The ever-changing Austin skyline photographed from the pedestrian bridge. 

Austin knows the key to my heart – flip-flop weather roughly 10 months of the year, a plethora of outdoor activities, amazing food and craft beer. And, live music—of course!

The capital of Texas has been my home base since December 2013. It is a nice mixture of all the things I love about the South (biscuits, grits, the word “y’all,” and barbecue) merged together with the things I loved about California (fitness-focused outdoor culture and the ability to recycle everything easily) sprinkled with a little LA-style traffic and no state income tax.

It is literally my job to write and photograph many of the coolest spots in my current hometown and the great state of Texas. If you’re heading to Austin for SXSW, ACL or a football game, here’s my list of all the great places to eat, drink and explore, which are categorized by topic for easy scrolling! (If you want to check more of my Texas travel writing, check out this page with a list of my most recent stories!) Keep reading for the best things to do in Austin, Texas!

Where to Eat in Austin, Texas

The Best Barbecue in Austin, Texas

There is always a line for barbecue but most places have free beer while you wait!

• There’s nothing better than Texas barbecue. Wake up early and join the roughly 4-hour-long queue outside Franklin BBQ on 11th Street before 9 a.m. Bring a chair and pick up a six-pack of local brews on the way. It’s just like tailgating for a football game minus the traffic. Like many restaurants in Austin, Franklin’s started as a food trailer in 2009 but grew quickly thanks to their delicious and tender brisket. (They do online orders now!)
• For shorter lines, try Micklethwait Craft Meats for sausage, pulled pork (my favorite) and cheese grits. Their new Saddle Up Beer Garden is a cool spot with delicious oatmeal cream pies!
• Other favorites include: La Barbecue for brisket and pulled pork. LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue, located at Cosmic Coffee, only serves brisket on weekends. Their brisket burger and cheddar cheesecake are phenomenal.
• Interstellar BBQ in North Austin just made Texas Monthly’s top five list. Aside from the brisket, the turkey, jalapeños slaw and banana pudding are delicious.
• If you want to ship barbecue home, I recommend ordering from Black’s BBQ. I shipped some to my dad in South Carolina for Christmas. He took one bite and said he was moving to Texas!

The Best Food Trucks in Austin, Texas

Food trucks like to play musical chairs especially during festivals like SXSW so check their websites/Facebook pages for their current locations so you don’t disappoint your stomach! 

• Dee Dee has the best Thai food in town. (Trust me on this one, I lived in Thailand and so did the owners.) The pad kapow (basil pork), som tom (spicy papaya salad) and moo ping (marinated pork skewers) are amazing!
• Artipasta serves up a variety of homemade pastas from gnocchi to Fusilli and pizzas. The panna cotta is also delicious!
• East Side King is an Austin legend. These two Japanese-inspired food trucks belong to former Top Chef winner Paul Qui. My favorite is at The Liberty Bar, a dive bar with a picnic table-lined patio. Try the deep-fried chicken thighs, pork belly steamed buns and the Brussel sprout salad. The Thai-inspired Thai-Kun used to be a truck but now it’s a brick and mortar at the Domain.  The waterfall pork is the closest thing in town I’ve found to my favorite Thai dish. It’s crazy spicy, which is why I LOVE it, so be sure to order an extra sticky rice!
• Veracruz has some of the best tacos in town. I recommend the steak fajita and el pastor. There are multiple locations in town. For hours and directions, visit veracruzallnatural.com.
• Via 313 has Detroit style pizza which goes very well with beer! They now serve breakfast pizzas for on weekend’s for brunch!
• Barbecue trucks. For barbecue, Micklethwait Craft Meat’s, La Barbecue and LeRoy and Lewis mentioned above are food trucks. ­­

Cafe No Se’s delicious hotcakes 

Brunch in Austin, Texas

There are few things I love more than brunch. Sunday is the big brunch day in Austin, but more places are starting to do a Saturday and even a Friday brunch! Go early or be prepared to wait in line for hour or two. After living in Austin a while, I got tired of the lines so I tend to avoid the places that don’t take reservations. If you can’t make it to brunch, try these places out for dinner/lunch!

