My daughter, Emily, moved to Austin, Texas almost two years ago. Since then I’ve been splitting my vacation time between Austin and Disney World. I’ve been to Austin three times to visit Emily and tomorrow I’ll be taking my 4th trip there. During these trips I’ve learned that Austin is filled with good food, from food trucks to 5 star restaurants, Austin has it all. So before I begin my next Disney dining report, I’ve decided to offer you a different taste…a little taste of Austin!
Here are the places I’ve been to so far:
November 2015 Trip
- Home Slice Pizza
- Second Bar + Kitchen
- Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co
- Franklin Barbecue
- Fonda San Miguel
- Curra’s Grill (Home of the Original Avocado Margarita in Austin!)
- Jacoby’s Restaurant & Mercantile
- Hopdoddy Burger Bar
April 2016 Trip
In addition to visiting family, this trip was about us (my daughter, sister, niece, and myself) attending the Austin Food & Wine Festival together. Unfortunately though, as I was sitting at the airport in Chicago on April 20th, waiting to board the plane to Austin, I was told by my daughter that the festival had been cancelled.
We soon received this confirmation…
Due to recent and ongoing inclement weather saturating the grounds of Auditorium Shores and Republic Square Park, all outdoor Austin Food + Wine Festival programming has been canceled. All paid ticket-holders will be refunded the amount of purchase to the original form of payment.
This year’s festival was slated to include chefs from across the country, including Hugh Acheson, Andrew Zimmern, Jon Shook, Vinny Dotolo, and local favorites like Tyson Cole, Ramen Tatsu-Ya, Bryce Gilmore, Sonya Cote, and others. This would’ve been the fifth year for the festival, which would’ve taken place from Friday, April 22 to Sunday, April 24. Ticket prices ranged from $75 to $250 (for All-in-One). The event has has never been canceled before.
About a day or so later we received this info…
Now that Austin Food and Wine Festival is canceled this weekend because of wet grounds and impending storms, local chefs have a lot of extra food on their hands. Taking advantage of the edible excess, those Austin restaurants are offering the planned dishes anyway to the public. Here is Eater’s guide to where to find those tasty plates, from Contigo to Searsucker, etc.
Since we immediately received a full refund for our All-in-one tickets, we decided to spend our money by visiting some of the Austin restaurants who’s chefs were to be featured at the festival. So several of our dining choices were made with this in mind.
- Barley Swine
- Emmer & Rye
- Revival Public House (now closed)
- Searsucker
- Olivia (now closed)
- Veracruz All Natural (food truck)
- Contigo
- Moonshine Patio Bar & Grill
- Tacodeli
- Botticelli’s
- Peche
- Pieous
- Café No Sé Brunch
- Austin’s Pizza
September 2016 Trip
- Forthright Brunch
- Jack Allen’s Kitchen 360
- Porter Ale House & Gastropub Brunch
- Via 313 Pizza
- Snooze: an AM Eatery
- Enoteca Vespaio
- Salty Sow
April 2017 Trip
- Fixe
- Italic Easter Brunch
- Boiler Nine Bar & Grill
- Lucy’s Fried Chicken
- Odd Duck
- South Congress Cafe Brunch
- Hula Hut
- The Steeping Room
- North Italia
- Launderette
- Hopdoddy revisited
- Grizzelda’s
- VOX Table Brunch
Every Trip
Sweet Treats
- Voodoo Doughnut
- Sugar Mama’s Bakeshop
- Gourdough’s Donuts (food truck)
- Delysia Chocolatier
- Holy Cacao (food truck)
- Woof Gang Bakery (for pet treats)
Miscellaneous
I will post the links to the reviews as I get them posted to the blog, so check back for updates. I’ll also be adding several more restaurants to the above list from my upcoming trip, so there will be even more Austin food porn coming your way. So ya’ll come back now! Ya hear? 
Taste of Disney 