Things To Do
Jack Allen's Kitchen Round Rock
Jack Allen's is one of our favorite restaurants! There are a few locations around town, including one in Round Rock. Our favorite dishes include the quesadilla, chicken nachitos, catfish and slaw, 13 spiced chicken pasta, and chorizo-stuffed pork tenderloin. Our favorite cocktails include the prickly pear mojito, Tom's Favorite margarita, and the Cactus Jack.
Salt Traders Coastal Cooking
Salt Trader's is the sister restaurant for one of our favorites, Jack Allen's. You may think, "seafood in Texas??" but this place has delicious food. The cocktails are wonderful as well!
Moonshine Comfort & Cocktails
This is a cozy restaurant that serves Southern classics. It's kind of like Jack Allen's (our favorite), but if it were decorated by Joanna Gaines. For food we recommend the spit-roasted chicken, the chicken fried steak, and the cornflake fried chicken salad. For drinks we recommend the bourbon slush (so good!) and the harvest moon tea.
Culinary Dropout
This is a funky spot where all of the waiters are beautiful hipsters. It is located in the Domain, which is a huge complex of mixed use space filled with shopping, restaurants, bars, and apartments. From Culinary Dropout we recommend the pork belly nachos, pretzels & fondue, the Korean style ribeye cap, and the fried chicken. Their cocktails are also delicious.
URBAN Eat.Drink
We are adding this place to the list because of one of their cocktails - they have a cocktail that comes with a flower called a buzz button. When you eat this, it makes your mouth numb. It's not an experience we expected during happy hour! Also the Famer's Daughter turkey burger is delicious. This place is near a number of other restaurants and bars in Round Rock if you want to do some bar hopping.
Round Rock Donuts
Grab a donut at Round Rock Donuts, as seen on Man vs Food. The donuts have a delicious orange glaze. You can get one as big as a bucket, but the regular size is sufficient.
Torchy's Tacos
You absolutely cannot go wrong with Torchy's Tacos! We went on one of our first dates here. There are many locations all around town, including this one in Round Rock. This is a casual place - you order at the counter. Most sell beer, some have a full bar. For breakfast we love the migas taco and the potato, egg and cheese taco. For lunch/dinner we love the Trailer Park (get it trashy!), Fried Avocado, Baja Shrimp, Brushfire and Mr. Orange. This place is on the top of our most recommended places in Austin!
Paul Martin’s Austin Grill
Paul Martin's is a great spot in the Domain for happy hour or dinner. We recommend the handmade tater tots, deviled eggs, veggie burger, brick chicken, and you can't go wrong with a steak here. Their cocktails are delicious as well.
Kerbey Lane Cafe - Round Rock
Kerbey Lane is another Austin staple. There are many locations throughout town, the original being on Kerbey Lane (the location pinned here is the Round Rock location). Many locations are a 24/7 diner with a large menu. They are famous for their pancakes, and you can even take some of their mix home. For food we recommend the crispy chicken benedict, eggs Francisco, chicken fried chicken, chicken pesto panini, and Nabil's Mid-East Feast salad.
Chuy's
Chuy's is a classic Austin Tex-Mex spot. There are a few locations around town. They all have funky decor and tasty food. We recommend the Chuychanga and the chicken fajitas. You have to try their famous jalapeno ranch sauce as well!
Roaring Fork
Roaring Fork is a little more upscale, but not stuffy. They have a lovely patio that we highly recommend. Their happy hour is excellent as well (happy hour is only in the bar and patio area). For food we recommend the queso con puerco, rotisserie chicken flatbread, fried avocado and crab, the split roasted half chicken, and the big ass burger. For drinks we recommend the huckleberry margarita and the blood orange margarita.
Ramos Tex-Mex Restaurant #3
We had to give a shout out to our local Mexican restaurant, less than 5 minutes from us. There are lots of great holes in the wall throughout town, but if you end up at Ramos we recommend the migas tacos, the chon changa, and the mango margarita.
Spider House
Spider House is the place where we had our very first date! It is a cute cafe with both indoor and outdoor seating (we highly recommend sitting outside). If you sit outside just seat yourself & the wait staff will find you. It's a great spot for lunch or to enjoy the Texas weather.
