My bestie from college, Kat, moved to Austin about six months ago while she does online grad school classes, and we had a blast, spending about 5 days exploring the city! I visited Austin for the first time almost exactly 7 years ago, in March 2019, right before I started my corporate career. I feel like it’s gotten way trendier and feels very similar to LA (price-wise as well, sadly). If it’s under 75 degrees, it’s a very walkable city, and Kat is originally from NYC, so we did cover a lot of ground until I hurt my foot RIP.
WHEN TO VISIT AUSTIN
I’ve only ever been in March, and it’s been humid and 65-75 degrees and cloudy. In 2019, there was some sun, but this year it rained a little bit most days, and it was grey all day. It gets super hot in the summer, so I’d say the best time to visit would be spring in either March-May or fall in October-November, although it can still be pretty toasty in October (similar to Los Angeles).
WHERE TO STAY IN AUSTIN
Both times that I’ve visited Austin, I stayed with friends, but I was looking at Airbnbs, and there are several in good areas. It is such a small city that you don’t really need to stay in the main downtown area if you don’t mind walking. The city is somewhat divided by Lady Bird Lake, so north of the lake, you’ll find Rainey Street and 6th St, which have more of the bars and places to go out. South of the lake, you’ll find the South Congress shopping area and Barton Springs.
DAY 1: Thursday, March 5 – 8,200 steps
I landed in Austin around 7:45pm after a few flight delays and immediately Ubered to Torchy’s Tacos to get the queso I’ve been thinking about for the past 7 years. It didn’t disappoint (although the chips were superrr salty)! Kat finished up her grad school Thursday night class, and then came to meet me there and drove me back to her apartment. I was so surprised I fell asleep at 11pm CST, the equivalent of 9pm PST.
DAY 2: Friday, March 6 – 18,900 steps
Kat is nannying kids while she’s in school, so she left to do school drop off around 6:30am. When she returned, we went to grab some snacks at HEB, which I learned was named after its founder, Howard E. Butts, and has since tried to update the acronym to Here Everything is Better. It has been ranked as America’s favorite grocery store for the past 5 years, beating Costco and Trader Joe’s. I’m a Costco girlie, but I do see the appeal, starting off with this cute mural.
The grocery store was huge! The meat section alone was massive, and the dairy section had a cute sign. The store had every snack and niche beverage brand you could think of. It’s kind of like a Fred Meyer but bigger, and there wasn’t a clothing section. I didn’t really notice a price difference from Los Angeles.
After dropping off our groceries at Kat’s apartment, we went to Desnudo, a coffee shop with several locations. We went to the one in Westside Market. The “guayaba” guava matcha was so good!! It was truly the best matcha I’ve ever had!! And it was only $7! The market was pretty small but had a bookstore, home goods, some clothing, a sunglasses store, a flower stand, and a little gallery inside.
Next, we drove to East Austin and considered getting a pastry at Paper Boy, but decided to save stomach space for barbecue later. We wanted to go to Take Heart, a cute little shoppy shop, but it wasn’t open yet, so we just walked around and yapped for 30 minutes while we waited. The shop was super cute, and we were so good we didn’t buy anything, but if you need little homewares or skincare, definitely go.
If you know me, you know that I love Costco, and so does Kat, but she isn’t a member. So of course, we went to Costco and Kat did a little haul. By the time we got over to La Barbecue for lunch, it was already 1:30 and the line was not moving. I was feeling a little shaky since I had only consumed the matcha, and so I went across the street to Rockman Coffee and bought myself a cookie, which instantly revived me.
There are obviously a lot of barbecue places in Austin. I think Franklin Barbecue is the most popular, and we had driven past the line of people camped outside waiting before it opened. We were not in the mood to brave that line this trip, but that will be first on my list next time I’m in Austin.
La Barbecue was solid, but I’ve had better bbq in California (Heritage Barbecue!!). Kat and I shared a half-pound of brisket (salty, took some home), a turkey sandwich (good), and a side of mac and cheese (had some spices, best part of the meal). The smallest amount you can order is ½ pound, but some other barbecue places let you order ⅓ pound.
On our way home, we drove through Rainey Street, which is right by the lake and has a lot of restaurants and bars. We hung out at Kat’s apartment for a bit, and then Kat dropped me off at ATX Pilates on her way to school to pick up the kids. The class was pretty tough. This was my first reformer pilates class this year, and it definitely uses different muscles from running or weightlifting. I do love that I can book classes anywhere I travel through ClassPass! I’ve been using it for the past couple of years instead of a gym membership, and you can read my full review of ClassPass here.
