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, http://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, http://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, http://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.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Seriously Eating Seriously Good BBQ in Lockhart, TX

Alaina Browne, friend of SXSW Baby!, has posted a call to action for BBQ lovers visiting Austin for SXSW. The message: get yourself to Lockhart, Texas!

If you love barbecue like we do and have access to a car, we highly recommend you drive about 30 minutes south of Austin to Lockhart for some serious Texas barbecue at Kreuz’s, Smitty’s, and Black’s. Texas barbecue comes in two styles: with or without sauce. Brisket, sausage, and beef ribs are the cuts of choice.

I can heartily endorse a side trip to Lockhart, Texas, if you have the time and inclination. In fact, the Texas government has even passed a resolution proclaiming Lockhart to be The Barbecue Capital of Texas. Says my friend Yimay, “Lockhart is for hard core BBQ lovers.” So how hard core are you?

Learn more about the Texas BBQ trail, as well as more BBQ joints in and around Austin, Texas. 

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Download the SXSW Baby! Where to Eat Guide

It look me a little longer than expected, but with some wrangling with Google Maps, I was able to convert my giant Where to Eat During SXSW 2008 guide into a downloadable PDF. It prints out nicely on two pages of 8.5 x 11 paper. I have included a map of thirty highlighted restaurants/bars/street vendors, the addresses and cross streets, their operating hours (call ahead if in question), as well as a phone number. Locations may not be exact due to Google Maps fudging, but they’re pretty close.

Download the Where to Eat During SXSW 2008 PDF. I hope it comes in handy. 

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Las Manitas: Still On Congress Avenue

A friend of mine Twittered earlier today, asking about the fate of Las Manitas Avenue Cafe, currently located at 211 Congress Avenue in downtown Austin. Last year, hotel chain Marriott proposed building a large hotel complex on Congress Avenue, displacing some local Austin businesses, including the much beloved Las Manitas, causing a stir in the Austin community, who rallied to save the restaurant.

To make a long story short, the operators of Las Manitas signed a deal with the landowner resolving the situation in January.  The deal will allow Las Manitas to continue operating at their existing location on Congress Avenue until June or July and then move to a historical building they own on the same block. So, yes, Las Manitas will continue serving their delicious food during SXSW 2008, and move to 227 Congress Avenue in the summer. Let’s hope the move goes smoothly.

Photo by Matthew Levine, used under a Creative Commons license.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Where to Eat During SXSW 2008

Here are some of the places I’ve enjoyed over the last few SXSW conferences, as well as other places that have been recommended to me.

Update: Download a map of all restaurants in this guide as a PDF.

My focus here on listing places has been mostly those restaurants that are:

1. in close proximity to 6th Street and the Convention Center at 4th St and Neches (I like the Warehouse District a lot 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 2008"...

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

New and Renovated Restaurants in Downtown Austin

I’m looking forward to trying the new Torchy’s Tacos location, as well as the Parkside’s late night menu. Details via The Austin Chronicle:

It started with the relocation of the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown to the venerable Ritz theatre back in November and recommenced after the beginning of the year with the opening of a Torchy’s Tacos outlet (511 E. Sixth, 474-7000) in late January. Last week saw the launch of the newly remodeled 1886 Bakery & Cafe at the Driskill Hotel (116 Sixth), complete with new chef Scott Halverson, some brand-new menu items, and some new cocktails. We’ve been told to expect some updating at the Driskill Grill and in the actual hotel rooms over the coming months, as well. The biggest news in the neighborhood is the long-awaited opening of a new restaurant from popular homegrown chef Shawn Cirkiel. His new Parkside (301 E. Sixth, 474-9898, http://www.parkside-austin.com) debuted in an historic corner building that formerly housed both Louie B’s and Dan McKlusky’s.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

A couple of vegetarian SXSW survival guides

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, some veggie-minded folks have put together VegSXSW, a wiki project devoted to guiding you to the best meatless alternatives in Austin.

See also: Veg Out Austin, a comprehensive guide to vegetarian-friendly dining in Austin and environs, edited by ovo-lacto vegetarian Ben Combee.

Thursday, March 8, 2007

Austin Chronicle Inundates Us with More SXSW Coverage

Check out this week’s issue of the Chronicle and their official guide to SXSW for more relating to SXSW. This time it’s all about SXSW Film.

