Austin Trip 2019 — Orange & Shiny

Jeff and I recently had the opportunity to head back to Austin with a few friends to eat all the things.

Day 1

We took an early flight down to Austin (which we almost missed due to a mixup with the cab we pre-ordered getting the date wrong and having to drive to the airport even though travel warnings had been issued saying Seatac parking was full) and arrived around 1 pm. After grabbing our luggage and picking the rental car (literally a choice between a whopping two available cars in the Hertz Gold area), we headed downtown to an Austin must - Torchy’s Tacos.

Jeff and I grabbed one taco each since there was a lot of eating to be done on this trip. Jeff got a ranch hand (which is technically a breakfast taco) and I ordered a favorite from our previous trip - the trailer park, trashy style (because queso, hello!). I also got a Maine Root Doppelganger soda (better version of Dr. Pepper in my opinion!). Our travel buddies ordered two tacos each and were pleased with our first stop of the trip.

After lunch, we headed to our AirBnBs to check in and ditch luggage before heading back out to do some walking around to make room for dinner. We walked past an Austin tourist attraction - the bat bridge. Unfortunately, no bats were seen. We crossed the bridge and found that there was motorcycle racing going on at the Handbuilt Show. I’d never seen anything like this before, so it was neat to watch.

We ended up at Hopdoddy for (first) dinner. The line was pretty long and I was kind of skeptical about waiting since I was fairly hungry by this point. Their ordering system is interesting - you wait in line to order and pay at a counter and at that time you are assigned a table for your group (aka none of this someone grabs a table and “holds it down” while the rest of the group is still waiting in line to order meaning the table is not being used to actually let people eat). Jeff and I split a classic hamburger, chili cheese fries, and a bananas foster shake. The fries came out first in a bowl with forks since Hopdoddy considers them a shareable appetizer. This is the first time we’d seen fries served this way, but it turned out to be a pretty good system since others in the group ordered other types of fries and it made it really easy to share. The fries were totally on par with our expectations in regards to taste. We were also impressed with the quality of the burger since it was so simple. The patty had a great flavor and was seared just right for our liking. It didn’t need all the toppings that some popular burger restaurants like to tout because the meat itself is the star. We were also pretty pumped about the bananas foster shake because we’re banana crazy people. It was absolutely delightful.

After we finished up at Hopdoddy, we headed across the street to Homeslice for second dinner - a simple slice of pizza. We ended up with a slice of cheese and another of pepperoni because that’s what was available (it was really busy and crowded!). The slices were just as good as remember from our last trip. For dessert we headed down the street to Amy’s Ice Creams and got coffee ice cream with mashed up sugar cone. It was super tasty, but it was bordering on cold for Texas outside so we almost froze as we ate it. All in all, Day 1 was a great start to a food filled trip.

Day 2

No one in the group got up early, so our first meal of the day was lunch. We took our friends to Franklin Barbecue (I’d call it an Austin legend - feel free to disagree) to give them an intro to what Austin bbq is all about. They were impressed with the line that people formed to wait (something Jeff and I did on our trip in 2015) and how it felt similar to tailgating a sporting event. We thankfully had 5 people in our group, which meant we could meet the preorder requirements and skip the line. We picked up 6 pounds of brisket and 9 pies (5 banana, 2 pecan, 2 lemon) to take back to our AirBnB to eat. After tons of picture taking, the bbq feast began. The brisket was exactly as delicious and moist as I remember it being and the banana pie was perfectly banana-y without being over the top sweet. Our friends were pretty pumped about the food as well since they didn’t have a lot of experience with Texas bbq - just what we’d experienced on our previous trip (and the variety of bbq that Jeff smokes at home). In my opinion, Franklin’s preorder was a huge win.

We hung around the AirBnB for most of the afternoon because we were all stuffed and eventually headed out before dinner to play a little mini golf at Peter Pan Mini Golf. I’m not very well versed in mini golf, but this place was a little different than the places we’ve been in the past - I might describe it as weird. The course layout was nice, but the theme bordered on creepy to me. I think we all had a nice time, though.

