Austin - Day one - Food Tour

 Karl bought a new car, Rae,  She's a 2023 Acura Integra, A spec.....I don't know some other bells and whistles and all that jazz.  With the crazy airline prices and madness at the airport, why not drive Rae instead of fly?  And as you know, we like to try and check off at least one state per year together.  Karl has been dying to get to Austin to visit the Comedy Mothership, and I heard great things about the food scene and Waco is within driving distance so we can do a little detour for me.  :)  

We left out of St. Louis around 5:00 am stopped for lunch in Texarkana and got in to Austin around 7:00.  Not a back drive all in all.  Also, it's the 1st time in road trip history that I was not the primary driver!  In fact, I wasn't behind the wheel once this entire trip!  It was kind of nice! 

We checked in and had a nightcap at the bar.  

Our original plan was to do San Antonio on Wednesday, but after the drive on Tuesday, the last thing we wanted to do was drive two more hours, so we opted to stick around Austin instead.  

We decided on taking this tasting tour.  First off, I knew the day was going to be a hit when we parked in this spot.  (if you know, you know) 

AJ was our tour guide and he was amazing.  He added in history facts about Austin as well as the restaurants we visited.  We we starving and we were not disappointed!! 

First stop was Coopers Pit BBQ

The 200 block of Congress has been the home to several pubs, saloons, cafes and restaurants over the years including the Bradshaw Saloon, Pearlhouse Saloon, Tradewinds Lounge, The Dew Drop, Avenue Cafe, Las Manitas and Copa Lounge. Across the street was home to the International and Great Northern Rail Road Depot, built in 1888. The upstairs space at 217 was once the Travis Hotel, rumored to have been a cat house!

Here we sampled brisket and jalapeno pinto beans.  I am not normally a brisket fan, I was this day!!  

The pit is open and you can check out all the meat as it cooks

These beans were amazing!! 

Congress is the widest street in Austin.  They used to herd cattle down this street.  The original 1839 Waller Plan for the city designed Congress Avenue to be Austin's central and most prominent street, and named in honor of the Republic-era Congress. The capital building is visible from anywhere on congress. 

The brisket and beans may have been my favorite 

Next stop, Torchy's Tacos for a Migas. Migas, which means “crumbs,” is a dish traditionally made from stale bread and other ingredients in Spanish and Portuguese cuisines. Instead of stale bread, Torchy uses tortilla strips

EGGS, CORN TORTILLA STRIPS, GREEN CHILES, AVOCADO, PICO DE GALLO & CHEESE WITH TOMATILLO SAUCE ON YOUR CHOICE OF TORTILLA.

I took the avocado off mine.  It was DAMN GOOD

A long time ago, in the bustling town of Austin, Texas, a man named Mike Rypka bought a food trailer and a red Vespa. His dream? To start a taco joint. Like all great chefs, he filled his first menu with more experiments than meals — and thanks to some trips around town on his Vespa, and overheard iterations of "Damn, these tacos are good!" at the food trailer, it was declared a hit.

Next up, Ziki - Ziki started with a food trailer at 2118 S. Congress Ave. It has added a second location near University of Texas and plans to open a third location at Third Street and Congress Avenue later this month. Nick Nanakos founded Ziki with the goal of health-conscious Greek and Mexican fusion food.  

Last month, the company raised $6.7 million in seed funding from investors including high-profile venture capital firm Gigafund. (which has invested more than $1 billion in Elon Musk's SpaceX)

Ziki bites were my 2nd favorite.  And part of me thinks because I was extra hungry the brisket and beans may have had an unfair advantage!  

Next stop was Juiceland 

We had to guess the 7 ingredients in the smoothie.  We did it, and apparently faster than anyone else!  :)  

This was my least favorite stop, but it was someone else's favorite. 

We then stopped at Fareground - Fareground houses five restaurant kiosks helmed by some of Austin’s best chefs, including several James Beard nominees, and offers Asian, Mexican, French, New American and Mediterranean cuisine, plus two craft cocktail bars. It’s hard to put a label on Fareground, they describe themselves as "a space where restauranteurs come to grow and scale their businesses."

We had two offerings in Fareground, 1st was Jewboy Sliders.

JewBoy Burgers is about Mo Pittle, a guy from El Paso who loves burgers enough to open a food truck in his 40s and become a chef through trial by fire. Mo says he was the only Jewish kid on the team at Coronado High School. He grew up mostly among Latinos and “Jew boy” was the term he was referred to.

We had the Tickllish Reuben

The Ticklish Reuben - House Smoked and Steamed pastrami grilled with onions and melted Swiss topped with grilled sauerkraut and 1000 island dressing.

I don't like sauerkraut but everything else was good.  

 

The last offering was from Taco Pegaso - Based on myth and legend from Oaxacan “alebrijes,” Taco Pegaso is brought to life by chef and restauranteur Richard Sandoval bringing the flavor and colors of Mexican street food and refreshing bebidas right to you!

We were treated to something off menu. This is chef's grandmother's recipe, with a twist. Paying homage to Flan, these cheesecakes had a drizzle of caramel. DELICIOUS!

Some random things we saw along the walk.

This is a speakeasy. These are huge all over Austin. Some have the passwords online, while others you have to know someone to get in. This one you can sometimes get the password from the bar across the street,

Wholeheartedly agree Janet!

Willie Nelson Statue - Following his move to Nashville in 1960, Nelson enjoyed success as a songwriter, but his career as a singer did not progress. After shortly retiring from the music business, Nelson moved to Austin in 1972, where his career found new success as a performer. 

The Austin musical scene, and his performances at the Armadillo World Headquarters rejuvenated his career. Local audiences welcomed his style of country music marked by traditional country, folk and jazz influences.^[8] In 1974, Nelson produced and performed on the pilot of PBS' Austin City Limits.^[9] 

I mean, this is a very fair statement.

The Tito's in downtown Austin sells no vodka.

Tito's fought the law, and the law won,  “We worked closely with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission as we conceptualized and built out the Love, Tito’s store. Since we are not distilling vodka at the store location, we legally cannot sell or sample Tito’s on-site,”

Tito's decided to continue on with the store and at our Love, Tito's store in Austin, net  proceeds  constitute an average margin of at least 25% of the retail price of a product, excluding the cost of tax on the purchase. We are not deducting cost of our people, the store rent or other operating costs.

After all the food and walking (and heat), we went back to the hotel to recharge for our ghost tour that evening.