• Café No Se is hands down my favorite breakfast spot in town! Start off with one of their signature pastries—a delectable croissant or kouign amann served with homemade raspberry jam. (Their pastry chef, Amanda Rockman, is a James Beard Award Semifinalist.) I also recommend the ricotta hotcakes. Breakfast is served daily.
• Banger’s Sausage House and Beer Garden is legendary thanks to the Manmosa, a behemoth-size mimosa. There’s a 104 beers on tap if you aren’t feeling the Manmosa. The menu features house-made sausage, jalapeño cheese grits and gigantic flakey made-from-scratch biscuits. The expanded their space a few years ago so there’s plenty of seating. Expect a line. Sunday only brunch. 
• Irene’s is a funky spot off West 6th Street decorated with window panels from an old airplane. On Fridays and weekends, they have their biscuits and booze brunch. My favorite is the bacon, egg and cheese biscuit! The homemade jam is amazing. They also have a great weekday happy hour.
• Wu Chow serves dim sum on Sunday’s only. Menu highlights include chicken pot stickers, char siu bao (steamed pork buns), scallion pancakes, pineapple puffs and $1 chrysanthemum mimosas. Reservations recommended.
• Eberly’s blueberry buttermilk pancakes are the best in town! Call the day before for reservations. Brunch Saturday & Sunday.
• Jacoby’s is a fun Eastside spot that takes brunch reservations! Their grits and strawberry cake are delicious.
• Moonshine Grill was one of my favorite Sunday brunch spots when I first moved to Austin in 2013 with a giant buffet, but they’ve transitioned to a plated menu instead due to COVID. I always loved this spot, but the long lines got annoying. Go early if you want to try it out because they don’t take reservations.

Dessert

• Amy’s Ice Cream is the only place you in town should go for ice cream!
• Everyone in Austin can spot a Tiff’s Treat’s box from a block away. The cookie shop is known for delivering their boxes of fresh warm cookies. You can buy cookies individually, and I recommend the Tiff Wich – two warm cookies with a scoop of ice-cream between them. Double yum!
• Hayley Cakes makes the most beautiful and hilariously decorated giant sugar cookies with icing!
• Sugar Mama’s Bakeshop has the best cupcakes I’ve ever eaten in my life. I’m drooling on my keyboard thinking about them.

Best Restaurants in Austin

• Lutie’s Garden Resturant is one of the best meals I’ve had in Austin! This dinner-only spot focuses on a highly seasonal and locally-sourced menu. Highlights include the estate bread with layered butter, the green dish, Texas beef and the kouign-amann, a French pastry that’s broken into pieces and folded into vanilla ice cream.  It is located on the Commodore Perry Estate, a 1928 mansion turned luxury hotel. Reservations recommend.
• Eberly is a swanky multi-room restaurant with two patios and a separate bar with a stunning centerpiece – a mahogany wooden bar that was moved from New York City’s Cedar Tavern to Austin. It’s one of the most beautiful restaurant in Austin.
• Tumble 22 is the best spot for hot chicken! For sides, try the mac and cheese and slaw! Formerly a food truck, there’s now three brick and mortar locations.
• Fixe, an upscale Southern restaurant, is famous for their made-from-scratch-while-you-wait biscuits. It’s the best $9 you will EVER spend.
• Easy Tiger has beer CHEESE. The bakery bar combo has a full menu of pastries, sandwiches and giant pretzels that go well with the BEER CHEESE. All four locations have great patios.
• Pinthouse Pizza is your place for pizza and craft beer. They have three locations and a gigantic South Austin brewery.
• Kemuri Tatsu-ya is a funky new izakaya located in an old barbecue restaurant. The Texas-influenced menu includes brisket ramen, Mexican street corn, sticky rice beef tongue tamales and roasted banana pudding.
• Fareground, Austin’s first food court, opened in January 2018. The venue serves up three meals a day from six different vendors that range from ramen to cheese plates. They have both indoor/outdoor seating and two bars/coffee houses.
• Torchy’s is a taco stable in Austin that was a food truck but now has only mortar locations. My favorites are the Crossroads brisket taco topped with avocado on a corn tortilla and The Wrangler, a breakfast brisket taco smothered with eggs and potato. Bonus: They serve breakfast tacos all day!

Where to Drink in Austin

Breweries

Craft beer is booming in Austin. There’s no shortage of local taprooms to check out. Here’s a few favorites:

• Hold Out Brewing is my favorite spot in town. Located in walking distance from downtown, this quirky half-domed building has East Austin vibes with a gigantic courtyard it shares with it’s sister resturant, Better Half Coffee & Cocktails. Their hazy pale ales and IPAs are tasty along with their happy hour burgers. The chicken biscuit from Better Half is excellent for brunch!
• Lazarus Brewing Company opened on Christmas Eve 2016 in an old gas station on East 6th Street. They serve tacos, beer and coffee. Their English premium bitter, Shackleton EPB, and single hop German pils, Naked Sapphire, are a few of my favorites. Both go well with their el pastor tacos.
• Eastside Favorites: Zilker Brewing on East Sixth Street is a great spot with rotating food trucks.  Central Machine Works has a huge patio that’s a great hangout spot on the far Eastside. Hi Sign Brewery is even further east and opening a new taproom soon.
• DYI Brewery Tour in North Austin: There are a great batch of breweries that are within reasonable walking distance of each other AND the Q2 Stadium including HopSquad Brewing, 4th Tap Brewing Cooperative, Celis Brewery and Austin Beerworks.
• South Austin Breweries: While these aren’t all in walking distance of each other, South Austin is another great area for breweries. A few highlights are Nomadic Beerworks, ABGB, St. Elmo Brewing Company,  and Meanwhile Brewing. 

