The Place To Be This Weekend In Austin, TX – The Lonestar Rod & Kustom Round-Up – April 17-19, 2009

If you love custom cars and trucks, and live music, then the place to be this weekend (April 17-19, 2009) is the Lonestar Rod & Kustom Round-Up at the Continental Club(SOCO), Trophy’s Bar, Jo’s Coffee, and the Travis County Expo Center…   Check out the ad in the last week’s Austin Chronicle…  Tons of fun all weekend long….

4 Days Till SXSW09 – More Cool Places To Go In Austin

Here are additional cool places to buy things, eat, drink, and/or listen to great live music while in Austin over the next two weeks.  Depending upon where you are staying, you may need a cab or car (designated driver) to visit many of these places….

SOCO (South Congress)

Ego’s – Funky bar (with live music) in the basement of office building

Doc’s MotorWorks - Sit outside… great bar, with good food

Amy’s Ice Creams – Austin’s best ice cream…

Jo’s Coffee – Great place to sit outside to watch Austin go by…

Continental Club – My favorite live music venue – Great bands, cool vibe, quality/cool staff, and cold Lone Star beer

The Gallery (above the tattoo parlor next door to the Continental Club) – Has just reopened and I can’t wait to start spending time upstairs…

Botticelli’s – Chicago Italian food and music on their patio in the back… I’m now thinking about the Italian beef sandwich…

Perla’s Seafood and Oyster Bar – Great seafood and oyster bar with cold draft beer… life is good…

Guero’s Taco Bar – If you have ever read this space, my Tumblr space, or any of my tweets (Twitter), you know how much I love this place.  Great Austin vibe, the best people watching, quality/cool staff, unbelievable margaritas and cool beer, and delicious  food… They also have live music in the Oak Garden… Be prepared to wait…

Home Slice – My favorite pizza in Austin (pies or slice and cold beer) – I love sitting at the bar, eating a couple of slices and watching the talented staff make pizza… Be prepared to wait….

Allen Boots – Everyone needs a good pair of cowboy boots… you really do….

Vespaio/Enoteca – Two Restaurants -  Great Italian Food – call ahead…

Magnolia Cafe – 24/7 – Good Breakfast

Trophy’s – Another funky bar with live music

South First

RunTex – Best running store….

Threadgill’s (Between South 1st and Congress on Riverside) – Comfort food and live music

WHATABURGER – Closest WHATABURGER to the Convention Center (this link is for Merlin Mann)

Jovita’s – Fun Live Music Venue – If you are in town on a Thursday night, please do yourself a favor by going see/hear Cornell Hurd, you will have a great time…

Polvo’s – Great Mexican food

G&S Lounge – Cool (dive) drinking bar

West 5th Street (west of Congress)

Lucky Lounge – Live music, cool cat walk behind bar

Red Fez - Hookahs, cold beer, live music and/or DJ (and sometimes belly dancers)

Antone’s – Home of the blues – great live music venue

West 6th Street (East of Lamar)

Katz’s Deli - 24/7 – Good Breakfast

Wahoo’s Fish Tacos (6th St. and (on) Rio Grande) – Another one of my favorite places in Austin… Fun bar (full bar) and the best food…

Dirty Billy’s (6th St and (on) Rio Grande) – Fun new bar, cool juke box connected to the web can play just about anything…

La Zona Rosa (5th St and (on) Rio Grande, south of 5th) - Cool Live Music Venue

Opal Divine’s Free House on 6th – Good drinking bar, decks, and restaurant….

Mother Egan’s Irish Pub – Fun place

Hut’s – One of the best hamburger joints in Austin… Beer, wine, and shakes… Great rings…

West 6th and Lamar Blvd

Whole Foods World Headquarters – The mother of all Whole Foods store…

Book People – Cool, independent book store…

Waterloo Records and Video – Simply the best place to buy music…

Waterloo Ice House – Good food and cold beer…

Amy’s Ice Creams – Best ice cream in Austin…

Cheapo CDs (a little north of the intersection) - Best place to buy used CDs…

Screaming Goat Tacos y Cerveza – Great tacos and more… daily cold beer specials…

Austin Java (a little north of the intersection) – Good coffee and food…

Austin Land and Cattle Company (a little north of the intersection) - STEAK!!!

West 5th Street (at West 6th and Mopac)

Mean-Eyed Cat - Cool drinking bar – cold draft beer and live music

El Arroyo – Good food, cold beer, and margaritas

Barton Springs (west of Lamar)

Barton Springs Saloon - Funky bar… sit inside or out…

Green Mesquite BBQ – Fun place

Shady Grove – Sit outside, drink cold beer, and eat great food… they have the best queso/cheese fries….

Uncle Billy’s - Cold beer and good food – can you say pulled pork….

Chuy’s Tex-Mex – Pure Austin Fun!!!! Great food and drinks…

East Side

Hoover’s (Manor Rd) – Comfort/Home Cooking….

El Chili Cafe – Great food and drinks…

Vivo – Great food and drinks…

Odds and Ends

Cuatros – Great bar, with good food… sit inside or out… fun bar near UT…

Hole in the Wall – Great bar, with live music… on the Drag – across the street from UT…

Okay, that’s enough for now… I’ll update this post over the next few days (I think I left some fun places off the list)…

Please be safe, and have an insanely great time in Austin…

As always, comments are welcome….

What to do the Thursday Night Before ACL on Friday

First things first, pick-up a copy of the new Austin Chronicle (new edition comes out every Thursday) so you can figure out what bands are playing at what bars Thursday night.  Second, start drinking water until you pee clear, so you don’t dehydrate when you walk to the park/festival on Friday.

The Austin Chronicle will provide you with the best, most up to-date list of all the bands playing Thursday night, but here is a quick list of some bars and bands we like for Sept 25:

Antone’s – Scabs – think Bob Schneider, great music, horn section, don’t bring a nun to this show, they play one of my many favorite songs

Botticelli’s – Brent Adair – great guy, singer-songwriter, new CD has received great reviews, a number of the new songs should be played on the radio (did you hear that KGSR 107.1, play Brent’s music)

Broken Spoke – Jesse Dayton – just damn good

Continental Club – Woodboss (happy hour), later James McMurtry

Guero’s – Johnny Gimble – the man is a legend

Jovita’s – Cornell Hurd Band – as Cornell says “country music’s worst nightmare,” just damn good fun

Ranch 616 – Lucas Hudgins – great voice

Saxon Pub – James Hand (6:00) – second coming of Hank Sr, later Micky & the Motorcars – fun band, even later Jonathan Tyler & the Northern Lights – new kid on the block from Dallas, he will be a super star one day

Trophy’s – Two Hoots & a Holler – great Austin band

If I have time, I’ll update this post between now and Wednesday, September 24. As always, comments are welcome before or after Thursday, September 25.  If you go to one of these shows, let us know how it went.

I’m not telling you again, keep drinking your damn water…