Estate Sale Roundup: September 18-21
More than the usual tchotchkes await this week.
Dynamic Duo Cooking at El Naranjo
Award-winning Mexican chefs present cuisines of Oaxaca, Veracruz
First Look: Fork & Taco
Fusion tacos up fast-casual game
Pure Bone Gristle: Prodigy
Mobb Deep MC falls into Soul Rebels’ second line
The AggreGAYtor: September 18
What happened today in gay? Here’s your QILTBAG recap of queer news.
From Holyrood to South Austin
St. Ed’s film students chronicle the Scottish independence vote
Return to the Hipster Alamo
More Marc Maron: The comedian on WTF, SXSW, and the ATX
Letter from Edinburgh
Secession, Scottish style – Texas, it ain’t
So Much Better Than Wide-Awake Surgery and Patriarchical Bullshit
Saluting a medical champion in Dr. Mütter’s Marvels
The Largest Latte Competition in the History of Texas
32 caffeinated baristas duke it out at Thunderbird this Friday night
The Death of Rap Lyrics
What hath Jay Z’s Reasonable Doubt wrought?
Austin Film Festival Announces (Almost) Full Slate
Opening and closing night films still to come
The Road to 10-1: It’s District 4’s Turn
Media forum tonight for the north central Council candidates
Farmers Need Love Too
Jack Gilmore’s Annual Farmer Appreciation Celebration
Cats vs. Raccoons
Kyle Reimergartin and Ben Esposito talk games before Fantastic Arcade
The AggreGAYtor: September 17
What happened today in gay? Here’s your QILTBAG recap of queer news.
TYC Allegations: Not Just Abbott
Davis attack ad taps history of blind eyes turned to rape cases
The Return of 8 ½ Souvenirs
Speakeasy phenomenon reunites after 20 years
Other Worlds Austin Has a Time Lapse
All sci-fi film fest announces centerpiece title
Gossip and Goat at TMBBQ Fest
Cool weather, new site plan make for an enjoyable barbecue feast
Skirt Chasin’ Smirk Chasers
The Queer Queens of Qomedy qame to town
Chef Genealogy
Tracing culinary family trees to the roots of four local mentors
Playing the Dozens in District 3
Media forum takes on affordability, rail, city farms
The Inaugural Stargayzer
Looking back at the queer-studded extravaganza that was Stargayzer
The AggreGAYtor: September 15
What happened today in gay? Here’s your QILTBAG recap of queer news.
Staring Into the Abyss With Mike Mignola
Before MondoCon, the comics legend talks Hellboy and shadows
Soul Track Mind: Unbreakable
Exclusive stream of local soul-stirrers’ breakout third LP
Fables of the Reconstruction
Denise Prince reveals her Tractatus 7.
Texas Blunders on Both Ends
Foils at kickoff and close spoil Swoopes’ effort against UCLA
The Road to 10-1: A Dozen in District 3
Media City Council forum continues tonight, 7pm
Help the Hell Marys
Texas Rollergirls’ champs suffer outrageous theft
Lit-urday: The Noble Hustle
Colson Whitehead’s latest is an underachiever
DVDanger: The Battery
Jeremy Gardner and Adam Cronheim swing for the fences
Fifth Circuit Hears Texas Abortion Law Arguments
Two of three judges on panel previously upheld anti-abortion laws
Lily Allen, Sheezus!
UK glamor girl turned mother of two upstages Stubb’s on Sunday
Where the Girls Go/ATX: Music & Movies Edition
Dancin’, jammin’, or watchin’ – this weekend is a queer smorgasbord
One in a Crowd: Far Western
New documentary wants to bring Japanese Country and Western home
First Look: Sawyer & Co.
Judy Jetson is all that’s missing from perfect midcentury decor
The AggreGAYtor: September 12
What happened today in gay? Here’s your QILTBAG recap of queer news.
Dolphin Tale 2
Wholesome family franchise doesn’t rock the boat.
Best Building Under 10 Stories
Colonel Jesse Driskill may have been a wee bit overambitious building a four-star hotel in Austin, which, despite having been the state’s capital for 47 years, was still a backwater cattle town in 1886. Nevertheless, we owe him a debt today, having praised the building’s architecture, its food, its cocktails, and even its ghosts ever…
Best Comic Artist or Graphic Novelist
The best in the comic/graphic novel genre still retain and even celebrate their pulp origins. Self-described “pro keyboarder” (read: writer) Donny Cates has kept that tradition alive in his consistently gritty and graphic comic series. In his latest completed miniseries, Buzzkill (Dark Horse), the superhero struggles with an alcohol problem that gives him super powers.…
Best Drag Show
Need a little danger in your drag? Since 2012, the femmes fatales of Poo Poo Platter bring the filth and fury one Friday every month at Elysium. More than just dudes in dresses, the dirty divas aren’t just here to joke but to provoke as well. A tassel here and a strut there, Poo Poo…
Best Video Game Studio/Developer
Wait, how can Rooster Teeth be the best video game developer when they haven’t released a game yet? Because they get gamers. The machinima maniacs became cult favorites with their Halo-derived video series Red vs. Blue, and now have become the go-to culture mavens for all things console. Now they’re getting their code on, with…
Best Restaurant Design/Interior
Architect Michael Hsu’s Burnet Road office is an all-white building with a white-on-white light-up sign featuring his Chinese seal. Savvy and playful, Hsu’s architectural projects for his clients are cooly sensual in equal measure. For the second year, our readers have alighted on this jewel of Hsu’s: The yellow-glazed tilework, the communal tables (so large…
Best Film Critic
She’s firm but fair, she knows her movies and clearly loves them. Read her for her plainspoken prose, (on August: Osage County “This film is like a long day’s journey into another damn day”), or her biting wit (on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey “… seems more like the work of a man driving around…
Best Web Series
With a wave to the camera and a friendly “Hey Dudes!” Hilah Johnson introduces herself and the web series that has us drooling (ice cream tacos, SRSLY). Short, easy-to-follow instructions make any dish a cinch, and Hilah’s reputation as the breakfast-taco queen is crowned by her book, titled – what else? – The Breakfast Taco…
Best Place to Tube
We’re always surprised that the professors at Texas State University in San Marcos don’t show up to the first day of classes in the fall with gnarly tan lines, a Lion’s Club inner tube strapped around their waists, faintly smelling of beer. If we were a professor, that’s how we’d roll. Which is probably why…
Best News Story
Our Tim Stegall was there. We asked for his account: Wednesday, Mar. 12, 2014 – Los Angeles punk veterans X showcased at the Mohawk’s outdoor stage. I covered it from the eastern balcony, with a clear view of the stage and the street outside the wall shielding the concert area. A largish crowd milled outside,…
Best Laundromat
[A passive-aggressive note forwarded to the offices of The Austin Chronicle] Hello, You may not realize that, for the cost of a night out drinking, you can drop that pile of laundry that’s been sitting in that corner for (uh … how long?) some time off at SpinZone. Not only will the nice folks wash…
Best Costume Shop
Assuming you aren’t claustrophobic, visit Lucy in Disguise around Halloween, the equivalent of Christmas for a costume shop. People cram in, vying to get the perfect beard for their Sigmund Freud get-up, or the just-so chapeau for their Pharrell impression. We recommend it for good people-watching; see the lady in the corner flip out because…
Best Vintage
This North Loop spot has been churning through midcentury goodies longer than the period had to produce them. It’s worth a weekly or even daily visit to soak in color combinations once thought impossible. The Room Service style curators are a fabulous and friendly resource when we don’t know our Eames from our Arne, and…
Best Captains of the Cap
Fine art is dead art. Locked up in museums, away from ordinary life. Finished and “complete,” inert once it is hung on the wall or displayed in a case. SprATX does not make fine art. SprATX makes living art. Art that is in the streets, art that is active and ephemeral. This collective of street…
Bravest Journalist
How else would a good news reporter handle a profound life change? What if that change involved a Leukemia diagnosis? Former Fox 7 anchor Loriana Hernandez opened up to the world, her friends, and her fans on Facebook and on a personal blog about her battle with cancer. We’ve followed her through chemotherapy, and watched…
Best Grassroots Campaign to Hit Home
The statewide movement to reform Texas’ property tax system arrived in Austin this year in a big way. Town hall meetings across the city served to both inform and fire up homeowners about the state’s broken appraisal system. Thanks to the system’s well-crafted loopholes approved by our fearless leaders at the Lege, many large commercial…
Best-Dressed Mayoral Candidate
Putting serious campaign issues aside for a moment, the mayor pro tem likes to joke that she’s the tallest of the three leading candidates for mayor. But we know her as the lone woman on the mayoral stump who stands out for her sartorial sass. Tailored white slacks? Cole’s got that covered. Canary yellow dress?…
Best Lez Get This Party Started DJ
Just like that special someone, DJ GirlFriend leaves a lasting impression on her audience. Unlike a first crush or a last kiss, these parties won’t leave you chasing waterfalls. Built on good music and good vibes, GirlFriend curates the kind of party people want to be a part of – and in a town filled…
Best Event to Reveal Your Inner Cake Artist
You know Austin’s cake decorating subculture is alive and thriving when the showcase event outgrows venues every couple of years with local and regional cake artists eager to strut their stuff to the attention of enthusiastic crowds. This 11-year-old event is a labor of love hosted by the Capital Confectioners Cake Club and Make It…
Best Queen of the Teen Scene, Emeritus
First we ever heard the words “Gary Clark Jr.,” they came from the big red lips of Ms. Margaret Moser. Austin’s music oracle since before coyotes were invented, our beloved senior writer retired upon her 60th birthday in May, but not before cementing the soundtrack to this town for generations to come. Mother Falcon, another…
Best Radio Station You Thought Was Dead
In 2010, Austin music junkies suffered a serious blow when the Federal Communications Commission shut down 95.9FM, the home of the infamous pirate station KAOS. According to the FCC, the station was broadcasting at over 20 times the limit allowed for unlicensed operations. Rather than resign itself to the few yards of signal strength that…
Best Foundations
Tweeting angrily about her treatment as a trans woman at intimate apparel shop, Petticoat Fair, Kylie Jack captured the attention of the Internet, the community, and the shop’s owner Kirk Andrews. While supporters of both sides duked it out on social media, the two parties quietly agreed to meet and discuss the matter like the…
Best Local Brewery
A state-of-the art expansion, a foray into cans, and a Good Food Award – Independence Brewing’s 10th year in operation has been marked by innovation and growth. One of Austin’s oldest craft breweries, Independence Brewing continues to up its game, year after year. Its signature brews are pure Austin as is its approach to brewing:…
God Help the Girl
Belle & Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch’s first film is a charming movie musical in the key of Mod.
Best Downtown View
Austin is the fastest growing city in the U.S., so having any view of the Live Music Capital of the World® from your home will cost you a pretty penny (and probably your firstborn). But thanks to the civic-mindedness and grand, aesthetic foresight of this mesmerizing performance venue, we have one spectacular view of the…
Best Composer
Sometimes when we’re feeling really stressed we take a moment to ponder: “What is Graham Reynolds doing right now?” The answer, which comes from years of tracking this prolific collaborative composer’s whereabouts in the local/national music (an August residency at Dive Bar, and the Marfa Triptych Part II), dance (collaborating alongside Forklift Dancework with Kyoto’s…
Best Film Programming
It’s now common to hear “curate” thrown around – like your friend, Sasha, who “curated” the perfect dinner party. Sasha didn’t curate shit, she just invited people she liked. And while the same could be true of the Alamo Drafthouse – that they’re only playing movies they like – their programming is simply a wonder…
Best Bakery
Like Upper Crust’s signature Marble Cupcake, which nests a dense chocolate cube inside the soft-cream center of a chocolate cupcake, the two winners in this category exemplify the respective strengths of two opposing, yet complementary ideologies: UC’s products are rooted in a continental pastry tradition (with a Texas twist, of course), while Sugar Mama’s is…
Best Restaurant We Miss
The controversial closing of Downtown Austin institution Las Manitas went down in 2008, and it’s been a clashing symbol of old-school, new-school development arguments ever since. Where an art deco Tex-Mex diner once stood, now lives a modern hotel. Local politicians still name-drop it as an example, and dedicated fans of handmade corn tortillas still…
Best Food Writer
You’d think keeping up with Austin’s ongoing foodsplosion, where cuisine-related happenings and places multiply faster than rabbit dishes at Qui, would be more than enough work for a woman. But that’s just the start of what Addie Broyles does. In addition to her regular Statesman column and blog, “Relish Austin,” the award-winning writer and social…
Best Website Design
Chaotic Moon Studios’ slogan is simply “We’re the Best,” and judging by their roster of clients (they call them “case studies” on their website) they’re not the only ones who think so. Who else can serve the needs of Adult Swim and Whole Foods with unflailing tenacity? This is to mention nothing of the brilliance…
Best Pool/Billiards
There ain’t no frills, and that’s just the way we like it. It’s a field of fun at this longtime late-night institution: Tons of pool tables, arcade games, a jukebox, dartboards, pizza, draft beers, and great specials on billiards and drinks create a dive after our own dark little pool-hall hearts.
Best Nonprofit
It’s so easy to anthropomorphize our domesticated mammalian significant others. But Austin Pets Alive! knows what animals need, and has developed a range of programs to meed those needs. Of course, APA! is the nonprof responsible for making Austin a no-kill community, and deserves unending kudos for this alone. But other programs intrigue: Their barn…
Best Movers
Begun in Michigan by a mother and her two sons, Two Men and a Truck has grown into the largest franchised moving company in the nation. They must have been doing something right all these years, because they’ve now risen to the top of our readers’ list. Our favorite thing about them? The Grandma Rule:…
Best DVD Rental/Purchase
Hanker for Haneke? Lust for Landis or Lang? Jones for Jodorowsky? Thirst for Thorpe? Yearn for Yoji? Ache for Araki? Long for Lee? Hunger for Herzog? We could go on (okay, we won’t), but instead, let’s just go to Vulcan and hash it out. (For the record: We crave Campion.)
