Texas Forever, if only in my dreams

I can’t believe it’s been roughly 6 weeks since I left Texas.

At times it feels like yesterday I packed up my life in Minneapolis and moved to Texas, and other times it feels like a lifetime ago. Austin is incredible. Texas has its moments of being wonderful. These last 8 years have been more than I could have ever imagined in my wildest dreams. It’s still a very bittersweet departure, but I knew the time was right to move back home.

It’s been such a roller coaster with settling into a new apartment, getting up to speed at work, and exploring the Cities all over again. I haven’t really been cooking anything exciting, and there probably won’t be many Thanksgiving posts. I’m just trying to ease back in and as always this blog takes a back burner when things are crazy. I also think I’ve put off writing this blog because it’s sort of a final goodbye to my life in Austin. I can always go back, but it’ll never be the same.

Now that the sappy part is over, let’s get to the goods!! Austin (and Texas) is a magical place with so many things to do, see, eat, drink and more so I wanted to give a rundown of my favorite things. A while ago, I made an “ATX Guide” for my new coworkers who were moving to Austin. Originally it was something for me to do because I was new and no one knew what to do with me, and then somehow my little side project got turned into a 15 page shared document. I of course didn’t save it before I left so this gives me the opportunity to make a new one.

So onto the food!

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My Top Places in Austin

I’m already mentally planning trips back to Austin for when I need a break from the cold, and if I don’t get to some of these places, I’ll be pretty sad.

Green Mango by Thai Spice – Sampler platter to start and then the green curry with fried tofu. I found this place through a recommendation from someone who I used to work with and we started catering it to the office (tech life perk). Not only were they great to work with, the food is so good.

Banger’s – Literally everything they make is great and how they adapted during C19 was tremendous. Spicy pickles, all the sausages, the whole hog, and the best beer selection. They have great cold brew, brunch is super fun with brass bands, and I just really can’t say enough good things about them. This will be my first stop after getting picked up at the airport.

Oasis Texas Brewing Company – This is not the tacky restaurant. Higher up in the same complex is this brewery that I frequented for most of my time in Austin. Their beer selection is good and recently brought in other breweries and wineries to supplement their own supply. An incredible venue that overlooks Lake Travis. They also have great food and my favorite fries. Sometimes people make it weird and clap when the sunsets, but everything else makes up for it. And there’s a fire pit.

DipDipDip Tatsu-ya – A transformative and immersive experience to Japan. So fun to eat here and always a good time. It’s definitely a special gem in an unassuming strip mall.

Gloria’s Latin Cuisine – Swirl margs while eating chips and bean dip and then ordering quesadillas well done. That’s it.

Flores Mexican Restaurant – A go-to spot close to my apartment. The food was always good, the drinks always strong, and they have a prosecco-rita (a mini bottle of prosecco turned upside down and placed in a large frozen marg) that will turn your whole day around.

Special Occasion Diners

DipDipDip Tatsu-ya
Suerte
ATX Cocina
Lin Asian Bar
La Condesa
Odd Duck
Aba
Salty Sow
Jack Allen’s Kitchen

Breakfast

While 70% of the time, breakfast means two tacos, there are a few gems for a sit-down breakfast.

Snooze AM Eatery – A fun spot in central Austin that lets you mix and match eggs benedict and has no judgment if you and your friend want to take Tequila shots at 10:00 AM.

Cenote – A cute east-side breakfast spot that has the most delicious apple pancakes. I also really love their cold brew and relaxed setting.

Bird Bird Biscuit – Biscuits that will revive you from the dead. Now with two locations, so much easier to get your biscuit fix.

Magnolia Cafe – an Austin staple that is down to one location. Has a great offering of every breakfast item with some Texas flair. The queso is a must no matter what time of day.

Upper Crust Cafe – Do not sleep on the cinnamon rolls. They also have an incredible cheesecake. I’m not here to judge what you eat for breakfast.

Central Market Cafe – If I could write a love letter to anything in Texas, it would be HEB and Central Market. In addition to being a great grocery store, some of the stores have cafes to get food and the Central Market breakfast always hit the spot. Also great to grab breakfast before shopping so you don’t grocery shop while hungry.

Biederman’s – Everything bagel toasted with the works. Incredible.

Tex Mex

In general, most tex-mex places in Austin have good Mexican martinis, chips and queso, strong Margs, and probably a fried avocado. Not really any bad spots, but here are some of my favorites.

Lupe Tortilla – really great food, really good drinks. I would almost always get the chicken fajitas and Margs because I love a routine but I also would get their catering for work and everything was always spot on.

Chuy’s – It’s expanded a lot since I first went there, but honestly hits the spot most of the time. My favorite time to get it was before going to Trail of Lights and pregaming there before seeing the lights. Also, their queso bar at happy hour was incredible, not sure if that feature survived C19.

Hula Hut – In the same family at Chuy’s but only one location and it’s on Lake Austin. The service can be hit or miss but it’s great to be able to stop after you’re out on the water for a while or a fun happy hour after work.

