'Best of Austin' 2002

Critics Picks

Shopping

Best Brotherly Endeavor: Jupiter Records
Austin is all about family legacies, from Champ and Warren Hood to Dubya and his daughters; so too are Ryan and Jason Enright methodically establishing theirs. Fast becoming the Waterloo Records of Hyde Park's musical jet set, their Jupiter Records new/used record store owes no small amount of its growing success to its sibling owners' musical geekdom and their familial retail manners with a burgeoning clientele. Open since 1998 (the South location closed last year), Jupiter's late-twentysomething owners live and breathe everyone from Bob Dylan (Ryan) to Kevin McKinney (Jason) and everything in between. In other words, sweet music and sweet guys. www.jupiterrecords.com

Best Clothes/DJ Combo: Gomi

photo by Todd V. Wolfson

With fancy threads and a cool cat sitting atop the little store tucked in off South First & Mary, Gomi brings fashions from the upper Eastside (NYC) down Southside (ATX). The men's clothing is remarkably handsome and affordable, and the ladies-wear is sexy and sleek. All this fashion, with so little pretense! www.gomikitti.com

Best Flood Survivor/Best Local Celtic Music: Things Celtic
Last November, with Christmas four weeks away, life looked grim for Lanora Davis' beloved shop when over three feet of floodwater washed away about 70% of her stock. It wasn't exactly the cavalry, but members of the Gaelic League and Austin Celtic Association pitched in with the staff and the cleanup, and the store was open 10 days later. A miracle? Nah, just a lot of love for the little shop with everything from Belleek china to kilts for rent. Especially notable is her locals-only collection of Celtic music CDs, a wonderful show of support for Texas' players.
1806 W. 35th, 472-2358 www.thingsceltic.com

Best General Store: Callahan's General Store
If anything, Callahan’s is testament to how much Austin has grown over the last 24 years. In 1978, they set up a general store right next to their Feed & Milling Company and served nearby ranchers who didn’t want to make the trek all the way into the capital city. Now they find themselves well within our metropolitan area. Inside, Callahan’s provides just about anything one would need to live a simple life at home on the range: fertilizer, feed, botanical hand lotion, plumbing and auto supplies, lampshades, night lights, skillets, live baby ducks and chicks, horseshoes, saddles, and, of course, a full line of Stetson cowboy hats.
501 Bastrop Hwy., 385-3452; 200 S. Bell, 335-8585

Best North-of-the-River Answer to South Congress: North Loop Market Area

photo by Todd V. Wolfson

There?s a little bunch of stores in this funky shopping area (don?t be put off by the overused "funky" here, for in this case the word is fitting indeed). Check out Forbidden Fruit, Donkey Records, Room Service and Hog Wild Vintage, Ararat Middle Eastern Restaurant, the Parlor pizza joint, Musical Exchange, Monkeywrench Books, Asahi Import Japanese grocery store, and a number of other good shopping choices. An easy stroll from Hyde Park -- hint: when you want to shop on Ozone Action Days -- but be sure if you walk to bring the big backpack, because you will stock up on excellent stuff.
North Loop, between Guadalupe & Avenue F

Best Office Furniture & Supplies: Texas Office Products & Supplies
These days, warehouse shopping means large faceless buildings with displays of office furniture set high above your head, and choice limited to one or two types of chair or desk. T.O.P.S., on the other hand, is an old-style warehouse for the budget-minded. They have many kinds of surplus/recycled/pre-owned desks, chairs, file cabinets, and bookshelves stuffed in their Quonset hut warehouse. They offer cubes, conference tables, drafting tables, caution/warning signs, dry erase/chalk boards, and new office supplies, too. The dot-com fallout has left a surplus of goods at affordable prices – at least half that of the major office chains. Stock is always changing. Warning: It's not air-conditioned, so go early in the morning.
1100 E. Fifth, 472-1340; 2307 Kramer, 833-7777 www.topstexas.com