Best “Whoever Holds the Conch”
This student housing cooperative offers a glimpse into what might have happened if the grown-up lads from Lord of the Flies had made a second go of it – but with a much, much happier ending, of course. Residents, as mutual owners, have a say in the decision-making (and cleaning and cooking) – very egalitarian,…
Best Choral Wrangler
Big doesn’t bother Brent Baldwin. A three-part, two-hour 19th century oratorio on the creation of the cosmos? No problem. A seven-section 20th century experimental epic translation of Confucius lasting seven hours? Sure. A 12-movement riff on Mozart’s Requiem, with contemporary composers filling in the gaps left empty when Wolfgang Amadeus died? Bring it. The fact…
The Thea Williams Memorial Award
Last year, we introduced this award as a new “Best of Austin” tradition. Named for Chronicle-friend, college prof, and fellow journalist Thea Williams, the award is given to recognize service and to honor Thea’s memory. We knew Thea as an executive producer at KVUE; but it was when we were invited to speak to her…
Best Grassroots Movement to Curb Drunk Driving
A former Downtown bartender, Sara LeVine had long heard complaints from entertainment industry workers about the difficulties of finding parking or late-night transportation for themselves, or ways to protect themselves from drunk drivers by keeping them off the roads. After the deaths and injuries inflicted by a drunk driver at SXSW 2014, she’d had enough…
Feistiest Craft Beer Advocate
Chip McElroy doesn’t want to make smoked peppermint anchovy beer. No, McElroy is more interested in brewing old-world style beer from Austin’s oldest craft brewery while protecting the rights of Texas microbrewers. Owner of Live Oak Brewing Co., the often irreverent McElroy has been unabashedly vocal – expressing both support and pure revulsion (ahem, SB…
Best Lounge Side
Since its founding in 2010, Strange Brew was known to the far-south side as a bustling coffeehouse with a cozy lounge – Manchaca’s answer to the Saxon Pub. It’s a honky-tonk where the owner might donate a round to the band, with flexible seating, and where the healthy mix of veteran and fresh-faced newbies exit…
Best Heed This Delicious Call
PIIIIIIIIZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAA! Thus goes the siren call of Sherlon Jackson, known simply and sweetly to San Marcos H-E-B shoppers as “The Pizza Lady.” Most sample queens demurely wait for snackers to tentatively reach for little cups of sloppy joe (ew?) or a small wheat thin to be dipped in the latest, unfortunately named jalapeño jam. But…
Best Shopping Waystation
Just before the forest of perfectly decorated living rooms, bedrooms, and bathrooms of Ikea, lies the wee little Småland. Swedish for “Small Lands,” the magical play center for children at Ikea is a dream come true for errand-running parents. Modeled after a far away village in Sweden, Småland is free, supervised, and filled with faux…
Best Sensitive TV Reporting
When KEYE beat reporter Bettie Cross was one of the first local journalists to get interviews with both sides of the unfortunate fracas that erupted over a bra-fitting (or lack thereof) between local transgender activist Kylie Jack and women’s foundation garment store Petticoat Fair, she could have done the same thing that handfuls of knee-jerk…
Best Frozen Foods for Lonely People
In years past, you just grabbed a bottle of Two Buck Chuck in preparation for what seemed like the inevitable evening activity – Sophie’s Choice (again) with Eric … the cat. But not so, since Trader Joe’s opened in Austin! Now you can have steak-and-ale pie and mushroom mochi with your wartime weepy. Of course,…
Best of Austin 2014
Togetherness Best of Austin 2014 KATE X MESSER, SEPTEMBER 11, 2014 The sound of tittering and giggling rippled from behind the door of the conference room – the one with the nasty indoor/outdoor carpet that hadn’t been touched since the building’s Elgin-Butler bricks were laid, midcentury-something. I opened the door. Thousands of ballots were scattered…
Love Is Strange
Heartfelt, seriocomic romance about two longtime partners who wed after 40 years, then discover all is not bliss.
Best Historic Site
She’s the poster child for Big and Beautiful (and pink!), sure, but our beloved state Capitol’s real draw is the 130 years of history scattered inside. It’s the fortress where school kids and Texas newbies go to gape at the grand painting of the Battle of San Jacinto, and where they return years later as…
Best Dancer or Dance Company
Walking home from after-dinner drinks we often stroll past the open windows of Ballet Austin’s Downtown digs. Here are ballerinas and ballerinos in the throes of warm-ups (third to fourth position), rehearsing a particularly tricky phrase (perhaps for The Glass Project?), or chatting it up after practice. For a brief moment, standing on the sidewalk…
Best Jukebox
Casino’s carried this category since they first swept it away from Deep Eddy in 1996. This year, Deep Eddy’s back. We couldn’t think of two more Austin-y institutions to share the title, as the Cabaret has been Austin’s watering hole by the watering hole since 1951, an authentic, old-school Texas dive time-capsule with tunes to…
Best Barbecue
It was the Obama fist bump, right? Or maybe the nifty Airstream-in-space expansion? Or pitmaster Aaron Franklin’s holding the line (heh) on quality over riches and celebrity? Nah, we know it’s the ’cue – the succulent pulled pork, the zippy sausage and ribs, moist turkey, and especially that divine brisket. Franklin was recently on Yahoo…
Best Vegan/Vegetarian Cafe
Always packed with veggie lovers and coffee drinkers, this cafe serves up a variety of dishes that have evolved over 14 years into some of the tastiest veggie vittles in town. A full breakfast menu – a moment of silence, please, for the Oven Cake Breakfast with Tofu Scram option – plus tacos, sandwiches, salads,…
Best Journalist
“Cheech and Chong’s ‘Dave’s Not Here’ bit, over time, morphed from stoner comedy into tragic BBC Play for Today two-hander about senility.” Thus goes a June tweet sent out over the Twitterverse from all-around-ace-writer/reporter/jolly ginger Richard Whittaker. Because, in addition to everything else he covers (AISD, the Lege, roller derby, burlesque, comics, horror/sci-fi…), he still…
Best Wi-Fi Access
And now you know what all those people are doing in their cars on their laptops outside of every Starbucks.
Best Scenic Drive
We like to turn left onto 2222 coming off of the dramatic decline from Spicewood Springs Road. Used to be that you could look out onto the rolling hills of West Austin without seeing nary a McMansion in sight – and that’s painfully not so anymore. Still, if you follow the advice of brilliant lyricist…
Best Politician
She stood up for women’s rights (and for quite a while at that), and she continues to warm our cockles with her pitch-perfect presentation and unflappable fabulosity. She and her fellow female Texas state senators gave us some of the searing-est zingers a state congress has heard in a while, and the 2013 debate over…
Best Music Services
There are two things you remember: Dropping that G (or two) on Timmy’s new French Horn, and the moment you accidentally ran over it in your driveway. Fearing the worst, but hoping for the best, you bring it to the good instrument doctors at Strait Music. They’ve seen it all, rest assured, and will repair…
Best Farmers’ Market
Popping up every Sunday in the Browning Hangar of the Mueller redevelopment, this market combines a lovely park environment, an ever-expanding selection of nibbles and crafts – from regular vendors as familiar as Johnson’s Backyard Garden and Pure Luck to new (to us) friends like Tamale Place and Kiskadee Chocolates, and fresh music made-to-order. It’s…
Best (Allegedly) Haunted House
So, here’s the story: There was this one time when a group of frat guys decided to haze their pledges. Things got a little out of hand, to say the least, and one pledge died. Instead of picking up the rotary phone to call the police, they told the remaining pledges to write down the…
Best Dress Blues
We love a man in uniform. Especially a man who dresses in full blue Union woolies in 100-degree heat ready to tell the true tales about the glories of America’s Buffalo Soldiers. Brave men of color fought to preserve a union that still struggles with manifesting true equality (or let’s not mince: still actively oppresses)…
Best Bald Spot
Sleek stone steps lead to panoramic views of the Texas Hill Country atop Mount Baldy aka Prayer Mountain aka Old Baldy. “Baldy” is somewhat deceiving because the mount sports generous patches of numerous tree varieties. Located just outside of Wimberley, this nature escape closed to the public indefinitely and was purchased a few years ago…
Best Home Is Where the Hearts Are
The 2011 wildfires destroyed 1,645 homes, leaving hundreds of uninsured or not adequately insured residents homeless. In its wake, the Bastrop County Long Term Recovery Team formed to manage the rebuilding, helping their neighbors with the most anxiety-producing parts of recovering a home: pulling deeds, obtaining permits, scheduling inspections, lining up builders and construction accounts,…
Best Affordable Shoe Shine
You’d think they’d be everywhere, what with cowboy boots and dusty, drought-driven days, but as flip-flops and sneakers remain de rigueur in Austin, the noble shoe shine is getting harder and harder to find. Check in with Jessica at Kervin’s old-school barbershop in the Delwood shopping plaza (the home of Austin’s Fiesta Mart on 38th…
Best Riesling to the Challenge
If it wasn’t for June Rodil, we might not know the difference between a Barbera and a Braquet. For years, she has been sharing her encyclopedic knowledge at some of Austin’s finest dining rooms – now delighting our senses as the beverage director for McGuire Moorman. With charm and grace, she breaks down the often…
Best Interior Mexican Brunch Bargain
We’ve been fans of chef Marisela Godinez’ cooking since Chronicle contributor Claudia Alarcón turned us on to the original El Mesón on Burleson Road way back in 2002. These days, we hit the S. Lamar location whenever possible, but our favorite meal there has to be the bountiful Sunday brunch buffet. Tables are laden with…
Best South Austin Secret Treasure
Ask any veteran parent – the resale toy market is where it’s at, and Anna’s Toy Depot is where you find it. This South Austin classic is chock-full of gently loved cars, trains, tracks, Barbies, dollhouses, musical toys, games, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Lego (seriously, so much Lego). Everything a kid could dream of,…
Best Solar Sound
Solar-powered and just as sunny, KDRP has been tenderly tending the roots of roots music since its inception in 2009, and in that short time has become a haven of hamstrung heroes of radio like the dearly departed Larry Monroe. “Roots” is defined by the deejays with a focus on Texas and Americana music. On…
Best Guitar Shop Disguised as a Pawn Shop
South Lamar was at one time a haven for musical instrument stores and muffler shops. But as developers have gone thermonuclear in their land-grabbing and driven rents to extremes, one of the last bastions of the glory days is the former Doc Holliday’s Pawn Shop, now a CashAmerica. You are more likely to score a…
The Drop
Based on a Dennis Lehane story, this disappointing crime drama costars James Gandolfini in his last role.