Bars in Austin

• Tiki Tatsu-Ya is the the coolest bar in Austin. Inspired by a fictional  backstory, this tropical paradise has two levels and elaborate decor with a menu of tasty drinks and bites. Reservations required.
• Yellow Jacket Social Club is one of my favorite dive bars in Austin with a spacious patio filled with picnic tables. They have a wide variety of good beer and excellent food. The beet and goat cheese sandwich is amazing and so is the Frito pie. Around the corner is The White Horse, an Eastside honky tonk with live music nightly and free dance lessons. They have a nice patio with a food truck. Two other bars I love are nearby are The Liberty Bar, home to one of the iconic East Side Kings food trucks, and The Grackle.
• If you’re looking for a good cocktail bar, check out swanky Ah Sing Den, which is modeled after an opium den, and Whisler’s, a hip spot on the Eastside.
• Kitty Cohen’s has the best patio in town with a pool for lounging on hot days and a tropical-themed bar. Be sure to check out the amazing flamingo wallpaper in the ladies’ bathroom!
• Many of the restaurants I mentioned in the previous food section are also great spots to grab a drink including Easy Tiger, Eberly’s Cedar Tavern Bar and Banger’s.
• Batch Craft Beer & Kolaches is a great spot near Mueller with the best (and cheapest!) happy hour in town. They serve up sweet and savory kolaches along with a massive selection of craft beers. (There’s a wall of beer fridges to choose from!) Happy Hour is all day Monday and Tuesday and nightly the rest of the weekdays.
• Ask around for the passcode to get into the Red Headed StepChild (also referred to as Floppy Disk Repair), a small speakeasy with great drinks and a creepy décor that looks like the set of a horror movie.

Best Music Venues in Austin

• The sleek new Moody Amphitheater in Waterloo Park is a great spot for live music and a good view of the city skyline.
• Mohawk is by far my favorite venue in town. The multi-level bar has both an indoor and outdoor stage.
• The Paramount Theater is one of my favorite places to photograph live shows. The former move theater was built in 1915 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
• Other favorites include The Parish on 6th Street, Sekrit Theater, a private outdoor event space located in a neighborhood that occasionally hosts public events. Geraldine’s, a restaurant located in the Hotel Van Zandt off Rainey Street has a small stage with great musical acts, Scoot Inn on the Eastside has an amazing outdoor stage and space.
• Drop by The Continental Club . The venue opened in 1955 and is one of the longest continually running clubs in town.
• Sunday’s in Austin are Chicken Shit Bingo day. The event originated at Ginny’s Little Longhorn Saloon, a super tiny hole in the wall honky-tonk off Burnet Road. To play bingo, you buy a ticket and hope the chicken literally poops on the number on your ticket.

Best Day Trips from Austin

• Westcave Outdoor Discovery Center is one of the Hill Country’s hidden secrets located 30 miles from Austin! This stunning nature preserve features a photogenic grotto with a 40-foot waterfall and nature trails. Reservations are required.
• Barbecue lovers should flock to the tiny town of Lockhart, the “Barbecue Capital of Texas,” which is home to four iconic barbecue restaurants including Blacks Barbecue, the oldest family-owned barbecue restaurant in the state. It’s 45 minutes Southeast of Austin. (In my opinion, Black’s has the best brisket and sides while Smitty’s Market has great sausage!)
• Head to Enchanted Rock State Natural Area to climb the giant Uluru-style pink granite rock rising from the ground and explore 11 miles of hiking trails. Camping is available.
• Pedernales Falls State Park is by far my favorite state park near Austin. The 5,212-acre park is located 30 miles from town along the Pedernales River and features a stunning set of short waterfalls, a swimming area, hiking and horse riding trails. Camping is available.
• Stunning Hamilton Pool Preserve, a box canyon with a 50-foot waterfall, is a great place for a swim. The pool was formed when a grotto collapsed. Reservations are required. Please note the pool can be closed for swimming due to bacteria levels.
• Other great swimming spots include Krause Springs and the Blue Lagoon in Wimberely.
• If you love antiques and wine, head to Fredericksburg, a former German settlement known for their annual Oktoberfest celebrations