Best Paint Shop for Girls: Sephora
Let the boys have their fun at their Home Depots. Let them test drive the power tools and ponder paints. Okay, we girls have a gas doing that sometimes, too. But when we're feeling really girly, we head to Sephora and get to paint, blush, gloss, powder, and spritz to our hearts' content -- and with cosmetics we had only read about in Vogue! Yes, it's a chain. But having been previously relegated to oohing and aahing over the goods on the Web site or having bought one too many tubes of the wrong color red lipstick from a flourescently lit makeup counter, we're happy to join a chain gang.
9722 Great Hills Trail, 342-8484 www.sephora.com

Best Place for Reasonably Priced, Sanitized Sofas: Salvation Army

photo by Todd V. Wolfson

If you're past feeling comfortable on just any old sofa scoured from Bulky Item Pick-Up Day, but not yet to the point of being able to stomach the expensive commitment that is new furniture, then head over to Salvation Army. We know what you're thinking: "Sally Ann's? Why they're easily twice the price of most thrift shops for furniture!" Well, there's a reason for that. Salvation Army sanitizes its sofas and sleepers so well that they earn certification tags and pass health department inspections. While sanitizing doesn't get rid of every last skin cell or dust mite, it does go a long way toward making that dog-eared, dog-smelling davenport worthy of your living room. And sofas, couches, loveseats, and sleepers in the $99-199 range are still a bargain in this town.
Salvation Army, 1001 Cumberland, 442-3212; 1142 S. Lamar, 443-7565; 5329 N. I-35, 447-4044; 6510 S. Congress www.salvationarmyaustin.org

Best Place to Buy Orchids: It's a Jungle
Georgia O’Keefe would have had a field day here. With thousands of Hawaiian orchids imported weekly, It’s a Jungle lives up to its name. The selection runs the gamut with these popular flowers, from the common, inexpensive Phalanopsis Dendrobiums to the rarer, pricier Vandas. And for those who don’t know the first thing about orchids and their blooming popularity, It’s a Jungle even offers instructional classes to keep you hip to the buds.
907 Kramer, 837-1205

Best Place to Encounter the Funkiest of Treasures: Pangaea Trading Company
When traveling south on Guadalupe, follow your nose past Mojo's; the smell of incense will lead you to Pangaea, a wonderland of thingamabobs and knick knacks, including unique shoes, dresses, shirts, skirts, cards, candles, oils, various decorations, exquisite jewelry, and even fairy dust. The dragon door handle is fabulous, and so is this imaginative gift shop.
2712-B Guadalupe, 472-3533

Best Place to Find Carrie Bradshaw Shoes: Emeralds
Not all of us can afford to accumulate a closet full of designer shoes on a writer’s salary. Lucky for us, Emeralds keeps our heels -- and account balances -- high with a funky range of options at reasonable prices. Sure, Carrie may not deign to wear Nine West, but let’s not confuse snobbery with style. We can get the seasonal style in a reasonable fashion. Now if only Emeralds would extend their line of reasonably priced Sarah Jessica Parker legs …
624 N. Lamar, 476-4496 www.helloemeralds.com

Best Place to Find Cheap Records: Sound Exchange
Remember records? Sure you do. Those glorious 12-inch slabs of vinyl that spin at 33, 45, and even 78 revolutions per minute. While Sound Exchange has plenty to offer the savvy music fan – underground zines, local music, hard-to-find punk, jazz, and experimental music, etc. – venture into their backroom and you will find a huge selection of alphabetized 99-cent records. Albeit, they are 99 cents for a reason, but if you're hankering to rock to "More Than a Feeling" or "Dirty White Boy," and don't want to dish out the big bucks for the CD, this is the place to get your fix. www.soundexchangeaustin.com

Best Place to Pick Up a Used Honda or Toyota: Auto Depot
Jim Ernst and his crew of earnest car mechanics operate a full service repair and body shop. But in addition to fine service and decent prices, they move cars, specializing in reselling used Hondas and Toyotas. So if your beater has beat it, call the nice guys at the Depot.
909 Prairie Trail, 836-9767 www.autodepotaustin.com

