Moving to Austin, TX in a few weeks. What's there to do?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

Swim in Barton Springs during your first few weeks here. The water’s 68 degrees all the time. Nice when it’s at least 95 out, but downright chilly for the rest of the year.

For barbecue, check out the Salt Lick in Driftwood, but be aware it’s BYOB and it doesn’t take credit cards. Take Mopac/Loop 1 south 'til it ends, turn left, and drive 5(?- less than 10, anyway) miles 'til you get there. On weekend nights there’s a 1-2 hr wait. That’s where the cooler of beer you brought comes in.

For other barbecue, check out the Iron Works near downtown. Other good places to eat would be Chuy’s (Tex-Mex, very Austin-y kitsch-y), the Hula Hut (Tex-Mex mixed with tropical fare), Hoover’s (soul food/home cooking), Kerbey Lane and the Magnolia Cafe (super-casual eats), Eastside Cafe (nice, but in an Austin-casual way), and Z Tejas (same).

Also find out about the Austin Hot Sauce Festival, held in August every year. The aforementioned Austin Chronicle is its main sponsor. Always fun. Always really hot.

Besides Enchanted Rock (actually a bit past Fredericksburg), check out Pedernales Falls State Park (on the way there). For longer road trips, look into South Llano River, Lost Maples, and Garner State Parks, all 3-4 hour drives to the southwest in the heart of the Hill Country. During the summer months, try inner-tube float trips along one of the rivers around San Marcos and New Braunfels, or at Garner or South Llano River SP’s. (South Llano’s float is just a short bend in the river.)

Not sure what’s affordable for you, but by Austin standards, the area roughly between Mopac/Loop 1 and Brodie Lane and south of William Cannon Blvd. is fairly reasonably-priced ($150-200K) for being as close to downtown as it is. It’s not manicured suburbia but it’s not a scary bad neighborhood, either, and it’s on the south-to-southwest side. For nice, more upscale manicured suburbia in this direction, go a bit further west to the Circle C development.

See you soon!

22

I want to make sure this is pronounced correctly. It is said like "per-duh-nal-uhs. A person can get embarrassed by calling it Peter Nails or similar :wink: Many locals just call it ‘Perd Falls’ or Perd river, or did so years ago anyways.

23

Oh good lord, don’t get started on name pronunciation, we’ll be here all day.

Okay, just one.

Burnet it durn it, learn it. (if it rhymes, you are saying it right.)

Oh, and if someone tells you to take “Mopac” some where, look for the signs that say “Loop 1”.

There is a street called “Manchaca”, pronounce it “Man shack”

If and old timer tells you to go to “First street” the sign you are looking for is “Cesar Chavez”. I don’t know why they feel the need to change the street names around here every few years.

Be aware that US290 turns into E Koenig (kay-nig), which turns into W. Koenig, which becomes Allandale, which in turn changes to Northland before finally RM2222. Twenty-two twenty-two is still a nice scenic drive, hurry though, it is quickly disappearing.

You can pronounce Mueller anyway you want, we don’t care.

South of here is Bexar County. Austin newscasters say ‘bear’, San Antonio newscasters say ‘bay-ar’, just don’t say ‘bex-ar’.

24

And Guadalupe. Don’t forget Guadalupe.

(It’s “GUA-dah-loop”, btw. Don’t get all authentic and start callin’ it gua-dah-LEW-pay.)

You crack me up, UncleRojelio. I haven’t been in Austin since 1999, but your post brought back some memories and made me laugh.

(My favorite was always Manchaca.)

25

Oh, and since I mentioned 2222, there is a bbq place near 2222 and Loop 360 called “The County Line”. It’s a lot touristy. It’s the place we take out of town business clients and family but that doesn’t mean that it’s not damn fine bbq. Get a bunch of your new friends together there and order “Family Style” (or something like that). It’s a set price for all the bbq you can eat.

26

Oh yeah, I knew I’d something out. But remember, if you are looking for that little retro shop located “On the drag” it’s on Guadalupe.

27

Sorry, bub. Star Seeds is still there (as of around a year ago) but it’s not owned by the same people. They kinda cleaned up the place, which was not an improvement. They Denny-fied it. The graffiti in the bathrooms is gone! :frowning:

That said, the food is still good. But the upped the prices, and the crowd isn’t the same anymore.

I went to college at UT and man, is this thread bringing back memories. Some friends and I camped at Enchanted Rock several times. (But we had more, um, pharmaceuticals than would be considered family-friendly.) I was a cocktail waitress one summer at the County Line, too. Spilled beer all over my very first customer, and he still gave me a tip.

