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Beth cheesin’ in the window of The Great Y’all
The addition of several food trucks over the past year has made North Loop a serious contender in the city-wide ring of engined eateries. Nestled among suburban residencies, vintage clothing shops, a slow-filling gas station, and an explosive collection of street art are five locally-owned, locally-inspired food trucks.
Here’s a look at each one, collectively showing what makes the North Loop food truck scene such a special mix.
Don’t be intimidated by Richard III like the Duke of Buckingham (Credit: Kimberley Mead)
For anyone wondering what the true form and function of theater looks like, consider “Booth’s Richard III” at Austin Scottish Rite Theatre, playing for one more weekend on June 29 and 30. This performance of Colley Cibber’s “Richard III,” taken from the original script notes by American thespian turned villain, John Wilkes Booth, is unlike anything you’ll see this year.
Let me frame it for you. Beth Burns, Artistic Director of Hidden Room Theatre and the Master of Play, announces the show and briefly explains what you are about to see: lots of stage violence, melodrama, gesture acting, and hundreds of lines of Shakespeare. In short, maybe everything you hate about theater. And yet, she begs, there is one thing fundamental to bringing Shakespeare’s plays to life: you, the audience. [Read more…]
Welcome to Home Slice Pizza’s location at 501 E. 53rd St. (Credit: Julia Keim)
Home Slice Pizza opened its original oven on Nov. 16, 2005. Owners Jen and Joseph Strickland and Terri Hannifin set out to bequeath New York-style pizza to a BBQ-heavy, pizza-deprived Austin, Texas. Since then, the trio has spread authentic mozzarella roots into the heart of our community, becoming one of the most loved joints in Austin.
Sample from local businesses like Tèo Gelato at Austin Ice Cream Festival
“Here comes the heat. How will I cope?” In Austin, these are daily thoughts during the onset of summertime. In my case, the question is often followed by: “I need a sweet scoop of chocolate chip ice cream.” And/or: “Okay, Google, where’s the nearest snow cone?” And/or: “Just put me in an ice bath already.”
Well, thank ye sweet festival heaven for a most elegant solution: Austin Ice Cream Festival. This coming June 23, 2018, food trucks, ice cream trucks, musicians, dogs, and humans big and small will converge for the twelfth year of one of The Today Show’s “Top Festivals in the Country.” [Read more…]
Preeminent pitmaster Aaron Franklin and Chef Tyson Cole (Credit: Logan Crable)
In a crowded local arena of barbecuing legends, make way for Loro: Asian smokehouse and bar. The tour de force fusion is led by a supergroup of food masters, including two James Beard Foundation awardees for Best Chef: Southwest–Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue and Tyson Cole of Uchi Austin (now part of Hai Hospitality).
Loro is the first venture Franklin has undertaken since establishing Franklin Barbecue a decade ago, an eatery which has earned international acclaim. Is it the best barbecue in the world? Ask Jimmy Kimmel, Anthony Bourdain, and President Obama. They’ll vouch for the droves of meat-lovers who wait hours every day for a bite of brisket.
And don’t forget about Chef Tyson Cole, the man behind the “perfect bite” and founder of Hai Hospitality. Hai is the umbrella under which all beloved Uchi restaurants (Austin, Houston, Dallas, Denver), Uchiko, Uchibā in Dallas, and now Loro operate.
Understandably, the anticipation for Loro was massive. Less than a week after opening, the new Austin restaurant was already generating plates for 1,000 people per day, which is 400 more than what the partners hoped to reach within a month-long period. And the numbers have only increased. As of this writing, Loro is servicing over 1,400 empty-bellied guests on any given Saturday. [Read more…]
CLEAN Cause’s new sell-out product, peach-flavored sparkling yerba mate (Credit: CLEAN Cause)
The Hercules of Teas has arrived.
The newest member of CLEAN Cause’s arsenal of delicious drinks is a game-changing sparkling yerba mate with a life-changing mission, the brainchild of a man who triumphed over monstrous obstacles and survived a trip to the underworld. [Read more…]
Entrance to Jester King Brewery (Credit: Jester King)
Most Austinites are well aware of the craft beer oasis located 20 minutes south of downtown Austin, known as Jester King Brewery. Founded in 2010 on three acres of Texas Hill Country, Jester King has grown to 61 acres. It now includes a burgeoning vineyard, goat farm, 700 annuals, and a lush melon patch. Simultaneous to its growth in our hearts has been its consistent climb to the international stage of superlative beer places.
In 1894, Austin bought moonlight in the form of towers. Nowadays, these monolithic lamps are super impractical, but in 1895 they were a revelation. Moonlight towers, also referred to as moon towers, liberated citizens from the constraints of nighttime and heralded Austin as “The Coming Great Manufacturer of the South.”
Many speculated these lights would eliminate the need for police entirely. The carbon-arc bulbs were so bright, in fact, that locals worried about potential crop overgrowth and wore umbrellas at night to protect their skin.
The moonlight towers did not eliminate crime, nor did they cause vegetable hysteria. What they did was stir up a frothing pot of controversy. A small list of fatalities accumulated, as workers and ambitious young men climbed up and fell to the ground.
Miniature replica at Moontower Saloon in south Austin
Giant ThunderCloud sub on Ranch Road 620
I have a special appreciation for local businesses that go out of their way to erect sculptural somethings to entice me. This includes eight-foot-tall gorillas. And 10-foot-long, fully-loaded sandwiches. And hippie church gospel taco queens, like Maria.
Here are 11 local business sculptures keeping Austin weird. [Read more…]
‘Til Death Do Us Part by Federico Archuleta, located at East 7th Street and Waller Street
It feels like nearly every block of Austin has some giant expression of creativity blasted against its walls for the world to see.
Most murals appear suddenly, in places you wouldn’t expect: on a downtown high-rise, against the back side of a coffee shop, in an abandoned alleyway behind a dumpster.
It’s part of Austin’s murals’ mystique and glory. No descriptions, no special lighting, no rules against touching. Which makes me wonder… [Read more…]