Farmers Market Report: November 17
Gearing up for Thanksgiving
No Injunction Against Central Health
Judge Yeakel declines to enjoin election canvass
The Sound of F1 Is the Sound of Michael Fassbender
‘Shame’ and ‘Prometheus’ star to narrate F1 doc ‘1’
The AggreGAYtor: November 15
Your daily dose of LGBTQIA news
Pies and Other Holiday Meal Enhancements
It’s still not too late to get someone else to bake it for you
Meowabunga! The Acro-Cats Ambush Austin Again!
And we squee with delight at their uncanny and kawaii antics
The Immigrant Experience
Photographers Emma Whelan and Sandy Carson on American nostalgia
Aerosmith’s Tom Hamilton
Music from another dimension Friday at the Frank Erwin Center
New DNA Testing Confirms Skinner’s Guilt, AG’s Office Says
But DNA testing not complete, lawyer warns
In Memory of Richard Dorsett
Beloved local left his mark on Austin
Austin Studios Breaking Out the Hammers
With voter approval, studio plans the next phase
The AggreGAYtor: November 14
Your daily dose of LGBTQIA news
Pegi Young Braces for Impact
Neil’s better half loads into Lamberts tonight
Dear Obama, If Texas Secedes, Can We Stay With You?
New petition asks White House to make Austin 50th state
Fran Lebowitz in Town Tonight
Social commentator to speak with Frank Rich at Bass Concert Hall
Transit Strike Looming?
Union President Wyatt: “It will happen sometime this week”
Humperdink Humperdink Humperdink!
Fire Swamp survivor? Iocane powder expert? Believer in twu wuv?!
Psych Fest 2013 Drops, er, Lineup
Black Angels, Bananas, Ryder, and Rebel Motorcycle Club confirmed
Poodie’s Stomps Out Butts
A place to run from F1
The Kosher Baker
Dairy-free baking so delicious no one will miss the butter
The AggreGAYtor: November 13
Your daily dose of LGBTQIA news
Westboro Baptists Hate Formula One
God’s least favorite homophobes to picket Circuit of the Americas
Big Sweet Life
An intimate interrogation of Jon Dee Graham
DVD Watch
Olive Films collects three of Otto Preminger’s last films
The Austin Table Tennis Association: Looking for Gumps
New facility shines
Boy Meets Girl
Boy Meets Girl 1984, NR, 100 min. Directed by Leos Carax, Starring Denis Lavant, Mireille Perrier. Carax stamps his personal vision on a simple love story in his first feature film. Shot in black and white, Boy Meets Girl begins the filmmaker’s “l’amour fou” trilogy.
Hennes & Mauritz Rides to the Rescue! With Stylists!
Local H&M blasts off in time for holiday shopping
The Texas Secession Petition
Yup, that’s a real thing. White House must respond to sore losers
How the Aggies Won and Won My Heart
Falling in love … with winning
The AggreGAYtor: November 12
Your daily dose of LGBTQIA news
Weird Austin Idea of the Day
Trying to get across town? Hop a Gondola.
Elegy To a Family Made of Football Fans
‘America’s Parking Lot’ screening benefits Capital Area Food Bank
Zardoz
Zardoz 1974, R, 105 min. Directed by John Boorman, Starring Sean Connery, Charlotte Rampling. In this provocative fantasy film, the world is divided into Brutals (who worship a floating head called Zardoz that instructs that the gun is good and the penis is evil) and Immortals (who are pure consciousness and have become completely effete).…
Christina Boutari Explains Greek Wines
Boutari is one of Greece’s oldest most respected wineries
A Royal Thumping: Texas 33, ISU 7
Horns, now 8-2, dominate Iowa State on bittersweet Saturday
‘The NFL Beat’: Week 10
Our little season is all grown up
Animal Center Celebrates First Anniversary
First year has brought more than 7,000 adoptions
A Game Bigger Than Itself
A look back at 3 Longhorn games that were about more than football
Fiscal Cliff? Try Cap Metro Cliff!
ATU 1091 authorizes bus strike: What next?
Texans vs. Bears
May the ‘gooder’ good guys win
Texas State Aims To Survive ‘Fight Night’ Against La. Tech
Watch out for the haymaker, Bobcats
The AggreGAYtor: November 9
Your daily dose of LGBTQIA news
Alleged Morton Killer Indicted for Unsolved Austin Murder
Norwood charged with 1988 murder of Debra Baker
It Begins! SXSW Announces First Bands
Plus application date extended, and Hurricane Sandy relief fund
‘The American Scream’ Rises From the Grave
Fantastic Fest Halloween doc fave returns to screens today
Wins for Med School and Health Care
Travis County voters approve tax hike to fund UT med school
The Luv Doc: Bromance
LuvDoc, How in the fuck do I become as cool as you? Of course, assuming that’s even possible. Also, I consider myself completely hetero, but I’d really like to bro with you … does that make me a homo? Paul in Austin Paul, I wish there was some sort of snatch-the-pebble-from-my-hand, Kung-Fu/Billyjack-style training regimen I…
Best Way To Announce Yourself
If you’ve seen the signs of Easy Tiger, Man Bites Dog, or a host of other neo-Austin institutions, then you’re already familiar with Swec’s handmade signs. Meticulously crafted and tailored toward building a strong visual brand, there’s nothing better a business could do than hire Swec to be its ambassador for the cruising gazes of…
Best Adult Hula Hooping
Austinites love to hula hoop. At concerts, at home, with friends, in the prison yard. It’s practically an all-American pastime. Lustre Pearl opens its spacious backyard for part-time hooping enthusiasts to perform impossible bends and jumps that put amateurs to shame. In this fashion, one can enjoy an ice cold beer and the urge to…
Best Creamy Unifier
Under the pink dome, we may disagree on a few issues: voter ID, the budget, Planned Parenthood, yo momma. But when Thursday rolls around, whether you’re lawmaker, lobbyist, staffer, or aggrieved voter, you line up for the frozen yogurt machine at the Capitol Grill. It may not sound like much, but in the once-a-week line…
Best Proponents of the Placenta
Placenta encapsulation – harvesting the afterbirth into “beat the baby blues” pills for mental health, speedy recovery, and increased lactation – isn’t a practice for the faint of heart. Luckily the heart-of-gold doulas at Get Babied have the precision and know-how to gift mothers a nourishing lifeline back to their own postpartum bodies, one irreplaceable…
Best Mojo Working
The gurus behind the counter of this center of high-strung enlightenment are content to let you wander the walls and pick up any guitar for a strum – from a 1950 Gibson ES-125 that’s triple your rent to a Fender Squier Partscaster that fits your hand (and budget) beautifully. AVG has a constantly changing, high-quality…
Best Liquid High
For those seeking enrichment through chocolate, we have found your El Dorado. Hidden in a food trailer hinterland, ChocoSutra offers up treats to satisfy both the adventurous and the traditional. The Mayans and Aztecs recognized the health benefits of drinking chocolate, and, with the range of supplements ChocoSutra offers in its elixirs, it’s impossible to…
Best Goat Surprise
The parallels between children and goats are uncanny. They are both adorable. They both love to stand on top of things. And they both have a sort of omnipresent, erm, earthy aroma. Given that goats and children are so obviously soul-linked, we were filled with overwhelming happiness when we stumbled upon the goat pen at…
Best Tarot Reading
Through the gate of an Eastside cottage home, past an overgrown garden, and inside a tiny vintage trailer, any seeker can find out what it’s like to meet a real witch. She’s beautiful, unusual, and running over with love. She uses a 15-card Romani spread, and tenderly weaves together the threads of your past, present,…
Best Thrift Shopping at a Chain Store
A friendly and knowledgeable staff, plus clean and tidy premises, make thrift shopping here a real joy. The prices are already very reasonable, but with great daily and monthly specials, they get even better. Sign up for their VIP email list for advance notice. This family-owned business has outlets in four states and presents a…
Best Sign
Though the Austin Motel has been beautifully renovated and modernized since it first opened in 1938, it still feels like a place away from our time, like a place you might have vacationed with your family during the best part of your eighth year on earth. This motel feels like a week you lived in…
Best Place to See Local Art
Austin readers agree, when it comes to art, ain’t no party like an Eastside party ’cause an Eastside party don’t stooooop! Wait, what? The East Austin Studio Tour is the best and most impervious defense against those who wail that Austin is a no-art town. Sure, we don’t have that cruddy crude-money that bankrolled art…
Best Place To Dance
Whether it’s Tuezgayz, soulful Grits and Gravy on Thursday, or Saturday’s New Noise playlists, video dance club Barbarella is always getting down. The delicate mix of classic rump-shaking anthems and the latest indie-dance rock (not to mention the lack of seating), keeps the dance floor stocked with a diverse set of sweaty bodies.
Best Meal Delivery
Congratulations, David Ansel, you’re bringing it home again. The soup is outstanding (as is the juice, the pasta, etc.), but the back story is just as good. It’s an Austin classic, from the healthy, comfy style of cuisine to the Cinderella story of the dude who delivered soup by bicycle and ended up featured in…
Best Sports/Rec Program
Maybe the youth of today don’t break into song when they hear YMCA on the oldies station, but they sure do break into smiles at the door. For years now, the Y has been lauded for its exceptional after-school care program that’s loaded with activities for both the body and the brain – everything to…
Best Local TV News
In the age of the 24-hour national news cycle, we sometimes lose track of what is happening in our own backyard. Luckily, Austin’s news rivalry serves the community well. Again this year, KXAN and KVUE were in a dead heat. KXAN boasts the dynamic anchor duo of Robert Hadlock and Leslie Rhode and the always…
Best Day Trip (Wet)
Just 30 miles west of Austin is one of our readers’ favorite oases. Hamilton Pool rests in the hollow of a collapsed dome of a subterranean river, creating a natural limestone grotto carved out over thousands of years that now serves as a favorite Austin swimming spot. It’s clear, crisp waters boast fish and large…
Best Behind-the-Scenester
Ah, where to begin? She’s fought for workers as an AFSCME rep, helped Austin firefighters win collective-bargaining rights, and managed political campaigns for a who’s who list of officeholders, including her current boss, Council Member Laura Morrison. Without question, Barbara’s a tough, in-the-trenches political veteran and a steady advocate for the poor and downtrodden. Bottom…
Best Barbershop
These five rock & roll barbershops keep the cuts cheap and the beer free. No appointments necessary, Birds offers a solution for last-minute cleanups without sacrificing quality. Even wait times are made enjoyable with free arcade games and a playlist that pleases many a palate. Oh yeah, did we mention the beer?
Best Tattoo Shop
Recently a biography on Samuel Steward came out and in addition to being one of Alfred Kinsey’s more infamous research subjects, Steward was also a bang-up tattoo artist mentoring the likes of Cliff Raven, and yes, Ed Hardy. We mention this bit of tattoo history because of all the shops in Austin, Triple Crown keeps…
Best Pet Store
Sure, with seven locations, Tomlinson’s is a chain. But they’ve never gotten too big for their britches. Each location still feels like a country store. Maybe it’s because they deliver a level of service that big boxes can’t offer. Maybe it’s because they partner with local rescue groups and hold vet clinics on-site. Whatever it…
AISD: Insurgents and Ed Austin Win 3 of 4
Hinojosa won by the biggest margin
Miami Connection
This incoherent mass of Eighties kitsch is the brainchild of tae kwon do master and motivational speaker Y.K. Kim.
Best Wildfire Phoenix
The Civilian Conservation Corps put Americans to work back in the Depression era. The fruit of their labor can still be enjoyed today at the cabins of Bastrop State Park. These humble architectural gems (think Bilbo Baggins meets Gaudi) are back in action and boast toasty fireplaces for a fall or winter weekend getaway –…
Best Bingo Hall
A lot goes into the making of a good bingo hall. American Bingo has it all – a decent snack bar with a friendly staff, great games, good payouts, and a fantastic caller (who has as much fun with the wild numbers as we do). Raffle drawing events include a cash blower, wheel of prizes,…
Best Double Entendre
Shh – don’t tell Milton Glaser (the I ♥ NY logo designer). Texas State University’s chapter of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization developed a version of Glaserâ’s design for the hilly university home of former President Johnson. To use some academ-ese, their Glaser emendation, “I ♥ SM”, has a kind of useful polysemy (ewwww?). The shirt…
Best Satanic Mechanic
Juke’s Eastside shop has everything you’re looking for in a mechanic. They are reasonable, established, and trustworthy. The shop is well ordered; the service is awesome. Moreover, the mechanics are a bunch of dreamboats with rockabilly sideburns playing heavy metal on the jukebox (pun intended). Finally, a mechanic with a sense of style.
