Austin, Texas 2025
As avid foodies, a city that has always been at the forefront of my wife and I’s mind has been Austin, Texas. Its reputation as a gem in the culinary world and more specifically as the home to some of the best barbeque has always captured my attention. The little kid in me who used to watch BBQ Pitmasters on Food Network for hours was overwhelmed with excitement at the opportunity to try some of this world-class barbeque. My wife and I eagerly boarded the plane and set off for what we anticipated to be one of our best food adventures yet.
We arrived in town in the early evening. We walked a block over from our hotel to Rainey Street. A street that is known for its bars and nightlife. On this particular day, it was a ghost town. Most businesses were closed and the open ones had no customers in sight. Thirsty for a drink, we walked into the first bar that looked open. This bar, like many others on this street, was situated in a house that had been converted into a bar. These houses were built long before Austin exploded into the city it is now. The interior of this bar was small and intimate, but it also had a huge “backyard” that seated dozens of people. Fire pits were scattered around, a stage, and even an outdoor bar.
We walked into this bar and sat down at the bar top. There were no other patrons so finding a seat wasn’t hard. The bartender, we later find out his name is Nelson, walks over and takes our order. He notices that we are dressed for a night out and asks us what we’re up to. We tell him we’re visiting from Seattle and are excited to see what this town has to offer, especially the live music. Nelson’s face takes on a distressed look. He tells us, “Well, you couldn’t have picked a worse time to visit”. At first, I laugh and think he’s making a joke, but Nelson wasn’t smiling. He goes on to tell us that most live music is halted this time of year because of the weather since the music is typically played outdoors.
You see, before Austin became one of the fastest growing cities of the US, it was a wholesome capital city. There weren’t many reasons to visit Austin, unless you had business related to the government. The city was centered around the Capitol building and the suburbs expanded beyond. Now, the city has exploded and high rise buildings are common. The city expansion crept up toward Rainey street, leaving the homes vacant as dwellers moved elsewhere. Luckily, many saw the potential in these little homes with big plots of land as an opportunity to make unique establishments. Now little houses can be found in the midst of an otherwise urban environment. With little room inside for music and seating, these house-bars expanded outside to their “yards” where they could accommodate more people.
We visited Austin during the third week of January. The temperature was in the mid 30s most nights and just after we left, the temperature dropped down well below freezing for a few days. This meant that neither the musicians nor the public had much of an appetite for outdoor performances. Throughout our four day visit and after dozens of bars and restaurants, we unfortunately only saw live music two times. Of course it's possible that we just happen to be at the bars/restaurants at the wrong time of the day or any other number of reasons, but the fact of the matter is that in this regard Nelson was right.
Visiting Austin this time of year does have many perks however. We seemed to be the only tourists in town, so the city was ours! We could order an Uber and have one picking us up in a few short minutes. We even got a private ghost tour. Not because we reserved it only for the two of us, but because no one else thought to take a night time ghost tour on a frigid Thursday evening. We could walk into any restaurant regardless of time and get a table. This allowed us to take full advantage of what the culinary scene had to offer.
If Austin is known for one thing, even above the fact that it's the capitol of Texas, that thing is barbeque. Texas and barbeque are as synonyms as Seattle and coffee. You can’t think of one without the other. Barbeque can be found all over Texas, but Austin is almost always listed as the best city to try it. Our prior research helped us narrow down the exact places we wanted to try but we also wanted to take into account recommendations from the locals. We asked bartenders and a few of our Uber drivers. Many names kept coming up such as Franklin BBQ, Terry Blacks, La BBQ and Micklewait. My research made it clear that these places sell out fast and the lines can be hours long. Because of this we decided to go with one that wasn’t as famous but that locals loved.
It’s early Thursday afternoon and we decide we want barbeque for lunch. Taking a local’s recommendation, we jet off to Mickelwait Barbeque. As we’re arriving we pass by Franklin Barbeque. I think, cool I’m glad I got to at least see the place, since any barbecue review of the city always places Franklin’s in their top three for best brisket not only in the state but in the country. Anyways, our Uber drives down a quarter mile past Franklin's and pulls into a big parking lot of a tattoo shop and tells us that we’re here. I’m confused, is this restaurant run out of this tattoo shop? We get out of the car and walk around the building looking to see if we are missing something. A man then comes out of the building and asks if we’re looking for Mickelwait. We excitedly say yes, but are then very disappointed when the man tells us that Mickelwait recently moved locations. I guess google maps hadn’t been updated. Jess and I are bummed and feel discouraged. Luckily, I knew of a BBQ spot just a quarter mile down the road.