Best Hotel
The 1936 heritage and contemporary minimalist decor of this boutique hotel give it a unique aura of low-key luxury and prim comfort. Located smack in the middle of the hip South Congress shopping district, this spot is known locally as much for its large parking lot parties – usually fundraisers for charity and disaster relief…
Best Independent Art Gallery
With Women & Their Work, the proof is in the programming, which mixes site-specific large-scale installations like Akiko Kotani’s crocheted plastic Soft Walls and focused bodies of work from emerging artists, such as Danielle Georgiou’s frantic thesis on beauty and hashtag culture (#datass). This is to mention nothing of the jewelry trunk shows. Jewelry trunk…
Best Karaoke
BOSS: I need you to complete these forms and get them back to my desk in an hour. EMPLOYEE: (in barely audible whisper) Right. Sure thing. BOSS: What happened to your voice? EMPLOYEE: I left it at Ego’s. (Fade-in: “Total Eclipse of the Heart” as flashback sequence begins…)
Best Burger
The returning champion of all things bunned nearly always has lines around the block, but no one should be intimidated: part of what makes Hopdoddy great is their ability to speed people through the burger-ordering process and deliver the goods quickly. And what goods! They offer beef (including local Akaushi), lamb, bison, chicken, turkey, veggie,…
Best Afterschool Activity
KidsActing Studio has honed its teaching craft for 33 years in Austin, making it the Grande Dame of local theatre for the junior set. Offering afterschool classes for kids ages 3-18, with 11 locations in the area, the opportunities to inspire your little star are seemingly endless. For this “Best of Austin” repeat winner, it’s…
Best Local App
If it’s 10pm, then you can find us on the couch, cozy in our PJs and slangry. Our laziness is Favor’s pleasure. Launched in 2011 (and only currently available in Austin and Boston), the delivery folks wearing the cute blue tuxedo shirts are willing to deliver anything and everything (except booze) for just five bucks.…
Best Annual Festival
Every spring now, like clockwork, news of the fall’s ACL festival lineup hits the Internet-o-sphere, and the populace goes apeshit. Who wouldn’t with the concatenation of class-act acts both world-renowned (Outkast, Belle & Sebastian) and soon-to-be-world-renowned (Mø, Von Grey). Truth be told, we buy our tickets early-bird, because, what? Like ACL Fest would ever disappoint?…
Best Social Bike Ride
One can hardly sip a martini from a patio on the first day of the weekend without seeing this horde of cyclists whir by. Luckily, you’re invited. Perfect for making new friends or meeting up with the tried-and-trues, the Thursday Night Social Ride is a veritable union of cycling and synergy. Thursday is the new…
Best Scandal
The easiest way to inflame Texas-Exes these days is to simply make mention of the UT Board of Regents. Perry appointees all, the BoR have earned their reputation as backwards-thinking “advocates” for higher education. This past year, an overzealous regent, Wallace Hall, attempted to pin an admission scandal on UT President Bill Powers (which hasn’t…
Best Pest Control
Pests are a menace. Whether it’s the torment of summer mosquitoes or the litany of creepy crawlies that call Central Texas home, there’s no love lost between us and them. Lucky for us, the 60+ years ABC has been tending to Austin’s residential and commercial needs have given them a definitive advantage over the pests…
Best Furnishings/Home
This North Loop spot has been churning through mid-century goodies longer than the period had to produce them. It’s worth a weekly or even daily visit to soak in color combinations once thought impossible. The Room Service style curators are a fabulous and friendly resource when we don’t know our Eames from our Arne, and…
Best Austin Gone-by Mosaic
See how the beacon of blue emanates from atop the lean red-and-white broadcast tower. Note the notes of blue and red along one odd, random line along the UT Tower, or the strange, askew triangle that caps the Capitol entrance, or how the Capitol dome looks more like the Florence Cathedral than the home of…
Best East 11th Holdouts
The redevelopment of East 11th has occurred in fits and starts, but the fact that it’s moving ever further from its roots as a predominantly African-American business and entertainment district has been obvious (and rather disconcerting) for a while. All the better, then, that its loft- and cocktail-seekers can still experience the historic Victory Grill,…
Best Hoedown
The San Marcos Neighborhood Gardens project works to cultivate community bonds by providing training, resources, and space to grow organic food, flowers, and herbs (the kind you eat). It’s not quite a hoedown, though hoes are welcome, but a space located in the city’s Dunbar Historic District that contains private plots for local residents, as…
Best Intentional Community Potential
Harry McClintock’s 1928 folk classic, “Big Rock Candy Mountains” was not intended as a children’s’ song. It originally sang of “cigarette trees,” “streams of alcohol,” and hens laying “soft-boiled eggs,” among other things, and painted the idyllic scene of a hobo’s heaven on earth. At Mobile Loaves & Fishes’ new initiative to create a viable…
Best Box to Think Inside of
Got a big move coming up? Weighing the cost of buying new boxes (and breaking a tree’s heart) against the sleep you’ll lose collecting free ones from the grocery store at 2am? Here’s a third option: EcoBox sells used boxes in standard sizes – already sorted and broken down for easy toting – along with…
Best Rock & Roll Residence
Jason McNeely’s vision of what makes an amazing rock & roll bar extends beyond the bands. The booker/owner has proven conscientious of poster art, the look of the bandstand, and between-act playlists. He and partner Brian Tweedy’s Hot Burrito organization, formerly entrenched in Spider House’s 29th Street Ballroom, revolutionized the underachieving East Sixth room when…
Best Italian Noodles
Pasta lovers, rejoice! Situated behind Butterfly Bar at the Vortex Theatre, Patrizi’s trailer space opened last year, and Manor Road has been all aflutter with noodly goodness. But don’t mistake them for newbs on the hipster block. Their roots run deep: Owners Matt and Nic Patrizi take their recipes from the restaurant their grandparents opened…
Best Turtle Bonding
Kiddie Barbecue Dos & Don’ts: Do bring the kids to this family classic set in an ol’ Texas fishing lodge and nestled on the banks of Bull Creek. Don’t let the li’l ones fill up on the melt-in-your-mouth mini-bread loaves (instead order a few to-go). Do take a stroll around the place and point out…
Best Way to Plot Pedestrian Adventures
Austin’s Atlas is one of those projects that presents as humble and simple and slowly reveals itself to be hugely ambitious and amazing. As the name implies, maps are the thing, but the range is large. Its pedestrian guides are a good entry point; they aim to deepen our relationship with our surroundings with sort-of…
Best Hi-Fidelity
When shopping for the machines that transmit the grooved language of vinyl to your eardrums, Austinites have options, but nowhere has the eye-bugging selection of Sound Gallery. Boisterous owner, and former Nails frontman, Marc Campbell matches his larger-than-life personality with a massive museum-like showroom of lovingly restored vintage record players, receivers, and speakers – the…
Land Ho!
This buddy comedy travels all the way to Reykjavik – but does it actually go anywhere?
Best Motel
Don’t make us write another “BOA” entry about this motel’s porny sign (which, don’t get us wrong, deserves all the phallocentric praise it gets), we’ve got other things to talk about! Built from the ground up by a few generations’ worth of hardworking community lovers, this destination is sure to make your stay in the…
Best Live Comedy Show Series
Like clockwork, dazed denizens of Dirty Sixth stare disbelievingly through the window at Esther’s Follies at the comedic/magical goings-on, unwittingly becoming part of the show. They stare at Esther’s mainstays like the Patsy Cline parody routine, up-to-the minute satires of Texas politics, or the ever-evolving scenarios proffered by magic-man Ray Anderson. Like flypaper, the window…
Best LGBTQ Hangout
How can a venue win Best LGBTQ Hangout for its fifth year in a row, yet somehow take home Best New Venue? By leapfrogging to a new location, of course, and what a location it is! Once the home of the pioneering lesbian bar named Chances, the formerly blacked-out Club de Ville has been completely…
Best Cheap Date
This native Austin joint is hip, delicious, and – most importantly – cheap. The recently redesigned Torchy’s is the perfect place to show off your good taste in tacos (a very attractive feature). And there’s plenty of discussion material for you and your date: What’s the meaning of the Democrat being on a corn tortilla…
Best Birthday Cakes
Julia Child once said, “A party without cake is just a meeting.” And a kid party without cake is just a time-out. The good people at Sugar Mama’s couldn’t agree more. Their menu features old-fashioned four-layered birthday cakes, just like the ones mommy/momma/mama used to make. And fear not Eastside and Central Austinites – if…
Best Local Blog
Singles have it so easy, what with spare time and Facebook and all that disposable income, but what about busy families that need to stretch a dollar? Free Fun in Austin carefully curates low-cost, family-friendly activities as they come up, like a free screening of Free Willy at El Salido Pool, the Zilker Summer Musical…
Best Basketball Court
Whether your skill level is H-O-R-S-E or you hit the court every afternoon for intense pick-up games and mad dunking sessions (those exist, right?), you will love this clean and centrally located court in Hyde Park. Sure, the court sees plenty of players, but in this case, that’s a good thing.
Best Swimming Hole
Holy heaven on Earth, Batman! Just over 20 miles from town, this triple-threat winner – a natural swimming hole just off the Pedernales River – offers a rich oasis of vegetation and wildlife with a limestone grotto nestled in a gorgeous protected habitat, the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve. Pack a lunch, walk the trails down to…
Best Social Program
This one’s a hard one, folks. There is no good year for Planned Parenthood, the perennially politically maligned provider of health care options for women (and men) in Texas and across the nation. While new barriers to accessing abortions and health services are erected (WTF ambulatory surgical centers!?), the reputation of Planned Parenthood is publicly…
Best Pet Services
Boarding! Grooming! Doggy daycare! RUFF (that means “Yes, please!”). Mud Puppies offers services for dog lovers that will make your tail wag. From luxurious grooming sessions for down-and-dirty dawgs and self-serve wash stations for those who prefer to get paws-on, to training in group or one-on-one for pouty pooches, this one-stop shop knows what’s up…
Best Garden Supply Store
Spread out over eight acres, this isn’t just a garden supply store. It’s a living example of how green, organic, all-natural practices are the best solution for preserving our beloved land. Bag your own soil, shop for just the right plant, ask the experts for advice, stroll through the butterfly garden, chat with the farm…
Best Brutalist Architecture
For too long has the PCL been one of the most underrated architectural works in town. Perhaps it’s because the primary visitor base (students) only know it as the book-prison made for cramming. Perhaps because some people just can’t appreciate architecture unless it’s made of glass and has Shakira curves. But this library is a…
Best Electrical Conductor
The charge you feel – the one that sets your hairs on end and skin tingling – when you’re present for an Austin Lyric Opera production has everything to do with the music coming from the orchestra, and that has everything to do with the maestro leading it. In the decade that he’s been wielding…
Best Improved Entry to the Soul of Austin
Entering the waters of Barton Springs Pool has always provided a thrilling jolt, whether one inches slowly in from steps or a ramp or plunges in recklessly from the diving board or deep end. Entering the grounds from the South entrance, however, used to be an experience more akin to a revisit to the Dust…
Best Life Preserver
Whether she’s relating her own story of workplace discrimination for a mainstream news outlet, cheerleading for the local theatre or LGBTQ scenes on community radio KOOP 91.7FM, promoting equality with a capital-E at Equality Texas, founding a network for educating folks about trans issues, or holding workshops for businesses, schools, or nonprofits to crack society’s…
Best BYOB Nail Salon
It doesn’t particularly matter if you have an appointment or not, be prepared for a wait at Great Nails & Spa. Yes, there may be a staggering amount of people crammed in a teeny, tiny space, but it’s worth it; there’s a reason the salon has amassed a loyal following of well-manicured regulars. A staggering…
Best Room With a Brew
Two months ago, ABGB partner Mark Jensen confided to the Chronicle that his West Oltorf space’s beer brews are infused with the music they steadily book. Some may think it’s actually the other way around. The multifunctional biergarten and concert space does the dance between pizza joint and dancehall with ease, often blending the two…
Best New Cold Brew (And We Ain’t Talkin’ About Booze)
While there are plenty of cold brews in Austin to suit our fancy, Coffer may very well be the world’s first carbonated coffee beverage (they’re certainly boasting as such on their website). Refreshing and crisp, the bevvie lends new meaning to the idiom “grab me a cold one.” Still a small-batch operation, but savvy sabor-istas…
Best Whooooosh!
Raleigh Hager makes riding waves look easy, and in a city without an ocean, that’s no small feat. A pioneer on Austin’s wakesurfing scene, this local teen takes home first place like the rest of us take home dinner. And by “teen,” we’re talking junior high, and by “first place,” we mean world championships. Gone…
Best Person to Turn Your World Blue … or Green … or Pale Cerise with a Touch of Mauve
Sure, everyone’s got computerized color-matching systems these days, but the truth is, selecting and mixing the right paint can sometimes still be more art than science. And no one in Austin practices that art better than Breed’s resident “Good Old Austin Hippy,” as his tie-dye business cards proclaim. The service at Breed is always great,…
Best Home Away From Home
Hanging out at your friend’s house is cool, but they generally frown when you walk away with their stuff. Unless of course you are friends with Friends and Neighbors. Buy bath products in the bathroom or a Zilla bag in the living room, and then celebrate with a mimosa from the kitchen. It’s like shopping…
Finding Fanny
Finding Fanny 2014, NR, 102 min. Directed by Homi Adajania, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Deepika Padukone, Arjun Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Dimple Kapadia. Not reviewed at press time. A family dramedy that road trips through India, Finding Fanny courted controversy in its home country for the title’s f-word. (That’s fanny, not finding.)
