Newish Eats Downtown for SXSW 2011 - Accessible Without a Car

[kathryn]

Hi there! Visiting downtown Austin for SXSW for the 6th time. Wondering if there's any new places to know about within walking distance of the Austin Convention Center near 4th and Trinity. Anywhere that's sprung up basically since last March.

Looking to avoid Asian food (I eat a ton of it in NYC where I live), steakhouses, seafood joints, anything that feels too corporate/chain-y, but I don't mind the fancified restaurants like Parkside & Lambert's. I'm also a cocktail drinker, and an occasional beer drinker, not really into the new wine bars that are sprouting up. But feel free to recommend if the food is really good. And we will probably spend a day driving to get BBQ somewhere outside Austin (have done Smitty's, Black's, Opie's, Inman's, Cooper's in the past).

On my radar:
Haddington's
La Condesa
Congress in the Austonian

We usually hit up places that are solid & convenient like:
Ironworks BBQ
El Camino -- assuming we have a bit of downttime to wait for burgers, always mean to try Mike's but never get around to it
Roaring Fork happy hour -- though sometimes I have a hard time convincing people to "walk all the way over to Congress" from Trinity
Moonshine
Iron Cactus -- OK so the food's not that good at all, but they're huge and there's always at least one group event I end up attending here
Taco Shack -- breakfast tacos only and NOT the chorizo ones

Last year I tried and liked:
Lambert's BBQ
Peche
Parkside -- ended up visiting 3x! Love that place.
Frank

I think these are good but not great:
Habana Calle
Chez Nous
mmmpanadas truck
OneTaco truck

Coffee
Frank's
Progress
Jo's
Halcyon
Hideout

In the past, I've not really liked Mekong River, La Traviata, Manuel's, Stubb's, or Jezebel.

RIP Sam's just east of the highway and Torchy's short lived 6th St location and of course Las Manitas!

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La Traviata
314 Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78701

Chez Nous
510 Neches St, Austin, TX 78701

Las Manitas
211 Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78701

Mekong River Restaurant
215 E 6th St, Austin, TX 78701

Iron Cactus
4501 Spicewood Springs Rd Ste 1020, Austin, TX 78759

La Condesa
400-A W 2nd St, Austin, TX 78701

Peche
208 W 4th Street, Austin, TX 07739

[Steven Dilley]

Some good suggestions here.

I'd add Bar Congress for cocktails. Consistently good cocktails with many classics done on the level of a Death & Co., IMO. Some prefer Haddington's, but I've had problems with consistency. That said, I had great luck there over the weekend.

[Optimista]

Definitely agree with the Franklin's suggestion. Ditto East Side Kings.

I think La Condesa is worth a visit. Great food, cool space.

My three visits to Haddington's have been solid, but not mind-blowing. My favorite thing so far is the stuffed trout.

I had a great first meal at Congress. My first visit to its more casual sister restaurant, Second, was a miss, but I think it must've been an anomaly. If you go to either of these, you MUST get dessert - their pastry chef is fantastic.

TRACE in the W Hotel has an excellent brunch. Best French toast I've ever had, and I really enjoyed the shrimp & grits.

I'm a big fan of Peached Tortilla, another mobile food truck with top notch food. They'll probably be hanging around the SXSW action. It's Asian-inspired, but worth making an exception for.

Also, if you're willing to drive to Odd Duck/Gourdough's, La Boite nearby (also a trailer...or a shipping container, to be more precise) has AMAZING macarons.

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La Condesa
400-A W 2nd St, Austin, TX 78701

[kathryn]

Franklin BBQ's trailer is now closed (last day was yesterday) and the new space is opening Saturday, March 12th. I'm hesitant to go over while I'm in town because the first few weeks of a new restaurant are typically not the smoothest.

Thanks for the tip on TRACE.

La Boite's site indicates that they will be closed when we're there. (Odd Duck is going to be a dinner stop one night.)

