Hotel: The Hotel San José on South Congress Street is close to The Continental Club, and is also a nice place to grab a drink. (The Continental Club has been around since 1955, and is an amazing place to hear live music. I saw Kathy Valentine of the Go-Gos play a farewell concert there with The Bluebonnets, just before she moved to England: it was electric, unforgettable.)
Restaurant: Justine’s Brasserie is an ideal restaurant, with great French food, a bustling dining room and lovely outdoor space, and a replica of Picasso’s portrait of Gertrude Stein in the ladies’ room. Somehow, I always have fun at Justine’s. The cocktails are exceptional. There’s even a tintype photography studio out back.
For breakfast: When I moved to Austin, South Congress Street was a collection of oddball businesses and very Austin joints; there was even, too briefly, a wax museum. Now it’s dominated by fancy boot and hat shops (as well as the old school Allens Boots). Güero’s Taco Bar (alongside the fabled Continental Club) is one of the last older businesses standing, good any time of the day, but the breakfast tacos are my favorite. Some people find it too touristy because of its location. More queso for me, I say.
For a caffeine fix: Quack’s Bakery in Hyde Park (though they have other locations). Excellent cookies and cakes, too.
To stock up on beauty buys: Hand to God, I buy most of my stuff in the beauty aisle of H-E-B, the legendary and beloved Texan grocery store.
For dessert: Lammes Candies, especially their Longhorns (caramel, pecans, and chocolate). Lammes has been around since 1885 and is one of my favorite candy shops of all time.
Theater: Austin is an extraordinary movie theater town, with the Alamo Drafthouse, the Violet Crown, and the Paramount Theatre’s summer movie series—but the monarch of them all is the Austin Film Society, director Richard Linklater’s joint, whose new releases and series (classic films you’ve heard of and many you haven’t) have been a profound influence on my work and a joy in my life. You didn’t ask, but I also love Esther’s Follies on Old Sixth Street—a comedy/magic/musical parody show that’s been running for 50 years and is both up-to-the-minute and delightfully old-fashioned.
#Elizabeth #McCrackens #Guide #Austin