Best Patio Deck
Designed with porchin’ in mind, Red’s “Half Cajun, Half TexMex, Half Southern” gem of a porch on South Lamar knows how to show a good time. Live music and daily specials, plus fan favorites such as the Waterloo Gin Greenbelt cocktail, Boudain balls, and truffled taco salad (part of a substantial gluten-free menu) buddy up…
Best Local Author or Poet
If the mind is a vessel, then Egerton’s certainly overunneth. He’s one of the big creative brains behind the MST3K-style improv show Master Pancake Theater and its predecessor, Mister Sinus Theater (between them, “Best” a whole buncha things for many, many years); the former artistic director of Austin’s National Comedy Theatre; and the author of…
Best Live DJ
We dare those who claim to dislike hip-hop, reggae, soul, dub, or Eighties to not lock in and get down to DJ Mel’s irresistible beats. He’s a technical master, a genre-hopping chameleon, and his skills at reading the crowd are the best in the industry. He’s hosted a weekly at Nasty’s since the mid-Nineties, played…
Best Cheap Tacos
This native Austin joint is hip, delicious, and – most importantly – cheap. The recently redesigned Torchy’s is the perfect place to show off your good taste in tacos (a very attractive feature). And there’s plenty of discussion material for you and your date: What’s the political meaning of the Democrat being on a corn…
Best Bookstore for Kids
Independent bookstores have become the unicorns of retail, as these enchanted spaces are nearly impossible to find. Which is why BookPeople continues to stand out as Austin’s horn o’plenty. Open 14 hours each day of the week, it’s home away from home, but with the added bonus of YA author readings and signings (What up,…
Best Local Non-‘Chronicle’ Publication
Born digital, this satirical monthly moved into print format shortly after its founding in 1997. Now newspaper racks carrying Texas Travesty are as ubiquitous on UT’s campus as unfortunate sorority apparel. Skewering themselves as often as the big power-brokers, only the staff of Texas Travesty could have written the following brilliant headline – summing up…
Best Bowling Alley
A rainbow-hued, carpeted horizon depicts bowling pins, flung every which way by a sentinel army of bowling balls quixotically placed in 10-pin arrangements. You wonder why the bowling balls have suddenly substituted the pins – some kind of psychological remark on the nature of power and skills mastery, maybe? Then someone taps you on the…
Best Swimming Pool
Enjoy howling at the moon? Love a good LARP? How about just a dunk into (what seems like) icy water on a sultry summer night? Okay, fine, this is a great place to go by daylight too. Right across Lady Bird Lake from downtown, this is the spot for that midday swim we wouldn’t recommend…
Biggest Huevos/Ovaries
She stood up for women’s rights (and for quite a while at that), and she continues to warm our cockles with her pitch-perfect presentation and unflappable fabulosity. She and her fellow female Texas state senators gave us some of the searing-est zingers a state congress has heard in a while, and the 2013 debate over…
Best Printer/Copies
FedEx Kinko’s dropped its surname in favor of the bland-as-wallpaper-paste “FedEx Office” back in 2008. But it’s real cute the way Austinites just can’t quit Kinko’s. (No, literally. Our readers vote for “Kinko’s.”) We’re guessing it’s all those late nights you spent there, copying your new zine for distribution at your friend’s show – and…
Best Grocery Store
When Florence Butt opened C.C. Butt Grocery Store in Kerrville, Texas, circa 1905, we doubt she imagined a regional empire of locally beloved grocery superstores. A devout Baptist, she left the business to her son Howard (thus H-E-B), whose first Austin store was opened in 1938. Howard was a big advocate for recreational facilities, such…
Best Fourth Time’s a Charm
Now recognized by both the Texas Historical Commission and National Register of Historic Places, the Hays County Courthouse saw a lot less pomp and circumstance back when it was first established in 1848; the small log building that housed its courthouse also served as a church and school, among other public uses. It wasn’t until…
Best Film Festival Moment
Tearing ourselves away from a scintillating conversation at the Austin Film Festival with directors Paul Thomas Anderson and Jonathan Demme in order to arrive on time for a unique screening of Dario Argento’s Suspiria with the original members of Goblin playing their haunting soundtrack live at the inaugural Housecore Horror Film Festival was one of…
Best Lover’s Wake-Up Caw
When we think “peacock,” and earnestly try to suppress the traumatic visual of pre-tweens bobbing their necks to that filthy filthy Katy Perry song, we think of the 100 eyes of Argus. They see all. Truly. Hera (you know, Zeus’ wife) knew that, and as a tribute to her loyal 100-eyed watchdog pal, placed those…
Best New Eastside Condo
The coolest new living space on Huston-Tillotson’s East Austin campus isn’t a dorm – it’s a Dumpster. Indefatigable HT dean and biological sciences professor Jeffrey Wilson moved into the six-by-six-foot space last February and will remain there a year. Of course, it’s not just any Dumpster. It’s been cleaned, for one thing. Plus it’s an…
Best Champagne of Studios
Everything is a passion project for Chris “Frenchie” Smith, as long as the music rocks. The producer, and guitarist of Sixteen Deluxe and Young Heart Attack fame, gets spirited at every session that enters his Bubble, whether icon (Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister) or unknown (Purple). The Hyde Park recording studio, which Smith operates with partner Alex…
Best Secret Ingredient
Onetime teenage blues prodigy Jonas Wilson grew up to wear many hats: music teacher, studio owner/producer/engineer, soundtrack composer, and instrumentalist. The guitarist/keyboardist/songwriter’s considerable talents have been showcased in local projects Lomita and the White White Lights, but more so, he’s been influential behind the scenes, tutoring Austin’s top teenage talent like Residual Kid and Grace…
Best Pancakes on the Move
Since Kenny Carpenter found the spot for his breakfast joint and opened in 1978, he’s been slinging the best fresh food around. Before farm-to-table became the rage, the Omelettry always offered fresh fruit and vegetables alongside their famous breakfast fare. Gingerbread pancakes bigger than a dinner plate, thick and gloppy queso, crispy bacon, and bottomless…
Cutest Li’l Cute Cutes
Is it the sweet, teeny, tiny well-cared-for animals that make Tiny Tails to You such a hit with the kids? Or is it enjoying denizens of the outdoors in air-conditioned comfort that keeps the families so endeared? The petting zoo birthday parties? Perhaps it’s the can’t-be-beat customer service provided by a team that even giant…
Best Place to Unbind
Most of us have had a standard massage or two, wherein a therapist gently kneads your bod while soft sitar music plays. Yeah, this isn’t that. You get the relaxing room and music, but Melinda Thoms practices something called trigger-point massage – and it’s serious therapeutic business. She can explain the science, though we can’t;…
Best Kinkification
While Tapelenders has always had one in the pink and one in the stink, under new management they now have one in the kink as well. This little-shop-that-could has expanded beyond the basic to incorporate every color of the rainbow and hanky code. Now featuring official Tom of Finland merch, gear from Mr. S Leather,…
Power
Power 2014, NR, 173 min. Directed by K. Madesh, Starring Puneeth Rajkumar, Trisha Krishnan, Prabhu, Kelly Dorjee. Not reviewed at press time. Kannada-language action-comedy.
Best Restroom
Colonel Jesse Driskill may have been a wee bit over-ambitious building a four-star hotel in Austin, which, despite having been the state’s capital for 47 years, was still a backwater cattle town in 1886. Nevertheless, we owe him a debt today, having praised the building’s architecture, its food, its cocktails, and even its ghosts ever…
Best Museum
From scholarly exhibitions such as “Converging Lines,” documenting the artistic exchange between Eva Hesse and Sol LeWitt (who knew they both wrote for Seventeen magazine?!), to the charmingly populist “In the Company of Cats and Dogs,” tracking the appearance of our furry friends in art, the Blanton Museum of Art offers something for everybody.
Best Local Brewery
In a city full of excellent craft beers, it takes a special approach to stand out. “A.B. Dubs,” as the kids call it, is taking a proactive approach. They love beer and are eager to share their love of brewing (and drinking), and they open their brewery every weekend to share a few pints. They…
Best Coffee
When the question is caffeine, the answer is Houndstooth. The locally owned shops are well-stocked with personalized cups and a tasteful selection of roasters to put in them – including Super Sonic Coffee, Counter Culture, and Apollo. Between their pick-your-own-brew-methods, their Maxim-famous Coffee Julep (“The 7 Best Iced Coffees in America”), or their deliciously strong…
Best Club for Teen Performers
The Rude Mechanicals have had our attention since the Nineties, and for good reason: They’re creative, spunky, and always original. Grrl Action is a nonprofit offshoot of the Rude Mechs that now has its own workshop space (called, naturally, the Off Shoot). Grrl Action brings together girls age 13-16 from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds to stage…
Best Local TV News
The eyes of KXAN are upon you. The departure of 14-year veteran anchor Leslie Rhode hasn’t stopped the team from investigating elder abuse or overworked 911 dispatchers. Add that to dreamy weather musings from Chief Weathercaster Jim Spencer (see Best Weatherperson) and precise traffic warnings, and it’s no wonder they’re returning champs.
Best Cheap Thrill
We’ll save you the Mastercard parody (which is funny because Peter Pan doesn’t accept plastic), but just know that the dollar amount that you’ll pay to play mini-golf amongst the iconic plaster and concrete “sculptures” of this two-course mainstay is inversely proportionate to the amount of fun you’re likely to have. Unless you’re dead inside.…
Best Tennis Court
Game, set, and match, no other tennis courts have dominated over half of the Best Tennis Court “Best of Austin”s throughout the years as has Caswell. Makes sense, what with their eight well-lit courts and reasonable fees (reservations recommended). Even if your game is more fetch than fire, they’ve got friendly pros that’ll get you…
Best Appliance/TV Repair
For as long as we’ve had technology we have had malfunctions. That’s where the experts at Mr. Wizard’s comes in. Nobody beats the Wiz at fixing the old, new, and blue screen of death. So if you have a short circuit, no disassemble, go see the wonderful wizards of electronics.
Best Shoe Repair
Although they have no ambulances to dispatch, Austin Shoe Hospital is dedicated to the health care of local footwear. With multiple convenient locations and the option of mail-order repair, Austin Shoe Hospital has made it clear that they are ready to serve at the feet of Austinites. Since its opening in Houston in 1906, and…
Best Hardware Store
Breed & Co. knows that what you need after grabbing your hardware supplies (a couple of cans of spray paint, a new key, some PVC pipe, and 10 yards of rope) and a couple of new home goods (a new Chemex coffee pot, a candle for your candlescape) is a chocolate bonbon. Good, good. SRSLY:…
Best Historic Emergency Response
Our intimate affairs with chosen landmarks are often all passion with no responsibility. If you’ve ever caught yourself lusting after the vertical fins and cantilevered overhang, or felt embraced by the brown banding of this 1947 International Modern house in the Hancock neighborhood, you are not alone. The ardor shared by locals won’t come to…
Best Label-Defying Art Faun
When we look at the world (bleak, grim) and think, “Where is the art?”, we just close our eyes, click our heels thrice, and repeat this mantra: Aaron Flynn! Aaron Flynn! Aaron Flynn! How to categorize the output of this wunderkind? Painter of totemic animalistic heraldry, window-dresser extraordinaire (the window of Parisian-influenced Blackmail is a…
Best Most Intense (Lost) Tennis Face
The resolve! The focus! That lip! That hair! For years we’d been meaning to give this face an award. On the day we had enough time to pull over and really check her out, construction barricades were up and demolition crews were mowing down her residence, the UT Tennis Center on Trinity. So yes, this…
Best Play on the Word “Green”
This new student organization at Huston-Tillotson University is bringing a much-needed focus on race, culture, and community to environmental action. As it helps make the HT campus more environmentally friendly, it is also working with fellow Eastside organizations to open up a broader dialogue about sustainability, affordability, and environmental justice. In recognizing that communities of…
Best Country Getaway for Dogs
Having to board one’s dog can be traumatic – for those of us who are (some would say overly) devoted to our canine friends, if not necessarily for the dogs. But Mother Rock Star Dogs makes us we feel like we’re just dropping them off at superfun dog camp – one with extremely attentive and…
Best Siren Song
We always thought it was a Florida thing, or maybe an Odysseus thing or a Cher thing or a Daryl Hannah fixation or a fondness for Coney Island’s mermaid parade, or even a StarKist thing. We could go on about the influences, but clearly many of us dream of either being or hanging out with…
Best Pollo Asado
That smoky smell wafting down South First Street leads to a swift pollo asado drive-up. In mere minutes, a bag of the grilled, hot, steaming goodness passes through the window, complete with all the fixin’s: rice, beans, tortillas, salsa y limón. Three locations churn out authentic Monterrey cuisine, presenting their specialty: the whole or half…
In Remembrance
It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of the sudden passing of Phillip Adams, a member of our “Best of Austin” family (“Best Imagination Hour,” 2013). Phillip was recognized for his weekly kiddo-centric storytime adventure at Whole Foods. Phillip was also an esteemed member of the Capital City Men’s Chorus, finding a…
Best Point A to B
Everybody needs a flexible friend, and the buses swinging along Capital Metro’s swanky new MetroRapid routes fit the bill. Sure, there’ve been gripes about the schedule. And yes, even a top-end transit option like the 801 Lamar route (and its new baby sibling, the 803 running up Burnet) can’t magically hop over Austin’s abysmal traffic.…
Best Neighborhood Grocery Store
Opened in 1953 by the Prellop family (who still own the store), Crestview is the last of about a dozen Minimax stores under the Independent Grocers Alliance franchise umbrella that once dotted Austin. Don’t see something you want? Ask the managers, there’s a good chance they can order it for you. Does your teenager need…
Best Sign
Don’t make us write another “BOA” entry about this motel’s porny sign (which, don’t get us wrong, deserves all the phallocentric praise it gets), we’ve got other things to talk about! Built from the ground up by a few generations’ worth of hardworking community lovers, this destination is sure to make your stay in the…
Best None of the Above Show
True personal stories told live onstage have never been more popular. National tours like Risk! and the Moth regularly sell out shows, and our own Bedpost Confessions presents a clever and titillating twist. Started in 2010, this monthly confessional storytelling show focuses intently on sex and sexuality from the likes of Adam Sultan, Ebony Stewart,…
Best Local Filmmaker
Richard Linklater’s carefully planted seeds are bearing fruit of considerable heft this year, most notably Boyhood, which, along with the Before trilogy, is garnering him praise as a director of the longue durée. This hometown hero is not just a success story, but a voice of the zeitgeist.
