Austin is a great destination for foodies. There’s an abundance of great BBQ, Mexican food, hip restaurants and cafes, food trucks, and bars in the capital Texas. But what if you don’t live close enough to try out the best places to eat in the ATX?
No worries… Even if you’re nowhere close, you can still get a taste some of the delicious foods Austin has to offer from the comfort your very own home, no matter where you live in the US.
Austin, Texas has seen incredible growth over the last decade, in both the number of new residents and new businesses opening their doors. In particular, the area on South Lamar within walking distance of the Alamo Drafthouse has seen an explosion of hip bars and restaurants. I’ve witnessed this first hand, since moving to the neighborhood in 2009 and seeing something new and exciting pop up every couple of months.
Now with so many things to eat and drink on South Lamar, you no longer have to go downtown to 6th street, the warehouse district, or Rainey Street to get your nightlife fix. If you want a low-key night out, you can park once on South Lamar, then walk to more than a dozen restaurants and bars within 2 blocks of each other. What’s better, all of the parking is free and you don’t have to deal with huge crowds.
Discover great food and drink on South Lamar in Austin, Texas!
Don’t get me wrong. Austin is a great place to live and visit. And it’s unquestionable that the city has become a foodie destination.
But nothing is perfect. Here’s a list of some of the common little gripes that Austin foodies will understand #AustinFoodieProblems.
Read about the 39 problems that Austin foodies will understand!
Counter 3.Five.VII Review – Austin, Texas
It’s not every day that you get to be one of the first customers at a new restaurant in town. Last week we celebrated a special birthday at the newly opened Counter 3.Five.VII, a very small, high end fixed menu restaurant where you literally sit at a bar inches away from all of the chefs doing their thing.
As the name of the restaurant implies, you can choose from prix fixe menus that either have 3, 5, or 7 courses.
Looking for some delicious Korean food in Austin? Maybe a place to get Korean BBQ? Rest easy, you’re in the right place.
While Austin isn’t known as a destination for outstanding Korean restaurants, we have some hidden gems serving delicious food that you need to know about. And if you aren’t that familiar with Korean cuisine, don’t worry. I realize that Korean food isn’t always accessible as other Asian cuisines like Chinese, Japanese and Thai… so in this guide I’m going to introduce 5 great Korean dishes at 5 Korean restaurants in Austin.
I live next door to Austin’s only Paleo trailer, Picnik, and they sell a novel new drink called butter coffee. After walking the dogs by the sign for butter coffee at least a dozen times, we decided to take the plunge to see what this new trendy drink is all about.
Butter coffee is pretty much what it sounds like – it’s coffee and butter blended together with some additional MCT coconut oil extract that is supposed to be very nutritious for you and good for your brain.
So what’s the big deal about butter coffee?
Click here to read about Butter Coffee in Austin
What is Ramen anyways? It doesn’t always come in cheap packs from the grocery store?
Japanese Ramen has it’s origins in the Chinese noodles 拉面 “La-Mian” which literally means pulled noodles (see this picture of this guy the Chinese version). In fact, in Japan Ramen is still sometimes called Chinese style noodles. Somewhere along the way, The Japanese took the Chinese import and morphed it into something all their own.
How is authentic ramen different from instant ramen?
Real ramen broth has a depth of flavor not present in the instant form, which relies on salt and MSG to enhance taste. Good ramen derives it’s flavor from boiling a combination of animal bones and vegetables for a long time to give the broth a richness that that can’t be replicated otherwise. Much in the same way that Texas BBQ meat tastes magical when exposed to slow and low heat, the same is true of soup broth. Good ramen when done right, is a time intensive labor of love (just like great TX BBQ). Good ramen also comes garnished with all sorts of fresh, delicious things as well that complement the broth.
Simply put, great ramen can blow your mind.
For an in depth explanation about Japanese Ramen culture and the different styles of Ramen, David Chang and Anthony Bourdain dedicate 20 minutes to the subject in the awesome series “The Mind of A Chef” (bonus @ 8:45 for learning how the noodles are made in a factory from a man in a bright red wrestling style mask)
There’s also this great how to make ramen article on Serious Eats.
Read more about the state of Ramen Noodles in Austin after the jump
The 2013 Austin Food and Wine Festival just wrapped up, and it was full of memorable experiences and excellent tastings & cooking demonstrations from celebrity chefs.
For Austinites who are fans of the Food Network, the festival was the perfect opportunity to get up close and personal with some of their favorite stars, such as Andrew Zimmern, Marcus Samuelsson, Christina Tosi, Tim Love, and Paul Qui.
Click through to view the photos from the 2013 Austin Food and Wine Fest!
Where do you go for delicious Asian food in Austin? While the capitol of Texas hasn’t been known for top notch Asian food in the past, that reputation is changing. There are restaurants all over the city with one or two noodles dishes that can hang with the best of them.
So, where do you go for delicious, flavorful Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese noodle carby goodness?
How do you discover new restaurants in Austin?
I’ve got a secret to share.
Apart from reading Austin food blogs and talking to friends, I find out about new places and dishes in Austin through the photo sharing service Instagram. While Instagram wasn’t specifically created for sharing what’s good to eat, many Austin foodies use Instagram as a photo diary, which of course includes what they are eating!
Also, because Instagram lets users geotag their photos, clicking on the Geotag of a restaurant allows you easily find the location on a map and browse through many of the dishes at the same place. Hastags allow us to share photos with other users using that hashtags – I’m trying to get more people to use the #austinfood hashtag to better share dishes around Austin.
The following list includes Instagrammers with good taste in food, who help me find new restaurants or help me discover new dishes at restaurants I already love. Many of these folks are first on the scene when a new restaurant opens in Austin and make great recommendations through their pics:
supertsai – shameless plug for my account
austinfoodie
512foodie
atasteofkoko
misohungry
lkreynolds
gourmetfury
thenicolai
pesto88
chaninator
broylesa
subaustinite
polkadotsatx
thecanaryfiles
austinistfood
Finally, I’ve updated the Austin Chefs and Restaurants on Instagram post that I wrote a few months ago. On that list, you can now find:
pqui
eastsideking
whollycowburgers
ramentatsu_ya
If you have other Instagram accounts you want to share, let us know in the comments!
Happy Tasting,
Peter