Juan in a Million – A staple on the east side, they make a great breakfast for when you need a recovery meal. The Don Juan is not to be underestimated. Many times I thought about skipping work and going here for breakfast first, never did though.

Pizza

Little Deli – the greatest pizza in Austin and I will die on this hill. The crust is so good and crispy. The toppings are incredible. It’s the ideal slice of pizza for when I want pizza. You can also BYOB and eat outside on the picnic tables with friends. 10/10 good time.

VIA 313 – Detroit-style pizza at its finest. With a hearty crust that is what dreams are made of, and all the toppings and sauce you can ever want, a great treat to split with some friends or to help sober up after a night out on West 6th. They had a crab rangoon pizza and I still think about it to this day.

Mangia – Deep dish pizza that’s sure to make any Chicagoan happy. If you’re thinking of saying deep dish isn’t pizza it’s a casserole, I don’t know any casseroles that have a pie crust so you can keep that opinion to yourself.

Gluten-Free

Max’s Wine Dive – Gluten-Free Fried Chicken is incredible. I have also heard that the GF waffles are incredible but I never went at brunch.

Coffee

Mozart’s – I really enjoy coming here after going to Lady Bird Lake trail, getting a bagel dog, iced coffee, and listening to music while feeding the turtles in the lake. They also have a great holiday light show. It’s a very relaxed place so if you’re in a rush and need coffee in a hurry, this isn’t the place to go. But go spend a morning there when you have the time and just enjoy one of the greatest venues in Austin.

SummerMoon – It’s great coffee. I love a cold brew with a double shot of espresso and a splash of moon milk. The moon milk is like a melted vanilla ice cream that they use to make lattes/drinks. It’s too sweet for me to do a latte with it, even a quarter moon so I like just a splash. Here I stick to the coffee as the other drinks I’ve had weren’t great, but a nice option available throughout the city. Also not a place to go if you’re in a rush.

Caffe Medici – Good coffee, fast service at the downtown and Clarksville locations, not Starbucks.

Other honorable mentions – Houndstooth, Halcyon, Radio Coffee Bar, Numinous Coffee (Marble Falls, TX)

BBQ

TLDR: If there’s a line, it’s worth your time.

Franklin – Obviously. The Brisket is incredible and I think the sausage links are the sleeper here. They’re really wonderful and one of the most affordable things on the menu. I have never waited in line, I’m far too impatient for that, but preordering is so easy now that it’s worth the 3lb minimum for the convenience alone.

Valentina’s – Tex-Mex BBQ. They’re moving to Buda in late 2021 I believe, and recently opened a food truck for burgers, but this is worth the trip south. The real deal Holyfield is the real deal. Imagine some of the greatest BBQ you’ve ever had with some of the greatest tortillas. It’s life-changing.

Cooper’s – Located on Congress Ave downtown. Their BBQ is very much in the Texas-style, but does lean salty. Their turkey is my favorite in the city and the mac & cheese is a must-order.

La Barbecue – The best pork ribs in the city. The pitmaster is formerly of Franklin’s but the style is his own. The must-get side is the chipotle coleslaw.

Black’s BBQ – Everything has been great. Very standard and always consistent.

Rudy’s BBQ – While it’s a chain, it at least has very good bbq and sides. It’s also always attached to a gas station which is convenient as well. The pulled pork is incredible, I love to get a half-pound of it and use the bread and pickles to make a sandwich. The beans are the best I’ve had, and the BBQ sauce (oh don’t even start about good BBQ doesn’t need sauce) is very nice.

Salt Lick – It’s great. I think this was the first, if not the first then one of the first, bbq places I went to in Austin because I saw the famous bbq pit picture from there and I wanted to go. I recommend this as a very authentic TX BBQ spot. I even got my mom the Salt Lick cookbook for Christmas the first year I lived here.

Opie’s BBQ – Just outside of the city. I stopped before going to a friend’s ranch and I would love to go back. Their BBQ is wonderful, they have great butter beans on the weekends, and this incredible cheesy potato casserole that warms my midwestern heart.

Tacos

Any taco truck is worth stopping at, you honestly will not have a bad time if you roll up to a taco truck, order a few tacos, a topo, and grab a few napkins then sit on the curb and enjoy. For the non-truck stops, below are some of my favorite stops for tacos.

Valentina’s
One Taco
TacoDeli
Veracruz Tacos
Taco Flats
Tyson Tacos
Tamale House East
Suerte
Dai Due
Rosita’s Al Pastor

Restaurants I Loved Who Are No Longer With Us

Is it weird to write a eulogy for restaurants that close up shop? Especially with everything that happened in the last two years, it’s hard to see a lot of great places close. There are two places that come to mind as favorites that closed up, well before the pandemic, but I still think about them like a lost love gone too soon.

Bonhomie – The greatest cheeseburger I’ve ever had. They had a pop-up where I ordered two because one more would never be enough.

The Bonneville – The Cod Fritters and Salted Caramel Tart were what dreams were made of.