Best Desserts
Delivering warm cookies, made from scratch, amidst an ever-expanding circle of business relationships has proven to be the key to success in the world of desserts. Sure, they’re open to walk-up customers hankering for a sweet, or families and friends wishing one another well, but many an office dweller trying to lose the holiday pounds…
Best Gamer Hangout
Depends on how you define gamer: Are you flashing-lights-whizzbang? Or vast-internal-realms-of-the-mind? Sometimes the audience can be one and the same. Our fair city covers all options and plays host to a magical venue (Dragon’s Lair) that more than dabbles in mainstay fantasy league play such as Pokemon, D&D, and Magic: The Gathering. But that doesn’t…
Best Local Tweeter
When local reports sounded that a pedestrian was killed by a drunk driver last April, Austin’s underground community didn’t know the victim was Kelly Noel, better known by his Twitter alter ego, ATXhipster. Automated tweets continued to chirp. Then eulogies to Noel burst from the web as the “hipster” community, often assumed aloof and detached,…
Best Day Trip (Dry)
Someone once promised us a picnic at Enchanted Rock. Promises unfulfilled, it never happened. That’s all right, the 62-mile batholith is perfectly trekked in solitary contentment. Stargazing, rock climbing, and fairy shrimp all balanced on a pink granite mound, it’s truly a spiritual experience. Charged by the forces of campfires and healing properties, Enchanted Rock…
Best Yoga/Pilates
We hope you know, Austin, that you are spoiled in this category. Yoga Yoga’s hook from the very beginning was to offer several styles of yoga under the same roof (something which is now commonplace, but not so in 1997 when Yoga Yoga opened a space on South Lamar). In this way, the kundalini yogi…
Best Auto Service/Repair
Family-owned and -operated for more than 20 years, Yost Automotive specializes in honest, affordable car care. The multi-year BOA award-winner can fix up even the most weary of customers with vehicle inspections, diagnostics, tune-ups, and pretty much anything else your car might need. It’s your Yostest with the mostest – now with two convenient North…
Best Spa
When someone offers you a Gingerizer Body Glow, just know: They are not a member of an active red-headed recruiting cult hellbent on having your baby. They just want to put you on a table and rub sugar that smells like ginger and peppermint into your back. In a word, your response must be: Yes,…
Best Music Gear
“Where customers become friends” was the first official motto of Strait Music Company – and what the Strait family realized is that their friends care about their instruments, like, a lot. That ethos still pervades the 50-plus-year-old business, and whether you seek the big, one-time purchase (hello, Wurlitzer!), or feed a near-constant instrument habit (ukes!…
Best Hotel Restaurant & Pool Redo
Where once clunky chain-restaurant formula sat, a glorious expanse of grace and efficiency now resides. Austin architectural legend Michael Hsu and design branders FÖDA Studio have given Shawn Cirkiel’s chavez – located at the corner of Congress & Lady Bird Lake in the old TGI Friday’s – a modern and casual flow worthy of the real…
Best Multimedia Meme
Is it any wonder that cats and dogs are plastered all over the Internet? As a species, we’ve been gaga over them for quite some time. The Blanton got to the heart of our complex intergenus relationships with its summer exhibit “In the Company of Cats and Dogs,” featuring a deftly curated array of artists…
Best New Eastside Respite
With the Texas sun blazing and Austin humidity sticking, it’s easy to want to spend summer hidden away in the cool embrace of an air-conditioning unit. We get it. Unfortunately, your kids probably don’t. When they drag you wide-eyed and blinking into the sunlight, steer them in the direction of Bartholomew Pool and all of…
Best Post-HB 2 Pro-Choice Activist Group
For Fight Back Texas, the 2013 filibuster was just the beginning. Reigniting the fervor from last summer’s historic outpouring of orange-clad citizen activism against draconian anti-choice legislation, a coalition of dedicated progressive advocacy groups – the ACLU of Texas, Whole Woman’s Health, the Texas Freedom Network, NARAL Pro-Choice Texas, and the Texas Research Institute –…
Best Grand Slam Studio
When he’s not touring with Shearwater or moonlighting with Stillwater, Okla., rock troupe Other Lives, drummer Danny Reisch is at home in his East Austin home-turned-studio recording one of what seems like thousands of local bands trying to take their first step into the limelight. Reisch’s producer credits of late don’t just include such Austin…
Best Texas Tap Troupe
Southern belles and beauty queens possess certain qualities that tend to emerge in sharp relief as they mature – namely, a sense of propriety that belies their bone-dry wit, grit, and laserlike insights into human behavior, especially that of their native cultures. We’re being kind of silly here, but if the ladies of Class Act,…
Best Reason to Go Raw
Get rhythm with this superbrand of dehydrated leafy goodness. Its raw power comes from being free of GMOs, gluten, and cholesterol – stripped down to its natural state. Rhythm Superfoods’ kale chips can satiate the appetites of even the most hardcore carnivores, while at the same time staying true to the vegetarian, vegan, and raw…
Most Rosey Mama Rose
When 250 teen thespians took the Dell Hall stage to perform at the inaugural Greater Austin High School Musical Theatre Awards, Ginger Morris wasn’t standing in the aisle yelling, “Sing out, Louise!” The domineering pushiness that defines Gypsy’s thorny Rose can’t be found in this generous and sweet-tempered director/choreographer. What she does share with that…
Best Power-Up Providers
Like a virtual USO, since 2010 this Austin- and DC-based nonprofit has shipped video game care packages to America’s armed forces. Starting with some Guitar Hero bundles shipped to Afghanistan, the valiant leaders have since raised over $1 million to keep U.S. soldiers on the front line entertained. And it’s not just American forces under…
Best New Kid on the Vintage Block
Don’t let its small size fool you: This store has a little bit of everything in vintage clothing, accessories, decor, and furniture. Plus, the prices are decent. Established online in 2010 via an Etsy site it still maintains (Revival Vintage ATX), the store – last year in the still-quirky-after-all-these-years North Loop strip – with a…
Best Swimming Pool Design
The fourth-floor pool at the W is pretty much the opposite of the kind of sun-seared cement ponds that still grace our nation’s bargain motels. Elegant and elite, the W’s watering spot is long and lean, a cool blue pool where you could swim laps, but with a surrounding surface area maximized for socializing. The…
Best Performance Space
Post-Y2K Austinites may not realize that the current Long Center sits atop the footprint of the old Palmer Auditorium and was constructed almost plank-by-plank from her reused remnants. Built over a decade starting in 1998, the gorgeously upcycled space has already proven to be a vastly flexible venue. Founded on opera, symphony, and ballet with…
Best Lounge
“I’ll have my drink … on the rocks.” This is an example of something you might say if you were cool. And if you were really cool, you’d probably say it at the Sahara Lounge while ordering a Bloody Devil (it’s like a Bloody Mary, but it kills you). Though housed in our very own…
Best Food Trailer
East Side King keeps developing truly inspired culinary treats (our new favorite is the apt take on roast beef au jus, the “Beef Pho’ Boy” at the Cheer Up Charlie’s location) and continues its lifelong mission to reform brussels sprout/beet haterz. Each location offers a different facet of the same fusion palate – and check…
Best Haircut
It’s all about foundations. Mumsie or Dadsie may find the most intriguing thing about Birds is that they offer of-age patrons a beer upon arrival. For those dealing with anxious kids who fear the shears, this can be a welcome tonic – to the parent. But essentially that’s a novelty of this biz. Remember, foundations.…
Best Locally Produced TV Show
Middle-age? Pfft! This year, Austin City Limits turned 40 and they are still as hip, relevant, and true to music as ever. From new country royalty like Tim McGraw to the softer emo sounds of Bon Iver to the Sunday-go-to-meetin’ stomp of Mavis Staples and Bonnie Raitt, no musical genre is overlooked. Like a fine…
Best Day Trip (Wet)
Holy heaven on Earth, Batman! Just over 20 miles from town this triple-threat winner – a natural swimming hole just off the Pedernales River – offers a rich oasis of vegetation and wildlife with a limestone grotto nestled in a gorgeous protected habitat, the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve. Pack a lunch, walk the trails down to…
Best Activist
Natalia Lundstedt was so moved by the documentary Blackfish that she mounted a persuasive campaign to end her school’s annual field trip to Sea World. Oh, and she was in fourth grade at the time. Remember the Petland puppy mill protests in Austin a few years ago? According to her dad’s Facebook campaign, Natalia was…
Best Barbershop
In days of yore, barbers were also dentists and surgeons. Let’s clasp hands and collectively thank whomever’s responsible for our current disambiguation. Not that we wouldn’t welcome the chairside manner of our favorite Bird’s haircutter over our gastrointestinal specialist, but next time you’re in that chair at Birds Barbershop, we’d like you to think about…
Best Spa Service/Treatment
When someone offers you a Gingerizer Body Glow, just know: They are not a member of an active red-headed recruiting cult hellbent on having your baby. They just want to put you on a table and rub sugar that smells like ginger and peppermint into your back. In a word, your response must be: Yes,…
Best Naughty Business
Whoever coined the phrase “good things come in small packages” must’ve been talking about Forbidden Fruit. This tiny shop is stockpiled with the best toys – and we’re not talking Polly Pocket … more like Pocket Rocket. But if you’re looking for more than just a ride to the moon, mentally climax by attending a…
Best Lone Pickle
There he goes, riding high in the Texas sky! The lone pickle! Commuters and rootin’ tooters who take the toll road, aka SH 130, peep this bright briny greeny on signs along Pickle Parkway, named for J.J. “Jake” Pickle, U.S. Rep from the 10th congressional district of Texas, 1963-95, champion of Social Security and the…
Best Place to Spit a Rhyme
Jonesing for some great up-and-coming rap without the trek to Houston? Look no further than the Austin Mic Exchange. Each week, this group invites artists from across the city to showcase their best rhymes in a freestyle showdown at the Spider House Ballroom in an effort to bring together previously disparate elements in the scene.…
Best New Path Through the Woods
Austin’s longest paved hike-and-bike trail opened in August, and it’s a winner. Covering more the seven miles from Govalle Park east of Downtown to Lindell Lane just shy of U.S. 290 in Northeast Austin, it follows the shaded creek bed most of the way. Perfect for all skill levels of bicyclists, walkers, and joggers, the…
Best Power Couple
Power couples ground Austin music history throughout its proudly checkered past, from siblings (Bobbie and Willie Nelson) and live music capitalists (Liberty Lunch parents J-Net Ward and Mark Pratz) to superstars both international and local (Sandra Bullock and Bob Schnieder). Celeste and Adrian Quesada rate as an equally grand bandstand couple. She wields event planners…
Best Interior Designer on the DL
Of course he has a website extolling his signature clean interiors, with their contemporary look melded with a deep reverence for history, but it’s what’s not on the website that astounds. A true Southern gentleman from Lafayette, La., Ashby himself wouldn’t tell you who his best clients are – so breathtaking are the names. It’s…
Best Way to Take the Bitter With the Sweet
It’s not your fault that your homemade cocktails are boring. You probably didn’t have Bad Dog Bar Craft. Bad Dog’s small-batch bitters add kick to everything from Mai Tais to rye Manhattans. We like a few dashes of the Bloody Mary variety in our beer. Who says a michelada can’t be sophisticated?
Best Restaurant Triple Threat
This triumvirate runs the show at the Provençal-inspired French bistro and wine bar that brought fine dining to East Austin earlier this year. Advanced sommelier Vilma Mazaite oversees the excellent front-of-the-house service and makes well-educated pairings from LaV’s 1,200-bottle wine cellar with the stellar French bistro classics emerging from chef Allison Jenkins’ kitchen and the…
Best Burnt Orange Slammer
The scene is set on the “41st Acre,” home of the Longhorn Network transmission tower. A small group is gathered around a tree, sitting atop hay bales, all dressed in tailgate finery – eye black with cows; orange everything. Members of the Longhorn marching band, with their patented zig-zag trouser trim, mill around a Texas…
Best Reason to Buy a Headdress
Want a little something to spice up your special party outfit? Maybe a little something for your head? (Stop it right now – it’s not that kind of party.) Let the multitalented Jennifer Ayers supply you with just the right thing, from a pearl-studded hair clip, to jeweled hair sticks, to a full-on peacock-feathered Mohawk…
Best New SoCo Hangout
When TOMS sought to open their second store in the U.S., they looked no further than eclectic catch-all, South Congress. The TOMS Store Austin is a retail and coffee shop hybrid located in a gorgeous, repurposed house and no surprise to TOMS customers or SoCo flaneurs: a cozy bohemian vibe. The space is open, airy,…
Best Window Display
This window has gained notoriety with toilet-oriented pop culture hijinks. Consider the recent X Games tie-in, with a toilet suspended in the act of performing a flip on a BMX bike. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Toilets”? Yup. “A Christmas Toilet” for the holidays? Done with aplomb. Radiant earned a Critics Pick from us two years ago,…
Best Public Art
Austin isn’t necessarily known for its graffiti art, but the evolving compositions at the HOPE Outdoor Gallery (HOG) at Castle Hill are certainly gravy by any connoisseur’s standards. The site that was nearly razed for development before the 2008 downturn remained a pot-holed maze of rebar and concrete – a “public nuisance” until property owners…
Best Movie Theatre
It’s now common to hear “curate” thrown around – like your friend, Sasha, who “curated” the perfect dinner party. Sasha didn’t curate shit, she just invited people she liked. And while the same could be true of the Alamo Drafthouse – that they’re only playing movies they like – their programming is simply a wonder…
Best Ice Cream/Gelato
You scream, we all scream for ice cream, especially when our sweet treat is spiked with hooch. It is seriously our lucky day when Guinness, Shiner, and Jameson flavors are on the menu. But don’t think that Amy’s only caters to the boozehounds; if you’re preg-o, for example, they’ve created Dill-icious – dill pickle-flavored ice…
Best Party Place
Relocated from Downtown to a spiffy new spot in the Mueller development, Austin’s next-gen children’s museum combines fun with forward-thinking. This sun-bright, bilingual museum nourishes the mind with inventive exhibits, classes exploring culture and science (kids will love getting hands-on with water currents, and parents will appreciate the installed blowdryers), and reasonably priced party packages…
Best Photographer
Not every photographer can pull off a portfolio equally strong in editorial and photo-booth. What’s Annie’s secret? Originality. From weirder to weirdest, Ray personalizes each photo-booth (space! under the sea! streamers!), yet she’s consistent in creating images that are out of this world.