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La Boite
1700 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

[Optimista]

Ahh, yes - should have thought of that - La Boite's an Odd Duck's hours don't really mesh with each other's. Ah well - sounds like you will have plenty of good stuff to choose from, regardless!

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Odd Duck
1219 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

La Boite
1700 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

[mkfoodie]

Just as an FYI, the Food Bloggers Guide to Austin is being updated right now and should be available in the next week or so. We run on a SXSW schedule and there will be lots of yummie updates and information.

[tr463]

(These places aren't necessarily new, but you didn't mention them so hopefully you'll discover a new favorite place!)

The Belmont has a really good happy hour (come with a group of friends, order a smattering of appetizers (2 for 10$)) as well as a really nice atmosphere. (305 West 6th)

There's also a foodcart called Chi'Lantro that's a Mexican + Korean fusion (I'd still give it a try even though you're all set with Asian food). (The location varies, but the one I go to is usually on 5th and Colorado).

Right behind the convention center is Moonshine Bar & Grill that has a wonderful Sunday brunch and an array of delicious cocktails. (Red River & 3rd)

Hope you find somewhere you like!

[kathryn]

The Belmont sounds good, I didn't know they had food, or maybe I forgot. Some friends do like drinking there.

I recall trying to chase down the Chi'Lantro truck last year and never caught up to them. I think they ran out of food once.

And I did mention Moonshine in my list. :) Thanks!

[tr463]

Oopsie! I must have missed Moonshine!

There's also Hopdoddy Burger Bar if you wanna hike allll the way to SoCo (I haven't personally been there but I've heard really good things about them)!

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Hopdoddy Burger Bar
1400 S Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78704

[air]

I really like Chi'Lantro's kimchi fries. They give a massive portion that could be lunch on it's own and it has a nice blend of fresh cheese and cilantro, with an impeccable spicy sauce that has a respectable level of heat.

[popvulture]

Maybe not so newish, but I'd highly recommend The Good Knight, Blue Dahlia and Justine's (far east but worth a $10 cab ride). And to back up the above poster, Franklin BBQ for sure. Aaron is a BBQ genius.

[NWLarry]

You're more up on things than a lot of people who live here :)

What about the East Side? If you're here for music there are usually day parties on East 6th, which would have you close to East Side Show Room, several trailers, and the new Takoba which seems to be getting a lot of buzz.

[kathryn]

I am typically on assignment at night during SXSW Music and usually don't get East of Waller. Near where the Fader Fort was last year. So not quite as far as East Side Show Room, sadly! It's rough squeezing places in when running from Stubb's to La Zona Rosa and back to Red River St in one night.

Any trailer favorites if I find myself out there though for lunch?

I recall having a nice chicken and waffles meal a few blocks east of the highway, but that restaurant closed down.

[NWLarry]

Coolhaus...they make home-made ice cream sandwiches named after architects, which cracks me up. Clever and delicious, and by delicious I mean the worst thing I had there was damn good, and the best was sublime.

They are usually in that area around the other trailers, I think that's the East Side Drive-In site. A lot of the trailers update on twitter, and there are some iphone apps that collect them all, but I haven't found a GREAT one yet. Anyway they have a calendar on their website: http://www.eatcoolhaus.com/austin/

[kathryn]

Thanks! If only I could think about ice cream right now.... there's still over a foot of snow on the ground here. :)

[storefronteats]

Just fyi, the Show Room is a block west of Waller, just a block north of Fader Fort. It's good and fun, with good cocktails . . . and will be packed during SXSW.

I see you're all set with Asian food from home, but lately I've been liking East Side Kings location on Rainey Street, behind 96 Bar. It's a different menu than the Liberty Bar ESK location--Japanese grill. Warm grilled edamame on a coolish night is just the thing, and the grilled pork belly skewers are melt-in-your-mouth good. You can also find Senegalese and Oaxacan foods in other trailers on Rainey. Might be convenient for you.