Pilates was only about a mile from Kat’s place, so I walked back, stopping at a vintage store and CVS. When she came home, we ate the salads we had purchased at HEB. Kat did some more homework, and I started reading Project Hail Mary, and then we walked to Licks Honest Ice Creams (on the inKind app so we got 20% back!). They had some fun flavors, and I loved the grapefruit champagne marshmallow one. We ran into one of Kat’s friends on the way back (Austin gives small-town vibes in that we randomly saw like 3 people Kat knew during my trip), and then we watched an episode of Friends and Neighbors on Apple TV, which was way too dark for me.
DAY 3: Saturday, March 7 – 21,700 steps
We woke up pretty early and drove to Barton Creek Greenbelt for a nature walk. We did the Violet Ridge Trail, which was pretty flat but was rocky, so I would recommend real tennis shoes, not just Nike Air Forces or Converse. Real running shoes. We walked for about an hour, and there weren’t very many people out, maybe because of the gloomy weather.
For breakfast, we met up with one of my first LA roommates, Maddie, at Bouldin Creek Cafe, which had a quirky easygoing atmosphere and reminded me of Portland. Maddie moved back to Texas during the pandemic and lives in North Austin now. She had met Kat when we all lived in LA in 2019. There was a short wait at 9:45am. We ordered a blueberry cornbread for the table (yum) and I got a potato leek omelet (very savory) and a coconut tea latte (also yum).
After, we showered at Kat’s and then headed back out to the Blanton Museum of Art,which was a good way to pass the time while it was raining. Kat was a member so we got discounted tickets and got to preview a new gallery. The whole museum was interesting because the art on the same walls were so different from each other, like different time periods, styles, and mediums. There was a little annex outside that had some stained glass.
We got our parking at the museum validated and decided to leave the car in the garage and walk the 1.5 miles to have an early dinner at Veracruz All Natural, which was a delicious fast-casual Mexican spot. We got agua frescas, which only came in the largest size, but we didn’t realize that, so I was shocked to see the trenta-sized cups. Sadly, we hardly made a dent in them because we couldn’t bring drinks into ACL Live, an event venue a couple blocks away.
We saw the 6pm Holy Shit Improv show, which was really funny! They took audience suggestions for the second part of their skits, and we all laughed. The doors opened at 5pm, and we got there around 5:30pm and there were about half the seats left, but they did all fill up by 6pm, and some people had to stand in the back. The show was done around 7:15pm, and we walked back to the car and were home by 8:30pm. An ideal Saturday night out for us lol.
DAY 4: Sunday March 8 – 24,100 steps
It was the first day of daylight savings, and we got up a little later than expected, so we just went straight to our 10:45am brunch reservation at Aba in South Congress. This is a popular restaurant, so you need to make a reservation at least a week in advance, maybe even earlier for dinner. It was very aesthetic with a nice outdoor patio. The food was good, but it was pretty overpriced in my opinion. We shared the short rib hummus, the grilled chicken kebab, and the blackberry drop biscuit.
My goal of the day was to find boots, so we walked up and down the length of South Congress (which isn’t really too long), and went into all the boot stores and took photos of some fun murals. The I Love You wall is at Jo’s Coffee. Tecovas and Lucchese had classic styles at a premium price point ($300+ who knew being a cowboy was expensive), while Allen’s Boots had a ton of colors and patterns and were more affordable (starting around $100). There’s way less options if you’re a size 6 or 6.5 like me. I tried a few on, but wasn’t loving any of them, so we just got coffee at Two Hands for coffee and drove to Boot Barn instead.
There, I found my perfect pair. My sister and mom agreed that these floral-embroidered cowgirl boots are very much me in boot-form. They were $200, but I’m telling myself that I’ll have them forever, and I probably will. When I got back to LA, I realized that they fit a bit strangely, so I was glad I got them from Boot Barn and that they had a location 30 minutes from me so that I could easily return them. I’m usually a size 6 in shoes, but I had purchased a size 7 to account for insoles and thick socks. They were still too big, and I learned boots are supposed to fit pretty snugly and form to your feet, so I re-ordered them in a 6.5.