Best Escape
Holy heaven on Earth, Batman! Just over 20 miles from town, this triple-threat winner – a natural swimming hole just off the Pedernales River – offers a rich oasis of vegetation and wildlife with a limestone grotto nestled in a gorgeous protected habitat, the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve. Pack a lunch, walk the trails down to…
Best Campaign Issue
It was the filibuster that launched a thousand protests. On June 25, 2013, Wendy Davis became the spokesperson for the Lone Star State’s dwindling women’s rights, and we haven’t stopped cheering since. And while she’s running on not just one, but a number of issues, the message is clear. A sign from above – or…
Best Bicycle Repair
Serving Austin’s cycling needs since 1983, this once-humble shop has blossomed into a local institution. Their commitment to service, love of the road, and helpful attitude make them a sure bet. We recommend their free maintenance tutorials for the noobs, and they also offer advanced courses to experienced riders to keep everyone on the road,…
Best Tailor/Alterations
Is there anything new to write about this 20-year “Best of Austin” winner? Darn it! They’re clearly a cut above the rest, taking in and letting out Austin’s frocks and trousers for 47 years now. Four locations, major to minor alterations (even leather!), and a staff of highly skilled magicians tugging at the seams of…
Best Neighborhood Grocery/Convenience
Since 1927, this neighborhood favorite – since expanded to three stores – has offered a wide selection of goods, many local and all delicious. It’s a heck of a deal to find organic produce, craft beer, box mac and cheese, and toilet paper in one quick-stop spot, but it’s award-winning because of its super-friendly staff…
Best Mall Overhaul
A college campus in a mall sounds like some grotesque joke in a dystopian movie about the gradual reduction of everything into a shopping experience. But, that’s not what this is. In fact, it’s the opposite: Austin Community College has bought what was Austin’s first indoor shopping mall (1971) and is turning it into a…
Best Produce Aisle Aria
Tosca is one of the most popular operas performed in the United States and has done much to translate the art’s charms for modern audiences. Austin Lyric Opera pushed that populism a little further last January, when it produced a flash mob at Central Market North Lamar and burst forth with an aria from that…
Best New Way to Avoid I-35
Thanks to the ongoing efforts of the Trail Foundation and Austin Parks & Recreation Department, the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail no longer forces pedestrians and cyclists to meander up the sidewalks of Riverside Drive to cross I-35 at one of the busiest intersections in town for the sake of a jolly jaunt round…
Best Presidential Fist Bumper
Not one to waste an opportunity to bedazzle, this artist and Franklin Barbecue front-of-the-houser had to preach when confronted with a brisket-seeking President Barack H. Obama. The sermon of the day? Gay rights, of course. And true to his avocation as comedian, he followed up the prez’s query as to the state of his ……
Best Makeover the Size of Your Entire House
Doesn’t seem physically possible how quickly and perfectly these skilled pigmentistas can cover the interiors and exteriors of your once-shabby residence, how swiftly they improve the walls and ceilings, how smoothly they deal with corners and crevices and that odd little niche the builder must’ve meant to house some alien artifact – but it is…
Best Yeehaw!
So, yeah, a lot of people are moving here. And, yeah, a lot of them are from other Texas places. But the ones who aren’t sometimes need reminding that it’s not all Meetups and moon towers around here – a sign (the good kind – step back, please, Mr. Perry) that they are still very…
Best Traditional Texas Artisanal
If you think small-batch locavorism is new to Austin, you don’t know enough about Lammes Candies. Originally called the Red Front Candy Factory and briefly lost in a poker game, the (still) family-owned business crafts high-quality sweets, with a focus on special orders, seasonal favorites, and local ingredients. Its Texas Chewie Pecan Pralines originally contained…
Best Femme-Centric Magazine
The name is far from subtle. Vagina, the quarterly publication headed by Hillary-Anne Crosby, takes submissions by women (although Vagina notes they accept work from all women, vagina or no), and for women. With its most recent issue, released May, 2014, Vagina added the maga- to its ‘zine, debuting with a gorgeous, glossy makeover. With…
Best Rehab
Are you a member of a wildlife species indigenous to Central Texas? Are you sick, injured, orphaned, or otherwise in need of help? Call Wildlife Rescue now. Since 1977, this nonprofit has been dedicated to providing direct assistance to the public concerning questions, problems, and conflicts with native wild animals. Helping the down-and-out among birds,…
Best Place for Sweatin’ With the Oldies
We love to thrift. But sometimes we get frustrated with our options: limited, possibly overpriced vintage establishments or true junk stores that feature eclectic goods in dusty jumbles with undertones of toxic mold. Both can be as packed as a Hoarders house, though without the tragedy and gross things. Not so at roomy, organized Modern…
Best Actor
That impressive Matthew Redden, still smoldering from his bright triumph in In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play, most recently galvanized the Zach Theatre stage in the musical role of Captain Walker in The Who’s Tommy. The popular Michael Joplin, when he’s not making love to the vinyl as DJ Manateemann, is an improv…
Best Theatre Director
Dave Steakley is no stranger to accolades, and there’s a reason for that: Austin theatre wouldn’t be the same without him. ZACH Theatre’s producing director has been pushing players and audiences to mature and challenge ourselves for more than 20 years. He has put his own spin on plenty of classics (including this year’s The…
Best New Bar
Though only open a few months, Radio Coffee & Beer has already amassed a loyal and vocal fan base. Perhaps it’s due to the affability of owner/singer/songwriter Jack Wilson, or maybe it’s the 24 craft beer taps and live music. Either way, this little spot is more than just a beer-and-coffee joint – it’s a…
Best Intimate Dining
Justine’s is very proud of its uniquely appealing and sexy, yet unapologetic, even defiant authenticity. We aren’t talking about the “French-itude” of the food or decor (not that either is lacking); no, it is the authenticity of being Justine’s Brasserie. Just look at how they embrace their worst Yelp reviews right on their website. It…
Best Restaurant
Take a trip back to the Wild West at this kid- (and beer-) friendly Austin favorite. Sidle up to the trough, and relax with a delicious burger and ice-cold beer as your li’l cowpokes horse around like Wild Bill, Calamity Jane, or Deputy Dawg, and romp atop the colorful cattle in the playground corral. This…
Best Radio Personality/Radio Show
Waking up is hard to do. Luckily Austin’s morning radio shows are almost as enticing as breakfast tacos. Be it the newly reunited JB & Sandy on the Fringe 105.3, or the sassy and snarky 101X pair, Jason & Deb, morning radio is where it’s at. After being off-air for nearly six months, bromancing duo…
Best Skyscraper
Although Austin’s skyline has morphed massively since this tower kicked off a 21st century development revolution, the Frost Tower remains the most distinctive skyscraper in town. The crown of this perennial favorite features a unique sculptural design that some say resembles the face of an owl – perfect for observing our rapidly changing city.
Best Campaign Moment
Greg Abbott to an astounded audience in July: “You know where they are if you drive around. You can ask every facility whether or not they have chemicals or not. You can ask them if they do, and they can tell you, ‘Well, we do have chemicals, or we don’t have chemicals.’ And if they…
Best Car Wash
No wish-granting saps, genies (or jinn) are figures mentioned in the Quran as being made from the “smokeless flame of fire,” and like humans and angels, are a manifest creation of the divine. We like to ponder this as we watch our car glide through the rollers and doo-bobbers of Genie Car Wash. Adds some…
Best Tattoo Shop
No one-trick pony, this crew of 15 artists is versed in old school, new school, flash, color- and black-ink styles. The eclectically decorated original downtown location is quite suited for walk-ins, while the Airport shop suggests calling ahead for appointments. Either way, True Blue’s high quality standards have left their mark on our readers.
Best New Local Business
We wonder. Will the city officially establish the 5000 block of North Lamar as a cultural district … for nerds? Gamers, vintage-toy lovers, Magic the Gathering geeks, comic-book collectors, take heed: There is a new triple crown made up of Austin Books & Comics, Guzu Gallery, and fresh jewel, Outlaw Moon. This subsidiary of AB&C…
Best Overnight Deer Cafeteria
This sweet retreat on sylvan Cypress Creek in Wimberley is abundant, indeed. Fresh air: Fill those lungs. Long stretches of silence: Lounge near water’s edge and dare to not feel content. Gentle friends: Check the bin for deer chow. The nice women who run the place keep it well-stocked. There’s a routine: Ladle piles of…
Best Roots Revival
China Smith launched her inspiring Ballet Afrique out of a desire to create a deep cultural link for Central Texas African-Americans. Black roots are too often framed in Western terms, under the heart-aching legacy and shadow of slavery. As a young dancer, Smith studied with a melting pot of movement culture: Dallas Black Dance, Puerto…
Best Resort Repurposing
Next time you’re hanging out at Schlitterbahn’s Treehaus Luxury Suites, pick up one of the bar stools. Yeah. So, after you recover from that hernia, we bet you’ll say to yourself, “Geeeez, that thing’s a tree trunk!” Well, guess what? That thing’s a tree trunk. After the decimation of acres and acres of gorgeous Texas…
Best Rainbow Pride Spirit
If LGBTQ Pride had a spirit animal, San Marcos’ Silvia Sandoval would be it. Whether she’s planning the small college town’s monthly Rainbow Night, or securing a space for the Square’s first, long-awaited gay bar (it never opened, but paved the way for the new Stonewall Warehouse out on Hopkins slated to open in October),…
Best Beer-Fueled Bike Ride
Yes, we sure did walk the bike home on the last leg of the 2013 Austin Beer Guide Bloggers Suck Bike Pub Crawl. Was it completely necessary? Hell, yes. The Sunday adventure capping off Austin Beer Week made boozy stops at Workhorse Bar, Billy’s on Burnet, Pinthouse Pizza, and Draught House Pub & Brewery. Well-organized…
Best “Head” on a Plate
The “Oh” name is a tribute to owner Abbi Lunde’s grandmother, but we like to think of it as OMG. Oh Kimchi adds a kick to everything from eggs to pancakes. Pour some of the juices in a Bloody Mary, and you’ll be saying, “Ohhhh yeah.”
Best Way to Drink Living Organisms
It’s aliiiiive! Naturally effervescent, this ancient concoction of fermented sweet tea is packed with the power to boost energy and digestive health, thanks to about 19 billion live probiotics in each 16-ounce bottle. Also available on tap and in kegs, the “born n’ brewed” South Austin ‘booch comes in a rainbow of flavors such as…
Best Label of Love
Born out of Richard Lynn’s Eastside living room in 2000 to release the thrilling darkwave punk of locals Manikin, Super Secret Records remains Austin’s most consistent boutique imprint. Forty-four total releases count OBN III’s 7-inch “No Way to Rock ‘N’ Roll” as the bestseller, while the one that got away goes to Chumps LP R.I.P.…
Best Tree in the Florist
One of the last of the old-timers on Barton Springs Road, this Forties-era florist business looks like the type of curious, quaint cottage you might stumble upon in a forest. And it’s painted deep green to match. The star attraction here, at least from the outside, is the enormous tree growing inside the teeny, tiny…
Best Reusables
If you’re looking for that pocketknife that was confiscated at the airport by Homeland Security, you just might find it, or an exact replica, here at the state surplus property store. Not only does the store have seized objects from airports like knives, wrenches, and the occasional cricket bat, but they also sell unclaimed lost-and-found…
Best Actress
Adriene Mishler’s renowned yoga skills are not what landed her the plum voiceover roles as both Lois Lane and Supergirl in DC Universe Online, but mayyyybe her Sun Salutation influences the talent she brings to big-screen roles in Austin High and David Gordon Green’s Joe and more. Barbara Chisholm’s been a thespian force of nature…
Best Visual Artist
An Austinite since 1999, Tim Doyle can proudly say his entire career has been truly behoovy for the city. His work is an artful spin on comics and pop culture (which made him the perfect pick to help Tim League start up Mondo, the visual design arm of the Alamo Drafthouse). Doyle’s own ever-expanding empire…
Best New Club
How can a venue win Best LGBTQ Hangout for its fifth year in a row, yet somehow take home Best New Venue? By leapfrogging to a new location, of course, and what a location it is! Once the home of the pioneering lesbian bar named Chances, the formerly blacked-out Club de Ville has been completely…
Best Late Night Dining
Lucky is the college undergrad who stumbles through Kerbey Lane’s doors after a hard night of studying (partying). Bleary-eyed and broken. Even reading a menu presents a challenge. Thankfully, the waitstaff and line-cooks at Kerbey understand this sorry state of affairs, and have the perfect remedy. Say it with us, class: Ker-bey Que-so!
Best Shoes
Year after year, Sandy’s Shoes remains Austin’s most beloved childhood shopping trip. Stacked from floor to ceiling with fun-sized UGGs, Mary Janes, and light-up sneakers, Sandy’s got what your little one’s feet need to be dressed for every occasion. So move aside, Suri Cruise, Sandy’s expert staff is hooking up Austin’s youngest with the most…
Best Radio Station
We all know the award-winning programming that KUT imports to its listeners: This American Life, Snap Judgment, and The Splendid Table. But what about its exports, historical and current? Latino USA (now produced by the Futuro Media Group), O’Dark 30 (now defunct), and John L. Hanson’s In Black America have earned KUT a place to…
Best Statue
In what is shaping up to be a two-statue contest (at least until we get that Leslie one installed), SRV took back the title after Willie’s two-year reign. Almost 25 years after Vaughan’s untimely death, record numbers of visitors continue to pay their respects at artist Ralph Helmick’s bronze tribute to Austin music’s pride and…
Best Elected Official
She stood up for women’s rights (and for quite a while at that), and she continues to warm our cockles with her pitch-perfect presentation and unflappable fabulosity. She and her fellow female Texas state senators gave us some of the searing-est zingers a state congress has heard in a while, and the 2013 debate over…
Best Computer Repair
We know the anxiety inherent in taking your lappy-toppy in for repairs: There’s the twitching when you’re asked to reach for your credit card, and that persistent feeling that you might throw up in your mouth (just a little bit). But take a chill pill (Silicon Valley of the Dolls? Anyone?) because your precious precious…
Best Antiques/Collectibles
The collections at this quirky SoCo joint are as eclectic as the sellers, and that’s saying a lot. Constantly on the hunt for rarefied gewgaws, they keep the shop stocked to the eyeballs with the sorts of inventory that could easily become museum pieces, like Fifties Demon Rum collins glasses festooned with beschnockered baddies or…
Best Pet Store
Blue Buffalo cat food? They’ve got it. Want to adopt a puppy? No problem. Need advice about your pet? You have come to the right place. Tomlinson’s has been serving local animal lovers since its doors opened in 1946, and has remained a family business through the generations. Whatever your furry friend, you can be…
Best Place to Nuzzle in the Bosom of Austin
It’s not until we find ourselves atop the Contemporary’s Jones Center – to enjoy an arcane movie, a band, some party or another – that we remember. The sun is setting; even at the end of the hottest day, a breeze is blowing, and the sky is turning deep blue (ringed with violet if you’re…
Best Use of Flamingos
Patterson Park’s gone to the birds, as witness the brilliance (especially in full-on sunlight) of Stefanie Distefano’s Flamingo Mitote wrapping the poolside utility building in polychrome avian finery composed of hundreds of perfectly orchestrated shards of mirror glass and tile, bringing a landmark of ceramic opulence to this beloved bastion of outdoor recreation.
