Things To Do
South Congress
Rachel lived at an apartment complex on south congress when we started dating and it's an iconic part of Austin that is great for exploring. Shops to check out: Allen's Boots, Tecovas, Prima Dora gift shop, Neighborhood Goods, Yeti Flagship Store, Kendra Scott Places to eat: Home Slice Pizza, Guero's Taco Bar, Lucky Robot Japanese, Joann's American/Mexican fusion, Vespaio Italian, Magnolia Cafe, Torchy's Tacos Coffee shops: Jo's Coffee (make sure to stop by the "I love you so much" mural painted on the wall), Mañana, Two Hands, Freddo is in a historic home that was moved from downtown Grab some ice cream on the go at Amy's Ice Cream an iconic Austin chain Bars: Continental Club and C-Boys are both old Austin authentic experiences. These are for the dive bar lovers out there! Check out White Tiger for another cool spot There is something for everything on South Congress and it has the best view of the capital in the city. Highly recommend!
Downtown Austin
There is so much to do downtown this is no where near an exhaustive list but see below for some of our favorite spots! Activities: Walk around town lake on the trail, stop by the Austin Public Library which is right on the water and a beautiful building, tour the capital building (yes it's taller than the US Capital building) Restaurants: La Condesa (upscale Mexican), Cooper's BBQ, Lambert's BBQ, Wu Chow, Qi, Sammies Italian (our favorite restaurant but a little pricey), Fareground food hall, Veracruz All Natural (tacos) Rooftop Bars: Zanzibar, P6 at The Line, Upstairs at the Caroline. We recommend booking a reservation for Zanzibar or P6 just to be safe! See some live jazz at the Elephant Room or book tickets to any of the venues on Red River for a great night. It's easy to wander around and find something fun anywhere here!
More Restaurants
Some of these would be a drive or uber away but are amazing! Patrizi's is an Italian food truck serving up some of the best Italian food and it was where we went on our first date! El Alma is a great authentic Mexican spot that has a cool rooftop view of downtown. Terry Black's BBQ is one of the best in the city (not accepting comments) Chuy's is our favorite Tex-Mex chain that's all around Texas. The creamy jalapeño dip is addicting. Franklin's is an iconic BBQ spot but you have to get in line EARLY (like 7am). They open at 11 and stop serving when they run out of food but it's the most famous brisket in town.
Breweries / Cool Bars
Austin Beerworks (would be a 20 drive to either location from downtown) Zilker Brewing and Lazarus are right across the street from each other in East Austin next to a bunch of other restaurants and bars too Meanwhile Brewing (a 15 minute drive from downtown but might have live music going to) Central Machine Works is a fun bar Hold Out Brewing and Better Half Coffee and Cocktails Cosmic (you have to try a boozy coffee)
More Activities
Bob Bullock Texas History Museum Blanton Museum of Art Walk around the University of Texas Campus LBJ Library on UT's Campus Zilker Park (where ACL music festival happens) Auditorium Shores Park Waterloo Records Shop
Murals
'I love you so much' (1300 S Congress Ave) 'Love from Austin' (1912 S. Congress Ave.) 'You're the yee to my haw' (1701 S. Congress Ave.) 'Willie for President' (1415 S. Congress Ave.) 'Greetings' (1720 S 1st St) 6th Street Mural (732 E 6th St) 'The Beauty and Liberty of Equality' (111 E Cesar Chavez St) Tau Ceti, Austin's tallest mural (E 2nd St & Brazos St) 'hi, how are you?' (Guadalupe St. & 21st St.) Austintatious (453-401 W 23rd St.) 'You're My Butter Half' (2000 E Martin Luther King Jr Blvd)