LilyLou

Hi All
My friend and I (I am single, she is married, 31 years old females) are going to Austin this week.

I am staying at the Austin Motel, and have a rental car. I get in around 8 PM on Thursday night, and leave at 4 pm on Sunday afternoon.

Goals of trip
1) I am thinking about relocating to a city from Leesburg, Virginia and Austin is the first city on my list and I want to get a feeling for living in/near downtown
2) Fun food, music, drinks, shopping, etc.

Questions?
I'll have a car and can drive around - any recommendation for good restaurants, bars, live music places (nice to have a few suggestions within walking distance if that is possible)

For recommendations if I need to wear something other than jeans (my standard uniform ) please indicate that.

Things I think I want to do/see:
Walk around town lake
eat some tex mex
listen to live music
check out downtown and surrounding neighborhoods

Thanks Bunches!

zialot

You are going to love Austin! It's one of my favorite cities. 6th Street is the main place for music, bars, and restaurants. But the warehouse district is close and is also a great place for that. They're both right downtown and you can walk around to most of the places.

For Tex-Mex, try Chuy's. I think there is one near Barton Creek. For BBQ, go to the Salt Lick. For upscale dining, try Truluck's.

Outside of the downtown, I'd drive over to Lake Travis - it's a beautiful area and there are some bars and restaurants around it.

Enjoy!!

Austin

You have picked an excellent place - motel and location - to stay in Austin! One of the best, IMHO. You are in the midst of South COngress Ave with cool, hip, funky businesses, and some good restaurants.

Nearly outside the doors of the motel you will find Jo's, a great place for coffee. It's a walk up but has tables for just relaxing. A few blocks south is one of my favorite places for breakfast - The Magnolia Cafe. I love their avocado and tomato omlette with queso...

Across the street is Zen, great asian place - small, comfy, priced well. Order at the counter - eat in oro outside. Walk about a block to Gueros for mexican food. A few blocks south is Vespaio, one of the best Italian restaurants in Austin. Also plenty of little shops up and down the street.

Across from the Austin motel is the Continental Club, a live music venue with great bands every night.

For a list of who's playing where, check out www.auscrhon.com Thursdays' issue will have the music listings for the weekend you will be there

Austin

And to answer your other question - jeans will be fine. Nothing dressier needed.

Saturday at the Continental Club is Toni Price (early show) and The LeRoi Bros. Good stuff!

LilyLou

Thanks for the replys Very helpful, I am writing everything down so I'll have it on me.

jd

We recently visited Austin for the 1st time and thought it was a great city. For Tex-Mex, we had a great meal at Chuy's. For BBQ, we went to Salt Lick, and it was great-definitely worth the drive. The Magnolia Cafe has a location on South Congress, and another near Town Lake;make sure you get there for breakfast. The gingerbread pancakes are really good.
Another place I will recommend is the Hula Hut on Lake Austin(www.hulahut.com).The food is awesome, and you can sit outside overlooking the water. Jeans are fine everywhere there. Have a great time!

Austin

And....so far the weather looks pretty good for that weekend (except maybe some rain Thrs) Highs in the mid to upper 60's. Lows in the 40's. If it's sunny on Sat, might be a good day to walk Town lake, which you can get to from your hotel via foot...

AustinTraveler

LilyLou, you'll love Austin and have gotten some great suggestions. A great place for happy hour during the week is Saba Blue Water Cafe in the Warehouse District (Fourth Street). Half price drinks and shareable plates and a great atmosphere. Also, Manuel's on Congress is great. Catch a movie at the Alamo Drafthouse too. And, don't forget to visit Whole Foods (Lamar and 5th). It is not your ordinary grocery store! There are cute shops in the area of Whole Foods too as well as Waterloo records if you're interested in picking up a few CD's of great local artists. As for neighborhoods to check out, will you be renting or buying if you move to Austin?

moldyhotelsaregross

Saving this for future use.

LilyLou

Hi all,
thanks for the tips. I am excited for the weather, the continental club, the restaurtants. thanks so much everybody. My list of places to eat, see and hear is filling out nicely.

AustinTraveler,
For the renting or buying question. I am hoping to get 6 month lease initially and then to buy a place. I don't want buy till I know the area well. But I do think I want to live in or around downtown.

Thanks

jd

Forgot to say, for icecream, go to Amy's on Lamar. Its right near Whole Foods. There is also outdoor ice skating at Whole Foods.

LilyLou

outdoor ice skating at the whole foods? Wow, I am going to have to see this Whole Foods.

AustinTraveler

LilyLou, it's a great idea to rent first and you'll have no problem getting a six or seven month lease. The reason I asked is because I wasn't sure what your budget will be. Properties in and near downtown are really expensive, but if you can swing it, it is definitely the place to live in Austin! I live just north of downtown in Rosedale. Lots of cute old houses, plenty of restaurants, Central Market, etc. But, be prepared to pay $350K at the very minimum. If you want to rent right downtown, look at Amli Condos down in the Warehouse District. They look really cool and the location is great. http://www.amlidowntown.com/home.html

Whatever you do, try to live close to work cause traffic pretty much sucks in Austin during commute times. And the only other negative thing I've ever found about Austin is that the property taxes are outrageous. But, neither of those things are enough to make Austin a bad place. There's just way too much good that outweighs the negatives!

Austin

Definitely visit Whole Foods. You can even have lunch or dinner there. TThey have underground parking and an escalator that takes you up to the store. (Their skaking rink was only up around the holidays and as of Jan 2, is no more.. Till next year...)

Chuys is great Tex Mex. I like Manuels Sunday Brunch. Haven't been in ages, but they used to have a jazz band there.

Another music stop would be Antones in the Warehouse district (4th/Lavaca)

As someone else mentioned, downtown Austin is very pricey. VERY. What kind of work would you be interested in?

LilyLou

Hi all thanks for tips on real estate. I have been checking out realtor.com for current listings to get an idea of costs etc. I currently live in a an expensive area so the cost doesn't seem too bad actually. And it's just me and my little dog so we don't need a big place so hopefully that'll help too.

I am in IT - software QA/Testing.

thanks for all the info

trippinkpj

I think you can find reasonable housing in the southwest area in some decent neighborhoods. I may be thinkg more houses than condo's. Anyway for BBQ and music, try the very casual and reasonable Artz Rib House on South Lamar. Also the Saxon Pub on South Lamar has music that I've enjoyed. The Broken Spoke is a trip just to see the memorabilia. I did go to the Whole Foods, which is amazing. We saw a fun Blues band at the Continental Club. We ate at the D&L Music Cafe (I think that's the name. Service was slow and food only so so.
Karen
PS- I don't live in Austin but have visted a few times (my daughter lives there).

venusfan

If u happen to See Mack Brown please tell him he's still a loser.

LilyLou

Hi!

Thanks for all the information everyone. I had so much food and loved Austin.
I did so much in so little time.
Guero's - great
Continental - really cool
Austin Motel- great location, quirky rooms.
La Luna del sol, yummy mexican breakfast
Artz Ribs- very good
Bar hopping from 4th to 6th
Mimosa at the driskill
driving tour of the city
Local Artist festival downtown
shopping on South Congress
Whole Foods
Lake Travis - The Oasis - so pretty
walked tons all around downtown, such a walkable city
and much more, everything was close, yummy and beautiful.

Thanks for all the recommendations, sorry I couldn't fit them all in
Thanks!

texastraveler

I just found this thread. It looks like there are some great recommendations here!

Austin

Lily - sounds like you did a lot! Good for you and glad you had a nice time.