We arrived and saw a line out the door but significantly shorter than pictures we had seen online. We got in line and made friends with our fellow line mates who told us about many other great eateries in town. After about an hour in line we finally made it to the counter. We ordered a few slices of their brisket, ribs, a jalapeno cheddar sausage, and some potato salad. The lady taking our order also gave us a few pieces of burnt ends to try. Our tray was heavy and we were hungry!
Franklin’s brisket was a life altering experience. It was so tender and juicy. The brisket was so delicate, it instantly melted in the mouth. The smoke rings were significant and it translated into a great flavor. It was world class barbeque at its finest. A true American delicacy.
The rest of the platter was also delicious. The ribs had a heavy pepper seasoning that apart from adding a depthful zest also added texture with its crispy exterior. The jalapeno cheddar sausage was surprisingly juicy and the right amount of spice. The potato salad is a yellow mustard lover's dream. Franklin’s motto is that it's worth the wait and I couldn't agree more.
BBQ platter at Franklin BBQ. Assorted sauces, burnt ends, brisket, sausage, ribs, and potato salad.
Apart from Barbeque, which we had a couple of times, we also wanted to try some unique food you could only find in Texas. Anthem had just the thing. Tex-asian food as they call it, is a combination of Texas and Asian flavors to create a truly unique dish. We had their char-buff cauliflower, which was charred and beer battered, served with sriracha buffalo sauce and a Thai green goddess sauce. Similarly, the karaage chicken we had was tossed in honey sriracha and served along with cucumber sunomono and miso ranch. Both were a satisfying dunk and crunch kind of meal. We also tried their take on crab rangoons, only that their version was stuffed with a mix of smoked brisket, cream cheese, cheddar, dill pickles, and onion. It was served along with a sweet and sour sauce. Their creativity and confidence in flavors pays off with delicious dishes that are worthy of recognition.
Brisket Rangoons, Char-Buff Cauliflower, Honey Siracha Karaage Chicken.
A Tex-Mex spot remixing Mexican food is Torchy’s Tacos. The restaurant experience is very similar to fast food. You order at the counter, you’re given a number and you seat yourself wherever you’d like. Their tacos are massive compared to conventional street tacos and they’re also packed to the brim with flavor. It was a tough decision but I landed on ordering the Democrat and the Republican tacos. Both amazing and unique in their own way, I'm sure there’s a lesson in there somewhere but all I was concerned about was how they tasted. The Democrat had beef barbacoa, avocado, cotija cheese, and salsa. The meat was incredibly tender and the whole taco leaned closer to classic Mexican flavors. The Republican was piled high with smoked brisket and topped with crispy onion, grilled corn relish, and drizzled with both barbeque sauce and a chipotle sauce. This tasted very much like Tex-Mex. It was a sloppy taco intentionally made with each ingredient playing a crucial role. It was everything great about a taco featuring Texas famous barbeque. Amazingly creative tacos that do not disappoint.
Republican Taco on the left and Democrat on the right.
Banger's Sausage House & Beer Garden was a banger all around. This was a great place to sit back and have one or a few of the over 200 beers on tap that they offer. Banger’s, as you can imagine, specialize in homemade sausages. I had their smoked Philly cheesesteak which was a brisket based sausage that came topped with grilled onions and peppers. This was not a traditional cheesesteak but it was better than any Philly cheesesteak I had ever had. It was very juicy and the smoked flavor was balanced perfectly. We also tried their in house made pickles that were just the right amount of acidity. They were so good that we actually came back the next day for more pickles.
Philly Cheesesteak Sausage. Pickles in glass jar in the back.
Our last night in Austin we spent bar hopping on Rainey Street. Right before we called it a night we wanted to get a late night snack. Something convenient and delicious. Thankfully in many parts of the city, there are food trucks, often many grouped together with tables in the middle. On this night we looked at our options and settled for Peace, Love and Burgers. These burgers brought me to peace as they said they would. I ordered the OG which was two smashed patties loaded with grilled onions, cheese, pickles and topped with their special sauce. The smash style patties brought multiple textures to the burger and the pickles cut through the richness of the special sauce. It hit the spot like no other.
Austin more than lived up to its reputation of being a foodie city. I don’t believe we even scratched the surface of what this great city had to offer. I don’t doubt for a second that one of the reasons it's one of America’s fastest growing cities is because of its dedication to creating breathtaking food. Austin is putting more than barbeque on the map, although thanks to Austin, barbeque has shot past the stratosphere in popularity. We had an amazing four day trip full of fun. I like to believe that we proved Nelson wrong. Even in the dead of Winter this city showed us its warmth.
