Austin Weekend: Rainey Street & 6th Street

During our vacation, we spent time on two of what I'd call the most boozy streets in Austin: Rainey Street and Sixth Street.

Rainey Street came highly recommended to us by a bunch of folks, and we loved it.  It's kind of hipster alley, with tons of good food and drinks along a pedestrian-family stretch.  We hit up Craft Pride for some great beers, and ate a tasty Detroit-style pizza from the Via 313 outpost in its patio area.  Via 313 pizzas popped up all over Austin, and we definitely liked their pie.

We split one of their pizzas, though we each could have probably finished one.  We got their Detroiter pizza, which has two types of pepperoni (one under the cheese, one on top) and I added pineapple to the top of mine.  It was greasy, but delicious pizza.  Great sauce and cheese ratio, great toppings.  I had to look up what a "Detroit style" pizza entailed, and it's all about that deep dish with crispy edges.  Via 313 hit the spot and I wish I could have some right now!

We then walked up the street to one of the bars that we liked most architecturally, Container Bar.  Constructed out of metal shipping containers, it had a cool vibe.  There were plenty of people there, playing cornhole and hanging out.

There were a lot of dogs out and about with their owners too, which I liked seeing!  As long as there are leashes, Austin seems to be a pretty dog-friendly city.

There was also a little taco stand/food truck that you could access from Container Bar, which we took advantage of for a snack of chips and salsa.  The salsa packed some heat!

Later in our exploring, we ended up on 6th.  To me, 6th Street seemed the equivalent of Nashville's Broadway, a strip of touristy bars that locals prefer to avoid for the most part, but fun stuff nonetheless.  Of course, I was immediately distracted by Voodoo Doughnuts.  While the original is in Portland, that didn't stop me from grabbing a couple of doughnuts for us.

Dan wasn't overly excited about doughnuts (he didn't want to have to carry a big pink box around) but he ended up eating 2/3 of what we bought.  Ha!

One of the nights we spent in Austin was a Sunday, and our Airbnb did not have cable.  So Dan was worried about how we were going to watch The Walking Dead, of course!  We found out that a bar on 6th Street, The Jackalope, plays the show on Sunday nights when it airs.  It was kind of awesome to show up, order a drink and dinner, and have the music stop and all of the TVs go to the same show with full sound.  It was also kind of cool to see how other people reacted to the show's twists and turns.

Rainey Street was probably one of our favorite little enclaves of Austin during our trip, but 6th Street had some fun to offer too.

Do you have a favorite spot in Austin?

Austin Weekend: East Austin & East Cesar Chavez

My coworker recommended that we try to stay in East Austin for our trip, knowing our propensity for having good food and drink as a priority!  She couldn't have been more right... I loved East Austin and East Cesar Chavez!

One of her tips was to grab breakfast at Hillside Farmacy, on 11th street.  We walked there from our Airbnb.  I loved the inside, which definitely reminded me of an old apothecary, but the weather was so gorgeous we decided to eat outside.

I started with their hibiscus lemonade, which was out of this world delicious!  (And beautifully pink!)  They have a bunch of other homemade fountain sodas from which to choose too. 

For breakfast, Dan got blueberry pancakes and brown butter.  We also split an order of their home fries. OMG those crispy potatoes were the bomb.  As in, MUST GET THEM.  Perfectly fried and delightful.

As for me?  I had the fried egg sandwich, minus the sprouts but adding bacon.  The avocado and fried green tomatoes count as my veggies (sort of), right?

This is my favorite food pic from our whole trip.

We also had a couple of breakfasts at Cenote, just a couple of blocks from where we stayed.  I loved their iced chai with almond milk, and their breakfast burrito was awesome.  I had chorizo and avocado on mine, and it was delicious.  The burrito probably could feed two people, as the portions were huge!  I loved the outside space at Cenote too; it was definitely a neighborhood hangout.

