ZDO Blog
Keep Austin Weird
Or weirder, now that I'm here. It only took minutes of walking down South Congress (SoCo to the natives) to realize that Austin is Madison South. Oh, and the strange shape of the hotel sign. As to the comparison of Madison, Austin is bigger, greener and warmer... much, much warmer. Every sultry night the air is filled with live music, along with ethnic food scents lofting from a variety of restaurants. It really was sensory overload upon my first visit. Where do I eat? What live venue? What $2 pint of beer should I order? Oh the pain of too many choices!
Now, six months later, I have a small, but better grasp on the situation.
Music: for live bands, definitely Continental Club. A landmark and granddaddy of all local music venues with a reputation as the premiere club for live music in Austin since 1957. (and conveniently located less than a block away from the crib) One very memorable night was a CD release party for Alejandro Escovedo. You can read more about this artist and his remarkable journey at www.alejandroescovedo.com , as well as catch him on The Tonight Show with Dave Letterman on August 8th. The other... only close friends will hear that story. You can check it out at www.continentalclub.com
Mexican food: although there is an endless supply of tiny, authentic places on every street, along with the larger chains, right now La Mercado is my fav. Fajitas with home-made tortillas, fresh warm chips and salsa with just the right amount of heat. Then add nice strong authentically made margaritas. How can you go wrong?
I hope I've tempted some of you to check out this great city. If you can handle the heat, (food and weather) you'll find the ACL music festival (Austin City Limits) coming up in September. Otherwise, break away from the cold and enjoy sunshine, warm weather and the blooming blue bells in March and April. I know you won't be disappointed.
30.07.2008. 17:33
Terry Sadowski on 06.08.2008. 22:43
Joe's Generic was great, my favorite place to see music with no rival. "Was" unfortunately is the operative word. The bar closed mysteriously several years ago and the owner was found murdered. It is still an unsolved mystery. IMHO no bar has taken Joe's place.
http://media.www.dailytexanonline.com/media/storage/paper410/news/2004/10/15/TopStories/Police.Find.Sixth.Street.Bar.Owner.Dead-754946.shtml
Paul Schuytema on 05.08.2008. 18:22
Continental Club? I prefer Joe's Generic Bar (is that even still there?). Twice... and I kid you not... twice within a three year period I walked into that bar to see the SAME BAND playing the SAME SONG... talk about a Twilight Zone (tm) moment... to karma appointed that as THE place to see music in Austin for me...
Write a comment