Trip to Austin for 4 days (Houston, Dallas: living in, restaurants, bars)

[Austinite76]

Both.

[Kmanshouse]

Next question...two of us are arriving early, like 10:30am and will be waiting for the others to arrive from later flights. Given we are staying in Clarksville, what is a place within say 10-15 minutes of there that would be good to have a bite to eat, a few beers and kill 3 hours. Not interested in a place that will only be college kids, but not looking for an expensive place either.

Thanks,

[A-Tex]

Originally Posted by Kmanshouse

Next question...two of us are arriving early, like 10:30am and will be waiting for the others to arrive from later flights. Given we are staying in Clarksville, what is a place within say 10-15 minutes of there that would be good to have a bite to eat, a few beers and kill 3 hours. Not interested in a place that will only be college kids, but not looking for an expensive place either.

Thanks,

I'd hit 24 Diner. It's right in Clarksville, open 24/7, has good food and a wide variety on the menu. 24 Diner

[Austinite76]

Originally Posted by Kmanshouse

Next question...two of us are arriving early, like 10:30am and will be waiting for the others to arrive from later flights. Given we are staying in Clarksville, what is a place within say 10-15 minutes of there that would be good to have a bite to eat, a few beers and kill 3 hours. Not interested in a place that will only be college kids, but not looking for an expensive place either.

Thanks,

I’d definitely give Stiles Switch a thought, in addition to A-Tex’s rec.

[Kmanshouse]

Originally Posted by A-Tex

I'd hit 24 Diner. It's right in Clarksville, open 24/7, has good food and a wide variety on the menu. 24 Diner

Great suggestion. Looks good. Will be on the short list. Thanks.

[Kmanshouse]

Had a great trip - just got back yesterday. Enjoyed Austin quite a bit.

Loved Easy Tiger - thanks for that suggestion.
Ate BBQ at Terry Black's. It was great.
Also had a meal at Galaxy Cafe which was solid.
24 Diner was also a good call. Expensive for what you got, but tasty food and good vibe.


Some observations:

Pretty much 75% of the women we saw were under 25 and drop dead gorgeous. How the heck do that many exist?? It was overload.

People were generally friendly, especially our Lyft drivers.

I thought Austin would be more diverse and "weird" than it was. We went to the Texas/Kansas game and hit a bar beforehand. 95% of the bar was lily white and pretty. Most of the people walking around were white. Even in the downtown/6th street area, where you saw the more "fringe" element of Austin was really just a normal crowd for this Chicagoan. The "weird" people seemed cleaner and less weird than in other parts of the country. I think Austin is just weird for Texas, not for the US. This is not a complaint, BTW.

Went to get groceries at Fresh Plus in Clarksville and the prices were outrageously high. Generally, we felt prices were a bit higher than they should have been everywhere.

We did not see any "bad" areas - maybe we missed them? Clarksville was beautiful. Walked from there to south of the river, and downtown, and Rainey, and up to campus. Totally safe everywhere.

People in Austin really embrace Texas. At the football game especially. Felt like an hour straight of Hail to Texas.

So many college girls wear skirts and cowboy boots that it became like cliche wallpaper. It's like they go to school there just so they can wear that outfit.

I can definitely see the draw to the city. Nice place, lots to do. Glad we went.

[DTXman34]

Originally Posted by Kmanshouse

I thought Austin would be more diverse and "weird" than it was. We went to the Texas/Kansas game and hit a bar beforehand. 95% of the bar was lily white and pretty. Most of the people walking around were white. Even in the downtown/6th street area, where you saw the more "fringe" element of Austin was really just a normal crowd for this Chicagoan. The "weird" people seemed cleaner and less weird than in other parts of the country. I think Austin is just weird for Texas, not for the US. This is not a complaint, BTW.

Austin is less diverse than Dallas and Houston and frankly less "weird," IMO. The only thing weird about Austin is that people there think it's weird. It used to have more authenticity to it but now it's people (mostly transplants) trying to fit in to old Austin stereotypes. Glad you had fun though .

[Kmanshouse]

That makes a lot of sense. I was like, where is all this weirdness? Looks like people with money who want to play weird for Halloween.

I did like the retro/Route 66 style vibe of many establishments. Also loved how most places were set up for lots of indoor/outdoor seating. Very nice for mild November weather.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by Kmanshouse

That makes a lot of sense. I was like, where is all this weirdness? Looks like people with money who want to play weird for Halloween.

I did like the retro/Route 66 style vibe of many establishments. Also loved how most places were set up for lots of indoor/outdoor seating. Very nice for mild November weather.

austin was never weird, it was a tagline coined by businessmen.

If anything, austin was slacker and to some extent still is.

[JT-3]

Sounds like a return trip is in order one day, this time you can visit San Antonio and other spots.