South by Southwest begins Friday, March 9 and runs for nine days. And starting on Thursday, March 15, for three days they will publish daily Chronicles.

In particular, I’d like to point out their guide to eating and drinking on the cheap, SXSW on $10 a day by musician Kathy McCarty of Glass Eye:

Hopes of becoming rock stars are pinned to many a band’s South by Southwest showcase. They’ll endure adversities of all kinds to travel to Austin and have a chance at impressing the right people with raw, awesome talent. Those adversities often involve finances: wages lost, savings depleted, and even jobs sacrificed to make the trip. This means that there will be bands coming to the Festival who will be sleeping in their vans, on top of their equipment, hoping that $50 will be enough to see them through five days of SXSW.

This article is for them: the van-dwellers, the broke and hopeful, the persistent and the optimistic. Yes, you too can experience Austin in a meaningful way on very little money.

For breakfast she recommends breakfast tacos, and for dinner:

Getting a cheap, delicious meal is pretty easy in Austin. Getting it during SXSW without having to wait an hour is a little harder. My first suggestion is to eat early, as close to 5pm as possible. You’d think that restaurants would clear out around 8:30 or 9pm, because the music is starting, but that has not been my experience. Eat early if you don’t want a long wait.

Monday, March 5, 2007

More on Eating and Drinking During SXSW

Two things:

1. Chow.com has an interactive map guide to eating and drinking during SXSW, but I couldn’t get the Google Maps portion to work properly. You can also grab it as a handy but long PDF. They cover eats both Downtown and elsewhere, as well as tips on curing hangovers and how to eat a taco.

2. And here’s an awesome tip from Tom of Austinist:  there’s a brand new late-night eats place just steps away from Emo’s on Red River. It’s called Go Bites.

Matthew Odam of the Austin American-Statesman says:

Schumacher plans to offer fancy grilled cheese sandwiches, gourmet sliders and hand-cut fries to his (most likely) boozy patrons. Judging by the items sampled last night, the young chef will most likely be the preferred stop for folks looking to add a little sustenance to their bar-hopping plans...We sampled each of the grilled cheese sandwiches, which resembled something I would try to make for friends after a late night out on the town, given I had the ingredients and/or energy to do so. The grilled-cheese menu consists of mango and swiss, gruyere and onion, prosciutto and fresh mozzarella, and fresh mozzarella and white truffle oil.

...

The blue cheese and grilled leek [slider] was as savory as any full-sized burger I have had in town, and then I ate the BBQ, grilled onion and jalapeno-jack slider. The blue cheese burger hid its face in shame. At this point I had reached man-in-“Monty Python’s the Meaning of Life” status, but I promised the cheddar burger I would have a bite of it. So I did. And I was pleased with the flavor but maybe not the decision to fearlessly eat my weight in food.

The new quick eats joint is located at the serving window just feet away from the entrance of Emo’s on Red River Street.

Sliders, grilled cheese sandwiches, fries, and rock’n’roll? I’m betting this place is going to have a line down the block during the Music Fest. In any case, it all sounds delicious to me!

Go Eats (former location of K-Bar, same location as Emo’s IV Lounge)
600 E. 6th St. at Red River
6 p.m. to 3:30 a.m.

Where to Eat During SXSW

This guide is old, old, old! Go to the 2008 Guide instead.

[Photos by mlovitt, cha cha, Yimay, and Ben Brown]

I’m by no means an expert on Austin food, but I thought it would be handy to note some of the places I’ve enjoyed over the last few SXSW conferences.

My focus here on listing places has been mostly those restaurants that are:
1. in close proximity to 6th Street and the Convention Center at 4th St and Neches (I like the Warehouse District a lot but most people won’t be willing to walk all the way out there for lunch)
2. relatively inexpensive and casual (or are of good value)
3. places specializing in BBQ and Tex-Mex
4. not national chains like IHOP or PF Chang’s and the like

So here’s my shortlist of where you and a few friends can sit down and grab a bite downtown in between films, panels, parties, and bands. Personally, I try to avoid eating Asian food since I can get a lot of that at home, YMMV. As a New Yorker, I also maintain the right to be snotty about Austin’s imposter Katz’ Deli.

Thanks to Yimay Yang, Karen Broyles, and Michaela Drapes for extra tips.

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