For dinner, we had a reservation (so we thought) to do the tasting menu at Barley Swine. Turns out we didn’t complete the reservation (oops), but thankfully they had space for us in the outdoor dining area (very pretty and not too chilly). We had a lovely server, Travis, helping us out. We started out with some tasty cocktails (of both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic varieties) before getting down to business with the tasting menu. It consisted of 12 small courses:

4. Wheat berries with smoked oyster and dill pickle

6. Butternut squash with Deep Ellum blue cheese and toasted masa

7. Peanut butter and jam stuffed pretzel

8. Duck breast with peas, chicory, and peanuts

9. Aged Akaushi ribeye with carrot and cabbage

10. Lemon curd ice cream with beet, marshmallow, and lemon thyme

11. Sweet potato mousse with oat, mesquite, and fenugreek

This tasting menu aligned with my expectations. The food was local, the flavors paired well, and it was a fun experience with friends who hadn’t done a tasting menu before. Our server even left us with a parting gift when he learned we were on a food trip - a list of more great places to try! It doesn’t get better than that in my book.

After dinner, three of us headed back to the AirBnB to watch the first episode of the final season of Game of Thrones while two others went to the bars on Rainey. After Game of Thrones, we picked up the other two from the bar and headed to Waffle House - a place I always hear about, but had never tried. The location we ended up at was completely empty when we arrived (and had some annoyed workers due to the previous shift leaving them a mess to clean up), but we received friendly service. I had a pecan waffle while Jeff had a patty melt with hashbrowns. I think the food was exactly as we expected - good, but nothing to write home about. Would I go again? I sure would! I think it goes without saying that we ended the night stuffed.

Day 3

We got up a little earlier so we could enjoy some breakfast tacos at a food trailer called Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ. This place isn’t in a food trailer court like some of the other trailers we’ve been to in Austin. Instead, it sits on a piece of land by itself with a good amount of parking and plenty of tables to sit and eat. We ordered a potato, egg, cheese, and brisket taco for each of us as well as some chips and queso. The chips and queso served as an appetizer while we waited for the tacos to come out and were no disappointment. The tacos came out quickly and were everything I was hoping for - soft tortilla, tasty smoked brisket, and eggs and potatoes cooked just right. Flavorful breakfast tacos were just the start to a great day of eating…

Next, we moved on to Gordough’s Public House. Jeff and I had tried the food trailer version of this on our 2015 trip and were neither impressed nor disappointed (we got the Blackout donut since the other donut we wanted was unavailable - it was just too much chocolate for us, a thing I didn’t even know existed). I’m happy to say this experience was much more positive! I was able to get the Funky Monkey donut I wanted the last time and it was every bit as amazing as I had hoped. The grilled banana paired with cream cheese icing and brown sugar was flavor heaven - especially paired with Jeff’s giant latte. The guys split two burgers - the Ron Burgundy and the Big Baller. They weren’t exactly sure what to expect, but imagined a burger coming out on something similar to a Krispy Kreme. What actually came to the table was better than what they envisioned. The donuts were plain and well fried without any glaze. Consensus was that the burgers were different in a tasty way.

Lunch stop #2 was another favorite from our 2015 trip, Via 313, where they serve up some super tasty Detroit style pizza. We ordered the Detroiter (smoked pepperoni under the cheese, with natural casing pepperoni on top) and the Herbivore pizzas to split with the group. The Detroiter was every bit as good as I remember it being the last time - tasty crust, just the right amount of sauce, lots of cheese, and delicious pepperoni (though the crispy cheese on the edge of the pizza was probably my favorite part). I didn’t have enough stomach space to try the Herbivore, but the others agreed it was equally as tasty. This is a spot that we’ll always look forward to visiting when in Austin.

After lunch, we headed to a food truck called Cold Cookie Company for dessert. This was an Instagram find that specializes in ice cream and cookies. The shake drew me in - you choose an ice cream flavor and a cookie flavor and they mash one cookie into your shake and top it with another cookie. Jeff and I shared a coffee oreo shake with chocolate chip cookies. It was every bit as delicious as it looked. We were all facing a food coma by this point, so we headed back to the AirBnB to rest and digest for a while.

For dinner, we started at Salty Sow (a Yelp find by AR). We were seated at a high table next to a window looking into the kitchen which is always a treat! AR and I had a great time watching all the food being prepared (and probably also either creeping the chefs out or making them roll their eyes at us analyzing what things were). Two things really attracted our attention based on pre-arrival research: the duck fat fries and the bananas foster beignets. We also ordered the crisp chicken thighs and slow cooked beef shoulder. The three hot dishes came out first. The duck fat fries were fried just right and the egg complimented them perfectly. The chicken thighs were indeed crisp and tasty. The beef was nicely cooked and tasted great with the sauce and egg. The beignets came out last and were accompanied by honey/nutmeg ice cream. The beignets themselves were absolutely perfect on their own - the banana taste was spot on. The ice cream was not my favorite since it was a little too sweet and just didn’t pair the way I hoped it would.

