Visiting Austin, TX: Help a Tourist Out?

Hiya,

I'm flying into Austin next week, and will be staying at La Quinta downtown for five nights. I am wondering if any locals can recommend good places for meals (breakfast in particular) and I'm also looking for any internet cafes or places with WiFi in the neighbourhood.

Lastly, what is Austin like from a pedestrian perspective? I'm from Toronto, and it's a very residential city (meaning the streets are busy at all hours), but I've been to some American cities where it's not safe to walk around downtown at night.

Thanks in advance for your helpful suggestions

*Calling Paolo... come to this thread*

It's SXSW time again

Try to catch me in world or in a PM here.

I tried to send you a PM, but it was too long, so here it is...

Your hotel has high speed internet. These are some of the Wifi locations within a mile of where your staying, there are many places around not listed here, you just have to look. Nearby Wifi

I dont really know what sort of scene your in to, but Lovejoy's Tap Room and Scholz Garten are definately recommended for local flavor. Dog and Duck Pub is good too.

Where your staying is fairly safe, its right near the Capitol building. I have never felt worried about being anywhere in downtown late night and early morning. And, with the swsw festival going on security will be a focus and everything should be fine. You have to be smart anywhere you go, but its definately safe downtown. Some parts of the East side of Austin (not downtown) is the only place that makes me nervous. Its a pretty safe place overall.

I dont know what sort of food your interested in, but there is a local place called, Red River Cafe that does a good breakfast and local scene. It is on the northside of campus, maybe 1.5 miles from where you will be. It is on Medical Arts St, north of 26th St. The best bbq in the world is 30 miles outside of town at Kruez Market in Lockhart. But, there is a pretty good bbq place right down the street from where you will be called Stubbs BBQ, its at Red River and 8th St. Dont go to Ironworks for bbq, its over rated. There are a lot of places to eat, I just need to know what sort of food your wanting.

Getting around might be tough. Your within a mile of most everything downtown, so thats not a problem. But, if your going to the movie screenings for sxsw, some of those locations are all over town. We do have cabs, but they are not usually all over the place just waiting to be hailed. You need to call a cab company and arrange the pick up usually. But, with the festival, it may be easier (or tougher) to get a cab. There is a free shuttle service around the downtown area, it is part of the bus service, they are little trolley looking things called, The Dillo. The regular bus anywhere around town is $0.50 per ride, but most regualr service ends around 11pm - 1am.

The cab ride from the airport to downtown is about $15 $20. Renting a car might be something to think about, but you probably wont need it the whole time. It just depends on how much exploring you want to do here. Parking downtown is a nightmare, but usually not a problem in other areas around town.

I am happy to help with more specific info, just let me know what slant to look into.

Wow, Loki, this is exactly what I was looking for! Thanks!
Glad to hear about the abundance of internet pipes around the city. I'm sure there will be lots of people during the interactive portion of SXSW looking for WiFi.

Hard to say what sort of scene I'm into since I have a wide range of tastes, but anything non-mainstream usually fits the bill. Thanks for the tips on places to eat, I'll make sure I've got those marked down on my map

Also I appreciate the advice about transit--the info about taxis is good to know since I am used to having cabs swarm around like flies. I'll make sure I get some numbers from the hotel. Probably will be splitting cabs with people anyway.

I can't think of anything else I'd need to know, but if I do I'll let ya know-- thanks a million for all the help

All this talk about Austin made me miss it. My girlfriend went to the U of Tx and I used to drive down weekends from Dallas to visit her.

Depending on what kind of things you enjoy, there are some very nice things to see in Austin. Barton Springs is a spring fed semi-natural swimming pool that is lovely year round. And I forget the name, but one of the premiere Japanese style gardens used to be nearby.

If you have any desire to take a short trip out of town. Enchanted Rock has some really nice day hikes. There are also a couple of interesting caves. Caving abounds in the TX hill country.

Dude!! I live about five minutes from downtown Austin! .

Your La Quinta is very close to the capitol on the north side of downtown proper. Downtown is very pedestrian-friendly, but elsewhere, it's hit or miss. You can walk about 5-10 minutes south and find virtually anything along the Sixth Street entertainment district. Lots of really good restaurants and clubs there, centered near the Congress intersection. You also have the UT campus just north of you. Guadalupe St., along west campus, is very eclectic and rastafarian. Downtown is generally very safe, but there are lots of interesting characters mulling about, especially at night. There are plenty of taxis downtown, so if you prefer not to walk, hailing a taxi is almost never an issue.

Let's see, as for coffee houses, try the Halcyon on 4th and Lavaca or Little City Espresso Bar & Cafe on 11th and Congress (right near the capitol). The Italian Creme cake at Little City is orgasmic.

Wifi is all over Austin (after all, it's the "most wired" city in the US). You should have no trouble finding a hot spot.

Some good restaurants:

Iron Cactus Restaurant & Margarita Bar (Tex-Mex)

Hut's Hamburgers (Good greasy spoon)

Shady Grove (Traditional and Tex-Mex)

Chuy's Restaurant (Tex-Mex)

Romeo's (Italian)

Truluck's (Seafood, pricy)

There are also a number of really good cafe's along West Sixth. Here is a link to Austin's citysearch page.

Hmm, as for breakfast, good question. I rarely eat out for breakfast, especially in that part of town.

Have fun! Hopefully the weather will clear up by the time you get here. If you'll have free time for sight-seeing, lemme know and I will post some more ideas.

PS: What Loki said about cabs is true elsewhere in the city, but taxis do swarm all over downtown, so not to worry.

Cool, thanks very much Paolo. I had no idea Austin was so wired. That's going to make me less homesick