Guest Post: Austin-Bound!

Hello Heather’s readers!

My name is Joy. Heather and I have been good friends since college. My boyfriend Chip and I are loyal readers of Heather’s blog, so when we headed to Austin for a long weekend we jumped at the chance to have our meals featured on the blog. Just a warning: this was a weekend of debauchery and our food (and drink) choices pretty much reflect that. There were also several unphotographed meals at What-a-burger and copious amounts of queso that will not be discussed here.

Our first stop on our trek to Austin was The Czech Stop in West, TX—Exit 353 off of I-35S. This is a gas station that has the BEST kolaches (and other Czech pasteries, cookies, cakes, etc.) in the entire world. We had a couple of sausage and cheese kolaches, and they were amazing as ever:

Delicious is their business.

Once in Austin, we checked into The Hotel San Jose. It is located on South Congress, which is a great location with a very cool vibe to the neighborhood. Just a block or two from the hotel there is parking lot full of airsteams selling various food items (to be featured later).

The beauty of the hotel’s location was realized when I saw the Amy’s Ice Cream right across the street! Amy’s Ice Cream is, in my opinion, the best ice cream in Texas (with Blue Bell being a close second). So as soon as we checked in we ran across the street and got some ice cream. I had a small cup with Mexican Vanilla and Ice Cream Sandwich (yes, ice cream sandwich is a flavor!). The perfect snack for a hot summer day.

We chilled out in our sweet suite for a while then headed to Wink for dinner. Wink uses all fresh and mostly local ingredients, and the menu changes daily. Every course was very flavorful, the ingredients thoughtfully selected and seasoned perfectly. We started with the black truffle mac’n cheese:

It was gooey, cheesy, deliciousness. For our entrees, I had scallops on squash with an orange sauce and Chip had snapper with Chinese eggplant.

For dessert we had this: milk chocolate mousse infused with ginger and earl grey tea in bittersweet chocolate soup.

Despite the extremely unappetizing (and somewhat phallic) photo, it was actually quite delicious. My favorite part was the candied orange peels served on top.

Chip and I are training for the Chicago Marathon, so Friday morning we dragged ourselves out of bed to run a loop around Town Lake. We were both impressed by the sheer number of people, dogs, and strollers at the lake on a Friday morning, and the giant jugs of water available at various points around the lake. Austin seems to be a great town for runners (or active people in general) despite the oppressive summer heat. After working up an appetite, we stopped by Jo’s Coffee (conveniently located right next to our hotel) for an Iced Turbo and a couple of breakfast tacos.

Chip had a migas taco (with fresh avocado slices!) and I had a bean and cheese taco, and they were the real deal. I really liked that my taco had black beans instead of refried. And the Iced Turbos were indescribably delicious coffee concoctions.

After cleaning up and (sadly) checking out of Hotel San Jose, we headed down the street to Hey Cupcake! which is located in the parking lot with all the other airstreams. One of our friends told us we had to go here and try the cupcakes. Oh.my.goodness. These cupcakes were heavenly, and the airstream was so cute!

They even will insert a free shot of whipped cream in the middle, Hostess-cupcake style.

We devoured these in seconds flat.

After doing a little shopping and internet surfing at a coffee shop, we stopped by Curra’s for some Mexican food before heading to the river. Curra’s specializes in traditional interior Mexican food and has a funky, almost dive-like vibe. We both had margaritas with a floater shot of tequila (it’s vacation!).

I had their delicious ceviche (my favorite meal at Curra’s).

… and Chip had quesadillas. Also unpictured is our queso flameado. After stuffing ourselves silly, we headed south on I-35 to meet our friends at the river.

We basically skipped dinner in favor of drinking Friday night, and hung out in the river sipping sangria and making friends with fellow river rats staying at our condos. One guy, a mortician, actually made it to the second round of American Idol, and gave us a moving rendition of his audition song. The next morning we woke up, had a nutritious breakfast and prepared for the river.

Needless to say, tubing was great fun. Once back at the condo, we all took power naps and then rallied for dinner: burgers, sausages, potato salad, and coleslaw.

Perfect after-tubing food.

Sunday morning, Chip and I woke early, packed up, and headed back to reality (AKA Dallas). First, we made one last stop in Austin for brunch. Austin is known for their breakfast tacos, and I had heard several good reviews of Maria’s Taco Express, so we decided to check it out. We started with chips and queso, then I had a bean and cheese taco and Chip had 2 miga tacos.

Both were tasty, but we decided the best thing about Maria’s is the atmosphere. The walls are covered in photos, music posters, etc., and the outside is brightly painted and fun-looking.

So that wraps up our foodie adventures in the Hill Country of TX! Thanks for reading!