We headed on to dinner spot #2 (another of my Instagram finds) - a food trailer called Patrizi’s. This place attracted my attention since it was a food trailer serving up hand made Italian noodles and that just did not compute in my mind. We arrived and my mind was further blown - it was literally a food trailer sitting in the middle of the Vortex/Butterfly Bar’s outdoor garden/courtyard with seating everywhere. I had never seen anything like it. We got in line and decided on what we’d order for the group to share and were greeted by a friendly line helper. He asked if it was our first time in, gave us some general information, and answered all our questions (Austin sure know how to do hospitality). Jeff ordered, we found a big table, and a few headed inside to the Butterfly Bar to grab beverages. The food took a while to come out, but this was expected. We got the red sauce, cacio e pepe, carbonara, pesto, and a few other dishes. Everything was incredibly good and obviously handmade with love. We were all thoroughly impressed and left happy.

There was an Amy’s Ice Cream within walking distance of Patrizi’s so we stopped in for dessert. This location was brand new and didn’t even have a sign up yet. They had some special flavors I hadn’t seen before, namely popcorn. I have a strange attraction to the buttered popcorn Jelly Belly, so I decided I needed to get a scoop of this ice cream. It was a good choice - not too sweet and no weird flavors that didn’t work. After a day of really going hard on the eating, we headed back to the AirBnB to crash for the night.

Day 4

Two of our travel companions (JP & NS) took a super early flight back to Seattle, so our group was down to three. We slept in a bit before getting down to more eating business. Our first stop of the day was Bird Bird Biscuit for breakfast (yet another of my Instagram finds). Jeff and I split a Queen Beak biscuit sandwich, a biscuit with jam, and dough doughs (basically donuts made from biscuit dough). The sandwich was killer - the chicken was fried just right and not overseasoned, the biscuit was baked perfectly and very similar to those that Jeff makes at home (he may or may not be fairly judgy about this), and the chipotle mayo really brought it all together. The biscuit and jam was delightful - the jam was some sort of berry and quite tasty. The dough doughs were light and thankfully weren’t covered in too much sugar. We’d definitely visit this place again.

Our next planned stop was the Happy Lobster truck. We drove around for what felt like forever to find parking (and probably shouldn’t have parked where we did, but oh well). Jeff acquired the Happy Lobster sandwich for the two of us to split. The bread was soft, there was plenty of lobster, and not too much mayo. Was it tasty? Absolutely. Did I compare it to my favorite lobster roll from Neptune Oyster in Boston? Yes. Was that a fair comparison for me to make? Absolutely not. My taste buds are so spoiled.

AR wanted to do something not eating related, so we headed to the Capitol for a tour. It was shorter than expected. Since they were in session, we headed in to observe. A Representative was speaking about healthcare up front while the majority of his peers blatantly ignored him while talking among themselves or fiddling on their devices. This experience was so eye opening and frankly, quite sad. I left feeling upset not only about the state of our government in general, but also the way humans treat other humans.

We had a late reservation at Uchiko for dinner for our second tasting menu of the trip. They focus more on comfort food than their sister restaurant, Uchi (the tasting menu we did on our previous Austin trip). We had the chef’s tasting which was ten courses. The food was phenomenal. A few favorite dishes include the take nabe, gyutoro, and milk n’ cereal dessert. The lighting was poor, so we didn’t get many photos; however, I think this helped us stay present and enjoy the food even more.

We wouldn’t be us if we didn’t have a post dinner snack. One of our Seattle area friends lived in Austin previously and said we needed to try Whataburger, so we did. Jeff ordered a patty melt, regular burger, and fries. I tacked on a Dr Pepper shake since it sounded interesting. The patty melt tasted great, the burger and fries were as expected, and I’m still not sure what I thought about the shake other than it was a little weird.

Day 5

We started the day with lattes and Tacodeli migas tacos from the coffee shop in our AirBnB building, Houndstooth. We originally tried these tacos on our first trip when we went on a food tour with Austin Eats (I’m still sad the timing didn’t work out for us to go on another food tour this trip) and they didn’t disappoint this time either. I’m definitely not a person who enjoys eating eggs, but there’s something about putting them in a little steamed taco that makes them delicious - especially with the salsa.

La Barbecue was our first lunch stop. This was another place we sampled on the 2015 food tour, but it was a a food trailer at the time. It has now moved into a more restaurant feeling space within a grocery/coffee/bar called Quickie Pickie. We arrived at the perfect time to get in line without having to stand out in the rain. We ordered a giant beef rib and a La Chopped sandwich to split among the three of us. All I can say is Austin sure knows how to do barbecue - it was all smoked perfectly.

