A Taste of Austin at #SXSWedu

As a foodie traveling to Austin, I couldn’t resist eating at some of my favorite spots, and a few new ones along the way. This isn’t just for those traveling to Austin for SXSWedu or SXSW, but for anyone that enjoys a good meal in a great town. We made a pack when traveling to Austin, we wouldn’t eat at any place we could eat at home.

Le Cafe Crepe

The best place in Austin near the convention center for breakfast is Le Cafe Crepe with a vast variety of crepes, inlcuding a breakfast special with coffee or tea, fresh fruit, and a crepes with various filling options. It’s a friendly, family owned restaurant where I have never had a bad meal. The first crepe I devoured was filled with egg, ham, and cheddar cheese. The next visit was filled with spinach, Swiss cheese, and eggs. Don’t miss this spot while visiting Austin, TX.

http://www.cafecrepeofaustin.com/default.html

Easy Tiger

The Easy Tiger (located right outside the Hilton Garden Inn Downtown Austin) is a bake shop and brew house. Upstairs features a bake shop with coffee, tea, fresh bread, pretzels, and sandwiches. Downstairs features a brew house and restaurant with over 20 craft beers on draft, beer cheese, house made sausages on pretzel buns, and more! It’s a great environment with good services. Plus you can always grab a paddle for a game of ping pong.

We snacked on the delicious Snack Board (2 Small Pretzels, Large Beer Cheese, House Mustard, Chex Mix, Jerky), unique Linguiça (Wild Boar, Garlic, Paprika, Smoke with Bacon-Braised Greens), and tasty Classic Bratwurst (Pork, Veal with Mustard & Kraut) both on a pretzel bun (a must).

http://www.easytigeraustin.com/

Chupacabra Cantina

For a quick taste of Tex Mex we stopped into Chupacabra Cantina for lunch. Simple Tex Mex with a few unique lunch items at a great price. We ordered the Mini Burritos stuffed with pulled chicken, covered in chili con queso and green chili sauce and Yucatan Pulled Pork Enchiladas stuffed with pulled pork and topped with avocado tomatilla sauce, habenero sour cream, and pineapple pico. Both were severed with rice and beans and under $7.

http://www.chupacabracantina.com/

Frank – Hot Dogs – Cold Beer

You can’t pass up a place who’s website is http://hotdogscoldbeer.com/, even as a vegetarian they have tons of options. It’s pretty obvious what they serve but it’s not your Momma’s hot dog.

The Chicago Dog (Poppy seed bun, 100% Vienna Beef dressed with pickle spear, tomatoes, onions, day-glo relish, sport peppers, celery salt, mustard) was so good she couldn’t resist having a second.

The Southern Boy (Blackened, split Vienna Beef Hot Polish link dressed with caramelized onions, crispy pork belly, pepper jack cheese and our Dr. Doppelgänger BBQ sauce) was unique and a great variation to a traditional dog.

The Cheese Waffle Fries (Cheddar, sour cream, and chives) reminded me of loaded potatoes and was a great side to split.

We couldn’t resist dessert with the word BACON in them. We split Chocolate-Covered Bacon (Hickory-smoked bacon dipped in milk chocolate, turbinado sugar and sea salt) and soft delicious Chocolate Chip & Bacon Cookie (House baked chocolate chip, pecan, walnut, cranberry and bacon cookie).

Piranha Killer Sushi

We were craving sushi and decided to give Piranha Killer Sushi a try near the convention center. It was a great choice with decent wine prices, delicious fresh sushi, and good service. We grabbed a few basic rolls, including avocado, salmon, California, and Philly. The highlight was the Lobster Roll (masago, scallions, shrimp tempura & ginger cream topped with avocado & lobster) was ever bit of deliciousness in your mouth. For dessert we dived into the Banana Spring Roll à La Mode, I wasn’t a big fan of the green tea ice cream, but loved the red.

http://www.piranhakillersushi.com/