Three Nights in Austin: Five Things
I got home a few hours ago from my trip to Austin. As I noted at the outset it was mostly business plus a bit of leisure. ...Meaning, I met up with a friend Sunday evening then spend Monday and Tuesday working before coming home Wednesday morning. I didn't blog much while I was out there so I'll sum up now with Five Things about how I spent three nights in Austin:
The hotel I stayed at was a nondescript Courtyard by Marriott near The Domain. For a place calling itself "near" The Domain, a new-ish high-end shopping and entertainment district, it wasn't really walkable to all the fancy stuff. And it was a well-worn hotel, probably not updated in at least 25 years. But I expected all that. Experienced travelers know the pros and cons of brands like Courtyard. One small nice touch was that I got a room with a balcony. That was actually a plus as Austin had a break from 98° weather the past few days. It was nice to sit outside in the evenings.
Rockin' at Rock Rose. Sunday night I met my friend, Pat, and we got dinner and drinks at The Domain. We started with pizza and beer at a place on Rock Rose Avenue. It was in the very heart of the entertainment district I mentioned above... and, man, was that heart pumping on Sunday evening! The pizza parlor was chill, but the clubs around us were absolutely packed with young adults in club attire, while people in tricked-out cars cruised up and down the street. "Wow, this is the new Sixth Street," Pat quipped. After dinner we walked around Rock Rose for a bit and landed at a bowling club for a nightcap.
Tex-Mex at Chuy's. Monday night I met up with one of my colleagues and we went out for Tex-Mex at Chuy's. We tried to line up more folks to go with us but schedule changes and divergent preferences made that not work. Chuy's is a chain restaurant I've been to in Virginia. There I had a low opinion of it; I hoped it would be better in Texas. And it was, partly. The food was fresh and well made, and the service was snappy. Drinks at the bar were sad, though, and the wait for a table was awful: 45 minutes on a Monday night! They were crowded. "They're always crowded," an Austinite colleague told me later.
The Salt Lick. Tuesday night my boss planned a team dinner at the The Salt Lick BBQ. It's a famous Central Texas barbecue restaurant about half an hour outside of Austin. Why all the famous barbecue places are way, way outside the city I don't know; but Austinites flock to these places. I thought the food was... okay. The brisket, one of their signature dishes, was dry and tough. Local treat the place like it's a temple to which they make regular pilgrimages. I felt it was more of a tourist trap. Like, "Okay, I've been there once, that's enough, no need to go back." 😕
You went to Texas... for Chinese food?? While our team was driving out to The Salt Lick we were comparing notes about what one of the other teams in town at the same time was doing for its group dinner. "First they picked some hamburger place, then they changed to Chinese," my boss observed. We all gasped in astonishment. Then made fun of them. "Well, that explains why that team has problems," one colleague snorted. "They're probably at some nationwide overly Americanized chain like P.F. Chang's," another offered, to hoots and howls of laughter. Texas is famous for two cuisines, Texas barbecue and Tex-Mex. You don't go to Central Texas for the Chinese food. Especially midwestern White people Chinese food like P.F. Chang's.
The hotel I stayed at was a nondescript Courtyard by Marriott near The Domain. For a place calling itself "near" The Domain, a new-ish high-end shopping and entertainment district, it wasn't really walkable to all the fancy stuff. And it was a well-worn hotel, probably not updated in at least 25 years. But I expected all that. Experienced travelers know the pros and cons of brands like Courtyard. One small nice touch was that I got a room with a balcony. That was actually a plus as Austin had a break from 98° weather the past few days. It was nice to sit outside in the evenings.
Rockin' at Rock Rose. Sunday night I met my friend, Pat, and we got dinner and drinks at The Domain. We started with pizza and beer at a place on Rock Rose Avenue. It was in the very heart of the entertainment district I mentioned above... and, man, was that heart pumping on Sunday evening! The pizza parlor was chill, but the clubs around us were absolutely packed with young adults in club attire, while people in tricked-out cars cruised up and down the street. "Wow, this is the new Sixth Street," Pat quipped. After dinner we walked around Rock Rose for a bit and landed at a bowling club for a nightcap.
Tex-Mex at Chuy's. Monday night I met up with one of my colleagues and we went out for Tex-Mex at Chuy's. We tried to line up more folks to go with us but schedule changes and divergent preferences made that not work. Chuy's is a chain restaurant I've been to in Virginia. There I had a low opinion of it; I hoped it would be better in Texas. And it was, partly. The food was fresh and well made, and the service was snappy. Drinks at the bar were sad, though, and the wait for a table was awful: 45 minutes on a Monday night! They were crowded. "They're always crowded," an Austinite colleague told me later.
The Salt Lick. Tuesday night my boss planned a team dinner at the The Salt Lick BBQ. It's a famous Central Texas barbecue restaurant about half an hour outside of Austin. Why all the famous barbecue places are way, way outside the city I don't know; but Austinites flock to these places. I thought the food was... okay. The brisket, one of their signature dishes, was dry and tough. Local treat the place like it's a temple to which they make regular pilgrimages. I felt it was more of a tourist trap. Like, "Okay, I've been there once, that's enough, no need to go back." 😕
You went to Texas... for Chinese food?? While our team was driving out to The Salt Lick we were comparing notes about what one of the other teams in town at the same time was doing for its group dinner. "First they picked some hamburger place, then they changed to Chinese," my boss observed. We all gasped in astonishment. Then made fun of them. "Well, that explains why that team has problems," one colleague snorted. "They're probably at some nationwide overly Americanized chain like P.F. Chang's," another offered, to hoots and howls of laughter. Texas is famous for two cuisines, Texas barbecue and Tex-Mex. You don't go to Central Texas for the Chinese food. Especially midwestern White people Chinese food like P.F. Chang's.