[smilezok]

Actually, the Rainey Street location is moving (has moved?) to the parking lot of The Grackle, right near Liberty at 6th and Chalmers. By the looks of their website, they do appear to be carrying over the Rainey Street menu. http://www.eastsidekingaustin.com/

[air]

Big fan of East Side Kings as well. I've heard ESK's pork buns are comparable, or possibly even better than the ones at Momofuku (I personally haven't been). Would be quite interesting to hear a New Yorker's perspective.

Glad to see this thread alread up, I'll also be attending SXSW this year!

[kathryn]

An Austin dwelling friend who's visited me in NYC rated them well below Momofuku's pork buns. :)

[puddles]

Please! It's not even close. That's just silly. Somewhere in NYC someone is saying "This bbq is just like what my cousin's best friend told me he had in Lockhart a few years ago"

ESK's are delish, for real, I love 'em... but Momofuku's in a different league. Like YMCA league vs NBA (though I've seen plenty of guys at the gym who THOUGHT they were NBA caliber, but that's another story)

[dinaofdoom]

i was waiting for you to chime in...

[stellawine]

Two sets of food trailers on E.6th. San Marcos X e.6th & Waller X e. 6th, 2 & 4 blocks east of 35, respectively. Also, great weekday lunch specials at Karibu Ethiopian, 1209 e. 7th, 5 blocks east of 35. Happy Chowing!

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Karibu Ethiopian Restaurant
1209 E 7th St, Austin, TX 78702

[kathryn]

Thanks so much!

[NWLarry]

Austin Food Carts has an awesome overview:
http://austinfoodcarts.com/and-the-be...

[kathryn]

Thanks for this! That link was excellent.

It's surprisingly difficult to just find a LIST of what trailers are at what parks given that East Side Drive In doesn't really have a web site.

[NWLarry]

Austin Food Carts has an iphone app that I haven't played around with yet, but it has to be an improvement over the other apps out there.

[air]

I was able to add their custom map into Google Maps, so that'll be real handy on the go. Awesome link.

Think I've narrowed the field for what I'm interested in, but another question: what specifically are your favorite dishes at these carts/restaurants? Got a feeling I'll likely wander over to East Side Drive-In and on Rainey St for food, both great locations.
-East Side Drive-In: #19 Bus, Ugly Banjo, The Local Yolk
-The trucks on Rainey Street: G'Raj Mahal, Cazamance, El Naranjo
-Along Came A Slider
-Peached Tortilla
-Tacos- what are the specialties at these two: Taqueria Selene and Portfirio's

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Cazamance
Austin, Austin, TX

[Optimista]

I love the fish malabar at G'raj Mahal. IMO, the best dishes at Cazamance are the vegetable-based ones rather than the meat-based ones. I heard that Cazamance has changed their menu to accommodate the throngs for SXSW and is only selling wraps, which is a shame. El Naranjo has changed their menu since I was last there, but friends of mine were there yesterday and raved about her tortilla soup.

Everything I've had at Peached Tortilla has been fantastic: pork belly sliders, pork belly tacos, fish tacos, fries. If you get fries, try their signature peach sauce - I'm not usually one to love sweet sauces when I'm expecting something savory, but I thought the peach sauce was worth making exception for.

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Cazamance
Austin, Austin, TX

[ssouth]

Here are a few places to add to your list to research:

1) Franklin's BBQ - currently a trailer but they should be in their brick and mortar location in east Austin by SxSW. Just check out any of the multiple threads on them.

2) Barley Swine - new small plates place on south Lamar from the owner of The Odd Duck Food trailer. I haven't been yet, but am looking forward to it. Would be a few minute cab or bus ride.

3) Backspace - a new pizza joint from the Parkside folks. Its in the alley behind Parkside.

[kathryn]

Thanks! Will keep an eye on what's going on with Franklin's.

Barley Swine sounds great. We were actually planning on trying to hit up Odd Duck and Gordough's one night.