. I’ve also added operating hours, when I could find them, but some eateries may extend operating hours during SXSW. When in doubt, call ahead. (Yelp/Citysearch/etc. lie. They can’t keep up with restauranteur’s complicated lives, so operating hours are often out of date).

Continue reading "Where to Eat Downtown During SXSW 2010"...

Ode to the Breakfast Taco

Austin is a breakfast taco town: eggs, cheese, maybe some bacon or chorizo or potatoes, in a tortilla. Simple, fast, tasty, and cheap! You can eat it on the go. Hearty, and filling, I try to eat as many breakfast tacos as I can while I’m in Austin. But not all in one sitting, of course. The New York Times also recently published a piece on the mighty breakfast taco.

For quick and easy tacos near the Convention Center, there’s a Taco Shack located in the Frost building (402 Brazos, at 4th Street). It’s a fast food restaurant without table service, but it’s quite convenient. But they cater to the weekday breakfast and lunch crowds, so if you sleep in, you’ll miss out. Monday through Friday they’re open 6:30AM to 2:30PM, and on Saturday, they’re open 7AM to 1PM. And they are closed on Sundays.

Many coffee shops around town also get breakfast tacos delivered in the morning and keep them warm in a steam table for your enjoyment. I’ve definitely grabbed some breakfast tacos to go from the Hideout (617 Congress Avenue, at 7th). I’ve also read that they are available at Downtown Jo’s (242 West 2nd, between Colorado and Lavaca), Progress Coffee (500 San Marcos St at 5th), El Chilito Dos (918 Congress Ave, at 9th), and El Sol y La Luna (600 East 6th, at Red River). Unfortunately, one of my favorite breakfast taco joints downtown, Las Manitas, closed.

And if you have a fever for breakfast tacos in Austin, check out Taco Journalism’s list of the best breakfast tacos in town (will require a ride to get out of downtown Austin).

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Fearless food for free

We’ve given you our recommendations for where to eat during SXSW 2009.

If you’d like another eye on eats while you’re in Austin, you can take advantage of free access to the news and reviews on Fearless Critic, an Austin-based review site, from March 12–22. Bon appetit!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Where to Eat During SXSW 2009

For the past couple of years, Kathryn (the resident foodie at SXSW Baby!) has put together a fantastic round-up of favorite restaurants convenient to the SXSW activities downtown. This year, with the assistance of Baby! pal Jessica Reynolds, I’ve updated Kathryn’s list and added a couple of my own favorites. Jessica also suggested some great wine bars. Enjoy!

The focus here is listing mostly restaurants that are:

1. in close proximity to 6th Street and the Convention Center at 4th St and Neches (The Warehouse District is great but most people won’t be willing to walk all the way out there for lunch)
2. easily accessible by foot (cabs are unreliable and in extremely short supply during SXSW; if you even have a rental car, finding parking downtown can be a hassle; and even if you have a bike, your friends may not)
3. relatively inexpensive and casual (or are of good value)
4. relatively fast (get in, sit down, order, eat, pay, get out in time to snag a seat at a panel/film/etc.)
5. not national chains like IHOP or PF Chang’s and the like

Continue reading "Where to Eat During SXSW 2009"...

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

More than salad bars…

For non-carnivores heading to SXSW, the mania around finding the bestest BBQ during the conferences and festivals has to be a bit disheartening. Fortunately, the herbivore heroes at Veg Out Austin have updated their guide to the best vegetarian and vegan dining options in town.

Hungry? Maybe Yelp can help.

Participatory city guide Yelp has arranged a few deals on munchies at Austin eateries for folks attending SXSW. No need to present a coupon or anything, just belly up to the...er, restaurant and order the special. Yum!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Ginger Man on the move

Coming as it did on the heels of news that a couple of our favorite eateries—Las Manitas and Castle Hill Café—were shuttering for good, we were...well, crying in our beer about word that The Ginger Man, where we’ve passed many a night on the patio, was being forced out of its home to make way for new development.

But there’s good news! The blog Texas Beer reports that Ginger Man will relocate to a new spot at 301 Lavaca, and is expected to be open by the end of the year. That’s well in time to shake out the bugs in the operation before SXSW. Good oh!

Friday, August 8, 2008

Welcome to Austin! What’ll you have?

From the Not-Particularly-Shocking-News Department: Austin, Texas leads the nation in drinking, at least according to a study by the CDC.

Austin, Texas, is famous for its parties. People flock from around the world to attend events like the annual South by Southwest film and music festival. And when they get there, chances are they make like the locals and throw back a few cold ones—because Austin may be the hardest-drinking city in America.

Austin ranks high for its drinking habits across the board. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey, 61.5% of adult residents say they have had at least one drink of alcohol within the past 30 days, and a staggering 20.6% of respondents confess to binge drinking, or having five or more drinks on one occasion.

Now, we’re not keen on promoting unhealthy or reckless behavior, but if you’re in town for SXSW 2009, order an extra Shiner or two and enjoy them responsibly. You’ll be doing your part to keep Austin on top.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Castle Hill Cafe to close at June’s end

Downtown Austin fine dining mainstay for more than 20 years and a favorite of many SXSW attendees and residents, Castle Hill Café will close at the end of this month. The owner cites rising costs and the changing nature of the surrounding neighborhood as reasons for the move.

But a new eatery is likely to arise in the comfy, intimate space:

...Daily is closing Castle Hill on June 28 and taking at least a month for a major makeover of the place before reopening the space at 1101 W. Fifth St. as Corazon, an interior Mexican restaurant with a full-service bar and lounge.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Downtown Restaurants Closed Today (Monday)

The following restaurants downtown are closed today:
Stubb’s BBQ (try Ironworks or Lambert’s instead)
Chez Nous

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Downtown Restaurants Closed Today (Sunday)

Notice: the following downtown food options are closed today:
Taco Shack (try Torchy’s instead)
Iron Works BBQ (try Stubb’s or Lambert’s instead)
Marakesh

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Downtown Wine Bars

Virginia B. Wood of the Austin Chronicle runs down the downtown Austin wine bar scene in this week’s Food-o-file:

Wine bars abound—in fact, there are three within walking distance of each other: Cork & Co. (308 Congress, 474-2675, www.corkandco.com), a wine bar and retail wineshop where you can enjoy a daily $5 wine happy hour with cheeses and chocolates from 3 to 7pm; Crú (238 W. Second, 472-9463, www.cruawinebar.com), a chain outfit wine bar and restaurant with an inviting patio facing the busy Second Street shopping district; and the just-debuted Taste (202 W. Cesar Chavez, 478-2783, www.tasteselectwines.com), a restaurant, wine bar, and retail store combo offering 40 wines by the glass and a menu “inspired by the cuisines of traditional wine cultures” around the world.