My husband and I recently spent a long weekend in Austin, Texas and it was such a vibrant and fun city- not to mention the AMAZING food. We absolutely love to see new places and try the different foods each city has to offer so we were really in for a treat! I am going to split this post up because its going to be a long one. So in this post I will be talking about our favorite restaurants. I will also do a post on things to do/places to stay in Austin next week so stay tuned! Austin is definitely known to be more of a party city. There were tons of bachelor and bachelorette parties going on which was so fun to see- and if you know me you know I talk to EVERYONE so I obviously had to join in on the fun and talk to all of the bride to be’s. Austin was named one of the top up and coming cities that millennial’s are moving to. I also learned that there are TONS of tech companies located in Austin, there are so many new job opportunities in the city as well.
Restaurants
We ate at some really great places, but I will give you guys my favorites! Texas is known for their BBQ and their Tex-Mex. I will be honest with you BBQ has never been a favorite of mine. I will eat it but don’t love it. But since we were in Texas, you know we had to try some good BBQ.
Lunch/Brunch Places
Caroline– this was probably my favorite place. The atmosphere was SO cute and it is located right downtown in a really good locations, so it is easy to get to from wherever you are. The food was really good as well. They had a lot of Texas staples on their menu as well as some classic items such as Pancakes which my Husband had and they were sooo good. I had the Huevos Rancheros which was something we saw at a lot of places in Austin. It was really fun to see how each restaurant had a different take on the dish. The other thing I loved about this place was that they were not only a restaurant, they had a full bar upstairs in a really cute setting and they are also a coffee house. This is definitely a must if you are visiting Austin!
Josephine House– We came to this place for Sunday Brunch and it was so cute! I didn’t love the location of it since it was not walking distance from our hotel, but the food was really good and the place was very quaint. They had a really cute outdoor patio to eat on with heat lamps and umbrellas so this place is so perfect for a Spring day in Austin.
Terry Blacks BBQ– We were told this was the best BBQ in Austin so we had to try it! There is also Franklin BBQ but the line there is CRAZY always so we went to Terry Blacks instead. For not being a BBQ lover this place was pretty good. My husband and I split some Brisket and a few sides. The atmosphere of the place was really casual and a great place to bring kids.
Dinner Places
Lamberts– We went here our first night in Austin and we LOVED it. I preferred this to Terry Blacks personally because I am all about atmosphere when I go out. Its located right downtown so it was walking distance from our hotel and was decorated so nicely inside. The food was also AMAZING. I loved that the portions weren’t huge- but definitely big enough to the point where I couldn’t finish my meal.
ATX Cocina– This was my favorite place we ate at in Austin. It is an authentic Tex Mex restaurant. They serve there food in a Tapas form or small plate form so you can order 4-6 items off the menu and they bring them out to you in courses. We had a ton of fresh fish and empanadas and not to mention their margaritas (heart eyes!) they were soooo good.
Emmer & Rye– This restaurant is located in the Rainey Street district of Austin. This area is known for all of its bars that were once actually homes and converted into bars. It is such a cute area! This is a farm-to-table small plates restaurant. The portions are not huge but they are all so well made and absolutely delicious. Their menu is also seasonal with nightly specials so they use the absolute freshest ingredients which is something I love and truly believe it can make or break a meal! Some of the items we ordered were cauliflower butter and bread, caramelized beets, homemade rigatoni, short ribs and a chocolate mouse for dessert!
Coffee/Breakfast Tacos
So Texas is apparently known for their breakfast Tacos. In New Jersey this is not something you come by often, but in Austin any place that sold breakfast food had some type if not multiple types of breakfast tacos. Hey, I am definitely not complaining at all about this I would eat tacos for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I could lol! Some of our favorite coffee places were Houndsooth Coffee, Radio Coffee and Jo’s Coffee (this is the place with the famous “I Love You” mural. For breakfast Tacos our favorite place was Torchy’s Tacos! There was also Salt Lick Tacos and Taco Deli which are places to try as well.
