Discover the Best Things to Do in Austin, Food & Drink deals and more!
Check out Sugar Mama’s Instagram for great pics of tasty treats!
Guest article by Angela Bowers
Imagine a world in which cupcakes, icing, cookies and sweets of all shapes and sizes fill your horizon. They taste as sweet as they look and live in a space equally as precious with comfortable couches, inviting music and adorable red and Tiffany blue décor. [Read more…]
A look at the Chi’Lantro food truck in Austin
I’m new to this whole food truck thing. The Boston idiot in me always ignorantly associated food trucks with low-quality, 2 AM sausage carts one accidentally staggered upon amidst a night of heavy drinking. Since moving to Austin, I stand corrected.
I now associate food trucks with magical, utopian dreams filled with unicorns and happiness. Seriously though, I’d approximate that food trucks now represent over 90% of my diet. Where have they been all my life?
As if I couldn’t be more captivated by the enchanted universe of street food, I recently sat down with Jae Kim and Eric Silverstein, founders/owners of Austin’s Chi’Lantro and The Peached Tortilla, respectively. Now with brick and mortar locations as well as food trucks, both Jae and Eric offered an insightful behind-the-scenes take on what it’s like to grow a successful business, through a long road of early struggles in a relentlessly dense market.
More insightful than the business side of things, however, was the story of their friendship, and how the competition between one another was perhaps the most critical ingredient to their shared success. [Read more…]
Top: Garbo’s lobster roll with half an ear of corn
Below: Dock & Roll lobster roll with habanero vinaigrette sauce and salad
As the event began at 11:30 AM, representatives from each food truck introduced themselves before cooking started. Dock & Roll served their lobster roll with habanero vinaigrette sauce and a cucumber, blueberry, watermelon salad. Garbo’s took a basic approach to their lobster roll, with half an ear of corn on the side, covered with cheese sauce and bacon. [Read more…]
Roaring Fork’s green chili mac and cheese (Credit: Susan S. Bradley)
Mac and cheese often gets overlooked in Austin, where brisket and tacos reign supreme. But what’s better than creamy, cheesy carbs? Nothing.
With so many remarkable restaurants in town, you have plenty of gourmet options to tantalize your need for cheese. Next time you go out, just say no to BBQ and Tex-Mex, and give cheese a chance.
Check out my favorite options in town!
NadaMoo! frozen dessert scoops (Credit: Emily Watkins)
When I found out I was allergic to dairy, I was devastated. No more lattes, no more caprese salads and–worst of all–no more ice cream.
Until I found NadaMoo! I don’t dare tell people it’s vegan ice cream because there is still a stigma that vegan = no flavor. But this organic, dairy-free, coconut based frozen dessert is far from that stereotype. It’s amazing! And best of all, it’s local to Austin.
I sat down with Daniel Nicholson of NadaMoo! to get the inside scoop (pun intended) and give you a look behind the coconut curtain. [Read more…]
Sunday meals in Austin are evolving. Whether its mid-day brunch to kick off Sunday Funday, or the “Sunday Supper” meals that seem to be popping up at our favorite restaurants around town, food on Sunday tends to take on a special significance.
At La Condesa, you get the best of both worlds with the Sunday Cena family-style seasonal menu from 5-10 PM, to complement their already stellar Sunday brunch. [Read more…]
Whether it’s happy hour after work or a late night out with friends, nothing says relaxation and celebration like time spent on an outdoor patio with a drink in your hand. Next time you feel closed in by the walls around you, step outside to enjoy one of the best outdoor patios in Austin.
Our team of bloggers joined together to create this list. It’s a compilation of their personal favorite patios in town, in no particular order. If you want to see other Austinot Blogger “best of” lists, check out our articles on the Best Taco Stands in Austin and the Best Cocktails in Austin. [Read more…]
Guest article by Kristin Leigh
The Texas sun is as incessant and nagging as your great uncle at a family reunion and there’s little chance to escape it, short of hunkering down in a dark, air conditioned bunker until October when, hopefully, the mercury drops to bearable.
This time of year, Austin coffee shops have you covered. Armed with these ten quenching iced drinks, rest assured you’ll have found the silver lining to these dog days of summer. [Read more…]
Join me on my sip-able adventure through Austin
Let’s be honest, we Austinites enjoy our libations. We like our local craft beers, our flavored and six time distilled vodkas and, of course, a Mexican martini or two. That being said, we’re also a city of health conscious folk who like to fit a day’s worth of fruits and veggies into a plastic cup. Be it a smoothie or fresh pressed juice, Austin has no short supply of these nutrient powerhouses!
I’m an adamant green smoothie maker, but sometimes my blender tires, my produce supply plummets and my pantry does nothing to excite me. That’s when I hit the streets.
So sit back as I take you through a city of juice giants on my sip-able scavenger hunt. [Read more…]
The granddaddy of BBQ lines in Austin, at Franklin Barbecue (Credit: Wally Gobetz via Flickr CC)
There is nothing secret about Austin barbecue anymore. We’ve covered it extensively here at The Austinot, while state and national media outlets have also taken notice over the last couple of years. Barbecue has deep roots in the Central Texas area, contributing to Austin’s reputation as a growing tourist destination. So where does that leave us locals when we want to get our brisket fix?
Standing in line.
Franklin’s is the most notorious culprit, with 3-4 hour lines on a weekday not uncommon. But even a few of the other highly regarded barbecue trailers around town have you queuing up for hours at a time. Sure, there are other great barbecue joints around town that are open all day within the safe confines of an air conditioned building. But sometimes you get a hankering for a piece of greatness that can only come from the pit of a James Beard awarded pitmaster.
And for that, you have to wait. But maybe not as long if I have anything to do with it. With a little planning ahead of time and this handy guide, you can have some of the city’s best barbecue with minimal wait times. Keep reading for the best times to score some of the best barbecue in Austin, the Smoked Brisket Capital of the World. [Read more…]