Woof!

Life has been busy since November and I feel like I’m finally catching up! The fast version is: Thanksgiving happened, The Apple Boys (a new musical I worked on) happened, Christmas and New Years happened… Then all of the sudden it was February. I have so many posts drafted that I want to write but who knows?! Thanksgiving was fab with lots of amazing food and friends but THIS post is about Austin Texas…

I recently took a trip for work that gave me a little free time during the days and… wowowow… Austin is soooo cool! It’s weird! It’s cute, it’s colorful, it’s tasty, it’s funny… everyone needs to go to Austin!

I was there from a Thursday to a Monday, and my sister, Steph, came up from South TX to visit for the weekend too! We ate out at 16+ different places (that I can count/remember) but for some of them, I was so invested in the eating part that I forgot to take pics and have no memory because of the food coma I was in the entire weekend… some of the places I DID document, so consider this to be a bit of a food guide to Austin when you have just a few days! Food Guide… Food Diary? Whatever. But I hope you enjoy. 🙂

**Means if you only have ONE day to eat in Austin, you should definitely do it. *Means if you have a second day then do it, but the first days are more important. 🙂

What does one need ASAP when one wakes up in Austin? COFFEE, of course! COFFEE:

**Mañana Coffee Shop – This has got to be one of the cutest places ever and the treats are so pretty and tasty and the coffee was great! I got the Golden Milk Latte and Steph got the Matcha Latte… we also got macarons and ended up going back the morning I left because we both loved it so much. Go here! Get a Banana Cream Pie macaron. It’s a great place to bring your laptop and get some work done and feel fancy. 🙂

Sips & Sweets – This was a bit confusing because we kept on thinking that “Sips & Sweets” was a coffee shop and saw it in articles and on yelp and all that but then every time we would look for it, we could only find a jewelry store… well guess what… IT’S BOTH! It’s a Kendra Scott shop. 🙂 – Sip on coffee and Frosé and nibble on macarons while you look at the fancy jewelry and interior decor, and then take a picture by the “Instagram mural” outside… They’re catering to millennials with lots of money… I only fall into one of those categories. 😉

Once you have had your coffee… you simply must BRUNCH!

*South Congress Cafe – This is the tastiest and easiest place to get to (park far away and hop on a scooter to get here… it’s more fun). Do it – no questions! It’s cute, and super yummy with AMAZING cocktails. Definitely get the Raspberry Ginger Beer Mule (pic on the right).

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*El Mesón – Go for the Unlimited Sunday Brunch, stay for the $3 mimosas! It’s a giant buffet of authentic Mexican foods in a cute, colorful restaurant with Mexican music playing in the background! We went Saturday for “brunch” and again on Sunday for the unlimited Brunch (we thought they had the brunch all weekend)… but it was just a Sunday thing. The mimosas are worthy of a shout out… we literally watched our server squeeze the oranges for our drinks! Pictures can be found on My Instagram!

Café No Sé – This gets major points for being incredibly CUTE and photogenic… I wasn’t mad at the food either. I got the Avocado Toast: Creme fraiche, arugula, aleppo carrots, soft boiled egg and avocado on toast. Steph got the Pain Perdu: Brioche french toast filled with creamy cheese cake, raspberry jam and berries!

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Once you have successfully brunched (that’s a word, right?)… 
you take a break from eating
and scooter around, and plan for the evening… 

Then you scooter over to Rainy Street and check out the FOOD TRUCKS:

Monk’s Momo – Dumplings from Nepal & Tibet. So yummy but no pictures here because it was too dark. (We also got some curry from another food truck near it, so good but alas, no pics). More Pictures of my trip can be found on My Instagram!

Four Brothers Venezuelan Gastro Kitchen – We got their signature arepa and it was one of the tastiest things we consumed the whole trip!

Burro Cheese Kitchen – We got the Sour Dough, Gouda, Provolone, Balsamic Apricot Fig Sauce and The Waylon and Willie: Sour Dough, Cheddar and Jack Cheese, Pepperoncini, and a Spicy Maple Bacon Sauce.

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**There’s not “one” food truck that you simply must try but going to Rainy Street is definitely super cool and worth it! If you go, DO make sure to try the AREPAS!

When you couldn’t possibly eat anything else… that means it’s time for something SWEET: 

**Prohibition Creamery – Why is this not a thing everywhere!? Boozy ice cream!? EXTRA EXTRA! All your dreams have just come true! We both got the Boozy Sloth Sundae with their black magic ice cream and it was killer! The bartender said that each dish has about as much alcohol as a lite beer, so we were fine driving home. *wink*

Tiny Pies – Exactly what it sounds like! The little pies were so cute but the woman working the pie bar wasn’t having our “tourist-ness” and seemed like she would have rather been… anywhere else?

The pies were yummy though!

Finish your night at…

**The Garage – Hand crafted specialty cocktails: This place (aside from the scooters) was definitely the highlight of the trip, no questions asked. It’s a speakeasy built into a parking garage and there’s no way to know about it unless you’re told about it. You walk into the parking garage and there is a shady man standing there who we assumed to be the bouncer. Indeed he was and asked us to wait outside until the hostess came to retrieve us. We waited about 10 minutes (still just in the parking garage) and then the hostess came and ushered us through a back area and under a blackout curtain. Once inside it takes a moment for your eyes to adjust as you realize most of the lighting comes from the candles on the tables, with a very few Edison bulbs on the ceiling. The waitstaff is very knowledgeable about all the cocktails and willing to make (excellent) suggestions. The atmosphere is dark, sultry, and mysterious, and you feel like you might be in a black and white movie from the twenties. We each ordered two cocktails and our server brought over another that we hadn’t ordered… she “just knew it wouldn’t go over well at the table that ordered it…” so she thought we would enjoy it… well… let’s just say it went over perfectly well at our table. 😉

So that’s Austin! It was seriously just a dream. Such a cool vibe with lots of fun little shops, restaurants and places to see and enjoy!

Thanks for reading y’all. 😀 I’m glad to be back on the blog!

-Dan

P.S. A note on tacos… We went to one taco place but it was not worthy of a mention. I thought because I was in Texas that all tacos would be amazing… but alas… all tacos are not created equal. Next time I’m in Texas I will be finding the best tacos!