The rain had stopped when we left La Barbecue, which allowed us to mosey over to the University Coop food court to sample a few food trailers. First up was Momora. Jeff found this truck online and it appears to be fairly new (opened in March 2019). We ordered the Momora Cow (beef, cream cheese, avocado, & cucumber in a fried rice ball). I wasn’t sure what to expect since I hadn’t encountered anything like this before, but it tasted amazing. The beef and sauce went together perfectly and the fried rice ball exterior wasn’t too greasy or heavy. I probably would’ve eaten a couple more of these if I wasn’t trying to save stomach space for other things.

We also ordered a bacon jianbing from neighboring food trailer, Insennity. This was cooked up fresh and took a while to come out for that reason. I liked the egg, fried dough, green onions and crepe itself, but I think I made a mistake by ordering the bacon version. That was the one flavor that just didn’t fit in my opinion. I probably should’ve tried the vegetarian version or the tempura shrimp version - which I would definitely do on a future trip to Austin!

After lunch we headed to Tiny Pies to fulfill our sweet tooth. We got lemon meringue, strawberry rhubarb, pecan, cherry, blueberry, & banana cream. We took them back to the AirBnB with the intent of eating them later since we were all full, but ended up eating them right away because we like to eat. I was wary that the pies might have too much crust to filling ratio, but that turned out to be a non-issue. There was plenty of delicious filling in all of them and they tasted exactly as we hoped.

We lazed about the AirBnB for a while before heading out to dinner at Kerbey Lane (another friend suggestion). I admit that we ordered strangely here: queso followed by breakfast food. The queso was delicious (though I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a queso I didn’t like). Surprisingly, the transition to breakfast food was no big deal. My cinnamon swirl pancakes were not just pretty to look at, but also tasty. The cinnamon flavor wasn’t overwhelming and glaze wasn’t too sweet. I don’t think they could’ve been more perfect for my taste buds. We also got a side of home fries and a biscuit - both were as expected.

We ended the day at Cow Tipping Creamery. Jeff got the lemon drop (soft serve with fresh lemon curd, honey dust, and molasses graham crumb) in a waffle cone while I got the Nola (soft serve with bananas foster bread pudding, rummy caramel sauce, and honey dusted pecans) in a cup. Jeff enjoyed his (though I think he’d enjoy anything lemony) while mine was overpoweringly sweet - I didn’t end up finishing it. I think I made the wrong choice in flavor when ordering since I saw bananas foster and lost my mind without realizing I don’t really enjoy bread pudding. If we visit again in the future, I’ll definitely try something else.

Day 6

This was our last day in Austin and we got up early to head to Round Rock Donuts. This was the very first thing we did on our previous trip to Austin and we couldn’t let AR leave without trying it. We got a Texas sized donut along with some donut holes. Turns out this was a good plan to show scale in pictures! We were all happy with the donuts and ate them on the traffic-y drive back to Austin.

We finished packing up and checked out of the AirBnB. Since we’d been doing a ton of eating and not a lot of activity, we wanted to do something that involved moving around a bit. Zilker Botanical Garden was just perfect for getting some steps in, seeing pretty things, and not getting too hot. My favorite part was the fish!

Our first stop for lunch was the Thai 2 U food truck at the Barn food truck court. Jeff found this place somewhere online and was attracted to the fact that they serve Thai food in deep fried roll form. We walked up and were greeted by Ivori (who I believe may be the owner). She guided us through the ordering process and answered all our questions. We ended up ordering the pad sa eew and pad thai rolls. The rolls came out hot and fresh and tasted amazing. The noodles and flavors inside were just right and the fried exterior wasn’t too heavy, greasy, or thick. This was a one of a kind meal with friendly service - we’ll definitely visit again if we’re in Austin!

Lunch stop part two was Shake Shack because we’re those people. We got our usual - the single ShackBurger with cheese fries, a coffee shake and one new addition - chick’n bites. Nothing to complain about here - everything was exactly as we expected.

We finished out our trip with a movie (Shazam) at Alamo Drafthouse. This is still the superior movie/food combo establishment in my opinion and I’m still hoping that one of these will show up in Seattle one day to give the likes of iPic and Cinnebar a run for their money.

With that, we headed back to the airport to hop on a flight home (which was delayed a bit, but it could’ve been worse - a really early AM flight to Seattle was still waiting when we arrived and it was evening time!). All in all, I think we had a super successful “eat all the things” trip. Austin, you’re fabulous. Hope to see you again one day!

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