Another neighborhood favorite we visited was Las Trancas, a local taco truck.  It had rave reviews on Yelp, so we figured it was worth checking out.  There was a steady stream of people lined up, so you knew it was good!  We each got three tacos; I had Barbacoa, Pastor, and Asada, with cilantro.  These were basic, no-frills, authentic tacos.  Delicious and simple!

There was also some cool street art in the neighborhood too.  I joked to Dan that this mural was perfect for us, as some of his tattoos are skull-related...  maybe this should be his next one?

And of course this one.  Of course.  Because bacon.

It was also bluebonnet season!  If we had passed a field of them, we probably would have stopped, but this pic will have to suffice.  How pretty they are!

We also grabbed drinks at Brew & Brew, a coffee shop/craft beer spot.  It was weirdly quiet, with a bunch of hipsters on Macbooks drinking silently, so we bailed after a drink.  Good selection though, and great to-go bottles available!  We also had a drink at dive bar Violet Crown Social Club.   While divey, there were plenty of people and the booths were really nice!  Perfectly located next to a Via 313 pizza food truck, so definitely a primo spot for boozing.

Overall, if I had to pick a neighborhood in Austin to relocate, I think I'd end up in East Austin.  But then again, judging by the prices on the rise and the new construction in the 'hood, it's Austin's version of 12South or East Nashville... so it would be out of our range pretty soon!

Austin Weekend: Jester King Brewery and Salt Lick BBQ

As those of you who read my blog may know, I travel quite a bit for work.  One of the perks is being able to leverage things like airline miles... so Dan and I decided in January to book a 4-day weekend in Austin, Texas!

One of the things Dan was looking most forward to was visiting Jester King Brewery and his friend Jeff, who started the brewery.  So we didn't waste any time, hopping into a Car2Go (more on that in another post) and driving straight there from the airport!

It couldn't have been a more perfect day to visit the brewery.

The place has grown a ton since Dan's first visit there, and it was packed!  Lines to get beer were long, but everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time.  Being in the Texas Hill Country was definitely beautiful, and the whole place reminded me more of a country winery than any other brewery I've been to... and I mean that in a complimentary way!  I loved it out there.

We were able to join one of Jeff's tours to see the inside of the brewery space; Dan loves seeing how different and unique breweries are doing things!

(left) Jeff and (right) Happy Dan

Another perk?  Fresh off seeing them in February on my San Antonio trip, my friend JC and her daughter M made the drive to see us for the day too!  M loved the ice in our beer bucket.  We sampled a bunch of beers, including some of the many offered at Jester King that are from other breweries, wineries, and cideries.

But drinking beer makes me hungry!  So we headed about twenty minutes south to another crowded venue: Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood.  Dan joked that I jammed his two must-haves for Austin into one day, but it made sense since we were already out in Hill Country.  The parking lot was packed, and the line just to check in was long...  we were given a 90-120 minute wait time, but we were seated more around 60 minutes after we arrived.  You can also order food "to go", which was a 45 minute wait, which I noticed a lot of families did.  (Everything is cash only, FYI.)  There's a children's play area with tons of tables, so people brought their food out there.

The long wait didn't deter us (although JC and Dan will tell you I did devolve into a hangry state for a bit).  We took M to the playground (she loved doing the slide over and over!) and I got to see if the Doctor was in his TARDIS... he must have been eating ribs.

Once we were seated, we ordered right away to chow down!  All of us adults indulged in Thurman's Choice plates with brisket, pork ribs, and sausage.  I had a double helping of the potato salad (one scoop substituted for slaw, which isn't my thing) and they bring you pickles and bread if you ask.  I'd eaten at the Salt Lick in Round Rock on a visit back in 2011, so I was excited to eat at the original.  The brisket was outstanding as I remembered, and the potato salad doesn't have mayonnaise from what I can tell; it's more of their yellow BBQ sauce than anything.  But I think this trip my favorite was the sausage!  I couldn't get enough of it.

Dan watched M while JC and I went to check out their big open pit.  LOOK AT THE MEAT.  I mean, hello.  Amazing.  Welcome to Texas.  Thank you, ma'am.

Me and JC

What better way to start our Austin vacation?