On the way home, we stopped at Tiny’s Milk and Cookies for a sweet treat and got a snickerdoodle and a chocolate chip cookie to share. Kat wanted to get more steps, so we went on a walk across the lake and back. There were a ton of people out walking and biking and I think this would have been such a glorious walk in better weather!
Then we drove to do a Texas two-step lesson at The White Horse, which was really fun, highly recommend! It was all tourists and we all had a good time. The instructor was a very personable and funny gal and the lesson was technically free, but she took tips via cash or Venmo.
We walked a mile in the light rain to dinner, passing by all the bars on 6th Street, which were kind of dead because it was a rainy Sunday night. The greeters outside were all trying to get us to come in, and all the music was really loud, and I could see how it could be fun for college students or a bachelorette party? Just not our vibe.
Dinner was at Velvet Taco, which has a ton of fun global-inspired tacos. I tried the chicken tikka taco, and it was delicious! Kat and I also shared a bowl. I would say Torchy’s Tacos feels more like strictly fast food, while Velvet Taco has more options and feels slightly more healthy. Then we walked back to the car and drove to Amy’s Ice Creams for dessert. As I’m writing this, I realize I should’ve taken the opportunity to go to Dairy Queen!! All the ones in LA are like an hour away from me. Mistakes have been made. I also wanted to go to Waffle House, so one day I’ll have to come back for that.
DAY 5: Monday, March 9 – 2,900 steps
Kat left in the morning at 6:30am to spend the day nannying, and I had to accompany her down to the parking garage so that she could leave me her key fob for the day. I went back to her apartment to rest until it was light outside and I could go for a run by Lady Bird Lake. I had just turned off the light when I walked straight into a corner of a wall and jammed my toes really badly.
So I spent the rest of the morning calling my mom and reading Project Hail Mary while using a can of soda as an ice pack. The book is terrific, 10/10 would recommend!
I wanted a good salad, and it was no easy feat. I did see one Cava and one Sweetgreen in downtown, but I didn’t want to Uber. It hurt less to walk in shoes than barefoot, so I limped a few blocks to get lunch at Postino and got a half sandwich/half salad situation. Even the brussel sprout salad felt kind of heavy because there was bacon in it, but it did the job.
I spent the rest of the afternoon reading until Kat got back home around 5:30pm. For dinner, we went to Terry Black’s Barbecue and by some miracle we got a parking spot in the lot. The line looked long, but it only took about 20 minutes. Inside, they really rush customers along in a way I’ve never seen at a restaurant before (I went in 2019 and also don’t remember it being so chaotic), so I’d highly recommend looking at the menu and planning your meal before you go or while you’re waiting in line because you won’t have time to decide once you’re at the counter. You pick your sides first, and then led to the second counter where you order the meat, and they cut and weigh it in front of you. We got the perfect amount of food for the two of us. The green beans were a little salty so we had some of those leftover, but we finished everything else!
- 1/2 lb pork ribs (1 rib each)
- 1/3 lb brisket
- 1 mac cheese
- 1 green beans
- 1 cornbread muffin
- 1 banana pudding
- 1 peach cobbler
DAY 6: Tuesday, March 10 – 5,500 steps
This time, I got up with Kat to do school drop off and met the kids. After, we went to Manana for coffee. I got the sticky rice matcha, and it was the most expensive matcha I’ve ever had ($12 after tip, brutal). Then, we went to Teal House Coffee & Bakery, which had a nice quiet vibe if you need somewhere to work! We picked up a cinnamon roll and a kolache which we brought home, and they were both incredible.
I packed up my suitcase, then we went to Half Price Books (thought it was just a WA bookstore, but apparently it’s a chain!) so that I could grab an airport read. The move is to go straight to the clearance section where the books are $2-$3. We then hit up Target and Trader Joe’s before heading to the airport.
I had such a fun time in Austin! A big thank you to Kat for hosting me and taking me around town! The flight is only about 2.5 hours from LA, so I’ll definitely come back for a weekend trip!
RECOMMENDATIONS:
- See a show at ACL Live
- The guava matcha at Desnudo
- Terry Black’s BBQ
- Two Step Lesson at The White Horse
- Teal House Coffee & Bakery
FOR NEXT TIME:
- Franklin’s Barbecue
- Run around Lady Bird Lake
- Tacodeli
- Zilker Botanical Garden