Best Neighbor to the Newsroom
We won’t lie. We are biased. For last-minute tipsy gifts,bar must-haves, “Twin Deals” discount two-fers, party kegs, enticing product tastings, and really difficult upcoming meetings with the boss, the Hancock Twin Liquors is the go-to of many a staff member of a certain alternative newsweekly. Anyone who reads us (for example!) with some modicum of…
Best New Caffeination Station
Just east of the highway on Cesar Chavez, this new coffee shop lives up to its name. Like the eponymous spring-fed underground pools in Mexico, Cenote offers revitalizing liquids in an environment that is calm and cool. Housed in a beautifully renovated Victorian painted in cerulean tones inside and out, Cenote offers espresso-based coffees, brunch,…
Best Highland That Isn’t a Mall
For a child, the Austin Celtic Festival is two straight days of magic. This historically accurate and beautifully authentic festival has plenty to capture the young imagination: feats of amazing strength by competitors in the Highland Games, a dog parade featuring Celtic breeds, traditional dancing and music, Irish storytelling, and an authentic reenactment of a…
Best Twitter Tribute
“Just like the universe – it implodes and explodes again.” – September 24 “It’s garbage day. At least for me it is. And this band is Garbage.” – July 5 “What is it, people of Austin? What are we suffering from? Because we’ve all got it.” – May 1 We’re glad someone’s tracking these precious…
Best Urban Relic Rummage
The sign for Howard Nursery still stands high over Koenig Lane and Avenue F, ever since the 90-year old, family-owned nursery began occupying that particular corner in 1961. When scion Hank Howard (the Jonathan Winters of horticulture) died, the place languished. In came Backyard Salvage and Garden in 2010 to upcycle the entire property with…
Best Statue
Longtime iconic Austinite Willie Nelson may be “On the Road Again,” but his bronzed likeness is casually planted in front of the Moody Theater, cradling his beat up Martin acoustic. We all know Willie’s views on legalizing marijuana, so it’s only appropriate that the statue was unveiled on 4/20 at 4:20pm to the delight of…
Best Theatre Director
What do we expect when the man continues to do his usual excellent job with the actors and the dialogue and the blocking and the timing and, oh, all that thespian stuff at Hyde Park Theatre, but also brings us something as sublime and transcendent as Annie Baker’s The Aliens with the incomparable Jude Hickey…
Best Scenester/Mover and Shaker
We like the way that party photographer, DJ, and promoter Miguel Angel (codename: uLOVEi) is everywhere that is worth being, we like the beats he spins, and we like his ubiquitous bowtie. But what we really like about Miguel is the way he captures the scene in all its glorious ragtag beauty. Even if a…
Best Neighborhood Grocery
Nothing is more refreshing on Austin’s blisteringly hot days than Wheatsville’s cucumber agua fresca. And nothing is more edifying on a cold winter’s eve than a trip to their nutritional, yet decadent, self-serve hot bar of comfort food. Then again, few stores know Austin as well as our favorite co-op. Why do you think that…
Best Summer Camp
Wonderous exploration, they’re at it again! Gifted and curious kids pre-K to 6th grade love the interactive, hands-on approach of this camp. They get to explore different cultures, times, and species through a varied curriculum that requires them to become explorers, not just students. Themes range from “Amazon Adventures” to “Improv to the Max.” Put…
Best Locally Produced TV Show
Every year since 1974, ACL opens up like Wonka’s chocolate factory for a handful of exclusive tapings. A few lucky boys and girls get the golden ticket to go see their favorite artist perform, from stadium-ready acts like Radiohead and Wilco to more personal artists like Bon Iver and Bonnie Raitt. The rest of us…
Best Fitness Classes
Streeeetch it out: your chi, your spine, and your dollar. Good vibes abound in this chill yoga space. Whether your vibe is to melt away your daily grind with mellow, candlelit yoga or to dance it off in a “Yoga Rave,” get in the flow with Black Swan’s convenient variety of times and interesting roster…
Best Campaign Fail
Who’da thunk that ol’ Guvernor Goodhair and Double D wouldn’t be reactionary or crazy enough for Republican primary voters? Perry’s presidential ambitions had already fizzled out before he oops!ed his way into satirists’ hearts, while Dewhurst face-planted against wild-eyed ideologue Ted Cruz in the U.S. Senate race. But what’s scarier? That the gruesome twosome won’t…
Best Bicycle Repair
This “Best of Austin” alum and bicycle connoisseur goes the extra mile to provide customers with speedy, high-quality service for most makes and models. (Safely) put the pedal to the metal with free bike estimates and professional fittings. Happy trails!
Best Veterinarian
Who else has a baby tiger being bottle-fed on their website splash page? If you say Siegfried & Roy, we’ll punch you. It’s Austin Veterinary Diagnostic Hospital … d’oy! Their website, like their vets and staff folks, is superinformative. (Although, just FYI, checking their über-graphic “Pet Cases” tab is like looking at WebMD when you’ve…
Best Record/CD Store
With three decades under the big red UK subway rip logo (Waterloo opened April 1, 1982, no foolin’), this Austin Record store transcends landmark and fits snugly in to that realm of Austin icon right up against bat guano and Leslie’s thong. We hold a special place in our hearts for them, as together we’ve…
Third Court Turns Bright Red
Dem Diane Henson loses her seat But Keith Hampton isn’t giving up
Skyfall
Daniel Craig’s glum third go-’round as 007 is enhanced by fun turns by all the supporting players, as well as the film’s exciting camerawork.
Most Productive Rooftop
Why aren’t the Tea Partiers freaking out about Sweden? It is clear they are trying to take over the world. What’s our proof? Take Swedish Fish, for example, or Robyn … or trolls … or logs. There’s a massage named after them, for Sven’s sake. And don’t get us started on ABBA. For real. Sweden’s…
Best Built-In Karaoke Backup Dancers
Ego’s has earned its place among the ranks of top local karaoke joints, but the Congress Avenue dive bar offers something more – ass shaking. If you want an attentive crowd that hangs on your every note, this is not the place. If you are looking for a fun mix of regulars and wide-eyed newbies…
Best Educational Inspiration
When Eastside Memorial High School students and teachers were rallying and lobbying the Austin ISD trustees, begging them to save their school, there was one name that stood above all: Principal Connor Grady. As the campus got split, merged and redivided, Grady was there, raising test scores and raising spirits, proving that the right principal…
Best Screen Savers
You break it, they fix it. How many times have we broken the glass or the LCD displays of our wireless contraptions? Years ago, the folks in this shop were there to speedily replace the display on our cell phone when it needed an out-of-warranty fix. Considering how clumsy we are, it’s a good thing…
Best New Fetish Group
There is a fetish renaissance going on in the queer community, and at the heart of it all is the Austin Gears. Slowly but surely, the Chain Drive’s Gear Night has grown to become the hottest night of the month to don kinky, gay apparel in a safe, judgement-free environment. So if you’re freaky, let…
Best Place To Go If You Want Everyone To Know Your Name
It’s only been open since 1976, but it sure does seem like it’s been there forever. We’re talking, of course, about the Texas Chili Parlor, the Capitol-adjacent bar and restaurant that is a favorite among state employees and their elected bosses, judges and cops, bikers, UT students, and filmmakers (including Quentin Tarantino) alike. What is…
Best Hues to Huge Heroes
Consider the four primary-paletted murals at Bedichek Elementary (Home of the Bobcats!) as kind of a “BOA” from kids. The project was part of the school’s after-care program, Citizen Schools’ Expanded Learning Time. Four community heroes (not often credited with their place in Austin’s progress) each have their own wall on a portable that faces…
Best Writers’ Resource
Writing can be a lonely venture. It takes dedication, questionable amounts of coffee, and a certain insanity to finish a manuscript. It also takes tons of support, and Write By Night provides just that. The writing center has a chilled-out, coffeehouse vibe, with tons of desk space, creative writing workshops, roundtable readings, as well as…
Best Use of Old Bicycle Tubes
For artist Ruth Waddy, every medium is a fair game, like the old bicycle tubes she uses to create durable and fun masterpieces like corsets, dresses, hair clips, and earrings. She carefully cuts and sews intricate patterns out of these tattered, recycled tubes that look like a cross between a spider’s intentional webbing and those…
Best Window Display
Fashion legend Diana Vreeland once proposed that “elegance is refusal.” We think Blackmail proves the point. Gail Chovan’s storefront holds fast against SoCo’s jumble, stately in a silent movie palette while others splash Technicolor brights. The windows never sacrifice form for flash or nuance for noise. Like pearls with black leather, they are defiantly chic.
Best Visual Artist
Slim chance any other graphic inkslinger could command such popularity the way Doyle is carving up the local and international landscape into vertical chunks adorned with his (and his company Nakatomi Inc.’s) bright and pop-culture-saturated artwork. From his limited-edition “Unreal Estate” series to his Bill Murray sticker sets, from his comics to his original portrait…
Best Trivia Night/Pub Quiz
Geeks Who Drink participants are tough contenders, answering verbal questions about great literary works one minute and identifying mashups of Justin Bieber and Slipknot songs the next. They are fueled by their desire for eternal glory… or just bragging rights and pub gift certificates. The chance to win free pints between rounds doesn’t hurt, either.
Best Outdoor Dining
Willie’s on the soundtrack, the fire pit is blazing, and there’s a neatly-folded Mexican blanket in case you want to snuggle up. It’s like being at your uncle’s Hill Country ranch. Except your uncle never made rabbit and dumplings. Pure hospitality under the big Texas sky.
Best Teen Hangout
The rink is packed, and Bieber is blasting. Disco balls and laser lights set the mood. Besties stop and chat mid-skate, talking about you know who. If this were a middle school popularity contest, Playland would be the Queen Bee.
Best Non-‘Chronicle’ Publication
They say you can’t judge a book from its cover. That’s why we’re glad that Edible Austin is a magazine. Each issue starts with a delectable still life, previewing the freshness within. A combination source book and food salon, Edible is a tasty bible for Central Texas locavores.
Best Gear/Sporting Goods
REI has been reppin’ the sporting goods industry in Austin and racking up “BOA” awards like a boss for more than a decade. The company’s outstanding supplies and expertise have even inspired our good friend to get off the couch and go outside – we’re talking hiking, camping, and cycling. (The end-of-year dividends for members/customers…
Best Council Member
In Martinez’s re-election campaign, he talked about the importance of understanding the disparity of “the Austin we show, and the Austin we know.” What he’s done since then is continue his work on the City Council to bridge the gulf between the two through community outreach, hosting the Eastside 300 Challenge, and everyday support of…
Best Car Wash
What’s with all the djinn on the list this year? Do you think the genie at Genie Car Wash is the same genie as the PC Genie? Both are good at making dirty, broken things shiny and more efficient. Both are expert in their field, easy on the wallet, and good at whisking our drudgery…
Best Antiques/Collectibles
This SoCo institution is an overwhelming experience for even the most over-the-top lover of antiques and oddities. The fine freakazoids at Uncommon invite you to carefully peruse everything from furniture to jewelry and knickity-knacks. Whether your budget allows for an overhaul in home redecoration, or you’re just adding a book from centuries past to your…
Best Shoe Selection
For those of us who view shoes as religion, the Nordstrom shoe department is a tent revival. We’re glad to testify about the heavenly service and earthly prices, but it’s the congregation of brands that really gets us down on our knees. We’re shouting ha-lay-loos to those Jason Wu’s. Can we get a witness?
Fate of Women’s Health Care in Court’s – and Perry’s – Hands
State hangs fire on Women’s Health Program, awaits court decision
The Man With the Iron Fists
Wu-Tang Clan firebrand RZA branches out into directing a martial arts film.
Best Drum Circle, Line, Triangle, Rhombus, and Moebius Strip
Austinites with a yen to drum tend to form a ring, but here are three guys who dare to think outside the circle – and outside the drum, too. As line upon line percussion, Adam Bedell, Cullen Faulk, and Matthew Teodori have demonstrated over the past three years a remarkable commitment to banging on drums,…
Best Cocktail Butter
Opal Divine’s takes the theory that butter makes everything better and runs with it. They up the cocktail ante by adding the creamy, fatty goodness to a few of their favored featured drinks. For their Harry Potter Trivia Night, they conjured up Butter Beers – rum, butterscotch schnapps, cream soda, butter, and cream. Hot buttered…
Best Guardians of the Flame
Advocacy group Los Hermanos de East Austin is a collective of locals banding together to fix and fight for their neighborhood. Whether it’s sourcing volunteers to help elderly neighbors with yard work or calling on each other to fill the back-to-school backpacks of neighborhood kids, this collective of neighbors helping neighbors works to get out…
Best Teeth Straightener
Would you believe us if we told you that we actually like going to the orthodontist? Our teeth might disagree, but not after they see how pretty and straight they’ll be. With over 45 years of experience, Dr. Jeran Hooten has a passion for his profession that is apparent in his calming and happy disposition.
Best Periodic Glam-splosion
A couple of times a year, the style maven from the Cesar Chavez wig shop, Coco Coquette, applies her magic fingers to a full stage show. It’s a themed exposition of Austin’s rarest talents, paring designers with choreographers and dancers, importing the hilarious Chris Lane from New Orleans as emcee, and topping it all off…
Best Place To Take a First Date
First dates are tricky. How to appear hip but approachable, casual but not cheap, cultured but not snobby? Safest to take them someplace that has all that covered. Who knows? Maybe it’ll rub off. Within walking distance of grayDUCK Gallery and SoCo, and with a menu tastefully blending continental and Asian flavors (flaky French pastries,…
Best Kid-Friendly Mexican Restaurant With a Full Bar
Down off of St. Elmo and South First (and now also in San Marcos) the staff at Casa Maria have been serving it up since 1997. What is “it”? Warm and kitschy decor. Twenty-five plus feet of fully stocked pan dulce cases, featuring an array of sweet empanadas, pink cake, cookies, and delicious, flakey, chocolate-tipped…
Best WTF??? on the Street
This is Austin, people. We rock. We have real estate agents who rock. We have dentists who rock. Gosh darn it, we even have ex-game show hosts who rock (Whut-whut, WOOLERY!!!). So it only stands (or slacks, or sits … whatever, man) to reason that Austin’s lawyer who rocks would have a billboard that rocks.
