The Festival that brings everyone far and wide into the beautiful city of Austin is here. So many restaurants are closing and opening in Austin that the ones near the festival are going to change yearly. Here is your mouth guide to 2018 ACL.
For Food:
P. Terry’s
This fast-food high-quality burger stand might not be as quick due to the hundreds of others with hunger inside, but it is still faster than anything else on Barton Springs.
What to get: The chicken sandwich or hormone-free beef burger.
Forthright
Farm to fork bites that are sourced well and have true chef skills in every bite. Their mushroom toast uses wild shrooms with an incredible cream.
What to get: Wild mushroom toast. Breakfast tacos + more tacos (so you can take some for in between snacks).
Boiler Nine Bar + Grill
An ever-changing menu makes this restaurant inventive and keeps the flavors at their peak. There’s also a rooftop bar you can watch the excitement of the festival from.
What to get: Beer bread with brisket butter and IPA beer jam. Crispy brussels sprouts.
Home Slice Pizza
Beloved pizza that’s been filling Austin cravings with this independent and locally owned pizza place since 2005. They serve authentic NY-style-pizza by the pie or the slice.
Thai Fresh
Incredible curry and vegan ice cream are found at this Thai food haven. All their pastries are also gf.
What to get: Chu Chee Curry and egg rolls. Thai basil ice cream if it is on the rotation is so fresh and alive with herb flavors.
La Condesa
This restaurant has made its Mexican mark with high-quality tacos and tostadas. Local sourcing is a standard here.
What to get: Guacamole tasting: Comes with a tasting of all guacs and salsas.
Odd Duck
A unique dining concept with inventive dishes. Everything is hyper-local and the beer list matches the excitement.
What to get: Sourdough bread and cultured butter. Buttermilk fried quail.
Ramen Tatsu-Ya
Known for killer ramen and umami eggs. It’s near the festival if you stick to the Lamar joint, but they also just opened on the East Side so Lyft over for a quicker treat.
Loro
Have you heard of Franklin? Have you heard of Uchi? They made a baby together. Well if you can call a restaurant a baby, and it is only a year old. Their smoked salmon is incredible, as is all of the meat.
What to get: Brisket popcorn and the curry chicken.
For Healthy Food to Cleanse the Rest:
Juice Society
If you have one juice does it count as a cleanse?
What to get: Shots! Turmeric and ginger shots.
True Foods
I love how I feel after eating here. They source locally and organically and have a fresh juice selection as well.
What to get: Curry cauliflower.
Acai Hut
On Barton Springs road and oh so delicious. This might be my favorite bowl in town, and they’ll even do a blueberry bowl if you aren’t into banana (like me) and want to sub them. There’s also cheesebread.
What to get: Any acai bowl with cocoa nibs, and the Brazilian cheese bread.
Curcuma
A bit of a drive to the East side, but you need to visit East anyways. It’s the funky side of Austin and has tons of art studios you can check out after your zucchini noodle bowl and rose chocolate truffle. The owner made golden mylk famous in Austin and even sells tubs of the ayurvedic goddess blend to go.
For Beer or Drinks:
Darcy’s Donkey
They opened up just in time for ACL after taking over an old local coffee spot, but don’t let that fool you. The chef has spent 25 years cooking in Hawaii and the founder grew up in West Ireland. They are Irish themed and serve six different potato dishes as well as meat pies.
Uncle Billy’s
Super biased because the co/blogger/my fiance is the assistant head brewer here, but that only means I’ve got true insider knowledge on the place. Right now there’s a fall spiced beer that will remind you of Christmas and a brown with exquisite amounts of hops.
The Roosevelt Room
A favorite for cocktails as they have giant boards that detail every cocktail in chronological order of when it was invented.
Peche
An absinthe bar with divine food. The liquor bottles are lined up against the back wall on bookshelves and the tenders climb ladders to reach them. The entertainment matches the delicious drinks and the French onion soup is not to be missed.
A Lick of Bliss 