Best Self-Guided Stump Tour
New Rule: Create a one-tree self-guided stump tour and advertise it as a “Best of Austin” winner and have us come upon it entirely organically, and we’ll throw a complimentary “Best of Austin” award your way. Transcribed from above photo: “2nd Annual Self-Guided Stump Tour. ‘Chronicle’ Best Stump Tour!” Congratulations, y’all. You most surely deserve…
Best Service Providers
What’s red and white and helps Texans all over? No, not a can of Lone Star – we’re talking about AmeriCorps Texas, the state branch of the federal AmeriCorps program that is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Launched by aide to Governor Ann Richards (and later, Austin City Council member) Randi Shade and now…
Best Boot-Scuffed Dance Floor
“Anything that gets a room full of people dancing and having a good time is what we do best,” White Horse co-owner Denis O’Donnell told the Chronicle last year. Indeed the Comal Street honky-tonk gets the boots sliding across the hardwood like no other bar on the Eastside, but their get-downs aren’t limited to pearl-snapped…
Best Artisanal Rendition of an Old Favorite
Austin is a burger town. As much as we’re known for breakfast tacos and barbecue, we still drool for a well-executed hamburger at a reasonable price. Let the drooling commence. This convenient Riverside sports bar offers a daily lunch special resembling the classic Whataburger as reimagined by a gourmet chef. Nestled in the ground floor…
Best Way to Take Back the Tea Party
Remember when the words “tea party” conjured something pleasant – or at least less terrifying than a bunch of Rand-os with open carry permits? Homegrown Zhi Tea is here to steer us back to civility. Its (organic, Fair Trade) teas are made in Austin, and the sophisticated blends are sold and served all over town,…
Best Miniature Narratives
Maudlin. Terse. Bleak. Subversive. Tender. Hilarious. Comedian and public speaker Sean Hill helped kickstart Austin’s improv scene when he founded the Hideout Theatre, but his Twitter feed, devoted to evocative, perverse, and brilliant short stories at 140 characters or less, has become an Internet comedy sensation. A novel’s worth of ideas in a single breath’s…
Best Way to DIY Without Getting Lonely
Do you sometimes find yourself decoupaging pictures of sad-eyed puppies? Or embroidering Smiths lyrics on all your pillows? You definitely need Craft. The walk-in crafts studio lets you create in a communal atmosphere. Plus they have all the supplies you’ll need to recreate that masterpiece from Pinterest. We recommend renting some time for a date…
Best Synth Superstore
Anyone with an ear for gear and at least one Brian Eno record knows that Switched On Electronics is the best synthesizer store in Austin and possibly the universe. John French and Chad Allen’s emporium of electronic music tools boasts a mouthwatering stock of synths, samplers, drum machines, effects modules, amplifiers, and other gadgetry that…
Best Arts Festival
We love our trailblazers, but our loyalty doesn’t mean they can phone it in. EAST takes being the best very seriously, and it shows: eight “BOA” awards in previous years. The grown-up upstart remains true to its trademark ambition to bring the new, stay inclusive, and collaborate with other realms (music, food, tech, miscellaneous) in…
Best Bartender
It’s no surprise that Drink.Well’s Dennis Gobis won “Bartender of the Year” at Domaine de Canton’s bartender competition with his cocktail, “The One.” Originally from Germany, Gobis’ background as a certified cicerone and brewer made him into the cocktail crafter of our dreams. This guy’s poised and careful tending skills have sent him to the…
Best Party of the Year
Only Austin’s definition of “party” denotes weeks of music, film, and techie goodness. This longstanding event puts even professionals prone to the occasional lamp-shade-on-the-head-moment into complete overdrive. There have never been so many great bands, films, panels, or parties pulling you in a million directions, and consequently, never enough hours in the day (or night).
Best New Restaurant
Chef Bryce Gilmore opened Odd Duck as a food trailer in 2009, with a nearly Portlandia-level focus on supporting local sustainable agriculture. The trailer closed to condo development in 2011, and Gilmore turned his full attention to Barley Swine, his first full-service restaurant. The return of Odd Duck, this time as a full restaurant, has…
Best Sports/Recreational Activity
With football, ahem, “soccer” fever still hot post-World Cup, there’s no better way to indoctrinate today’s youth in the game than weekly clinics that not only get those little bodies moving, but teach teamwork, sportsmanship, and skills to boot. Soccer Shots has been Austin’s premier school of kicks for ages 2-8 since 2007, with locations…
Best Sportscaster
That’s a lucky dozen, folks. The big leagues! Twelve years of “Best of Austin” Sportscaster awards go to Mike Barnes, KVUE’s man about the game, 25 years running. You can’t speak of Friday Football Fever and Texas Tailgaters without saying his name, and for good reason. These two shows showcase both his love for the…
Best Gear/Sporting Goods
REI is one of those stores where “popping in and out” is not an option – whether you’re outfitting for a trek across the country, embracing nature for a weekend camping trip, or just feel like fueling your well-worn travel fantasy. Get to talking with one of the knowledgeable staff and the afternoon will be…
Best Environmentalist
Native Texan and longtime Green Revolutionary, John Dromgoole founded the expert organic gardening store, Natural Gardener, in South Austin. He’s also hosted KLBJ’s organic gardening radio show, Gardening Naturally for almost 30 years (the longest running in the U.S.), started the city’s Chemical Clean-Up Day, and founded Lady Bug Natural Brand Products. The is one…
Best Dry Cleaner
Goo on your gown? Tea on your tux? Schmutz on your schmata? That’s what a schmata’s for! But we know where you can take the other two items – and with 15 Austin area locations, there’s bound to be a Rick’s nearby.
Best Bookstore
Going on 44 years, BookPeople hasn’t lost any of its coolness or literary appeal. This year alone, Central Texas’ indie fave has hosted B.J. Novak, Hillary Clinton, and come October … wait for it, all you former-UT-students-soon-to-be-New-Yorkers, Lena Dunham. Squee! If those pop-lit powerhouses or BP’s hired book nerds can’t get your nose in a…
Best Record/CD Store
With the record store chains long gone and iTunes gobbling up the markets for physical media, it takes something special to keep a brick-and-mortar music shop in business. Austin sports a number of specialty boutiques here and there, but Waterloo keeps its shelves full and tastes broad through sheer will and a love of music.…
Best Southern Gothic Manse
The burly columns of the historic two-story Charles Johnson House frame a perfect party loggia from which to enjoy the sprawling lawn that tumbles down to Veterans Drive, just west of MoPac, along the banks of Lady Bird Lake. Built in the mid 19th century by Swedish immigrant Johnson, the stately mansion has housed American…
Best Work-in-Progress
Local literato Owen Egerton hosts this once-monthly salon featuring local pro and semi-pro writers sharing one page of a work in progress with an eager, supportive crowd. Some of the work is quite polished indeed, while some if it is, uh, nascent. But in this space, it’s all good. Since its inception in late 2013,…
Best Skate Coach
Competitive roller sports exist in Austin because of Sonny Felter. He’s coached the Texas Speed Club to multiple medals and championships, and he taught the first Texas Rollergirls and TXRD Roller Derby how to skate. A hard taskmaster and a loving father figure, Sonny’s sacrificed nights, mornings, and weekends to train speed skaters on quads…
Best Statewide Campaign Races to Watch
It’s tough to remember the last time Texas Democrats and progressives felt this energized and excited about a statewide race. Galvanizing the grassroots with her epic 11-hour filibuster to defeat a draconian abortion bill, Fort Worth state Sen. Wendy Davis catapulted to fame and parlayed the national notoriety into bid for governor against hard-right Attorney…
Best Collaborative Brew
The perfect summer beer brewed by the perfect partnership of finesse and creativity, Peach of a Pale truly delights as a hop-forward ale made with 500 pounds of organic peaches – or as the Purple One would say, “She was pure, every ounce.” Locals Pinthouse Pizza and Hops & Grain are both known for their…
Best Caffeinated Cut-Ups
Here are four very good reasons to get your coffee from Bennu in the morning: 1) Amie Moffett 2) Knuckles 3) Philip Reeder 4) You can actually find a seat. Actually, we can’t guarantee no. 4, but we endorse wholeheartedly the morning bliss of simply being in the presence of no.s 1-3. The morning crew…
Best Yogurt Magicians
For over three decades, these mountaineers have served as Austin’s own yogis of yogurt. A second-generation family business, White Mountain Foods provides astonishingly pure and well-crafted local yogurt, tofu, seitan, and tamales. Before the Eastside got hip, this visionary biz redeveloped an abandoned meat packing plant on East Fifth into a haven for vegetarian food…
Best New(s) Face
Just a month and a half into KXAN’s brand new Austin-lifestyle show, Studio 512, effervescent host and relatively new Austinite Amanda Tatom has already introduced her viewers to almost as many CenTex superlatives as one issue of “Best of Austin.” Dang, girl! Slow down! Every weekday Tatom and team tackle five to six fun Austin-centric…
Best Way to Get Carted Off
Get carted away from the mystical land of East Sixth Street to explore the far reaches of Bastrop, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Fayette, Hays, Lee, and Williamson counties in a roaring chariot of ecofriendliness. The Capital Area Rural Transportation System (CARTS) gets you here, there, and everywhere in its coverage area on the cheap and with…
Best Way to Party Local
You don’t always need a warehouse to have a party. The proof is in J & J’s carefully curated shelves of brews, spirits, and mixers. The difference is in the owner’s devotion to all things local and handcrafted. There’s shrubs from Liber & Co. and gin from Genius, and the best local vodka selection this…
Best Classical Performers
Anton Nel is the kind of prodigy that, in a just world, great musical epics would be written about. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, he made his concert debut at the age of 12 with Beethoven’s “C Major Concerto” – and that was after only two years of lessons. Since then, he’s tickled the ivories…
Best Burlesque/Cabaret Show
Jigglewatt? Jiggle … who? If you’ve gotta ask, then it’s time to get educated about Austin’s sexiest and sauciest burlesque troupe. These (literal) movers and shakers have been shimmying the bawdy all over town since 2006, leaving a trail of enthralled Stage Door Johnnys and Janeys in their wake ever since. Now, with regular residencies…
Best Place to Dance
Looking for a place to do the hokey pokey and maybe get some hanky panky? Whatever style of dance you’re into, Barb’s, the new classic, has got the beat for you. Every night of the week they mix up the diverse themes so you can get into your groove on the double dance floors and…
Best Noodles/Ramen
Much hay is made over the Michi Ramen vs. Ramen Tatsu-Ya split. Which is the best Ramen-ya? Who best understands the broth principle? Which ajitama egg is the most perfect? Like the Solomonic gluttons they are, our readers refuse to choose. Rip that baby in half; it’s not like we only eat once a day.…
Best Teen Hangout
Heart pounding: You’ve just been trounced by enemy forces. Your team members keep getting hit, and the old guy who’s playing for the first time isn’t helping matters much. You’ve got to be lithe – float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Back against the wall and scoping a corner, you only have one…
Best TV Anchor
Quita’s got company! For years Culpepper has dominated the media section, and now she graciously shares the anchor crown with Austin TV news veteran Robert Hadlock. While Culpepper has 15-plus years with KVUE, Hadlock has almost 25 with KXAN, making him the “the longest continuously serving news anchor in Austin television,” according to the station’s…
Best Golf
It’s golf in your own private bull pen without the pain and $uffering of a private country club – kinda like your own bowling lane or karaoke room. So grab your gang, and claim your own waitstaff-attended bay. Hit a golf ball at the colored target, and enjoy a drink. Topgolf stands for “Target Oriented…
Best Grassroots Group
Local advocacy group Austinites for Urban Rail Action was formed to focus on rail expansion in Central Texas, but has broadened their scope to find working solutions for housing and transportation issues facing our rapidly growing urban/suburban sprawl. Now known simply as AURA, the group is still relatively new, but already making headway in fostering…
Best Florist
Love in the bud? A flowering romance? Passion a’bloom? Look no further than Freytag. Austin’s biggest and (our readers say) best florist, this shop offers a jaw-dropping selection of posies too pretty to be put in a pocket. If nothing tickles your fancy upon the first go-round, ask for a tour of the back. Three…
Best Clothing/Accessories
Screw Maxxinistas. If your wardrobe needs an improvement, head down south to SoLa, become a “SoLanista,” and get sweet kickbacks, discounts, party invites, and first dibs. Or, if designer labels sloughed off by the fashionable youths are more your thing, but cost is key, find your highbrow fix at a lowbrow price near UT at…
Best Shoe Selection
You know that scene in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, where the golden-ticket kids take their first steps into the Chocolate Room – a place where everything is edible? Yeah, it’s like that. Only with pumps and wedges and boots and flats (and boots and flats and boots and flats…). And credit card debt.
