Austin has become one of the trendiest cities in the US and for good reason! Tacos, nature, & plenty of breweries--what more do you need?
ATX Tips:
Be sure to plan your day(s) out ahead of time so you don't spend too much time hopping from one part of town to another, it's a relatively large city
If you’re flying into Austin and taking a rideshare keep in mind you’ll need to walk out to the parking garage to get to the pickup area. It’s only a few minutes, but don’t call your ride until you’re walking or you might be late!
This may be obvious for some of you, but just in case: breakfast tacos. Duh. When you think about all of the tacos in Austin you might automatically think lunch/dinner, but don't sleep on breakfast tacos (see what I did there?)
Adventures & Ales Top Austin Recommendations:
Live Oak Brewing: A traditional German brewery with your standard Hefeweizen, Kolsch, and so on. The vibes are casual with disc golf and lots of picnic tables and live oaks (if the name didn’t give that away for you). The German food truck onsite, The Black Forest, is amazing. This is right near the airport, so go on your way in or out of town!
St Elmo Brewing: Industrial vibes with a large outdoor space, and tasty beers. Spicy Boys Fried Chicken food truck lives onsite for eats.
This is located inside The Yard, a fun development space with a winery, distillery, cocktail bar, sake, seltzery, restaurants. and a coffee shop.
Banger's Sausage House and Beer Garden: Highly recommend particularly for brunch. Get there early or expect to wait, but the 'manmosa' with a full bottle of champagne in it is well worth the wait! They also have live music and a great outdoor space. Touristy but fun!
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Wine country: If you have access to a car the wineries west of the city are awesome! Fredericksburg is the most popular of the Texas Wine Trail. Vinovium is a more casual wine stop that has cute outdoor seating and super friendly staff!
Better Half Coffee and Cocktails: A fun spot any time of day—their menu rotates for the morning and evening with great options. They have a nice patio space and the interior is very cute.
Holdout Brewing: Located directly next door to Better Half! They have a nice patio space and good beers.
Vacancy Brewing: A great brewery right across from The Yard. They are small but putting out tasty beers. They’ve also got a food truck onsite with a contemporary Tao menu.
Southern Heights Brewing Company: A solid brewery in East Austin with chill warehouse vibes. The team here is super nice and they have a large tap list with a wide variety of beers.
Torchy's Tacos: They’ve got several locations across town—their queso is SO good!
Zilker Brewing Co: Beers are good, atmosphere is fun, and they have a food truck that lives out front.
Walton's Fancy and Staple: Great spot for breakfast, lunch and flowers.
Meanwhile Brewing: A nice brewery with a massive outdoor space. There are tons of picnic tables, Adirondack chairs, a field, a playground and a stage. They also have 5 food trucks onsite with something for every palate. In addition to their beers they have cocktails, wine and coffee.
Torchy’s
Austin Tourist Spots Actually Worth Visiting:
Rainey Street: The street has changed a lot in the last few years but it is definitely still worth spending time on. The street is full of cute old houses converted into bars and restaurants.
Voodoo Donuts: SO good. This Portland donut shop has extreme donuts that are truly fantastic.
Dirty 6th: The tourist part of 6th Street is basically a less cool version of Beale Street in Memphis or Bourbon Street in New Orleans. I definitely recommend getting on the jackalope (you’ll see) if you find yourself here.
Lady Bird Lake: The "lake" is really just the section of the Colorado River that runs through downtown, but there are great trails around it, as well as kayaking, paddle boarding, and more!
The Broken Spoke: Get your Texas Two Step on at this classic dance bar.
UT Austin: The University of Texas, Austin is a pretty campus to wander through on your adventures downtown!
St. Elmo
Other Austin Things To Do:
Jester King Brewery: It's a solid drive outside of the city, but their sours are stellar so it may be worth adding to your itinerary, as it is definitely the most famous Austin brewery.
Vista Brewing: 30 minutes from Austin in the countryside, Vista has gorgeous grounds, delicious food, and a great beer selection. They specialize in barrel aged farmhouse ales, but everything was good here. Snag a cheese plate and some beer fried donuts if you know what’s good for you!
Lazarus Brewing: A little pricey, but the beers were good, the food was tasty, and the atmosphere was fun. Live music and a mixed indoor/outdoor style
Oskar Blues Brewing: The Austin location of the popular Colorado brewery. Live music stage, outdoor seating, and all the yummy beers this brewery is known for.
Irene's: cute little restaurant with delicious frosé.
4th Tap Brewing: A co-op brewery where the employees are part owner. It's pretty far north, but if you're in the area it's a cool spot with good beers!
Also in North Austin is North by Northwest Brewing that has great food, it’s definitely more restaurant-focused than brewery-focused though as a forewarning
Mount Bonnell: A fun "hike" with great views of the city and the river. Very easy and quite short.
Pinthouse Pizza and Brewery: Great IPAs, great pizza. Two locations in Austin for your convenience.
Texas State History Museum: Learn about the The Lone Star State at this thorough museum right near UT Austin.
Oddwood Brewing: A solid brewery in East Austin with their own food menu and a BBQ food truck onsite. They have a nice patio space.
Batch Craft Beer and Kolaches: A mediocre brewery with a great patio, a large selection of kolaches, and frequent food trucks.
Skip:
Graffiti Park/Hope Outdoor Gallery: overrun with tourists with their own spray paint, this used to be an awesome outdoor exhibit but sadly it's no longer worth your time