Best Spare Computer Parts: Logic Approach
The next time you're in the market for a computer or computer part, don't let a high school salesclerk at the local MegaBuyMart sell you a computer with bells and whistles you don't need. Save your money and sanity and check out the used components at Logic Approach. CPUs, monitors, keyboards, and other accessories are in abundance, and you won't be bamboozled. After all, there is little in the world a bigger screen can't fix.
2500 S. Lamar, 444-4443 www.logicapproach.com

Best Stop for Japanese Go Fun Snacks!: Asahi Imports

photo by Todd V. Wolfson

In case you are uninitiated in the world of Japanese fun snacks, our friends in Nippon are geniuses with the junk food (to the point that some of it -- key word "some" -- is actually good for you). Asahi has lots of Pocky -- pretzely sticks dipped in chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. And they have the green pea version of Funyuns. Dried squid? Check. Delicious crisp teriyaki squares? Check. Plus lots of regular Japanese staples (miso, udon noodles, soup base). Plus an array of rice cookers that will spin your noggin, and a cool selection of gifts from origami paper to sake sets and lovely hashi (chopsticks).
6105 Burnet Rd., 453-1850; 6105 Burnet, 453-1850 www. asahi-imports.com

Best Unique Hat Selection: Vertigo

photo by Todd V. Wolfson

In serious need of some hip head wear? Go south on the Drag, and just before it devolves into a pool of fast food joints, look for Vertigo, a cubbyhole of a shop -- recently relocated from its original Sixth Street digs -- that has hats for just about any occasion. There are ski caps, bowlers, fedoras, pork pies, and a whole wall devoted to cowboy hats that the employees steam and shape to your liking. They are also the only store in town that carry the indestructible, stylish but pricey Shady Brady, the first hat we?ve ever seen that comes with a one-year warranty.

Best Way to Get Framed: Perimeters Custom Picture Framing

photo by Todd V. Wolfson

Why would you take your precious work of art or family photo heirloom to some barely trained teenager at some chain frame center? Wouldn't you want to work with someone who gives at least half a fig about the border for your treasured wall hanging? Or better yet, wouldn't you like to work with the interior design aesthetics of an Art Institute of Chicago graduate who has over two decades of art experience? After 20 years in Austin and three years in her current location on the Drag, local pastel and watercolor artist Peggy Linehan offers a personal touch to the important art of framing. "I don't frame so that you have to reframe. Framing your art is like buying furniture: It's an investment."
2928 Guadalupe, 472-9935

Most Delightful Sight: Bubbles Floating Down Lamar at Flashback
When it's blisteringly hot outside, and traffic is a miserable nightmare … out of nowhere, like a vision from Oz, a bubble appears, bobbing and floating across South Lamar. And then another appears, and another, and more and more as you near the source: the vintage store Flashback. Offering fun and fashion through their vintage clothes and accessories, they also offer bubble machines … one of which is always "carbonating" the breeze.
Flashback Vintage, 1805 S. First, 445-6906 www.flashbackaustin.com

Nursery Most Worthy of the Name: Barton Springs Nursery
Austin is blessed with some wonderful places to buy seeds, plants, and gardening supplies, but Barton Springs Nursery remains a top choice for a simple reason: They actually grow a great deal of what they sell. It's an uncommon practice that deserves our continued support and patronage (and our empty pots, so they can cultivate more plants!).
3601 Bee Caves Rd., 328-6655 www.bartonspringsnursery.net

Shop Most Likely in Which to Find Yourself Exclaiming, 'Holy Toledo!': Emmaus Catholic Gifts & Books
Stations of the Cross coloring books, anyone? Perhaps a picture of the Pope, religious medal for your pet, or a wall plaque featuring those weepy-eyed "Precious Moments" moppets? Yep, Emmaus has all manner of religious-themed tchotchkes, jewelry, books, cards, statues, and enough overwhelming sweetness to wear down even the hardiest fans of Catholic kitsch. But, in all seriousness, if you seek a lovely gift for your devout nana or the young man in your life about to take his first Holy Communion, upon entering this treasure of Catholic treasure you will exclaim, "Holy Toledo, I've hit the mother lode!"
6001 Burnet Rd., 458-2479