Best Way to Crib Stevie Nicks’ Style
Mirror in the sky, what is love? How about Austin’s best vintage dealers squeezed into one space? American Icon’s frequent 29th St. Yard Sales at the Spider House cover every available space with enough feathers, furs, and fringe for a whirling dervish. Witches-in-training can try on pointy boots while the less adventurous can flip through…
Best Actor/Actress
Yeah, it was a grueling feat to fit this multi-talented painter, improviser, and actor into a single category of win. Whether she’s wowing audiences live onstage with improv troupe Parallelogramophonograph in Austin and London and Hawaii, cutting melodramatic capers in the “Tarantulas on a Hovercraft” short and brightening the imagefinder of René Pinnell’s best Backpack…
Best Bar Staff
We – and apparently our readers, who’ve given this new joint a well-deserved three awards this year – seriously dig this year-old establishment’s sticky-floor aesthetic and convivial vibes. The room is dark, the music is hot, and friendly barkeeps keep the margaritas and the Two Steps flowing. But what gladdens our hearts the most are…
Best Video Game Studio/Developer
It’s a strange pairing for sure with local behemoth BioWare releasing the massive online game Star Wars: The Old Republic early this year and underdog KingsIsle producing a steady stream of browser and PC games for kids. Apparently the key to winning in this category is a free-to-play business model. Even online, Austinites can’t resist…
Best Sweets/Goodies
Established in 1999 by two UT sophomores, Tiff’s Treats continues to delight students with fresh-from-the-oven cookies and brownies. Luckily for the rest of us, there are now three Austin locations; and if you want to spread the love even more, you can have these delicious treats delivered to your friends, accompanied by a special-occasion balloon.
Best Texas Amusement Park
Like the limbs of the gorgeous live oaks that drape the original park, all three Texas locations of Schlitterbahn have rolled out new features this year. Galveston’s indoor waterpark gussied up her outdoors with the expansion of the cabanas, and South Padre Island’s Schlitterbahn is expanding its luxury accommodations with a new seaside hotel. Closer…
Best Public Access TV Show
Around the time Richard Dawkins was on a book tour for Unweaving the Rainbow, a scrappy cast and crew of Austin’s own The Atheist Experience was exploring atheism, ethics, reason, and science – taking calls from true believers and nonbelievers alike. Fifteen years and more than nine million (!!!) YouTube hits later, the shows keep…
Best Golf
Many of the great golfer-philosophers of our time have posited that the green is an apt and compelling metaphor for life. Peter Pan Mini Golf is no exception. On this course, you will encounter familiar archetypes: the pirate, the clown, the ambiguously gendered fairy. And just as in life, obstacles are around every corner; indeed,…
Best Elected Official
Longtime Austin Congressman Doggett has been targeted so many times by GOP redistricters that he has his mail sent to “General Delivery, Texas.” This time they strung him out along I-35 to San Antonio – where he inspired a new generation of loyal Doggett supporters. We’re happy to share him with the other River City,…
Best Computer Repair
What’s with all the djinn on the list this year? Do you think the genie at Genie Car Wash is the same genie as the PC Genie? Both are good at making dirty, broken things shiny and more efficient. Both are expert in their field, easy on the wallet, and good at whisking our drudgery…
Best Clothing
Nothing to wear to that party tonight? Our readers recommend Strut; it’s a one-stop shop for clothing, shoes, handbags, and jewelery. The objets de couture are affordable, the staff affable, and both are right on trend. After only one visit, you’ll be looking cute from tip to tail, tempted to go back for more.
Best Small Record/CD Store
Audiophiles, enter. A treasure trove of vintage, collectible, classic, reissued, and newly released vinyl awaits inside this cozy store. There’s also an embarrassment of CD, DVD, and other media riches, to boot. And the staff? Large and in charge! The smart, savvy crew doles out doses of music recommendations, tickets to local shows, and the…
Local State Board of Ed Hopefuls Lose Again
Will SBOE’s ideological wars continue for another four years?
The Sessions
A sex therapist helps a man living in an iron lung experience human intimacy; John Hawkes and Helen Hunt keep things from becoming prurient.
Best Belly of the Whale
For every public works project there are naysayers, but woe be to those who call Cotera+Reed’s “whale rib” lights anything less than glittery spotlights on downtown Austin. When these behemoth cantilevered rods were first being installed, passersby were treated to the optical delights of a full array of ever-changing LED possibilities. Since then, those lamps…
Best Emergent Art Collective
Besides having, in our humble opinion, the best group show title, OC/DC – a mash-up that seems to describe the fastidious and hard rock structure of EAST itself – Kitty_City’s roster has us drooling. From Sarah Frey, droll doyenne of zine culture and .gif aesthetics, to Doug Pollard’s hand-drawn Crumb-ish panels, this group of artists…
Best Indescribable Rakish Crooner
Fantasy is just as likely to sing a Whitney Houston cover as s/z/he is to scream “Suckmahdiiiick!” Yes, he is the local bon vivant with the bon mots. Birthed in the self-styled swagger of Downtown karaoke halls, dirty dance nights, and more recently, his very own “Show & Tell” nights at Cheer Up Charlies (think…
Best Hope for Puppies Everywhere
The THLN fights to provide a voice at the Texas Capitol for the furry, feathered, and four-legged among us. This is no small feat. Yet they’re back, session after session, to advocate for humane practices for all animals great and small. And last year, as lawmakers fought over how to close a $27 billion budget…
Best Tree Whisperer
Stan Noblett talks fast, and speaks volumes. A stroll though your yard is a personal Arboriculture 101 seminar. Armed with a degree in molecular biology from the University of Texas, Noblett set up shop in his native Austin in 1988, and has been holding the hands of nervous tree owners ever since. His recent advice…
Best Place To Level Up
Live out your own Scott Pilgrim fantasy in Austin’s own Japanese-style coin-operated arcade. New games are brought in regularly; rhythm games, puzzles, Ninja Turtles, and good old-fashioned combat. If your hand-eye coordination is lacking, you can always watch the pros play a tournament, or come after midnight on a weekend, when the hardcore contingent is…
Best Sandwich Seemingly Made in Cheese-Lover’s Heaven
We’re not going to talk about the rest of the nomming goodness here, nor even mention the excellent coffee from an on-table French press the size of Zeus’s own amphora; we’re just going to internally liquefy as we recall Apothecary’s Brie, Pear, and Honey Panini with insides sharpened by arugula and anointed with holy truffle…
Best Milkshake
Time slows down when you step into this old school drugstore. The Fonz. Sock hops. A simpler time. Slide onto one of the orange vinyl swivel chairs and lean across the soda fountain counter to place your order. Peruse the magazine rack and toy aisle while you wait – these shakes are made the right…
Best 200MPH View of Austin
They’re calling it the Austin Turn. Why? Because it’s high and tight to the left. The signature turn one was the brain child of Circuit of the Americas creator Tavo Hellmund: Not only is it a challenge for the drivers, one like nothing else on the F1 calendar, but it will be a defining camera…
Best Way To Get Clean
SoAP represents the Austin persona perfectly: natural, organic, locally made products for conscientious city dwellers. Among their liquid and bar soap selection, they also offer deliciously scented laundry detergents, body sprays, lotions, and dog shampoos – many offered in giant bulk refill sizes. Dye-free and petroleum-free, the lavender, peppermint, Nag Champa and lemongrass fragrances will…
Best Annual Comedy Event
Why did the chicken climb the moontower? To get to this Mount Everest of hilarity, of course! Whether you like your funny ha-ha or twisted, the brand new Moontower Comedy and Oddity Festival is a 5-day laugh-in that took over venues all over town this year and plans to each spring. From up-and-coming locals like…
Best Club Night/Theme Night
Once upon a time, The Glitoris, the nastiest of nasty, took his SXSW party-throwing cred and leveraged it into a weekly Tuesday gay gathering. Did we say Tuesday? Sorry, it’s now officially TuezGayz. No joke. Around 11:30pm, when Barbarella is packed to the brim, you’ll be checking to make sure it is, in fact, the…
Best 24-Hour/Late Night
Whether your late-night cravings are for Tex-Mex, burgers, healthy entrées, or the red-eyed line cook, Kerbey Lane has you covered. Relaxing with friends over a delicious bowl of Kerbey Queso is the perfect conclusion to a night out, while the hearty breakfast fare and coffee (and the aforementioned line cook) are the perfect fuel for…
Best Afterschool Activity
Maybe the youth of today don’t break into song when they hear YMCA on the oldies station, but they sure do break into smiles at the door. For years now, the Y has been lauded for its exceptional after-school care program that’s loaded with activities for both the body and the brain – everything to…
Best Toys
The selection at Terra Toys is an encyclopedic wonderland of childhood: action figures, books, candy, Playmobil, yo-yos, magic wands, pirate maps, stuffed animals, vintage toys, games, dolls, puzzles, toddler blocks – the list goes on and on. If you get lost in the toy jungle, the elves at the store have a top ten list…
Best Radio Host/Deejay
Jason Dick and Deb O’Keefe are irreverent, irrepressible, and most of the time just plain silly. Deb, in addition to having the best radio voice ever, also manages to be one of the only commercial female jockeys to play more than a supportive, laugh-at-his-jokes role on a morning show, which is awesome because sometimes the…
Best Place To Camp
Krause Springs is an enchanted land. Besides the inherent summer perfection of swimming in crystal clear, spring water surrounded by thick luscious ferns and Cypress, Krause has trees you can climb inside of, a slightly ominous watery cave, and a mystical garden complete with the biggest wind chimes we’ve ever seen. Not to mention the…
Best Election Success
Longtime Austin Congressman Doggett has been targeted so many times by GOP redistricters that he has his mail sent to “General Delivery, Texas.” This time they strung him out along I-35 to San Antonio – where he inspired a new generation of loyal Doggett supporters. We’re happy to share him with the other River City,…
Best Dry Cleaner
Calling EcoClean the best dry cleaner is a little misleading. They do something better. Instead of embalming clothes with toxic sludge, their gentle wet cleaning process leaves clothes cleaner, softer, and without that icky chemical smell. We like to use their free delivery service so we can remain au naturel while doing right by nature.
Best Comic Book Store
Let your frea – we mean, geek flag fly. People come from all over Texas for this comic shop, lovingly referred to as “ABC.” It’s the selection: indie comics, first editions, figurines, manga, trade paperbacks, and graphic novels. ABC has issues – new issues as well as boxes of back issue comics to flip through.…
Best Thrift Store
Goodwill shoppers appreciate the organization’s community service just as much as the bargains and hidden treasures to be found within the store. The auctions hold a special place in our hearts; where else can you get an Anne Geddes print and a Wurlitzer organ for a song? Spend an afternoon picking through the vast selection…
Day Trips
Best discoveries of the year
When Is a ‘Game Room’ a Bedroom?
The fight over superduplexes continues at 1917 David Street
Smashed
Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Aaron Paul portray a married couple who are plagued by the disease of alcoholism.
Best Domiciles for Eccentric Bats
These ploppy, upside-down, vase-shaped containers on stilts are well-suited to house the most discerning of flying furry friends. Think of it as a bat B & B – where the bats who just want to get away from the colony can go. Oh, and that stuff they excrete, guano, is good for garden soil. A…
Best Film Programming
Locally owned and programmed, this relative newcomer among Austin film venues regularly brings in movies that would otherwise go unseen on Austin screens. Recent examples include Wim Wenders’ 3-D documentary, Pina; last year’s Iranian Oscar-winner for Best Foreign Film, A Separation; Kelly Reichardt’s contemplative Western drama, Meek’s Cutoff; and Andrew Haigh’s multi-award-winner about gay relationships,…
Best LGBTQ Bartender
Who can take a bear down with a smile? Who can take a nothing drink, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile? It’s the Chain Drive’s Garold Bates, who you can always count on for a stiff drink, a wink, a flirt, and a squirt … of fun, that is.
Best Thong
Like a shooting star, Thong Rider appears in Clarksville, on East Sixth, or the Lamar Pedestrian Bridge, or in your dreams with a flash of a smile and flashy underwear to match. If you spot him, he’ll brighten up your day. And before you know it, he’s riding off, without a care in the world,…
Best Way To Get Your Books In Order
If you’re one of Austin’s many entrepreneurs, then you know that one of the most daunting tasks in getting your business up and running is balancing the books and getting your taxes squared away. In fact, many of us put that part off – hey, maybe it’ll just figure itself out, right? Wrong. But don’t…
Best Places To Suck at Karaoke
So you think you can’t sing? Too bad. There’s a song with your name on it, and probably one in your heart if you dig down deep into that darkness. And whether you choose the intimate embarrassment of a small room format, or simply enjoy making a fool out of yourself in front of perfect…
Best Senegasm
This Cesar Chavez trailer offers homestyle Senegalese cuisine. We get antsy every time we forget their limited hours (Tuesday through Friday, 11am-3pm) and pull up with the full intention of letting their love flow all over us. Actually, that could get messy, because, as creatures of habit, we insist on ordering only their peanut butter…
Best Place To Let the Kids Wander
The museum has four floors of things that kids of all ages love, from the largest flying creature ever discovered (the remains of the Texas Pterosaur) to fossil digs the entire family can enjoy. The exhibit halls are a great place to spend a rainy afternoon or escape a summer heat wave. You don’t have…
Best at Safely Gesticulating
With Austin’s growing bike-ceptance comes the very real challenges of sharing the asphalt. Blasé and entitled auto drivers are just as much a public threat as cyclists who run stop signs, stealthily sidle past rows of waiting cars, and don’t use their damn hand signals. Sorry, embattled road warriors, you have nothing on the be-helmeted…
Best Affordable Motel
Though the Austin Motel has been beautifully renovated and modernized since it first opened in 1938, it still feels like a place away from our time, like a place you might have vacationed with your family during the best part of your eighth year on earth. This motel feels like a week you lived in…
Best Art Gallery
For over 30 years, Women and Their Work has fought the notion that art is the province of men. The gallery focuses on a much more contemporary conversation – with shows ranging from Ann Wood’s disturbing pastorals to Lauren Kelley’s meditations on race. And the gift shop is one of Austin’s finest, a jewel within…
Best Cocktail Menu
Our winners this year both bring a little bit of prewar Europe to Austin. East Side Show Room is a sexy Weimar Republic cabaret perfect for our inner Sally Bowles. The Barrel Aged Negronis are absolutely wunderbar and the Rittenhouse Rye Old Fashioned has no equal. Across town, Peché has the glowing ambience of 1920s…
Best Beer/Wine Prices
When we found out that Austin readers awarded Houston-bred Spec’s this particular honorific for the fifth year in a row, we had to do a little, uh, participant-observation research. And – hiccup – yes, you’re right.
