Austin and its suburbs have been the fastest-growing million-person-plus metropolitan area in the country every year this decade and shows no signs of letting up. Because of that before running down the city’s highlights, a couple caveats might be in order.
First, new things to do and places to go are sprouting up all the time, so take any “bests” below with a grain of salt, since by the time you visit, there might be something better.
Second, before making the trip, be forewarned: If you come to Austin, you might well want to stay. Heck, everybody else does.
BEST TIME TO VISIT AUSTIN AND WHERE TO SLEEP
If you happen to be in town for South by Southwest, now in its 30th year and running 10 days in mid-March from the beginning of the interactive portion to the end of the music festival, good luck finding a hotel — in fact, good luck finding room to walk down Sixth Street on St. Patrick’s Day. But even the late September/early October slightly more mainstream Austin City Limits Festivaland early November’s slightly less mainstream Fun Fun Fun Fest can present a challenge. So depending on your musical tastes, the nearby (and now 44-year-old) Kerrville Folk Festival from late May to mid-June could conceivably be a better bet — and you can camp out in a tent!
Another strategy, if you’re amused by the idea of competitive dachshunds, would be to forgo music and show up instead for the Weiner Dog Races in nearby Buda in April. Or maybe Wurstfest in nearby New Braunfels in November, if you prefer your wiener dogs with mustard.
Verde Camp offers environmentally efficient guest houses in a couple different, conveniently located neighborhoods. And on happening South Congress just south of the Colorado River, there’s the quaint Austin Motel, complete with a ‘50s vintage swimming pool, cozy garden and a sign out front that you might deem obscene in a Rorschach test.
BEST PLACES TO EAT IN AUSTIN
For after-midnight tacos, patio seating, counter service and beer at an adjacent bar, One Taco might be the ticket; try the Al Pastor or Norte, and make sure to get there by 2:00 A.M. For cheap, but generous breakfast tacos with a long list of ingredient choices (the bacon being particularly popular), a gigantic burrito or a breakfast bowl if you’re avoiding tortilla starch, Taco Shack will do ya. Veracruz All Natural has a few different trailer locations, not to mention migas and fish tacos people won’t shut up about. Tamale House East is the proper destination for chipotle migas, chicken mole tacos, margaritas and mimosas — not to mention a genuine parking lot and live music on Saturdays.
There are other food groups too, of course — often on wheels. Via 313’s Detroit-style pizza (fluffy, cheesy, rectangular, thick but soft-centered) can be found at both food truck and brick and mortar locations. Biscuits and Groovy will upend any long-held assumption that biscuits and gravy are a limited concept and provide you with vegetarian options and menu items named after disco stars like Donna Summer and Gloria Gaynor.
WHERE TO DRINK
The Draught House Pub and Brewery is dark and rustic on the inside, often sunny and biergarten-like on the outside (or you can bring folding chairs and tailgate in the lot if you find a parking space) and has an incredible and constantly revolving beer selection, plus free bratwurst at 5:00 P.M. on Saturdays. (Be careful not to confuse it with the multi-location Alamo Draft House, where beer and meal menus come with a movie attached.)
The most entertaining bathroom graffiti, all sorts of comfortable couches and chairs, vinyl spinning in the background, beer, coffee and pastries are available at Epoch, which has the added benefit of also being open 24 hours, not to mention being mere steps from Breakaway Records
WHAT TO SEE IN AUSTIN
You’ve probably heard that hundreds of bats fly out from under the Congress Avenue bridge nightly between spring and fall — the trick is to bring a picnic blanket and refreshments, show up before dusk, be patient and watch out for guano.
At the Hope Outdoor Gallerygraffiti park on Castle Hill, you can watch artists spray paint tags, murals and throw-ups on the walls of a steep-terraced abandoned ruin, then walk a couple minutes to Waterloo Records, Bookpeople, the planet’s oldest Whole Foods or Austin’s Amtrak Station when you’re done.
The Canopy, an east side gallery complex of artist studios with regular special events, is another entertaining place to view cool art. Better yet, visit during the West Austin Studio Tour in May or East Austin Studio Tourin November, and go door-to-door.
BEST PLACES TO HEAR MUSIC
And oh yeah, Austin also has music, all the time — at way too many venues to name. It’s best to check The Austin Chronicle’s listings or the Statesman’s austin360.com site when you arrive.
The rather ramshackle and barn-like Historic Scoot Inn attracts stoner rockers and skate punks and the music they love (among other types, hip-hop is included), and has been doing something of the sort since it was founded in 1871.
Further north, you can two-step to Dale Watson or relax on lawn chairs out back at Ginny’s Little Longhorn Saloon, though early Sunday evenings you’ll probably want to play bingo inside, where the board sits on a pool table and under a chicken coop, in which an actual clucker determines which bingo squares get occupied by, well, pooping on them.
But if that’s not your kind of thing, as you’ve seen, there are no lack of other options.