Food Adventures in Austin, Texas

Q: How many tacos can I eat out of a truck in a weekend?  A: Not enough! 

I recently spent a long weekend in Austin, the live music capital of the world and home of everything eclectic.  One of my best friends, Leah, lives there with her husband Ryan and dog Sasha.  Leah & Ryan have a good pulse on the city's food scene so we sampled food trucks, counters, cafes, restaurants and a home-cooked meal at Chez Blanc. We were thrilled to be reunited with these two: 

Like the city itself, Austin's food scene is fantastically weird.  Austin eateries are abundant and seem to materialize wherever people can conveniently graze. Gourmet restaurant in the middle of a suburban street? Check.  Wine store on the side of the highway that serves delicious Indian food and unique craft beer? Check. Taco truck nestled in the parking lot of a strip mall? Everywhere.  Anything goes in this city.

We happily followed Leah & Ryan on a tasty tour around town,  frequenting the hipster-esque scene in East Austin. Here is a list of the places we sampled:

Tacos, Tamales, and Everything Mexican 
El Primo Taco Stand: I particularly fancied the breakfast tacos at El Primo food truck.  After tacos, stop at neighboring Once Over Coffee and enjoy a cappuccino on their peaceful deck out back. 
[El Primo Taco Stand & Once Over Coffee Shop]

La Condesa: This modern Mexican restaurant is located downtown and has a great happy hour, complete with margaritas and a wide selection of tequila. I really enjoyed their guacamole sampler and mexican style street corn. [La Condesa]

Guacamole and sauce sampler at La Condessa.

Tamale House East: This inexpensive Mexican restaurant in East Austin has a casual, welcoming courtyard. The mini doxie earned it bonus points! [Tamale House East]

Taco Deli & Changos: Try either for lunch. They  are a little more chain-like in appearance than the places mentioned above but the food is delicious.  [Taco Deli & Changos]

Evening Eats
Whip In - As mentioned above, this is the wine store with great Indian food and craft beer located on the side of a highway. Oh yeah, they have live music too, but I suppose that's not surprising being in Austin. [Whip In] 

Justine's: A lovely french restaurant with more outdoor space than indoor.  We ate classic French fare outdoors with a few of Leah & Ryan's friends and followed dinner with a bocce match in the side yard.  This restaurant would be a great spot for a date or a private party because the atmosphere is very romantic, in a shabby chic kind of way. They even have a tintype photo booth set up in a backyard shed. I'm pretty sure they used tintype on their website which is cool in theory, but in reality, the website might induce a seizure.  [Justine's Brasserie]

(Above) We wandered inside a random shed behind Justine's and encountered this spectacle of lights and mirrors. (Below) Deciding who won the post-dinner game of bocce ball.

East Side Show Room: Grab a craft cocktail or two at this little bohemian bar before dinner in East Austin. They are family-owned and boast walls covered in local art.  Thy too have live music. Worth a visit! [East Side Show Room]

Chez Blanc - One night, Leah and Ryan cooked for us at their home which turned out to be one of our favorite meals of the trip. They made scallops wrapped in prosciutto paired with a Sancerre and Pinot Noir from Oregon. The Pinot Noir was a perfect pairing for the scallops! We also sampled a Austrian Grüner Veltliner, which is now on my list of favorite white wines. 

Pickles + Beer + Wes Anderson = Perfect Rainy Day
Sunday afternoon brought a rainstorm which somewhat hindered our activities since everything is outdoors. Austin is home to the original Alamo Draft House which is the perfect destination for a rainy afternoon. Alamo theaters serve food and drinks throughout the movie and they have the BEST fried pickle spears. I discovered their fried pickles years ago, when I first visited, and have yet to find a place elsewhere in the world that can compare.  We rode out the rainstorm eating fried pickle spears and drinking beer while watching the new Wes Anderson movie, Grand Budapest Hotel. 

Sold Out: What We Missed
We missed a few gems, mainly because they were all closed by the time we arrived. Apparently, this is a common scenario in Austin because we passed by many a food truck/trailer with a "Sold Out" sign on the window. Supply & demand forecasting doesn't apply here. Nothing goes to waste, and the scarcity makes the food more desirable. Kind of brilliant!  Here were the places we missed:

Vera Cruz All Natural: Leah swears this is her favorite taco truck.  It must be good because it was already sold out when we arrived there for brunch! [Vera Cruz All Natural]

Franklin's: Featured on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, people wait in line 4-5 hours to just order BBQ here. Our friends tried it recently and arrived at 7:30am to wait in line. Doors opened at 11am and they finally ordered at 12:30. The place sold out shortly thereafter. I guess people enjoy going for the experience, arriving in big groups with lawn chairs to wait in line. It sounds a lot like a football tailgate, but with better food. [Franklin BBQ]

La Barbecue: This place must be amazing because it was completely sold out by lunchtime.[La Barbecue] 

There are giant meat smokers in the screened trailer above. It was too bad they were sold by the time we arrived.

Needless to say, we left Austin with full bellies. However we did a lot more during our visit which I will recount in the next couple of blog posts. Stay tuned, y'all!