Best Birthday Cakes
H-E-B is Texas’ choice for quality groceries, and the grocery chain’s birthday cakes are no exception. Need theme cakes and cupcakes awash in brightly colored icing, featuring favorite kids’ characters like SpongeBob SquarePants? Swing by the bakery section, because cakes can also be made to order and totally customized to reflect your true nature. So,…
Best Video Game Rental/Purchase for Kids
Despite an industry shift toward downloadable content, GameStop continues to be our readers’ go-to place to actually, physically purchase new or used copies of the latest titles. Plus, if things get tight financially, you can keep your blood and off-load some of those dust-covered games you have sitting around. Sure beats waiting for your allowance.
Best Radio Station
With new digs and sweet new programming (Laurie Gallardo in the evenings is a lovely curatorial choice – finally), KUT is poised to be even better than it already is. And it’s already great! Weirdo O’Dark 30 highlights indie-produced radio work at the ur witching-hour: Sunday, midnight. Like fellow KGSR ex-pats Susan Castle and Kevin…
Best Place To Skate
Your rental includes quads: Just like when you were a kid. Lasers blaze and music from the Seventies, Eighties, and Nineties blares: Just like when you were a kid. Come out on Tuesdays for Adult Night (ages 18+ only) where it’s just like when you were a kid – only there are no kids.
Best Environmentalist
You know that old American standard by the Carter Family, “Keep On the Sunny Side”? Don’t hate us Brandi, but that should really be your theme song. The uplifting rendition sums up how Brandi approaches the environmental challenges of the day – not just by trying to turn lemons into lemonade, but by promoting a…
Best Florist
It’s wise to keep a good florist on call for life’s myriad flower occasions. Over the phone or in-person, Freytag’s can offer recommendations based on color, occasion, or length of relationship and deliver exactly what you expect. Their long-lasting stems and bouquets will get you out of the doghouse, and their “Local Specials” will keep…
Best Computer Store
Stay geek for cheap with this five-time “BOA” winner. Since opening its doors in 1997, Discount Electronics has expanded into three locations in Austin and Round Rock, and has been recognized as one of the fastest growing private companies in the country. Here at Discount Electronics, one nerd’s used computer is another nerd’s cornucopia of…
Best Video Game Rental/Purchase
While most technology fetishists wait in endless lines for any new, fad gadget, the people at Game Over see the infinite lives in old video games. Your old pals Kirby, Link, Sonic, and all the others live happily ever after on the shelves where you can visit them any time you like.
Gay Place: BESTNESS
It’s Best of Austin week and gay Austin is deep in it
Props & Bonds: Mixed, but Definitely Dramatic
Everything gets the green light except 6, 8, and 15
Simon and the Oaks
This Swedish import is a family saga that’s shaped by the looming Nazi invasion, forbidden love, and unsound decisions.
Best Glitter-Encrusted Venue
Barely a year old, Riverside’s rebirth of the late Beauty Bar has become a sparkling hot spot, drawing in local, regional, and touring acts, proudly carrying on the tradition of its Red River ancestor with a come-one, come-all, genre-hopping ethos. The new ballroom’s 750-capacity trades the old salon for a modern, saloon-style venue, but the…
Best Glass Blower
Jay Massey hasn’t lost his marbles; the glass just metamorphosed into other functions, like gun pipes, “Sherlocks” and bubblers, curvy, nude lady pipes, and other sleek and compelling figurines. His glass can be found at damn near every head shop within a 50-mile radius of Austin, and he happily shares his love for the profession…
Best Meshes of an Afternoon, Evening, or Dead of Night
Sure, we love the clean lines and cool twists of graphic designer Laurel Barickman’s print and website projects, from Ume to the ND, from Her Space Holiday to Holy Mountain. And not much sets us more afloat than her (soon-to-be) hubby David Milner’s cheeky Yacht Rock-themed DJ nights. But these kids take it to another…
Best Way To Find a Good Mystery
So you like thrillers, suspense, mysteries – Elmore Leonard, John Sandford, and Michael Connelly. But do you know Joe Nesbo? Or Attica Locke? If not, that could be because you’ve never had a chance to get a recommendation from Bill Donaldson, a city librarian at the Carver Branch in East Austin. He’s down with the…
Best Way To Lay a Loved One to Rest
We all die; that is inevitable. But how we spend our eternal years is completely up to us – ashes to ashes, casket to casket, or, perhaps, back to earth and marked by a newly planted Texas Live Oak? Janice King, a funeral director at East Austin’s family-owned King-Tears Mortuary is here to give you…
Best Rebirth
After 20 years reigning over Red River, the original Emo’s closed its doors forever, only to manifest in a big way over on Riverside. Emo’s East opened its doors a little more than a year ago, and the cavernous venue has upped the capacity and the ante, drawing in premier acts from all over the…
Best Slow Food/Fast Food Hybrid
This former South Austin “Moroccan burger” trailer now has a beautifully decorated brick-and-mortar on Oltorf so lovers of their Big Abdu can eat in true Moroccan style. Along with the new look is an expanded special-order menu of halal tajines (stews) that must be reserved 24 hours in advance. Though they spurn the “fast food”…
Best Place To Meet Your Joey
The West Texas town of San Angelo specifically bans marsupials as pets. That’s how Jason, a red kangaroo, ended up at the Austin Zoo. All 350 animals at the zoo have a backstory, some tragic. Visitors help support the menagerie of former pets whose crime is outgrowing their owner’s ability to care for them.
Best Bird’s Eye View
Stacy and Randy Riggs and their team of seasoned chopper jockeys want to show you their world, from 1,000 feet over Austin. It’s a view few get to take in – you know, those unique, but oh-so-short perspectives on take-off or landing at ABIA. The Riggs have brought their successful formula to Austin from their original…
Best Bathroom
This year, the Dub wins two awards from our readers. If Jay Gatsby lived in 2099, his pool would look like this. Swank. Modern. Nestle in your own cabana or do laps like a lapper. Better yet, try to win Daisy’s affection and order her a French Pear from the Wet Bar. This pool was…
Best Arts Festival
Austin readers agree, when it comes to art, ain’t no party like an Eastside party ’cause an Eastside party don’t stooooop! Wait, what? The East Austin Studio Tour is the best and most impervious defense against those who wail that Austin is a no-art town. Sure, we don’t have that cruddy crude-money that bankrolled art…
Best Drag Performer
If we didn’t know better, we would think Paul Soileau is dabbling in the black arts. How else to explain his ability to do so many things at once? As aging flapper Rebecca Havermeyer, Paul is a fixture of Austin’s charity circuit – showing up to emcee many an ASA function, and holding court each…
Best Cheap Date
Rustic, romantic, European-style – Blue Dahlia breathes new life into overused restaurant-review adjectives with its winning combination of locally-sourced French cuisine, cozy decor, and moderate pricing. Whether your date prefers the candlelit interior or the enchanting outdoor bamboo garden, you’ll get that classy-yet-casual vibe. For the true bargain-hunter, the happy hour Bellinis and tartines can’t…
Best Bookstore for Kids
Here are some reasons to be jealous of the kids in your life: They don’t have a car payment, mortgage worries, or have to answer the incessant “What’s for dinner?” question. Well here’s one more huge reason to be jelly of the spawn from your belly: They get to participate in the awesome kids programs…
Best Art Photographer
Darla’s work is a beautifully rendered marriage of old-fashioned photography technique and new-fashioned computer magic. Her images are redolent with gothic glamour. She makes haunted surrealist works, heavy in symbolism, often made wonderful by her use of color. Austin has voted, and Darla is dreamy.
Best Sportscaster
KVUE’s sports director has been at the top of his game for more than two decades, covering Super Bowls, high school teams, and the Texas Longhorns – including coverage of UT’s 2006 national football championship – with style and authority. Viewers beware: Barnes’ “Friday Football Fever” may be contagious. These local sports segments, the original…
Best Place To Tube
There are lots of places to blow up an inner tube and lazily chute, but none so lovely as the San Marcos River. Fed by Spring Lake, her waters are cool and clear. Rope swings, rapids, and really amazing people watching round out the experience. So strap on some styrofoam balls, four eyes, and load…
Best Grassroots Movement
Those people over there, filming you getting arrested? They aren’t with Cops, and they aren’t doing it for their own jollies. You’ll be glad they’re there if Officer Jimmy gets too rough. Accountability at all levels of civic service is key, and Peaceful Streets knows it’s our civic duty to enforce it.
Best Hair Salon
For something that just grows out of your head all willy-nilly, hair can be incredibly fraught. Luckily, we have Jimmy Haddox and Eric Massey’s Wet Salon and Studio to make it beautiful. This SoCo landmark is known for brilliant stylists and great service. Oh, and free Shock Top. p.s.: Hot name, guys.
Best Drugstore/Pharmacy
Maybe we’re hypochondriacs, but we find ourselves browsing the shelves of Peoples Rx on a weekly basis. We just feel better with all those antioxidants around. The well-informed staff always takes the time to give thorough and personalized advice. They even serve chicken noodle soup on Thursdays. It’s like calling home to bubbe without all…
Best Vintage
Vintage shops are meant to be explored and re-visited, and Room Service marks the epitome of this ethos, with a constantly coop-flying inventory. There are way too many fresh midcentury modern, granny chic, and retro Fifties items to take in all at once. So plan on a few visits. Avoid the big box stores altogether,…
Oops!
The Nov. 2 News column “Then There’s This: Cracking Down on Homelessness” named the wrong organization that conducted a quality-of-life poll of Downtown residents. The poll was conducted by the Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association, not the Downtown Austin Alliance. The Chronicle regrets the error.
Soccer Watch
St. Edward’s hosts the NCAA DII Women’s Soccer South Central Regional this weekend at Lewis-Chen Family Field: The first-round game is at 2pm, Friday, Nov. 9, between Metro State and West Texas A&M, and St. Ed’s takes on the winner at 2pm, Sunday, Nov. 9, ($10, $5 student/senior, $2 for ages 2-12). The Hilltoppers dropped…
The Other Dream Team
Who’s the “other” Dream Team? The freedom-championing Lithuanian basketball team at the 1992 Olympics, of course.
Best Grandstandin’
Why do they call it a stand if it’s got seats? UT architecture professor Juan Miró and his partner Miguel Rivera designed the canvas-shaded grandstands for the Circuit of the Americas. If Texas winters keep getting hotter, they’ll be the best place to keep yourself cool while the cars are burning up the track. While…
Best Independent Fashion Education
Designer Mary Margaret Quadlander opened Austin School of Fashion Design a few years ago as an alternative to UT’s apparel design program. Quadlander teaches all levels of sewing for children and adults, as well as draping and flat-patterning, with crash courses and summer camps. Pick the classes you want, or sign up for the entire…
Best Motorcyclist’s Pal
If you live in the Austin metro, chances are you or someone you know has spent painful times in the Brackenridge ICU waiting room. The kind and brilliant professionals at this hospital are at the top of the class regarding their knowledge and skill in head trauma situations. During ROT Rally and on sunny days…
Best Way To Stay Safe on Campus
What do three stolen iPhones, a missing bike, and a drunkard in a parking garage have in common? They’ve each made the weekly blotter roundup of crime on campus put together by the University of Texas Police Department and sent out with the subject line “Campus Watch” to thousands of people. Not only does this…
Best Way To Shore Things Up
Have a sloping slab? Maybe a pocking pier? Have no fear, call Douglas Plauche at Douglas Foundation Repair. With a life’s worth of experience in construction and foundation repair, Douglas brings to the table a wealth of knowledge about the best way to level your home. He’s honest and forthright – and won’t even try…
Best Straw Man
We wonder if Austin homeboy Brian Brushwood, progenitor of the web series “Scam School” and “NSFW,” as well as multiple guest slots on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, has paid an ear, nose, and throat specialist tens of thousands of dollars to deviate his septum, so that he can pass a clear tube up…
Best Vegan Sweeties
If veganism is an addiction, vegan desserts are the gateway drug. And the purveyors of these fine new Austin establishments are going to get you hooked. Admit it, non-vegans – how many times have you found yourself with a sweet treat that sends you to seventh heaven only to learn it was created without animal…
Best Way To Bust Out Your Inner Beast
Big-eyed, bubble-headed polychrome heads have been shown to reveal an inner creative persona – and it’s a powerful metaphorical process of transformation. This papier-mâché, purple and green brainchild of cosmetologist/art therapist/do-gooder Sara Hasslinger asks participants young and old to create and don their own monster head. By sidestepping race, gender, and let’s face it, species,…
Best Chance To See the Great Pumpkin
Growing up rooting for Linus on Charlie Brown’s Halloween special made for generations of pumpkin patch fans. The spirit of his Great Pumpkin can be found in Marble Falls at one of the area’s finest, Sweet Berry Farm. A veritable bounty of pumpkins and gourds onsite make would-be jack-o-lantern carvers spoiled for choice. With hayrides,…
Best Bed and Breakfast
When someone tells you a house is a Colonial Revival building, the response is either a distinct glazing over of the eyes or the kind of nerdy architecture enthusiasm weekend Restoration-Hardware customers can only hope to possess. Nestled in Hyde Park – peppered with pier-and-beam neighbors – the Adams House Bed and Breakfast is a…
Best Clothing Designer
No goth she, Ms. Chovan proves that everyone looks better in black. She’s been praised in these pages before for her window designs, for her luscious personality – but it’s the clothes, people, the clothes we care about! Her designs speak of a love for all things Parisian (she’s practically a dual citizen!), yet are…
Best Jukebox
This carefully curated collection is brought to you by Casino, the man, the namesake, the music nerd. Mr. Perennial Winner of this category. Have a hankering for Screaming Jay Hawkins’ “Feast of the Mau Mau” while you feast on your burger? Casino understands. A frequently updated selection and a well-balanced mix of old and new,…
Best Farmers’ Market
Austin has no lack of health stores or farmers’ markets, and this Eastside upstart has lured a great array of local vendors. Healthy cooking depends on fresh ingredients, and this market features seasonal vendors, like Johnson’s Backyard Garden and Engel Farms, offering up the best locally grown produce. Plus, there’s plenty in the way of…
Best Clothes
This franchise is the Buffalo Exchange of kid stuff. Buy and sell gently used clothing and costumes for kids and babies, plus gear and furniture for infants. Want to be a green Mom or Dad and still indulge in adorable stuff? Shop guilt- and cooties-free at two Austin locations.