Watch out for the split on 35! There’s an upper and a lower ramp, and it always confuses the newbies. :wink:

28

Yeah, I always called it The Lower Deck of Death.

When you’re driving a little Honda, you just gotta punch it going up those short, steep, blind “merge lanes” and pray your karma is in balance.

29

In the mid-70s, I was a deputy sheriff in Travis County. We used to get calls constantly from the homeowners up there and we would have to go up and check along Comanche Trail (we called it Hippie Hollow Highway) because people would park their cars alongside the road and sometimes leave them partially blocking the road. We would have to tow them when that happened.

One of the funniest things I ever saw was the day of the Great Biker Invasion. A bunch of wannabe badass bikers decided to invade Hippie Hollow and harass the nekkid folks, who promptly opened several king-sized cans of whop-ass on them. By the time we got there, every one of the bikes had been pretty much destroyed and there were eight guys flat on the ground with a bunch of naked people sitting on them holding them down. I do wish that digital video cameras had been around back then. :smiley:

30

That’s where I’m from. I hate having to correct people on the name. “Burnit,” not “Bur-net.”

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One of the completely mudane but unique things about Austin is the Breakfast Taco.

32

How are things out there in the big city of Burnet?

One of the major thoroughfares north of the river here in Austin is Burnet Road. You can always tell when a new person is handling the traffic report because they often get this one wrong.

33

I love Austin! I lived there from '85 to '90 and then moved away for college. But my parents stayed there until a couple of years ago so I visited many times. I don’t know where you’re coming from but Austin is very hot in the summer time. The best way to deal with the heat is to just suck it up and embrace it. Drink plenty of water and keep your A/C warmer than you normally would. You’ll acclimate to the heat in no time.

Austin is a very physically active city. Thanks to Lance Armstrong the biking culture is huge! My favorite bike event is a 100 mile bike ride to Shiner Texas which ends at the Shiner brewery (be sure to try Shiner Bock as soon as possible). You missed it this year but here’s the website to check it out: http://www.shiner.com/shinerghasp/. If you are into running my favorite running event is the capital 10K: http://www.statesman.com/cap10k/

There are plenty of lakes in the area to enjoy water sports. Lake Travis seems to be the popular choice(Hippie Hollow is here, but there are plenty of beaches where clothing is required if you want to avoid the ugly naked people :slight_smile: )

The Texas Hill Country is nearby and is very pretty. There are plenty of bed and breakfasts to spend the weekend in and if you enjoy wine there are lots of small wineries in the area to tour and taste.

For unconventional sports, Austin is known for roller derby: http://www.txrd.com/. The roller derby league was featured in a short lived reality series, and a surprisingly good movie called Whip It (Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut): Whip It (2009) - IMDb. I’ve not seen one of the events yet but it really looks like a lot of fun to me.

There’s much more which I’ll post as I think of it. Austin is really a unique city and I hope to move back there someday. It is a little full of itself, but that’s part of its charm.

34

Unfortunately, I live about 500 miles from Burnet at the moment. I’ll get back some day, but I keep agreeing to extend my stay here every couple of years due to school, internships, and all of that. I start my MBA program in August, so, once again, I plan to move back in about 2 years.

I visit a couple of times a year though and always love it.

35

Not to say anything bad about Truluck’s, which is good, but Hoover’s (east of I-35 on 26th/Dean Keaton) has the best home cookin’ in town. You CANNOT miss this place. Try the chicken fried chicken, oh, and the ribs. For a non-BBQ place, their ribs are outstanding.

Oh, and Mr. Horseshoe wanted me to be sure to add: for the bestest spicy chopped beef sammich, go to Ruby’s on Guadalupe (you should have already learned how to pronounce that) at 28th.

Trudy’s has really good Mexican martinis and semi-Tex-Mex food, but is *full *of college kids. Great place to go when you’re in college, though.

Finally, if Wheatsville Co-Op still has it: they had (have? Og, I hope so) a vegetarian Frito pie from the deli/sandwich counter (not pre-packed) that was good enough to be loved be the Other Shoe, who is a devout carnivore. He used to get it once a week, at least, when we lived there, and he wanted me to be double-sure that got into the post.

Finally, a shout-out to Sandy’s on 1st Street? I think? south of the river, which has some serious frozen custard and burgers, plus Player’s, if you want to celebrate with the fans after a game with a good burger - MLK east of Guadalupe.

36

There’s also South First, which is predictably south of First Street/Cesar Chavez, but Cesar Chavez is an east-west street and South First is perpendicular to it. Doesn’t cross it, though.

Sucks. Well, one more thing to regret not revisiting when I still had the chance.

