Austin Dopers - A little help, please

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I am very close to moving to Austin. In fact, as I type this, I should be packing but I think that there are some mildly burning questions that I have on my mind.

Can the Austin Dopers recommend:

  1. A good video store. Not Blockbuster or Hollywood (unless they are superior examples of the chain) but something along the lines of Premier video or Starlight video in Dallas.

  2. A good Indian restaurant. All work and no Vindaloo makes adam a dull boy.

  3. A good noodle restaurant. I just loves me good udon noodles.

  4. Anything else that a new Doper in Austin may need to know about.

Thanks.

2

  1. Vulcan Video. An excellent video store, hard to stump. And around the corner and down three blocks is

  2. Thai Noodle. Keep going and in a couple of blocks you’re in the heart of

  3. The Drag. 'Nuff said. (Although it ain’t the same since the demise of Hole in the Wall.)

There’s tons more, but I’ve already made myself homesick. Good luck, you’ll love it!

3

Vulcan Video is excellent, as is I (heart) Video, out by the airport.

Don’t know a thing about Indian or noodle restaurants, except that I’ve seen plenty there.

I about cried when I drove up there last month and saw that the Hole In The Wall was gone. Man, is NOTHING sacred?

Be ready to spend some time and money looking for decent digs, though. The place ain’t cheap to live.

4

Thanks, dmm. Why did you leave Austin?

5

I follow the general masses in recommending Vulcan Video. The Clay Pit has fantastic Indian food, but they’re a little pricey. A bit of general advice, that I wish I’d taken when I lived there: see the city. Do the Austin things. Go to Town Lake and Mt. Bonnell and the Green Belt and Barton Springs. When I moved away, I had to ask myself why I hadn’t done any of the “Austin” things I always thought I’d get around to, but never did. It’s a great city.

6

What is the story about ‘Hole in the Wall’? Was it a bar on 4th or 6th?

7

Stop by Texadelphia on the Drag (aka Guadalupe in front of UT) for some seriously tasty philly cheesesteaks with tortilla chips and salsa. Don’t be concerned that they just leave the salsa on the tables, with a plastic spoon in the jar; nobody’s died yet.

I second the recommendation of Vulcan Video; when you drop by, be sure to stop over at Mojo’s, a very cool 24-hour coffee shop right across the way. They have half-buried chairs in the yard, and they’re usually blaring some kind of anonymous college alterna-rock; the coffee’s pretty cheap on refills and they have a badass Iced Mojo. (There may still be a picture of me on their walls, too; I haven’t been there in several years so I’m not sure. :D)

I also second October, re: Doing the Austin Things. Barton Springs is very cool, but I never made it to Hippie Hollow where people go skinny-dipping…

But if you’re out on Town Lake, in that area, you have to eat at the Hula Hut. Excellent lakeside patio restaurant with Mexican seafood; the ambience is incredible.

But the only place you must go is Kerbey Lane. I’m serious. It’s a 24-hour restaurant on Kerbey Lane, off 38th street…it’s in a converted house and their pancakes are absolutely INSANELY tasty. The Kerbey Queso is pretty damn good, too; it’s a mound of guacamole smothered in queso. We always ate the queso first, and then ate pancakes. They’re both so good you don’t care that they’re gross together, and there’s no better place to go after a night on 6th street. :smiley: (There are actually two Kerbey Lanes, but screw the other one; go to the original one on Kerbey Lane.)

Okay, now I’m missing Austin again. sigh Why are you moving there?

8

I alway find it interesting the way that people have such strong attachments to restaurants/food in places they used to live. I still miss the Chinese food from Calgary. I don’t know what I’ll miss from Dallas, maybe ‘Wild About Harry’s’, but there is one in SA.

As for why I’m moving to Austin, it for a job. With the Ice Bats if you want to know.

9

Just for the record, they reopened Hole in the Wall. Same location, same everything.

As for video: Another vulcan video fan here. There are a couple other funky video stores around town too.

Indian food: Clay Pit. There’s a lot of mediocre Indian food around town. Madras Pavilion is an excellent joint.

Noodle house: Thai Noodle. There’s a Vietnamese joint who’s name escapes me, but it is always in the top restaurant lists. Check outThe Austin Chronicle for all the cool info ya need.

Oh wait, you must check out First Thursdays on Congress.

10

Oh no! I can’t bear it that we’re losing you to Austin. Although it’s probably only fair since Austin lost me to Dallas. I’m from Austin originally (lived there for 26 years), but I’m a South Austinite so I can’t help you unless you want Mexican food or uh, more Mexican food.

11

South Austin beats the heck out of North Austin, which has no character whatsoever. Sadly, the Ice Bats are up north, and traffic sucks, so you’re probably stuck living up there.

Things to do:

Alamo Draft House (the original downtown)

The Broken Spoke

Tour the UT Tower

Kerbey Lane (better food than Cafe Brazil, but way crappier service)

Lunch buffet at the Clay Pit

Joe’s Generic Bar on 6th St. (great blues, no cover ever)

Barton Springs swimming pool, if it’s open and your nads can stand the chilly water. Even then, the people-watching is fantastic.

The Salt Lick

Avocado margaritas at Curra’s

Bob Schneider at the Saxon Pub
Repeat as necessary. :slight_smile:

12

Texadelphia also has at least one other location, off of I-35 South.

Waterloo Records and Waterloo Video (Sixth and Lamar) are great.

The Alamo Drafthouse is a local three-theater chain. They serve food and drinks during shows, and the downtown theater has all sorts of cool stuff going on, like Mr. Sinus Theater (a life-action MST3K) and Something Weird Wednesdays.