Best Event Photographer
Check your shyness at the door, kiddos. One smile from Austin’s photo-booth queen, a sift through her arsenal of clever props and accessories, and your inhibitions are set loose to double-down on your picture-perfect persona. Annie’s trademark photos are an unmistakable burst of color and class, making each of her snapshots of you match what…
Best TV Anchor
Judy may wish we forgot, but we remember her fabulous ‘do in the ’90s. We also remember, and incessantly imitated Fred Cantu’s accented sign-offs, wishing to be a little closer to the man’s brightness. These are the giants of Austin tele-visual news, and their reps precede them in only the most positive of ways. With…
Best Pool/Billiards
Ask any Magic 8-Ball where the best place to shoot stick is and it will tell you the Grand. Cheap drinks? Cheap pool? Laid-back dive vibe? Games galore? All signs point to yes. Escape the trappings of Downtown. Skies of blue and seas of green felt await.
Best Green Program
This collective installs low-maintenance, drought-resistant garden beds made from salvaged materials in front yards, schools, businesses, and wherever else they can fit one. Local food gets a lot of lip service in fancy restaurants, but FIF brings it into the day-to-day, where it belongs.
Best Landscape Services
Austin is no place for shrinking violets. Only the hardiest horticulture survives our often Saharan temperatures and frequent droughts and it’s not always easy to corral our rambunctious mix of native plants. For more than a decade, Fertile Ground has coaxed sustainable showstoppers out of our finicky soil, and since 2009, our readers have been…
Best DVD Rental/Purchase
You know how it’s this thing nowadays to talk about how library books smell, like it’s all romantic to say something like “Ahhh, I just luuuuurrrvvve the smell of library books, it reminds me of the library on Nantucket that I used to visit as a child.” Well, we say it’s high time DVDs got…
Best of Austin 2012
Best of the Fests You can’t swing an artist without hitting a festival in this town. Welcome to ‘Best of Austin,’ 2012 KATE X MESSER, November 9, 2012 It’s a triple-whammy for our readers this week. Many are still dancing around living rooms across Austin to Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” giddy at the news…
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Redheads are particularly sensitive to pain. Mickey Rooney claims Mickey Mouse was named after him. He said when he was a little boy he met Walt Disney, who was trying to come up with a name for a cartoon mouse he had just invented. Dogs’ brains produce oxytocin, associated in humans with love and affection.…
Council: I Hear a Lotta Buzzin’
City Council considers Formula One flight plans
Best Makeover
Well-trimmed like an Italian Renaissance giardino, but 100% Texas, the Commodore Perry Estate looms on the edge of Hyde Park like a friendly and stalwart sentry. Since its first incarnation as a private residence, it’s seen a number of private schools and public events pass between its walls. In 2011, this chunk of property was…
Best Indie Film Cred Boost
After a brief hiatus, this homegrown group of movie nerds is back to cleanse us of summer blockbusters and feed us intellectually nutritious independent features. The nomadic collective hosts screenings and discussions wherever they can get their grubby hands on a screen and a projector, so check the website for screening dates and locations.
Best Organic Reliefs
Although she dabbles in twee terraria, Monique Capanelli’s real strength lies in her living walls – large frames of succulent fronds and greenery. It’s difficult to distill the essence of walking, observing, and meditating on the natural world, but Capanelli does so with aplomb. She strikes the perfect balance between representing the secret spaces of…
Best Way to Turn Some Green Even Greener
Austin is home to a smart-grid test community, and this nonprofit organization is the research muscle behind the energy and water systems necessary to develop it into sustainability. Three years ago, the Department of Energy gave the Pecan Street Project $10.4 million to help fund a smart-grid demonstration project at Mueller. Along with the help…
Most Valuable Catering Player
At 67, consummate-professional Frank Halm runs circles around his 20-year-old counterparts. This ol’ fella doesn’t mess around when it comes to working private events. His back may ache but you’ll never know it, as he works double and triple shifts for employers like A Love of Food, Word of Mouth, and Austin Catering. This detail-oriented…
Best Way To Say Boo to Cancer
You can’t scare cancer away, but Scare for a Cure does the next best thing. The annual charity haunted attraction, headed by APD Detective Jarrett Crippen (aka “The Defuser,” the winner of Stan Lee’s Who Wants to Be a Superhero? reality TV show), and assembled by a massive team of volunteers, scarers, blood-letters, and gore-getters,…
Best Vendor on a Roll
Isn’t it enough that owner/dough puncher Robert Ahrens offers a veritable sausage fest of savory kolaches and some of the sweetest fruitsplosive squares this side of the Kolache Highway (I-10 between La Grange and Ellinger)? Well, no. He had to go and raise that dough to another level. His Kolache Creations (née Kolache Shoppe) –…
Best “September Issue” in November
Over the past 11 years, perhaps the most collectible item from EAST is the EAST catalog itself. Like the Anna Wintour-helmed September issue of Vogue, the EAST catalog provides a look-book of the contemporary art landscape in Austin. To art-worlders, the EAST catalog at first appears to conform to the genre of art fair books;…
Best Eastside Outdoor Fix
This hidden treasure, full of potential, has been overlooked for too long. There is a back entrance with trails that practically connect to the tail end of the Ladybird Lake trail. The city has just completed a renovation of the woods into an expansive and shady disc golf course. And we are now publicly outing…
Best Downtown View
If all of the denizens of this, Austin’s largest vertical neighborhood, voted in “Best of Austin,” they could lock down this award in perpetuity. In truth, the vast majority of the votes came from outside the tallest all-residential building in Texas. Perhaps these nonresident voters were lost in some serious craft cocktail bewitching at Congress,…
Best Comedian or Comedy Troupe
Movie-mocking comedy troupe Master Pancake is dangerous. Eating or drinking or even breathing while laughing so damn hard is a real choking hazard. We’re surprised they don’t make us sign a waiver before allowing us to watch their brilliant mocks of Con Air, Twilight, or Forrest Gump. Plus, Erler in his underpants? Total heart attack…
Best Karaoke Night
When Dick and Jane want to play pop star they go to Ego’s. Watch Dick drink. See Jane sing Go-Go’s. Go Jane go! Whether you got the beat or you’re faking it til’ you make it, Ego’s has a stage with your name on it every night of the week. With a seemingly endless song…
Best Food Event
Some like it hot, some like it hotter. Some prefer green, others red, but the one thing everyone can agree on is salsa’s rightful place on Austin’s table. Nevermind the summer swelter, Austinites gather year after year to crown winners and taste the glory. Best in show is the gift of giving, as Austin shares…
Best Club For Teen Performers
Parent approved, yet far beyond the feel of a church lock-in, Whip In boasts two stages: an intimate cafe-style indoor space, and a beer garden outside. With marching bands, jazz trios, punk, orchestra, and bluegrass, the music selection is as much a mash-up as this quirky convenience store, Indian restaurant, bar, and music venue. Perfect…
Best Film Critic
She knows that Bubble Boy is a forgotten gem and The Dark Knight’s grunts amount to little. We trust her to separate the wheat from the chaff in the Twilight, Harry Potter, and Bourne series. Most of all, week after week, we trust Jones will give everything from teensploitation flicks to foreign documentaries the same…
Best Place To Take a First Date
It’s Austin’s sexiest restaurant, sublime even before the first, flawless bite. It may seem odd at first to call such a large dining room intimate, but chef/owner Tyson Cole has had a little practice setting the scene. Key to the ambiance is the glistening lighting, which gives each table its own snug glow. And then…
Best Scenic View
The stars at night are big and bright, deep in the heart of this historic landmark. Yee haw! Every visit to Mount Bonnell, aka Covert Park, holds a the promise of a breath of fresh air and beautiful vistas of the Colorado River to put tears in your eyes, a song in your heart, and…
Best Local Politics Blog
The eyes of Texas may be upon the rest of us, but the Burnt Orange Report has their progressive/liberal/Democratic eyes focused on the Capitol. This largest group political blog in the state offers a platform that reaches way beyond our borders. With grassroots that burrow deep in the heart of the Lone Star State, BOR…
Best Laundromat
In honor of your achievement in DIY laundry self-service as the largest locally owned and operated coin-op laundry chain in Austin, we offer you, dear SpinZone, the following opportunity to write your own blurb: Insert Bill O’Reilly joke here. Insert bra-warping, tiny tighty-whitey joke here. Insert missing sock joke here. Insert fluffy towel joke, and…
Best Gardening Store
For those who can’t get enough of their own great outdoors, The Great Outdoors is a gardener’s Mecca. Convenient location, excellent and knowledgeable service, and an array of gardening goodies that will make your head spin – this place has it all. And if they don’t, they can get it for you: pottery, statuary, seeds,…
Food Events
� Farm to Table Harvest Dinner Chefs John Bates of the Noble Pig, Josh Watkins of the Carillon, Erica Beneke of Max’s Wine Dive, and Tim Dornon of Uchiko join forces with Travaasa executive chef Ben Baker to benefit the Sustainable Food Center. Drink.Well will be on hand to mix cocktails with Tito’s Vodka and…
APD’s ‘Rick’ and ‘Dirk’ Occupy Occupy Austin
Two more undercover cops identified
Best Organized Chaos
It’s baaaaccckkk – bike wheels, wrought iron gate panels, discarded lamp parts, and all. After struggles with the city of Austin over building permits due to safety and accessibility concerns, Vince Hannemann’s 33-foot-high, 60-ton Cathedral of Junk returns to delight and stimulate the senses. Heaven can wait when a monetary donation grants entry into these…
Best Movement Illuminator
You may think your walk is, well, pedestrian, but there’s one choreographer in town who sees it as art. Allison Orr has made a career of elevating and celebrating the movements of our daily existence – routine motions around the house or on the job – by putting them on the stage and showing them…
Best Place To Take an Urban Nap
You’ve had a hard day walking ’round town, hustlin’. Makin’ the Austin (wo)man-baby dream come alive! But those aching dogs? Where to put them? Beauteous, polychromed nets hang on the cantilevered porch of Whole Earth Provision Co. just waiting for the fabulous flaneurs to swiiiiing looooowwww. Sweet Chariot! Also: We hear the staff of WEP…
Best Welcoming Preaching Couple
Yes, we know many of you aren’t into organized religion, but some of you may be looking for some spiritual fellowship or counsel, albeit with a progressive, liberal bent. If so, check out this Downtown church for size. It’s run by the low-key (yet so dynamic) duo of the Reverends Wright and Ruth, who, as…
Best Art Supplies for the Face
In a town filled with magnificent beards, the humble mustache sometimes gets short shrift. Woodsman Mustache Wax and Beard Oil celebrate the full follicle potential. Woodsman has enough oomph to sculpt the most fanciful of curls, to soften the driest beard, but without using oils better left on the canvas. All-natural conditioners make sure your…
Best Baby Hummus
This hummus is no baby (it does, however, taste so good it may make you cry like one). The Austin-based brand’s quirky and accessible approach to the traditional dish – with flavors ranging from smoked Thai curry to black bean – has grown into a full-blown consumer-packaged food company in two years. Zach Gultz, founder…
Best-Kept Secret Corn Tortilla
Some corn tortillas are just floppy and flavorless, so you just kind of ignore them and hope the filling is good. Not these. This market booth mainly sells tamales (which are also very good), so you have to ask about their tortillas and get them out of the cooler. Freezer-zipped in a pack of eight,…
Best Defense Against a Math Attack
If math is your enemy, Patrick Jones is your best friend. Whether it’s long division or LaGrange multipliers you’re battling at 2am on your last energy drink, Jones is there for you, wielding a Sharpie that can slice through the thickest of brain fogs. The local math tutor’s website houses hundreds of short, simple videos…
Best Fitness Charity
Austin Pets Alive! at Town Lake has partnered with Team Spiridon, a local running group, to create maybe the most brilliant joint venture in the history of “Arfstin.” Overstatement? You decide. It’s a mutually beneficial situation, where runners take shelter dogs for jogs around Lady Bird Lake. The times are flexible, and the dogs are…
Best Historic Site
Elijah E. Meyers, runner-up in the Samuel Clemens look-alike contest, designed the Texas State Capitol as well as capitol buildings in Michigan and Colorado. Seriously, that dude had a thing for domes. Once you disentangle the building’s staunch Renaissance Revival and Neoclassical style from the political ideologies of Republicanism (not the elephant kind), it’s easy…
Best Composer
This mighty maestro is nonpareil in the realm of original musical compositions, whether it’s for movies (Bernie, A Scanner Darkly), theatre (spacestation1985, Guest by Courtesy), dance (The Geometry of Proximity, Trash Dance, Cult of Color), animation (Boxer Story), or webseries (Up to Speed). Not to mention what he’s done for and with Ballet Austin and…
Best LGBTQ Hangout
Remember when a ragtag group of kids got together to save the community center in Breakin’ 2? We feel the same way about Cheer Up Charlies. It’s not just a bar for Austin’s LBGTQ community. It’s not just another East Sixth haven for hipsters and slackmeisters. It’s where we come together to watch movies, hold…
Best Food Trailer
It’s not typical for a food trailer to show up in the pages of People magazine, but East Side King is far from typical. Its Beef Tongue Bun is the kind of dish that makes you want to gossip, and the Fried Brussels Sprout Salad is prettier than a starlet. We know Paul Qui won…
Best Drop-in Center
There’s very little that is more stressful to parents than finding good child care — it must be safe, qualified, and caring. To take all that, and make it fun by pairing it with interactive gaming, play kitchens, dress up, crafts, and homework help, catapults this drop-in child-care facility to a whole other level. Not…
Best Food Writer
With her position on the board of directors of the Austin Food Bloggers Alliance, the Statesman’s go-to food gal helps set standards for her field, defining and connecting the people, places, and delicious things in the local food scene. Addie Broyles: will work for food.