Best Free Things to Do in Austin

• Visit the Library. Austin’s new Central Library is the coolest building in town! The state of the art facility feels like a swanky boutique hotel combined with an upscale mall with sweeping skyline views. Highlights include the rooftop butterfly garden, second floor art gallery with rotating exhibits and a technology petting zoo featuring the latest gadgets. There’s free WIFI, free computers to check out and free “shared learning” rooms that offer video conferencing capabilities for meetings and workshops.
• Austin’s Barton Creek Greenbelt hiking and biking trail covers 12.86 miles with multiple access points for swimming or wadding into the water. Twin Falls is one of my favorite spots. Here is a great guide with access points/parking.
• Explore the outdoors. Mayfield Park and Preserve, a 23-acre nature area with a historic cottage and two gardens filled with peacocks. It’s walking distance from The Contemporary Austin’s Betty and Edward Marcus Sculpture Park at Laguna Gloria, which is a stunning outdoor space. Nearby, Mount Bonnell, a ridge-line peak overlooking the Colorado River, is great for sunset.
• Explore the lake. Run/walk/bike the 10-mile trail around Lady Bird Lake in the heart of Austin. It’s the most popular outdoor recreation area in the city with plenty of free parking options. For more info, visit the City of Austin’s website.
• Free museum days: The Bullock Museum focuses on the history of Texas and offers free admission the first Sunday of every month. The Blanton Museum of Art offers free admission on Thursdays.
• The Texas State Capital is the icon of the Austin skyline. The stunning four block complex is taller than the U.S Capital in Washington D.C. Free guided and self-guided tours are available daily.
• Go see the BATS. The world’s largest urban bat colony lives under South Congress Bridge. From mid-March to November, the bats’ mass exodus from under the bridge every night is a spectacular show. Check here to find the best time to see the bats nightly. For the best photos, watch the bats from the Statesman Bat Observation Center adjacent to the Congress Avenue Bridge.
• Be on T.V.! Sign up for a chance to win tickets to an ACL Live taping! All tickets are disturbed for free via a lottery. If you don’t win, you can also wait in line to see if there are extra tickets available. (I’ve won tickets to several shows including Iggy Pop!) For more info about upcoming tapings, http://acltv.com/upcoming-tapings
• Follow the Instagram account WWW ATX, for a list of upcoming events, which are mostly free.

Best Outdoor Activities in Austin

• Stand-up paddle boarding on Lady Bird Lake is a must! There’s several places on the lake, but I prefer Zilker Park Boat Rentals, which is located adjacent to Barton Springs Pool. They offer buy-one get-one coupons on weekdays!
• Austin’s Barton Creek Greenbelt mentioned in the previous section is a great hiking and biking trail that covers seven miles with multiple access points for swimming or wadding into the water. Check out this guide with access points/parking. (FYI – You have to pay for parking at many access point now.)
• Explore the waterfalls and hiking trails at McKinney Falls State Park. The park lies within the city limits and is only 13 miles from the Texas State Capital. Camping and swimming is allowed.
• Go for a dip in two of Austin’s natural pools: Barton Springs Pool, a spring-fed pool that’s 68-70 degrees year-round, located in the heart of Zilker Park. Deep Eddy Pool is the oldest swimming pool in Texas!  The man-made pool is over a 100 years old!
• Play putt-putt at Peter Pan’s Mini- Golf. You can’t miss the giant dinosaur statue overlooking the corner of Barton Springs and South Lamar. This colorful putt-putt spot opened in 1948 and has two courses with colorful statues of Austin landmarks and Peter Pan characters. The courses are challenging but fun. The best part is this spot is BYOB – no glass containers.
• There’s also plenty of places to go tubing near Austin. The Comal and Guadalupe Rivers have great tubing. Here’s a great guide of all the places to float!

Last but not least….

If you are driving to Austin, you must stop for gas at Buc-ee’s. The gas station chain is known for their gigantic Texas-sided stores. Some stores have up to 120 gas pumps, which sets the bar high for the convenience store world. The stores sell an endless array of Texas souvenirs including many decorated with their iconic beaver logo. (You must take a photo with your friends holding an armful of the stuffed animal beavers they sell! My friends and I have an ongoing battle to top each other’s previous photos!) They are famous for having the largest and cleanest bathrooms of any gas station!

Alfred the Gnome posing with some stuffed Buc-ee’s!