Austin Restaurant & Activity Guide: Your insider’s guide to the best food, drink, and local entertainment in Austin. This list is organized by area of town, with food and activity highlights for each. Enjoy exploring Austin’s vibrant culinary and music scenes all over the city! Rideshare information: Uber, Lyft, and Ride Austin (a nonprofit rideshare) are all available in Austin. Cab services: Yellow Cab 512-452-9999, Austin Cab 512-478-2222 Austin B Cycle: Rentable bikes with stations all across the city. Great for riding downtown or around the lake on the hike and bike trail! Mueller (Surrounding Conference Area): EATS: -Torchy’s Tacos- Great variety of breakfast and other tacos available all day, plus great queso! -HEB- Large grocery store with pharmacy inside. -La Madeleine- French bakery and café serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner -Paco’s Tacos- Cozy Mexican restaurant with specialty tacos and enchiladas. -Alamo Drafthouse Cinema- Dine-in movie theater with great food and beverage options, and adjoining bar. ARTS: -The Thinkery- Austin’s fun new children’s museum, with space for families to play and explore art and science. -Texas Farmers Market, Sunday & Wednesday- Enjoy fresh veggies and artisanal foods by the beautiful lake and park area. UT Campus Area/North Lamar: EATS: -Texas French Bread- Cozy bakery/café offering lunch sandwiches and delightful bistro fare and wine for dinner. -Caffé Medici- Austin’s original specialty coffee shop, right in the heart of UT campus. -Uchiko- Offshoot of the famed Uchi restaurant with upscale sushi and small plates in a farmhouse-chic space. -Thunderbird Coffee- Hip, cheery coffee shop pouring locally roasted beans and craft beers on tap, plus snacks and sandwiches and lovely patio seating, just east of UT Campus. -Stiles Switch BBQ and Brews- Eatery with Texas BBQ, great atmosphere, and cold Texas brews. -Texas Chili Parlor- Tex-Mex and American cuisine in a fun, kitschy dive bar and local favorite. 1 ARTS: -The Blanton- Primary art collection for the City of Austin, with special and permanent collections and weekly events. -LBJ Presidential Library- Archives and museum exhibits outlining the history of LBJ’s Presidency and the United States of the time. -Harry Ransom Center- Internationally renowned humanities research library and museum, with rotating exhibitions, currently showing Vaudeville! -Cactus Café- In the beautiful old Student Union, a renowned music hall and listening room. Great place for café setting before evening live music starts. Downtown/Congress: EATS: -Coopers- Classic, straight-forward Texas Hill Country BBQ with all the southern sides. -Lambert’s- Upscale BBQ and modern Texas cooking in a beautiful restored downtown building. Head back at night for live music and fun upstairs bar. -Fareground- large food-hall setting with a variety of local restaurants to choose from, grab a few items from several storefronts and go sit outside or in the newly-renovated plaza. -Sixth Street- Austin’s most lively bar, restaurant, and music venue strip in historic downtown buildings. Explore all kinds of bars and eateries, and the beautiful haunted Driskill Hotel. ARTS: -Elephant Room- Old Austin underground jazz bar, amazing music live every night! -The Contemporary Austin- Reflects the spectrum of contemporary art through exhibitions, commissions, and education. Also visit their outdoor sculpture park at Laguna Gloria. -Mexic-Arte- Mexican and Latin American fine arts museum with great gift shop. -Antone’s- Iconic Austin blues venue with nightly live music and other acts. -Esther’s Follies- Modern-day vaudeville theater with amazing stand-up and improv comedy. South Congress: EATS: -Mañana- Chic café offering a variety of treats. Check out the other restaurants in the South Congress Hotel as well, including the lovely lobby bar. -June’s- Chic option for inventive New American fare, cocktails, beer and wine. -Hopdoddy Burger Bar- Fresh, all natural not-your-typical burgers and delicious fries and shakes. -Gueros- Mexican food standard in Austin for decades. Great outdoor patio with live music many week nights. ARTS: -The Continental Club- Live music every night from local rock, country, and blues acts. Visit The Gallery upstairs for a more intimate music listening room and great Jazz nights. 2 -Congress Bridge Bats- Head to the Congress Bridge at sunset and see the colonies of Mexican Freetail bats heading out on their nightly adventures. South Lamar/ South First: EATS: -Chuy’s- An Austin classic for Tex-Mex. -Uchi- An upscale, non-traditional take on Japanese cuisine. -Polvo’s- Great classic Tex-Mex dishes- and delicious frozen margaritas! ARTS: -Broken Spoke- Live country music and dancing in this historic Austin honky-tonk. -Barton Springs Pool/Zilker Park- Take a dip in Austin’s beloved natural springs pool, or hang out on the Zilker Park lawn with a great view of the Austin skyline. -The Dougherty Arts Center- Community arts venue with wonderful gallery and frequent theater and dance performances. 3 .