Best TV Reporter
Quita, Quita, Quita, if you don’t know it by now, what more can we say? We love you – we really, really love you. Culpepper, the indefatigable reporter (and early evening anchor) for ABC’s KVUE news is a real shining star in the city – and we hope she never, ever, goes away.
Best Secret Romantic Hideaway
Just 30 miles west of Austin is one of our readers’ favorite oases. Hamilton Pool rests in the hollow of a collapsed dome of a subterranean river, creating a natural limestone grotto carved out over thousands of years, that now serves as a favorite Austin swimming spot. Its clear, crisp waters boast fish and large…
Best March or Rally
It’s a unique category, but it makes sense for this winner: Occupy might well be described as a permanent “march or rally” against economic injustice and in support of basic democratic rights. Since its beginnings as Occupy Wall Street and as it spread nationwide and into Austin, Occupy has turned the national discussion to questions…
Best Manicure/Pedicure
Y’all wanna be pampered. We get it! With a pink and chocolate palette, comfy cushy seats, and drippy glass chandeliers for dayz, this nailería has clawed its way into your dark hearts. “Embellish” your mani/pedi with a vanilla cupcake paraffin wax treatment and you may want to eat your hand afterward. But that would, you…
Best Home Furnishings
Vintage shops are meant to be explored and re-visited, and Room Service marks the epitome of this ethos, with a constantly coop-flying inventory. There are way too many fresh midcentury modern, granny chic, and retro Fifties items to take in all at once. So plan on a few visits. Avoid the big box stores altogether,…
Hornucopia
Hey armchair QBs – shut your fajita holes
The Hightower Report: Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?
To run away from the factory farm!
Best Outdoor Museum With a View
Somewhere there is a castle on a hill. Moats of grass line broken concrete abutments. Walls and surface abound in a vertical arrangement, all open to the elements. Every square inch, it seems, is covered with graffiti. The site indexes every marker, spray can, and paint brush that touches it, and these marks overlap and…
Best Place To Air Your Kiss-and-Tell (or, Perhaps, a Bit More Than That)
What’s a more titillating delight than this monthly show run by the smart, sassy, and sexily literate Sadie Smythe, Julie Gillis, Mia Martina, and Rosie Q? Hear friends, neighbors, and complete strangers take the stage to dish on their own erotic lives between the, oh, steamiest readings by writers and musicians and actors and whomever…
Best ’Bents
Easy Street Recumbents really makes life easy for people who wouldn’t ordinarily be able to bike! Car or motorcycle crash survivors, wounded veterans, developmentally disabled kids and, yes, baby boomers are devoted and happy customers of these reclining cycles. One patron even stormed the beach at Iwo Jima in 1945. Whatever you might believe prevents…
Best Breast-is-Best Advocates
Special Addition has welcomed new mothers into the fold since 1994 with international board certified lactation consultants, nursing classes, breast pumps and fashion-forward racks of maternity clothes. There’s even a nursing room on-site perfect for little ones to soak in the motherly vibes. All warm smiles and welcome advice, the experienced staff there know just…
Best Chakra Healer
No pretentious hippie vibe here. Crystal Works staff (some of whom have been on board for over a decade) are happy to consult on just the right rock for the ailment. From a broken heart or time of transition to a yeast infection (yes, there’s a rock for that), they will guide you in your…
Best Banana Frappe Dizzle
This faux-healthy drink is so good – the best $4 we spend waiting for the bus – that Metro drivers will allow it to be taken on the bus, and people on the street will continually demand to have a sip. OK, that is our specific experience, and the mileage you get out of this…
The Best Gurgle for Your Buck
From deep within the depths of Barton Springs come three unique blends of handcrafted soda sure to satisfy your sweet tooth and environmental sensibilities. Sip on a Root Beer soda, Orange Cream soda, or Zilker Park Cola (just not at Barton Springs Pool, where glass is prohibited), made from 100% pure cane sugar and water…
Best Emerging Graphic Novelist
After a star turn creating the web-comic serial Ayn Rand’s Adventures in Wonderland, in which the objectivist protagonist spouts all kind of bullhonkey, dramatically vomits, and chain smokes like the Industrial Revolution, Benjamin Frisch is now working towards his first full-fledged graphic novel. Entitled The Fun Family, this gem is inspired by the insipid values…
Best Humus Pumpers
Up hills and down alleyways, the stretch limo of bikes churns compost with eco-purpose. This bicycling recycling program collects your compost and delivers it to urban farmers, restaurants, and gardeners who grow local produce. The secret’s in the mechanics. These mobile composters ride a special cargo bike with a wheel barrow-like bucket fitted between the…
Best Hotel
Have y’all ever heard that song about an amazing shimmering hotel at the end of a desert highway, where there are beautiful people dancing and drinking champagne in the summer heat, and then, at the end, there is some sort of … beast murder? You guys know that song? Well, we are pretty sure it…
Best Dancer or Dance Company
Unlike other companies that perform in the still, hot air of theatres or halls, aerial dance company Blue Lapis Light stages their productions in urban environments like warehouses, power plants, and, most recently, the City Terrace at the Long Center. The juxtaposition is almost eerie in its beauty; the performers – wrapped up in silks…
Best Live DJ
Sure, Mel’s rez is packed with impressive business like 2004 Scion “Free Your Mix” finalist and being Austin’s “DJ’s DJ,” as well as party name checks like Rock the Casbah, Silent City Limits, Swoll, Hip-Hop at Nasty’s, and Hip-Hop for Laydeez (bet you thought we’d forgotten all about that one, didn’t ya, pal?), but dang,…
Best Food/Groceries Delivery
We all want to eat healthier, but between improv classes, volunteering, and walking the dog, we don’t have time to wait in long grocery store lines. Instead of gobbling down endless Hot Pockets, our readers know the goodness of having Greenling delivered. Their five-day meal kits are packed with gorgeous local produce and easy step-by-step…
Best DVD Selection
Foreign. Cult. Classic. Kids? That’s right, Vulcan has what it takes not only to cater to your most obscure tastes, but to your inner child – or your little cinephile in the making. Rediscover your favorite TV series, do a Muppet marathon, or browse the aisles at both locations to choose from over 2,100 titles.
Best Journalist
It’s a double-header year with “BOA” veteran Jordan Smith sharing top honors with Richard Whittaker, and we couldn’t be prouder because they hang their hats here. Two of the hardest-working journalists in the business, Smith and Whittaker churn out gems week after week. (Maybe you’ve noticed they’re also prolific?) Smith is an award-winning investigative reporter…
Best Weatherperson
Since joining the ranks at KXAN in 1990, Austin has had a hero on the sunny side of weather broadcasting. With an impressive 14 “Best of Austin” wins under his belt, Spencer is indisputably Austin’s King of Climate. Happy to, ahem, weather Central Texas’ unique disposition with us every night to help us plan our…
Best Social Bike Ride
What’s that ancient proverb? A bike on the road is worth two in your garage? Well, why don’t you dust off that old steel steed and take it for the night ride of its life, and yours? This brilliant way to get “butts on bikes” (their mantra). Original founders Keith Byrd and John Acker work…
Best News Story
It may not be the best story, but it’s really a sad one: With the state’s move to cut millions from the family planning budget and to cut Planned Parenthood out of the state-run Women’s Health Program, the real losers are the tens of thousands of women who rely on Planned Parenthood’s clinics for basic…
Best Movers
The unicorn is the envy of the animal kingdom, and in our world, Unicorn Moving is once again the king of the forest. These mighty steeds know what it takes to run a top-notch business: exacting hiring process, consistency in customer care, and a wide variety of services from personal to commercial, local to long…
Best Jewelery/Accessories
Adored by Austinites and Hollywood stars alike, Kendra Scott’s jewelry is bold and elegant, featuring colorful natural gemstones and unique designs. Though she now has stores in Beverly Hills (fancy!) and Dallas (we already said fancy …), Austin is proud to claim this successful designer as its own. For the record, we suggest preparing for…
Civics 101
Thursday 08 AISD COMMUNITY MEETING: SOUTH Come investigate potential scenarios for a South Austin high school (approved by voters in 2008), including future academic programming. 6:30-8:30pm. Akins High School, 10701 S. First. www.austinisd.org. AFTER CAPITALISM Activist monk and author Dada Maheshvarananda speaks on economic democracy in action, linking social crises with the struggles for peace…
Other Races
And all the rest
Best Place To Ponder Pacifism and Peace
Boy, you better believe that Austin’s Eastside has some murals. But none so reflectively gorgeous as the ones gracing the walls of the East 1st Grocery. Mosaic-ist Stefanie Distefano’s imagining of international political superman Mahatma Gandhi is inspired. Mr. G’s facial features fold into roselike lozenges that refract Austin’s broadband sunlight, making the Indian icon…
Best Schtickers
We’ve often fantasized about how a band of performative queerballs would play in the Poconos. The most exciting thing about the queer, Jewish, feminist Lipschtick Collective is their borscht-belt brand of activism. Earlier this year, they were performing demented burlesque that cleverly disguised a double-horned critique of pop culture’s insistence on depicting Judaism as quaint.…
Best Answer to a Bad IDEA
When Austin ISD hatched their plan to turn Allan Elementary and Eastside Memorial High over to IDEA Public Schools, PRIDE of the Eastside formed to speak for the community the district ignored. The district writes them off as professional protesters, but it was PRIDE standing in the rain to speak against closing Allan. It was…
Best Canine Dental Office Receptionist
Dr. Root (yes, his real name) has been successfully curing campus-area toothaches for 29 years. The atmosphere is friendly and casual, and the staff always seems to be having fun. If you can schedule your root canal for the end of October, do it, because their Halloween costumes are the bomb. Last but not least,…
Best Farm-Fresh Bohemian Convenient Store
Leave it to East Austin to come up with a new twist on the bland old corner store. This tiny tienda offers drink cooler staples, killer espresso, aguas frescas, farmers’ market goodies, and the community ambience of a small-town grocer. Local artwork hangs on the walls, and local artists loiter around tables out front. Waiting…
Best Campus Area Coffeehouse Treats
College students, try as they might, cannot live on coffee alone. Luckily, La Tazza Fresca boasts an extensive menu of treats that have fueled them through many a marathon study session. Favorites include the samosa-like breakfast burritos (available with and without meat), the samosas themselves, and the chocolate banana smoothies. The real stars of the…
Best Adult Freakout
A piece of “social acupuncture” which puts clippers in the hands of 5th graders instead of relegating them to the chair-and-bib routine, resulted in one of the most moving, hilarious, and demented works of guerrilla performance art of the 2011 iteration of EAST. A collaboration between indie-theatre/performance fest Fusebox, Toronto-based Mammalian Diving Reflex, and East…
Best Gay Radio Crew
Stephen Rice has ably stepped into the lead role of this fast-paced, engaging, and sometimes even hard-hitting gay news and culture program after the departure of longtime host Heath Riddles. Stephen’s support team includes the acerbic Bradley Pounds and friendly Chase Martin, who run the technical and online areas of the show, and often step…
Best Place To Buy a Kurta or a Sari
Five years ago, Lata Karna moved from New York City to Austin – because of our indie spirit – to open Marigold and offer a wide variety of goods from India. Her store carries clothing such as men’s kurtas and women’s saris (even vintage silk saris), accessories, gifts, and home furnishings. The store also hosts…
Best Hotel/Motel Pool
This year, the Dub wins two awards from our readers. If Jay Gatsby lived in 2099, his pool would look like this. Swank. Modern. Nestle in your own cabana or do laps like a lapper. Better yet, try to win Daisy’s affection and order her a French Pear from the Wet Bar. This pool was…
Best Edutainment Event
In a universe where smarts are sexy, brains beat brawn, and geek is glorious, there can only be Ash nazg durbatulûk. Austin’s Nerd Nite has proven a worthy ringbearer, bringing the best of nerd-o-tainment to the discerning masses for years, doling out brain candy and washing it down with a side of beer. The best…
Best Local Beer
The (512) brew crew makes “small handcrafted batches” of four varieties, with special releases popping up seasonally. For us, the Pecan Porter is the highlight. A delicious, thick meal in itself, it’s perfect for winter weather. If specialty and seasonal are your thing, try the Whiskey Barrel Aged Double Pecan Porter. Think chocolate, coffee, whisky,…
Best Intimate Dining
It’s Austin’s sexiest restaurant, sublime even before the first, flawless bite. It may seem odd at first to call such a large dining room intimate, but chef/owner Tyson Cole has had a little practice setting the scene. Key to the ambiance is the glistening lighting, which gives each table its own snug glow. And then…
Best Fun, Educational Field Trip
Whether your favorite is a Triceratops or a Brontosaurus, there’s nothing like seeing dinosaurs in their natural habitat. Cruise east of Austin about 12 miles and you’re in Dino country. Shockingly lifelike and life-size dinosaur replica statues are scattered on a half-mile nature walk that includes a scavenger hunt and a fossil dig. Both an…
Best Local Author/Poet
Well, duh. He’s long been among the city’s favored writers, way before his Dalton-published Harold, the Illegitimate Son of God was picked up for paperback reissue by Soft Skull Press, and he’ll continue to be that, long after his next novel, next spring’s Everyone Says That at the End of the World, has reached the…
Best Annual Festival
A glorious week of secret shows, drink specials, and the chance that wandering into a random bar could introduce you to your next favorite band? Or a pulsating weekend of festival energy and hundreds of bands conveniently located in one place? Austinites just can’t make up their mind – and we can’t either.
