Sometimes, when people visit Austin for the weekend, or for events like SXSW, they decide not to rent a car if they are staying downtown. Downtown Austin used to be sort of a ghost town as far as great restaurants went, with a few sprinkled here and there, but not enough to sustain even a weekend visitor very easily. Luckily, Austin is growing like mad, and new restaurants are opening every week.

For the Austin City Guide, I’ve pulled together a list of my top 25 downtown restaurants, with “downtown” in …

I am hearing about so many wonderful-sounding events in the month of April, and wanted to share them here with you, as well as list them for my own reference.

Funky Chicken Coop Tour
Saturday, April 7 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The purpose of this tour is to encourage city residents to raise chickens at home by demonstrating the many ways that chicken (and other poultry) housing can be incorporated into urban residence without violating city ordinances or creating a nuisance.  Buy your “ticket(s)” in advance online for pick up …

Google “Austin Interior Mexican” and you won’t have to scroll far down to find Fonda San Miguel. Before Fonda opened in 1975, Austin was a decidedly Tex-Mex town.
What’s the difference? That’s up to your own personal interpretation but I think of Tex-Mex as dishes like chips and salsa, queso, fajitas, and the combination plate.
Interior or Regional Mexican is more traditional cuisine that is served and enjoyed throughout the six regions of the country. According to Wikipedia, some of the specialties of each region include:

Yucatán – sweetness and achiote seasoning
Oaxaca – tamales and …

Congratulations on being the potential winner of two spots on the guest list for the 2009 Austin Cocktail Throwdown! If you win, you’ll be part of the exclusive event at the super cool Gibson Guitar Showroom in Penn Field on Thursday, Sept. 24. This is an invite-only event where the drinks will be free and a’flowin!

Since 2004, the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau (ACVB) and Tito’s Handmade Vodka have awarded “The Official Drink of Austin” to a local drinking establishment. For the first four years, bartenders competed to create a …