Once upon a time, Austin was a sleepy college town with two major employers and limited dining options. There was good barbecue and Tex-Mex, to be sure, some standard pizza, Italian-American fare, and Chinese takeout, but not much else. Fast-forward to the 21st century: The Austin metro area is high tech mecca with a population of a million people, an important percentage of them immigrants who are enhancing the diversity of our culinary options with their country’s cuisines. Today, not only do we live in grocery-store heaven, but we’re also seeing the development of neighborhood markets and family-operated restaurants from around the globe. We can get several styles of pizza, shop for South American foodstuffs, enjoy crepes, falafel, cochinita pibil, saltanas, or samosas, and all it takes is a drive around town. – Virginia B. Wood
This article appears in November 3 • 2006.