Best Swimming Hole
It’s cold, clear and quite possibly the Fountain of Youth. The regulars swear by a daily swim, but go during any heatwave and all layers of Austin strata come for a dip. Don’t forget your goggles though, the best view is below the surface. Among the limestone shelves and underwater arrowhead grass are pockets of…
Best Nonprofit
Despite the near-constant teabaggery backlash, Planned Parenthood still fights to provide quality health care for women. Its president, Cecile (yes, yes, yes, daughter of Ann) Richards, also happens to have founded this award’s co-winner, the Texas Freedom Network, a nonpartisan state watchdog that patrols a multitude of civil rights and education issues.
Best Pet Services
“Groom and Board” doesn’t give the right picture. This company is run by dog lovers for dog lovers. If you are less a dog owner and more a pack member of said canine, then this affordable pampering is right up your dog run. No chained fences, no cages, Mud Puppies offers climate-controlled bunks with music…
Best Local Bookstore
The store owes its name to Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. The Bradz imagines a future where books are burned and the “book people” keep the stories alive by memorizing and retelling them. In a world of instant downloads – safety first: you can’t read a tablet in the bathtub – Austin’s BookPeople is an oasis…
Headlines
› After a seemingly endless campaign, President Barack Obama was re-elected Tuesday night with 303 electoral votes (likely 332 when he’s declared the winner in Florida) and 50.4% of the national popular vote, according to CNN. › Pundit Karl Rove lambasted his own network, Fox News, for calling Ohio for Obama. The New York Times’…
Court of Criminal Appeals Re-Elects ‘Killer’ Keller
Gerald Daugherty is back
Best Recycled Fast-Food Joints
We wonder if the folks at UsedToBeTacoBell.com know about beloved Austin burger chain Hill-Bert’s. For almost 40 years, the Maldonado clan has been serving up some of the best burgers, fries, onion rings, and shakes in town. But from the outside, there’s always been something strangely familiar about the place. The first location was opened…
Best Valkyrie of the Set
After you see the name credited with the set design in so many programs in so few months &ndash Middletown, Spacestation1985, The Twelfth Labor, Rose Rage, Rapunzel’s Bad Hair Day, The Materiality of Impermanence, The Aliens, The Schooling of Bento Bonchev, Arcadia all in 2012, along with another half-dozen shows &ndash you gotta figure this…
Best Artistic Trend in a Recession
Big Medium, MASS Gallery, Flatbed Press, The Zü, Pump Project, Super! Alright!, UP Collective, Tiny Park, Okay Mountain, Splinter Group (North and South). Need we go on? Okay: Clayworks, In House Gallery, 701 Tillery, Ginko Studios, Bay6 Gallery, Pigoata Studio, Cobra Studios, Artpost. Had enough? Edwood Studio Co-op, East Side Glass Studio, Boom Gallery, Phoenix…
Best Fashion Production Incubator
Austin’s fashion scene is bursting at the seams. But where can a designer go once the gown is shown or the suit has made it down the runway? With over a hundred machines of virtually every function, this new apparel manufacturing facility has the ability to design and manufacture your product, be it a prototype…
Best Fashion Collective
Like a little bit of heaven, this modest little house on the Eastside holds fabulous treasures. Maison d’Etoile houses three separate businesses that function as a total beauty outpost. Shari Gerstenberger’s Charm School Vintage offers a beautifully merchandised selection of sparkle, glitz, glam, and ethnic looks. Coco Coquette (aka Allyson Garro) has phenomenal, gravity-defying wigs,…
Best Coffee Bean
The key to a good crema starts with the bean. Home baristas rejoice! Whole beans are roasted daily for superfreshness and come in a myriad of varieties. Whether you have a fancy espresso setup, a hand grinder, or a plunge and press, these are your dealers, you addicts. Hidden back on East Fourth Street, the…
Best Apprenticeship Program
Originally confraternities of craftsmen aligned by a particular art or trade, guilds initially shut women out of their ranks. But not so with Austin’s Girls Guild. Think of it as Girls Rock Camp for the art set. Bombastic bursts of apprenticeships and workshops put girls into direct contact with women who are making their way…
Best Guide To Attending and Avoiding Formula One
It’s been a rocky road to the first U.S. Grand Prix in Austin, but at least there were some good signposts. The city communication’s staff launched ATXGrandPrix.org as the all-purpose online gazetteer, loaded with information on everything from road closures for locals, to drinking ages for out-of-state visitors. It may not get you out of…
Best Places To Buy Artwork
With near 200 galleries and artist spaces, you think we’re going to pick just one to single out as the best place to buy artwork? Ha! You’re sorely mistaken, and really missing the point, friend. The beauty of EAST (and its sister-tour WEST, which happens in the spring) is enumerated in the plural, not the…
Best Motel
Though the Austin Motel has been beautifully renovated and modernized since it first opened in 1938, it still feels like a place away from our time, like a place you might have vacationed with your family during the best part of your eighth year on earth. This motel feels like a week you lived in…
Best Emergent Local Filmmaker
She’s talkin’ ’bout a new generation. This first-time, Austin-based filmmaker (and Texas State University alumna) is a jack of all film trades: producer, writer, director, and editor of the award-winning, locally shot comedy Generation Me. The film examines dating in the age of social networking, where online status updates and a single-sentence comment can make…
Best Lounge
The special on our first visit here was: “A shot of Devil’s Piss – $5” Naturally curious, we ordered it. “No, no,” owner Ibrahim Aminou shook his head solemnly. “You do not want that. Let me make you something good.” Overall, pretty indicative of the Sahara’s atmosphere: honest and casual – with a shot of…
Best Kept Secret
Industrial seating and slick mirrors above the bar aren’t the only things making this modern hangout a new fave. Gourmet sandwiches, pizzas, and salads ripe with farm-fresh ingredients pair well with local craft beer. Add in the kid-friendly ambience and their support of local dog charities, and you begin to understand why Austinites are gathering.…
Best Haircut
We are pretty convinced that if we’d had our hair cut at Birds Barbershop as children, we would have turned out a hundred times cooler, and probably better looking. Parents of Austin, take heed.
Best Local Blog
With cheeky news and concert reviews, Austinist has got your back for local flavor. Sometimes it’s sassy, but always informative with timely, insightful posts for the locals, from the locals.
Best Austin Holiday
You are cordially invited to the 50th anniversary of Eeyore’s Birthday this spring on April 27th, 2013, in Pease Park. We will be banging gongs, getting it on, and something something bong. Bring anyone you like, including pets and children, wear plenty of sunscreen, and avoid the brown acid. Munchies will be served. Attire is…
Best Swimming Pool
If you’re feeling a little less keen on water weeds, salamanders, and Speedos (we’re looking at you Mr. Blue Banana Hammock – even though we’re really trying not to), you can’t beat the original. Texas’ first swimming pool is a bit less hippie, and a bit more dip-y than its downstream neighbor. Plus, movie nights!
Best Scandal
Did he or didn’t he? Odds are we’ll never know – for sure – whether hometown favorite Lance Armstrong is guilty, as charged by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, of illegally enhancing his performance on the way to those seven Tour de France titles. But truth be told, it ain’t looking so good for Armstrong’s protestations…
Best Printer/Copier
Back when Ginny’s was located nearer to UT, they doled out course readers to eager students (doe-eyed participants of classes like “Modernism and Its Discontents” and “Black Subjectivity”) as though they were brain candy. Now, further afield, they concentrate on jobs big and small – industrial and homey. Fast, professional, and detail-oriented, Ginny’s, we be…
Best Local Hardware Store
Looking for a hummingbird feeder, a drill, or an espresso machine? A “BOA” winner since 1990, this classy yet down-to-earth hardware store still has it all, great service included. The newly engaged hubby can find the perfect place setting while the bride-to-be decides on a grill or hand-drill. Go in for a replacement air filter…
Point Austin: Elections and Consequences
You never know what you’re gonna get
A GOP Win in Huber-Daugherty Replay
Gerald Daugherty is back
Best Talk About Sex, Baby
Enter the Q and you’re greeted by a Sex Wall. That’s right. Prominently quivering on the shelf is a blue-haired Marge Simpson dildo, only outdone by a gigantic glitter number that spans the breadth of the shelf. This LGBTQ safe place has couches, games, and a kitchen, but it’s also the community center to learn…
Most Continuously Innovative Improv Troupe
Parallelogramophonograph shares a history that spans six years, 450 shows, a B. Iden Payne award, and a monthlong run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. With that much “yes, and” being volleyed around, one might expect to see occasional repetition in their shows. Not Pgraph. With a range that spans French farce to GRIMM, film noir…
Best Ballot Box Brain
Every time election season rolled around and journalists found themselves stumped by some weird corner of voter law, there was only one solution: Call Mary Fero! The calm voice of the Travis County Elections Division, Mary has solved queries, settled conundrums, and clarified calamities for the whole press corps. Now she heads into a happy…
Best Fender Bender Emergency Room
Would you send your body to a hospital you didn’t trust? Well, you wouldn’t send your car body to one either, which is why we treasure the Body Shop. Founded in 1970 by the grandfatherly Bill Mitchell on North St., it was eventually pushed out by encroaching development, and made the move to north Austin…
Best Friends During a Pity Party
… only because “Best Enablers of the Self-Loathing” was already taken. The energetic and genial crew of this one-stop mobile convenience store, will, for a very reasonable upcharge, dispatch a pleasant delivery driver in a sweet li’l Smart car and bring the pity party right to your door. So you completely screwed up with your…
Best Green Acres Without Having To Buy a Farm
With the stress of city living, it’s easy to want to pick up and move to greener acres. But few of us really want to get up at rooster’s crow to milk a row of Bessies. That’s why we have Lenoir. Everything inside the jewel-box eatery is just-picked fresh – from the repurposed farmstead décor…
Best Creativity Unleashers
Children may not have to be taught to be creative – they’re pretty much hardwired to turn sticks into swords and carry on extensive conversations between dolls – but when their creativity gets locked away inside a dungeon of grownup rules and attitudes, they need someone with a key to set it free. In Central…
Best Hands-On News
The brainchild of Dvorah Ben-Moshe and Ken Hurley, ACCESS News is a groundbreaking half-hour news program designed to open the city, and the world, to Austin’s sizeable deaf and hard-of-hearing community. Anchored by Gallaudet University graduate Tamara Suiter-Ocuto, this civic-minded project is relevant for both hearing and deaf, bringing everyone together to foster a greater…
Best Punk Re-Animators
Punk’s not dead; it’s just passed out drunk on the floor of Trailer Space. This Eastside gem of a strange little community space hosts local and touring bands up to four nights a week – sometimes raucous, always fun. Come for the eclectic mix of records, tapes, zines, books, and VHS tapes; but come back…
Best Neighborhood/Place To Live
Even in lovely, maneuverable Austin, sometimes we forget about our feet. In our cars and in our haste we forget about unhurried, nostalgia-tinged bike rides and fragrant spring night walks. We forget our neighbors and their friendly cats and their children playing hide-and-seek between giant live oaks in their front yards. Hyde Park is a…
Best Movie Theater
More should be said around here about how genuinely grateful we are to the Alamo for facilitating getting sauced at the movies. Seriously, have you ever tried smuggling a 40 into a packed movie theatre? The stress can ruin a movie, especially after you accidentally spill malt liquor on a middle schooler during that lame…
Best New Bar
We – and apparently our readers, who’ve given this new joint a well-deserved three awards this year – seriously dig this year-old establishment’s sticky-floor aesthetic and convivial vibes. The room is dark, the music is hot, and friendly barkeeps keep the margaritas and the Two Steps flowing. But what gladdens our hearts the most are…
Best Local Farm
Remember that time you tried to start your own backyard garden in order to feed a house of twentysomethings and impress that hip, sustainability-obsessed fox? Harder than you thought, huh? Luckily, you can achieve your goals for local/organic/sustainable produce with none of the backbreaking labor. The fine folk at Johnson’s Backyard Garden – undeniably the…
Best Party Place
Stacks of bunkers, ramps, and obstacles climb to a towering total of three stories. Student discounts, annual memberships, and bundled pizza deals make this labyrinthine hide-and-seek spot a pulse-racing done-deal for students and families alike. The arcade of over 60 games, and the recently added Austin SkyTrail high-tech indoor ropes course, help to pass the…
Best Local Entertainment Website
What’s that …? Feeling inundated, supersaturated, and overstimulated? It’s easy to suffer from a paralysis of choice in a city that has tons of equally appealing events happening every single day. Luckily, Do512 does the hard work for you, and sorts out the best live shows, art shows, films, and happy-hour options. Trust us.
Best Basketball Court
Shipe Park’s basketball court isn’t state of the art, but we don’t need all that razzle-dazzle. All we need is a beautiful Saturday afternoon and a pick-up game. There’s always someone ready to test our hoop dreams. And when we feel more like benchwarming than blocking, we stick around to play the dozens.
Best Tennis Court
We’ve been crowing about how public and private collaborations are the wave of the future. Good thing the folks at ATX Tennis, Home Court Stringing, and the city’s Parks & Rec Dept. were listening. This conveniently central facility has a calendar brimming with classes, clinics, and its own on-site pro shop and stringing service. And…
Best Social Program
That’s Court Appointed Special Advocates for children. You already know about the problem: Abused and neglected kids can get lost in an overworked, ineffective foster system. CASA is part of the solution. With special training provided by the organization, Austin adults become friends and advocates for children desperately in need of both.