13

Er, that would be “live-action.”

So long as I’m posting again, find a radio station you like and stock up on good CDs. You’ll need them for getting stuck in traffic.

14

Oh, yes.

How could I have forgotten to mention the Alamo Drafthouse?

15

Alamo Drafthouse is definitely a lot of fun. I went with some friends a few weeks ago and saw Mr. Sinus Theatre’s “Terminator”.

16
  1. If you like being made fun of by 30 year old film student, might I suggest I luv video, especially if your into tenicle porn and obscure 70’s cartoons from Belgium. It has a whole lot of strange.
  2. Don’t know about Indian but there is a good greco-persian resteraunt on 23 and guadalupe called, damn it I forgot.
  3. The pho noodle on MLK and guadalupe is pretty good. The koko’s cafe on 183 is also pretty cool, you should also dry Din Ho next door for Chinese. Its always packed full of chinese people and they have those really cool rotataing table centers.
  4. Rubys and Rudys booth serve great bar-b-q. Its not the salt lick but they are a whole lot closer. Downtown, Katz ( Half price before 7) and the Monglolian Cafe are always fun. The hyde park grill is nice especially if you like drawing by the mentally ill. Gumby’s pizzas aren’t great but you can get a large for 4.99 on Mondays. Trudies serves good tex-mex and has the best mexican martinis. Also if you like smoothees or bubble tea go to Cafe and Beyond on 29th and the Drag. God I can’t wait to get back.
17

Holy crap! That’s cool. We’ve got that new hockey team (the Laredo Bucks) and it seems as if we’ve got some sort of rivalry going. I went to a couple of games here in town, but never really got into it. The majority, though, have taken quite nicely to it.

18

Conan’s Deep Dish pizza on the Drag is pretty damn good, too. munch And the Red Room on 6th street is a cool place to hang out when you don’t want to deal with a rowdy club.

And always be sure to drive down to San Antonio and wave at us, too, Adam. We’re not as cool as Austin, but we try. :wink:

19

What about things to do with dogs? I understand that there are a few areas where you can let your dog off their leash to socialize.

20

Okay, well, I typed a huge ass post about twenty minutes ago only to find out nothing happened, so here we go again.

Vulcan Video’s nice, but it doesn’t deserve to lick the boots of I Luv Video. The original store is a nice little place with a good set up on Guadalupe and about 32nd street. Nice atmosphere, great selection and set up, and a cat! The new store, though, up off of Airport around 50th, is absolutely incredible! Two stories of classics, new releases, independant, local, documentaries, gay/lesbian, animation, exploitation, old instructional school videos…you name it, this place has it. And if they don’t, they got a little form you can fill out by the register and they’ll look for it. And, they’ve got a cat. Plus, the employee comments on the boxes make for some highly enjoyable reading.

For Indian food, the Clay Pit is the best in town. A bit more high class, dress up kinda place, and the prices show that, but it’s really good food. Next, I’d say Sarovar’s down on North Burnet by 183. Star of India is close by on Anderson between Mopac and Burnet and has a good buffet, and Taj Palace by Highland Mall is really nice as well.

I’d also recommend Merikesh, a nice Middle Eastern restaraunt on Congress around 12th street or so. Delicious vegitarian dishes, and a beef shwarma plate that is just absolutely mouthwatering. I’m falling into a food coma right now just thinking about it.

Noodle restaraunts, I’m not all too knowledgeable of, but Tai Kitchen is one of the best in town. Again, located close to campus on Guadalupe (about a block north of I Luv Video). Great Pad Tai. Also, Noodleism downtown on Fifth is pretty good, but a little pricey.

Kerby Lane and Magnolia Cafe are two really good places open all night and serve delicious food. I like the food at Kerby a little better, but be prepared to get the wrong order and for some really shitty service overal. Sounds bad, but it’s kinda part of the appeal. The chicken verde omlet is amazing!

As for dogs, there are plenty of dog parks around town, and plenty of parks in general to take them for walks and such. Barton Springs has a big park area near by that you can take the more active dogs out to for frisbee and such, and afterwards, there’s also a little dog pong connected to the Spring where people, well, take their dogs to swim and play in the cold water.

Make sure you check out the Alamo Draft House downtown. The other locations are pretty much just fancy movie theaters that serve food and beer, but the downtown location has some great activities and really bizare shows and celebrity events.

As for bars, there are a ton to choose from. Fifth Street has your more nicer, fancier bars (Cuba Libre, Apple Bar), Sixth Street has your night clubs (I don’t really frequent them a lot), and Congress has some other really great places (the Elephant Room is a neat little jazz bar my friends and I just came across). There’s also some really good pubs just down on Sixth Street…Mother Egan’s and Opal Divine’s. I prefer Opals, but both places have live music, and Mother’s has deep fried Mars bars. The Dog and Duck is another good pub. Also, down on Fifth close to Mopac is Donn’s Depot, a great little piano bar made of a few old trains. Very saloon feel.

As for coffee shops, Mojo’s is a great all nighter place, but Spider House and Mozart’s are two other really good ones. Mozart’s is right by the water, so that’s a pretty nice place to go to help end off an evening if you’re trying to be a little romantic.

As for live music, there’s too much to go into to try and break it down and simplify it for you. Check out sites like austin360.com, or austinchronicle.com for showtimes and such, but make sure you pay tribute to the Black Cat Lounge while downtown…the best damn little hole in the wall that ever burned to the ground!

Well, that should keep you busy for a few years. Best of luck, and welcome to Austin.