If you’re not loading a private chef onto your Gulfstream G5 to make it to Austin for the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) this weekend, bringing in your Sikorsky S-92 chopper for the commute to the track, or booking the St. Cecilia or a whole floor at Lost Pines for all your pals, the following list might be just for you. Think of it as the more prudent Formula One gearhead’s list of down-home Texan country eats within a 25-mile radius of the COTA track, where you’re guaranteed to find good, dependable, local fare at very reasonable prices. – Mick Vann

This article appears in November 15 • 2013.

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Kate Thornberry worked in renowned Austin restaurants for 30 years while pursuing a reasonably successful career in music. She began contributing to the Chronicle in 1988 and became a regular contributor to the food section in 2006.

Mick Vann is a retired Austin chef who is a food writer and restaurant critic, cookbook author, restaurant consultant, and recipe developer. He moonlights as a University of Texas horticulturist with a propensity for ethnic eats and international food, particularly of the Asian persuasion, but he also knows his way around a plate of soul food or barbecue.