Best Shoe Repair
We admit we’re a little hard on our shoes. But instead of fretting when we filet our soles, we take them to Austin Shoe Hospital. In no time flat, they buffer our uppers and heal our heels. And we love their online mail-in service. Simply put, they are the wind beneath our wing tips.
Best Music Gear
Brass, woodwind, or string, Strait is the stomping ground of students and working musicians alike. It’s also the go-to shop for instrument rentals and music books. Their guitar repairs are top-notch and timely, for those accidental musical emergencies. They have a wide range of instruments and a knowledgeable staff. Come tickle their ivories, and scratch…
Quote of the Week
“I have never been more hopeful about America.” – President Barack Obama, Nov. 7, 2012
President Barack Obama: Four More Years
Cautious optimism about impending change in Washington
Best Toilet Tableau
The triangular plot of land near the corner of Lamar and 29th Street is prime visual real estate, and the folks at Radiant Plumbing & Air Conditioning know how to spin a golden opportunity into a fantastical turd. Who can forget such colonic classic window displays as Harry Potty and the Deathly Bowels, timed with…
Quirkiest Quarter-Life Crisis
Hey, what 25-year-old doesn’t freak out a little – quit his/her job to backpack through Guatemala, or maybe get an MFA. So what did aGLIFF, our city’s long-running festival of queer cinema, do when it hit the quarter-mark? Went and got itself a fancy new name with underground cachet. Taking its name from archaic British…
Best Beer Truthiness
Where is a lager not a lager? In Texas. The Lone Star State’s loopy labeling regulations meant drinkers were left baffled, as the laws bastardized internationally accepted terms. The mix-ups were so bad that Texas beers would have trouble getting sold out-of-state, as a stout could get called a malt liquor. Finally, a distributor, a…
Best Mobile Auto Mechanic
Years ago, back when Austin was a little weirder, the city had its fair share of mobile auto mechanics. Then cars became all complicated with computers and such. The city grew and chain service centers began to dust the automotive landscape. Donny Whitehead got his experience working at a big box dealership, but decided to…
Best Hoochie Mama Shop
This store is a warehouse-sized treasure trove of imported gaud. On one side, you can pick up your wigs and weave on the cheap, your bobby pins in bulk, and your sparkle lip gloss in every color. On the other side, be prepared to have your mind blown by the weirdest fashion on earth. We’re…
Best King Cake
Sure, size isn’t everything, but the girth of Bakerman’s thick and filling King Cake would make at least two out of the three muses blush. And it’ll make you smile, especially if you order ahead of the King Cake’s big day, Twelfth Night (so-dubbed for its placement 12 days after Christmas), January 6, the official…
Best Exploding Puppet Inevitable
Like Mary Woronov and Gerard Malanga doing the whip dance (and deviant in only the most kid-friendly of ways), a Hey Lollies show is a delightful audio-visual happening. Here’s a suggestion: Turn off the TV and head down to Cherrywood Coffeehouse to do the coffee dance, or hear Sal Amander’s “Tale of the Springs.” Guitar,…
Best Reason To Go to the Library (Other Than the Books)
Inspired by Seventies pulp fantasy novels, God of Blades allows iPhone and iPad owners to step into Frazetta-esque landscapes, wield mythical swords, and slash through a steady stream of armed baddies. The creators at White Whale Games repay the inspiration they took from marginalized literature by incentivizing visits to an increasingly marginalized place, the library.…
Best Reason To Be Manly
This ultra-stylish boutique on the chic SoCo strip fills a missing niche in the neighborhood – menswear. A haven of relaxed manliness is what Stag is all about, combining old and new, the classic and the cool, the soft with the sharp. Owners Ted Allen, Bobby Johns, Joel Mozersky, Steve Schuck, and Don Weir all…
Best New Building Past Five Years
If all of the denizens of this, Austin’s largest vertical neighborhood voted in “Best of Austin,” they could lock down this award in perpetuity. In truth, the vast majority of the votes came from outside the tallest all-residential building in Texas. Perhaps these nonresident voters were lost in some serious craft cocktail bewitching at Congress,…
Best Museum
Our readers are visiting another award on this UT institution. Its focus is often on underrepresented contemporary works in general and specifically the Michener Collection and works from Central and South America, or its capsule collection of late American drawings. Increasingly, with each wise acquisition (the Suida-Manning Renaissance collection and Steinberg prints, for example), what…
Best New Club
We – and apparently our readers, who’ve given this new joint a well-deserved three awards this year – seriously dig this year-old establishment’s sticky-floor aesthetic and convivial vibes. The room is dark, the music is hot, and friendly barkeeps keep the margaritas and the Two Steps flowing. But what gladdens our hearts the most are…
Best Local Food Blog
Eater Austin allows even food neophytes to sound like they work for Zagat. The Heat Map is an essential guide to where you should eat tonight and the Eater 38 lets you know where you should have a standing reservation. The writers are as sharp as Limburger, and nothing slips below their radar. Crucial reading…
Best Restaurant for Kids
Hubcaps and embedded mirrored balls are only a few of the visual wonders that make this place a frenzy for the eyes (and palates) of kiddos. And this is one of those places that magically works for both wee ones and teens. Oh, how many nachos did we consume as we skipped class in high…
Best Local News Website
If one of Texas’ esteemed politicians says something outrageous, you can bet KVUE.com will be on it. If there is a robbery or a murder, they’ll have the write-up, updated and revised, online quicker than Kelly Rowland can say “motivation.” In the information age, speed is everything, but journalism counts for something too! No one…
Best Bowling Alley
The veteran palace of family fun that has been serving up spares and strikes for generations is so much more than just a bowling alley. It’s also melt-in-your-mouth enchiladas, cold (cold, cold) beers, a (new) laser maze, a video arcade – and, most of all, good people who want to make sure you can’t wait…
Best Activist
No spit! No wipe! And no question that this upstanding citizen, Iraq war veteran, and Austin watchdog deserves “Best Activist.” Buehler’s quest for police accountability since witnessing a woman’s arrest on New Year’s Eve has drawn the ire of the Austin Police Department and the support of the streets, not to mention our readers. Thank…
Best Appliance/TV Repair
All the brave little toasters and televisions need a little fixing up after their long adventures, and Mr. Wizard’s is their No. 1 choice for a spa day. Bring your old pals by for some good old-fashioned R&R, and before you know it, your little appliances that could, will.
Best Spa
The last time we had a Fire & Ice Facial we were dared to put a piece of dry ice on our forehead. Things didn’t work out so well – and we learned an important lesson about “dares.” But we dare you to go get the Fire & Ice Facial at Viva; not only does…
Best Naughty Business
Tonight your fetish fantasies become reality. You will head to Forbidden Fruit. You will buy some kinky gear. You will be waiting at home, at the door, naked, except for every last thing you bought, even if the dog has to help you with that ball gag. You will do as you’re told, or you…
Then There’s This: As the Door Revolves …
Contractors cry foul when ex-city official returns – wearing new hat
Texas Lege: The GOP Wave Recedes
Locally, nothing changed
Best Urban Space for an Art Walk
If E.A.S.T. is like a body, East Cesar Chavez is its spine. Eateries, coffee houses, and taco-stands sidle next to libraries, art bookstores, and the Spanish-language newspaper, El Mundo. Pinaterias hold court alongside quirky gas stations and residences. New construction spaces – sometimes rendered as concrete and corrugated steel sheds – are just as common…
Savviest Smeller
Alyssa Harad’s funny, galvanizing memoir Coming To My Senses: A Story of Perfume, Pleasure, and an Unlikely Bride explores the personal and the political of eau de parfum, and provides much food for thought about our own arbitrary lines in the sand vis-à-vis feminism and femininity. Call it scent and sensibility – and a sweet…
Best Champions for Equal Access
ADAPT has been championing the rights of disabled folks for decades. Over the last few years, our local branch of these awesome activists launched lawsuits across Texas to expand access to public places for folks with disabilities. Lots of local faves – including bars on Sixth Street, legendary restaurants – and the Domain shopping center,…
Best Photo Printing
In the digital age, it’s easy to keep your pics on your phone or computer, and just upload them to Facebook. But sometimes you need actual prints. The quality of a giclee, machine, or Chromira print beats drugstore prints every time. Holland has the fancy machines to do it, with reasonable pricing. Make yourself feel…
Best Luxury on the Bolt and on the Cheap
This tie speaks to Austin’s (relatively new) embarrassment of fabric riches. Specializing in knits, partners Benson Roberts and Markhollan Swientek make the trek to the Los Angeles fabric market every few weeks to keep their TexStyles Designer Showroom stocked with some of the most wonderful fabrics to hit Austin. An ever-expanding selection of woven fabrics,…
Best Kombucha
Mmmm… Fermented fizzy tea! Yes, it’s loaded with all kinds of natural health buzzwords: spirulina, goji, gotu kola, yerba maté, mugwort … wait, mugwort? Wunder-Pilz is local and all over town. You can get it on tap (what up, Cheer Up?) or in a refillable jug from the markets. Heart, Energy, Strength, and Calm: Health-nut…
Best Fashion-Forward Kids’ Clothes
This itty-bitty atelier is in its infancy but it’s already making a big noise. Inspired by designer Nicole Labry’s own tiny tots, Adorbz makes functional, quality, local garments with sassy prints and funky details. The fall collection includes a mini overcoat in grey, with pointy hood and vintage-comics print lining.
Best Scream In Your Ears
Local film writer and frantic Tweeter Scott Weinberg knows horror, and Geeknation.com let him off the leash with his combination podcast/free film commentary. Halloween II, Child’s Play, and American Werewolf in London have all been unstitched and probed in Weinberg’s evil audio lair. He blends the bloodlines of personal anecdotes and his encyclopedic knowledge, plus…
Best Shop That Rocks on Dirty Sixth
We fondly remember our first visit to Aaron’s Rock & Roll, when we bonded with a store clerk over the purchase of a Venom T-shirt. Since that day, Aaron’s has been our stop for tops running the gamut of rock from the Beatles to Slayer as well as music-themed patches, buttons, stickers, posters, and even…
Best Public Art
Longtime iconic Austinite Willie Nelson may be “On the Road Again,” but his bronzed likeness is casually planted in front of the Moody Theater, cradling his beat-up Martin acoustic. We all know Willie’s views on legalizing marijuana, so it’s only appropriate that the statue was unveiled on April 20 at 4:20pm to the delight of…
Best Performance Space
The Long Center fosters Austin’s creative spirit with world-class style. Cultivating culture (whether it’s kombucha, yogurt, or theatre) is no easy task, so one has to be meticulously focused on the quality of the product. Ballet, opera, symphony, performance art, and soul – from this summer’s Concerts in the Park series to the aerial antics…
Best Party of the Year
Some may think of beaches for spring break, but any Austinite worth their margarita salt knows it’s more fun to staycation in town for this rowdy week of tech nerds, film junkies, live music, and non-stop parties. South by Southwest is our annual chance to show the world what Austin is about 24/7 – innovation,…
Best Local Food Company
There’s a reason why Greenling keeps appearing on our Readers “BOA” list. They have a knack for choosing winners themselves. Their produce could easily win any county fair and their artisanal foods are the stuff of gold medals. They’ll even deliver to the Chronicle. It’s as if they knew they would be on this list.
Best Shoes for Kids
The expert staff at Sandy’s takes your kids’ tender, growing tootsies to the next size, and kiddie footwear to the next level. They are educated and knowledgeable, and their service is unbeatable. An Anderson Lane staple since 1979, Sandy’s huge selection of shoes and toys makes for a surprisingly fun adventure for both you and…
Best Local Podcast
One talks and one rocks. That’s where our podcast winners intersect on the digital avenue. The Hodgecast, shorthand for the Charlie Hodge Show and named after the former third man on KLBJ’s Dudley and Bob Morning Show, has evolved into a must-listen, rollicking hour of jokes, music, and exclusive guests, including Lance Armstrong’s attorney, breaking…
Best Day Trip (Dry)
“[T]hey say that if you catch it at just the right time – late at night – you can hear it: creaking and groaning like it’s alive.” This is no campfire horror story, but the real-life description of this weirdly active batholith that offers up beautiful scenery, great hiking trails, and camping – for the…
Best Austin Icon
Earlier this year Austin prematurely lost her unofficial mascot. Albert Leslie Cochran radiated such a passion for life and Austin that he left a permanent panty line on the city. He was always there to creep out visitors, crack you up, or to fight for the rights of his homeless brethren. To him, being homeless…
Best Auto Service/Repair
Listen, you’re bummed because your AC/radiator/oil tank/gear shift/transmission/fuel line/clutch is broken/damaged/on fire/leaking/grinding/pregnant. Plus, and you’re not totally sure, but you think a possum died under your hood. While we can’t vouch for Yost Automotive’s dead swamp creature removal skills, we know that you love them. And that’s enough for us. OK. Maybe not, but their…
Best Tailor
Why wear David Byrne’s oversized blazers when you can look like David Bowie? For decades, Ace Custom Tailors has kept your pretty things pretty. They can skinny your suit in just a few hours and let it out again when you’re no longer a thin duke. Master tailor Vanessa Wilkerson at the 12th Street location…
Best New Local Business
It’s easy to forget that In.gredients is a grocery store. We’re so used to seeing representations of food so spritzed and prepped, dressed and resined, that we sometimes lose the sense that we’ve come to fortify our bodies, hearts, and souls. When confronted with humble bins of foodstuffs – farm-fresh produce, varieties of granola, cocoa-dusted…
Farmers Market Report: November 10, 2012
Central Texas bounty holds steady