Driskill Hotel
The Driskill is an old beautiful hotel in the heart of downtown Austin. We recommend it for its Texas-y bar (complete with leather chairs and a cow head hanging on the wall), and its fancy restaurant, the Driskill Grill. The lobby is also beautiful and worth a stroll through.
Franklin Barbecue
In case you need your fill of BBQ, this is the world famous Franklin Barbecue. You need to show up early (like, 9 AM early) and it involves waiting in line, but you can bring along a pack of beer to help enjoy your wait. The wait makes it taste even better! When Anthony Bourdain visited Franklin's he proclaimed, "only Texans and Jews understand brisket." We think he was right.
Dai Due
If you're looking for a fancy and unique meal, this is a great spot. The restaurant is attached to a butcher shop, and they get a lot of unique meats. From Wednesday through Sunday they have a rotating supper club menu that we recommend.
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Mueller
Alamo Drafthouse has spoiled us so much that going to a regular movie theater seems weird now. There are many locations across Austin. At the Drafthouse there is wait staff who serve food and drinks right to your seat. There is also special programming that happens regularly, including Master Pancake, which is like Mystery Science Theater 3000 with live comics. To eat we recommend the loaded fries, Omnivore pizza, fried chicken sandwich, and the chicken tenders. You can also purchase tickets ahead of time and reserve specific seats (highly recommended). This is one of our favorite things in Austin!
Zilker Metropolitan Park
Zilker is a huge park just south of downtown Austin. This is where many festivals happen throughout the year, including ACL and the Kite Festival. It is a great spot to go for a walk and look at the Austin skyline.
Mount Bonnell
There are a couple of ways to do Mount Bonnell - you can hike up it, or you can drive up it. At the top there is an easy, short path that leads to a great view of downtown on one side, and a view of the Colorado river on the other side.
Mayfield Park and Nature Preserve
Mayfield is a charming park that for some reason has many peacocks that are residents. It's very peaceful, and if you go to Mount Bonnell it's a quick drive down the hill to get to Mayfield.
Round Rock Express Baseball Club
The Round Rock Express are Austin's Minor League Baseball team. The games are not quite as popular as UT football games, but they're fun. They often put on a fireworks show on Friday nights after the games.
Pennybacker Bridge
You've likely seen the Pennybacker Bridge in commercials, and it's where we took our first picture together (see the main page of this website! The bridge is on the 360 highway. We HIGHLY recommend a drive down the highway when you visit because the beautiful Texas wildflowers will be in bloom. You can park on the northwest side of the bridge along the road and then walk up a short but very steep path to get to the top of the ridge. This is a great spot for photos.
South Congress Avenue
South Congress has a number of eclectic shops and restaurants. We recommend popping in to Allen's Boots and the many boutiques. There are a number of restaurants nearby such as Homeslice Pizza, Hopdoddy Burger Bar, Guero's Taco Bar, and Torchy's Tacos. Don't skip out on a stop at Amy's Ice Cream as well! Ask Sara for the best place to park for free (my little secret).
Esther's Follies
Esther's Follies is a long running comedy show right in downtown Austin. There's singing, there's dancing, there's a healthy amount of poking fun at Austin and Texas. It's not very young-kid-friendly, but is hilarious. Word to the wise - the location is right on the edge of 6th Street. If you're there on a Friday or Saturday night, it turns into the Austin version of Bourbon Street (but without the legal drinking outside). We generally avoid the area and all of the frat boys during that time.
Texas Capitol
Texas is home to the largest Capitol building (shocking!). Check out the beautiful rotunda and make faces at the picture of GW hanging up. The grounds are a lovely place for a stroll or picnic or protest as well.
BookPeople
BookPeople is a great local book store near downtown. They have a huge selection and free parking.
Blanton Museum of Art
The Blanton is UT's art museum. They have a good mix of permanent exhibits with rotating new ones.
Antonelli's Cheese Shop
Antonelli's is a charming cheese shop where you can sample before you buy. They also host cheese tasting classes that are BYOB. If you don't get a chance to visit, we'll have their cheese plates at our cocktail hour.