Trudy’s is also good for Mexican. They put in a buffet recently and it’s actually pretty good.

All night places:

Kerbey Lane has three locations I know of: one on Kerbey Lane (go figure – but it’s in one of those weird twisty nexuses of Austin that are phenomenally easy to get lost in), one on the drag, and one way north. The food is… it CAN be good, or it can be crap. Ditto the service. Order the breakfasts, they’re more usually tasty.

Magnolia Cafe, on the other hand (if it’s still there – haven’t been in years) is on South Congress and is fantastic for an all-night hipster cafe.

Avoid I-35 when possible. If you must drive on 35, avoid the lower deck like the plague unless you absolutely must get to the university area. Even then, I often prefer to overshoot or take side streets. It’s better to drive downtown than on the lower deck. You really take your life into your hands when you try exiting. I’ve never had an accident exiting, but it’s been close a few times. The offramps are ridiculously short.

We have some pretty nifty parks all over the place. Austin is serious about its green spaces and most neighborhoods will have one nearby. Zilker Park is a big favorite.

The drag USED to be crammed with really weird and awesome shops – vintage before vintage was cool, some awesome coffee shops and independent restaurants, underground bookstores. It’s a lot more conventional now: it’s just too expensive to be weird and niche there anymore. You might want to avoid the Scientology temple but they aren’t awfully menacing.

Oh, and Romeo’s should still be great for Italian food. Not too far from Sandy’s on… I think it’s on Barton Creek Road?

37

Yeah, I still haven’t figured out why that is.

Barton Springs Rd. Sandy’s not only has great frozen custard but some fairly rightious burgers as well.

The Green Mesquite BBQ joint in on Barton Springs as well. Just north of Barton Springs on Lamar is P. Terry’s Burgers. You might check it out.

There is a Chuy’s on Barton Springs as well.

Are you a film buff AND a foodie? If so, the Alamo Drafthouse locations.

38

Their deli makes absolutely delicious sandwiches too. Their popcorn tofu sandwich is the finest vegetarian sandwich I’ve had anywhere. Their italian deli sandwich is also very good. I always make an effort to shop there when I’m in town.

(Oh, almost forgot, the flagship Whole Foods Market is at 5th and Lamar. It is an absolutely amazing grocery store and well worth your time to visit.)

Little Plastic Ninja is correct about the BBQ trailer, which I’m 99% sure is Franklin Barbecue. Found out about them from Full Custom Gospel. Franklin has incredibly tasty BBQ and they are very nice people as well. I’d put them a tiny hair behind the giants of Lockhart, but it’s a very fine margin. IMHO, they are easily the best BBQ in Austin, though County Line on the Lake (not the Hill.) and Ironworks weren’t bad, the last time I went. (Really, if I’m in the mood for 'cue, I’d just pack an ice chest and make the short drive to Lockhart/Luling or Taylor.)

I’d add the delicious cafe au lait and the earthquake shake from Flipnotics. Justine’s Brasserie is open very late, and much better than you’d expect for a restaurant open 'til 2AM. One of the finest hamburgers in the state is served at Casino El Camino. If you’ve a late-night Chinese food urge, T&S Seafood will satisfy it.

Gobs to do if you’re in the least outdoorsy. Rent a kayak/canoe and paddle the length of Town Lake from Longhorn Dam to Tom Miller Dam. For cycling, there are innumerable roads with steep grades, if not very long ones. And I haven’t found a more dog-friendly place in the United States. (Wish that Houston would adopt Austin’s policy of allowing dogs in outdoor restaurant seating.) When we visit, the dog thinks she died and went to heaven, with Auditorium Shores, RedBud Island, Bull Creek, and Turkey Creek off-leash areas to choose from.

39

:smack:

Forgive me: I live north of Austin and I rarely make it down to the river.

I’ve never been to Sandy’s, but if my father is to be believed they were here when HE was young, so that’s definitely a piece of old Austin.

That’s the place, too: Franklin Barbecue. Though the Green Mesquite is great, and Shady Grove – west of 35 on… Lake Austin Boulevard? – has some kickass food. I go for the Hippy Chick Sandwich with chicken whenever I go.

The food at the Alamo Drafthouse: well, the quality has mostly improved during the normal shows from pub food into good pub food with fresh ingredients in their pizzas, though I’m like a heroin fiend for their hot wings and potato skins. But they have some legit chefs who do special dishes, typically for special events. I’ve always wanted to go to a hobbit feast.

40

Yeah, my wife works with the wife if the guy that just got promoted to executive chef over ALL of the Alamos. The Ritz and Lake Creek locations are no longer franchises. So look for even more improvements in the food no matter which one you go to.