Most Austin "boils" arrive in a pre-portioned bag of frozen shrimp drowned in the same sauce as the table next to yours. That is not a boil. Here is what to look for in a real one, and the spot in South Austin that does it right.
A birthday dinner is not just a reservation for eight. The cake, the mixed ages, the check, the singing - the occasion has its own logistics. Here is how to pick and book the right Austin spot for a kids party, a family birthday, or a milestone group dinner.
Brunch beyond eggs and toast. Crab scrambles, a boil for the table, oysters, and Texas-sized cocktails. Saturday and Sunday, 11am to 3pm.
Not all crab legs are the same, and most Austin menus will not tell you the difference. Here is how to tell King from snow from Dungeness, how to order them, and where to get real crab legs in South Austin.
You just spent the morning at Zilker Park, Barton Springs, or on the Town Lake trail, and now you are starving. Here is where to eat near Zilker Park in South Austin, and how to time it right.
Plenty of Austin patios tolerate a dog. Fewer are actually built for one. Here is how to tell the difference, and where to find a covered, dog-friendly patio in South Austin a few minutes from Zilker Park.
Austin brunch usually means eggs, toast, and a line out the door. Here is the case for putting oysters, a small boil, and a Texas-sized cocktail on the table instead. Saturday and Sunday, 11am to 3pm, in South Austin.
Most happy hours are a discount on drinks and an afterthought on food. This one runs the other way. Dollar oysters, a full bites list, more than 30 beers on tap, on the patio in South Austin, Monday to Friday from 2 to 6pm.
A raw bar board can read like a list of places you have never been. Here is how to tell a Gulf oyster from an Atlantic one, when to get them charbroiled, and how to order for the table without overthinking it.
Booking a restaurant for a large group in Austin is a different job at 8, 12, 20, and 40 people. Here is the decision guide by group size - what changes, what it costs, and the deposit, minimum, and menu questions to settle before you book.
Lamar Union is not a neighborhood you live in. It is a neighborhood you visit a lot. Here is how a local actually uses it: where to park, what to do, where to eat, and how to string an afternoon together without driving twice.
Half the gluten-free restaurants in Austin are gluten-free friendly, not gluten-free safe - and if you have celiac, that gap is the whole game. Here is how to vet a kitchen before you eat, the three questions that filter the safe ones out, and where the real ones cluster.
Drop your guard. Pull up a chair. Make our place, yours.