Best Surprise Date Deck
While zipping along Austin’s ever-developing 360, blink and you might miss a little hidden gem. Bring your date to Tuscany Market, and you might get a shoulder punch when you pull in: It’s a gas station. A Wag-a-Bag to be precise, part of their migration south from dominating Austin’s northern ring (Round Rock, Taylor, Hutto,…
Coolest Bookstore
When Austin’s Domy Books shut down in 2013, a Kickstarter was launched by its former staff to fund a successor at the same site: Farewell Books. Just as Domy did, this progressive bookstore specializes in rare art books and esoteric tomes. The whole selection is meticulously curated to pique the interests of the urban intellectual.…
Best Sports Party
World Cup fever was rampant in Austin this summer, but no one did it bigger or better than our hometown soccer team, who worked with the city to put together a massive outdoor watch party on the Long Center grounds on July 1 for the final U.S. game – drawing a reported 5,000 fans. Within…
Best Superior Mothers
Surely, you’ve seen them, those bearded beauties in bad habits. These genderbent ladies and gents are the Austin component of the Order of Perpetual Indulgence, a community activism group which started in 1979 in the Castro area of San Francisco. This charitable group has spread all over the world, and we have our own special…
Best Don’t Call It a Comeback; They’ve Been Here for Years
Look, y’all: We knew this was going to happen. We just didn’t know it would happen all at once. When we saw Richard Linklater’s Slacker (1991) – Band Playing at Club played by real band Ed Hall – and Dazed and Confused (1993), wherein our man Matthew McConaughey immortalized one David Wooderson, we knew these…
Best Caffeine & Booze Fix
Coffee or beer? One’s an upper, one’s a downer. At Wright Bros. Brew & Brew, we can have both. Nestled between old Austin and new, the Brew & Brew offers 39 rotating taps, with a focus on local brews. The industrial decor is warm and inviting vs. frosty and austere. And the wrap-around patio is…
Most Nommable Vegetarian To-Go
The old Jalapeño Joe’s has been taken over by bright flowers and glittered signs as has the menu with kale and butternut squash enchiladas with pumpkin seeds, Yoda tacos with fried avocado and sriracha sauce, and roasted beets with orange and arugula. For carnivores, try the Kobe beef burger and great migas, or crispy duck…
Best Place to Rise Above the Old Austin vs. New Austin Fray
An online magazine originating in UT’s American Studies department, TEOA is an engaging mélange of written and visual material devoted to our city’s anxiety about itself. It’s also a hodgepodge of surprises: A meditation on the state surplus store and history of civic racism both suit it well. And while the quarterly’s contributors emigrated mostly…
Best Bargain Vinyl Emporium
Did you see our January 10 cover story on vinyl, “The Price You Pay”? We’re still outraged a new LP can cost as much as $35, while $1 bins from the Seventies have all but disappeared. Not at Antone’s Records. Need a 40-year-old Butch Hancock album that was only ever a small-press rarity? They have…
Best Way to Put Your Best Foot Forward
Sockwork’s convenient subscription service knows it will knock your socks off. That’s why it keeps sending you more. Choose classic or fun styles – or a mix of both – and then go about your day. Soon, you’ll get a little box that will warm your tootsies. And the owners will donate 10% of the…
Best Alternative Lodging
Just to the right of the check-in desk is Firehouse Hostel’s famous sliding bookcase, which opens into a bar that riffs off of its speakeasy-style entrance. Dapper gents and fancy ladies sip the sweet nectar (no snake-oil here, boys), and then scurry up to their affordable lodgings to … continue the night’s festivities.
Best Clothing Designer
Gail Chovan went from French student to fashionista when she launched her own clothing line, and founded Blackmail Boutique in 1997. This chic artist’s dark palette, featured everywhere from Us to Elle, is sure to heat up the hearts and hangers of clothing-conscious Austinites. But don’t look for her here during the summer months: Like…
Best Club Night/Theme Night
7pm: Wake up in the afternoon, got to look fresh, got to go Downtown. It’s Tuesday, got to get down at Tuezgayz. Everybody’s looking forward to the weekend, but homos and their bros in the know, know that Tuesday is the day to dance the night away with the help of musical fruit, the Glitoris…
Best Scenester/Mover and Shaker
It’s not that Maggie Lea has her finger on the pulse; it’s that she’s part of what makes that pulse beat. Whether she’s booking bands and throwing events at her beloved Cheer Up Charlie’s, or hosting regular movie screenings at Cinema East (which she co-founded five summers ago), Maggie is at the helm of all…
Best Pizza
A SoCo staple since its inception, Home Slice has been bringing little-girl-with-a-moustache realness to Austin’s pizza-inclined (which we assume could include some actual little girls with moustaches). Founded by previous Chronster and Nineties “Best of Austin” editor Jen Scoville Strickland, the slices here are the product of La Scov’s grad-school-level devotion to studying what makes…
Best Texas Amusement Park
On the subject of pure Central Texas realness, the only thing missing from Rick Linklater’s 2014 opus, Boyhood, was a hat tip to every good Lone Star State family’s annual ritual pilgrimage to Schlitterbahn: Wayward dad makes good with a day at the New Braunfels’ water park and comforts kid after too many indulgent dips…
Best TV Reporter
Quita isn’t just a powerhouse in the news chair, but out on location as well. Because she is the best, Quita can discern which source might need a gentle coax or a straightforward and direct query. She can also discern whether or not it “works,” especially on Wednesday, as our best local consumer reporter on…
Best Place to Camp
It’s a Colorado River reservoir, so this Hill Country superstar boasts constant water levels and scenic backdrops, including a waterfall. Primitive, hike-in camping sites are awesome and available with a reservation, but there are also air-conditioned accommodations for the more cabin-inclined. Hiking, boating, swimming, and both pier and shoreline fishing are favorite pastimes; special activities…
Best Local Politics Blog
We seldom think of burnt orange as having a place in the political spectrum, but if anybody can get progressives to “act blue,” the Burnt Orange Report can. No longer a scrappy upstart on the UT scene, and revving up for a big site overhaul, BOR breaks open political bombshells at the state and local…
Best Hair Salon
In a town as glamorous (and vain) as Austin, there’s no shortage of hip salons to duke it out for a slice of the crowd. South of the river, Wet Salon combines experienced colorists with plenty of Shock Top. Garbo is the 30-year veteran of the cosmo scene, offering the north side a relaxed atmosphere…
Best Comic Book Store
No dingy, dimly-lit den of adolescent nerdery, AB&C is, in the words of Ernie Hemingway, “a clean, well-lighted place.” We quote the modernist author and owner of many-a-six-toed cat because we’re long past the threshold at which sequential art has been recognized as a significant literary form. From floppies and trade paperbacks to graphic novels…
Best Thrift Store
For those Austinites ready to dig down and pop some tags, Goodwill is thrift heaven. Although this nationwide nonprofit may not strike you as the first trendy choice, it is consistent in its stock of luxe finds for hip hunters and smart shoppers alike. Whether you are looking to sport your unique style, save cash,…
Best Sweeping Vista
No matter which way one turns, a climb on the stairs of the majestic St. Edward’s Main Building affords a splendid view. The first “Main” was built on one of the highest points of Travis County back in 1888, the same year as the Texas State Capitol. Her limestone walls have withstood much, and this…
Most-Improved Fashion Event
Yes, it started out in 2009 on a bumpy road, only catering to those who paid to participate, but each subsequent year has brought vast improvement. Fashion in Austin has evolved as fast as Austin itself, and Austin Fashion Week’s goal is to make our town a couture capital. Completing it’s sixth and largest year…
Best Water ReBirth
You’re a dolphin. Or a manatee. And someone else is in control. The body in this environment is not limited by gravity the way it is on dry land. You can be heavy, or clumsy, or in need of physical rehabilitation, and here, be as graceful as a sea creature. Keep your eyes closed; the…
Best Way to Get Involved With Social Justice
Dubbing itself as “realistically radical,” the homegrown Third Coast Activist Resource Center offers a lineup of community events that make partaking in social justice activism not just accessible and engaging but – dare we say – fun. The progressive nonprofit, headquartered on 5604 Manor Road, organizes everything from rallies, guest speakers, film and documentary screenings,…
Best Friday Afternoon Tour and Tasting
On Friday afternoons at quitting time, the cast and crew of Blanco’s most popular microbrewery gather around the tasting room with a pint in hand to talk shop. Usually it’s one of the brewmasters leading the behind-the-scenes tours, and they have a special way of imparting the fun and passion of producing award-winning brews. The…
Best Chop
A live competition – much like that foodie reality show Chopped – that features Austin chefs battling mano-a-spatula for supremacy in a contest judged by their most talented peers? What’s not to love, especially when the audience is treated to a relentless array of wine and beer and samples from the menus of the finest…
Best “It” Girl
Jendayi Bonds was practically a tyke when she took Austin by (quiet) storm. Performing solo or with her band, Charlie Belle (formed with kid brother Gyasi on drums and currently featuring bass talent Zoe Czarnecki as well), Bonds has graced stages from Whip In to the ACL Fest with top-notch originals and sly covers, toured…
Best Police Blotter Reporter
We confess a guilty pleasure: Police blotters. Especially college police blotters. College kids do the wackiest things: barfing, random vandalism, bicycle seat theft, streaking …. But unless the transgressions are especially tawdry, a blotter can be a snooze. Enter: Pieper, William R. That’s how his name appears on the daily e-blasts we receive. Pieper has…
Best Cheap Sunglasses
We just can’t help it. Everytime we’re at the fabulous “Best of Austin”-award-winning Maison d’Etoile (whether we’re getting groomed at the fabulous “Best of Austin”-award-winning Lulu Belle [née Salon d’Etoile], or picking up some glittering vintage piece at the fabulous “Best of Austin”-award-winning Charm School Vintage), we always duck into Coco Coquette in the back…
Best Way to Suit Your Fancy
With Dandy’s around, we’d never tell you to suit yourself. For around the price of an off-the-rack threepiece, the Downtown clothier will fulfill all your bespoke fantasies. Don’t forget to accessorize with the shop’s exclusive collection of bow ties, brogues, and bowlers. There’s even a grooming section to help tame that manly beard. We guarantee…
The Luv Doc: A Sexual Savant
Hi Luv Doc, Having just moved to Austin a few months ago, I have to say this town is something! The Greenbelt is maybe my favorite place so far, and the water in Barton Springs is perfect. But I’m finding it kinda hard to connect with people. Part of the reason I moved here was…
Best Bed & Breakfast
It might be the heyday of the sharing economy and boutique hotels, but true B&Bs still rule when it comes to homey friendliness. A lovingly restored Colonial Revival tucked into the heart of Hyde Park, Adams House offers the luxurious, roomy digs of a country home in a walkable, central urban neighborhood; Duval’s restaurant row,…
Best Comedian or Comedy Troupe
It happens sometimes: You sit next to a guy who obnoxiously makes fun of the movie adaptation of your favorite YA novel, a movie you paid good money to see. You seethe in your seat, and sometimes you even do something about it, calling the manager over to “handle” the rude dude. There are a…
Best Cocktails
Cool, quaint, and casual, American pub Drink.Well makes its first appearance in our readers’ “Best of” list. The cocktail menu is creative, fun, and approachable. From the popular St. Charles Streetcar to the creamy Show Pony, this pub has a drink for every palate. Oh, and for those lamenting the end of summer, Drink.Well hosts…
Best Trivia Night/Pub Quiz
For a certain (large) portion of the Austin populace, nothing says “let your hair down” like chomping on hot wings and/or answering a spate of trivia questions on all manner of arcane subjects. Fans of both franchises (Pluckers and Geeks Who Drink) can find a quiz night practically any day of the week, proving that…
Best Prepared Grab and Go
Coffee? Snap. Catalan Fritatta? Snap. Sushi Grade Ahi Tuna Nicoise Salad? Snap! Chimichurri Salmon? Oh, snap! Lemongrass Tofu? SNAP! Goat Cheese Cheesecake? S.N.A.P! The trick is not wasting your lunch break entirely on the tough decision of what you’ll be taking away.
Best Toys
What to get your favorite science-princess-horse-obsessed-future-veterinarian nephew or truck-wielding-book-learnin’-future-Pulitzer-prize-winner niece? Terra Toys is obviously a good place to find the perfect prez for these two tykes – but what you may not have considered is that it’s also the place to find a gift for vegetarian-and-curmudgeon-of-Scrooge-like-proportions dad and introverted-beachcomber-former-bar-owner Aunt Millie.
Best Weatherperson
With more than two decades of Austin forecasting under his belt, it’s no surprise he’s still the community’s top pick for our daily outlooks: This year KXAN’s Jim Spencer celebrates a “Sweet Sixteen” of “Best of Austin” wins. Our readers know he’s always on point whether we’re weathering rain, snow, hail, or (let’s be real)…
Best Place to Skate
This returning victor is about to get tricked out with a new wooden floor, so we’re fairly certain we’ll see it back in this winner’s slot for years to come. Playland features a playscape for kids and offers day care, lessons, parties, Sk8 4 Fitness Fridays, and fundraiser options for schools, churches, and charities. Adult…
Best March or Rally
Glitterbeards, unicorns, unitards (Hey! Watch it!), community choirs, bared breasts, exposed voices, shameless dancing, hot-as-fuck marshas (procession marshalls), drunken (and sober) revelry, overpass reverberations, righteous love, righteous lust, lesbi-mohawks, rainbow suspenders, community. New for 2014: Dallas Edition.
Best Landscape Services
Oh, sod this forsaken drought! Now that water restrictions are the way of life for Central Texans, sustainability has gone from catchphrase to de rigueur. Lucky for us, the team at Fertile Ground has us covered with native garden designs and installations that are modern, fresh, and functional. Landscape lifesavers, both for the homeowner and…
Best Computer Store
Apple’s products have always been expertly engineered and designed with the consumer in mind, and it’s only natural that its retail experience would be no less fastidiously planned. So sleek, so bright-white, so void of any back-inventory clutter (save for the grab-and-go accessories at the back), the instant greeting, the total focus on sharp branding,…
Best Video Game Rental/Purchase
Released in 1995, Nintendo’s Virtual Boy was the company’s first foray into virtual reality gaming. The wonky all-red visor unit never really took off, but it presaged the coming of 3-D gaming that is now industry standard. We remember playing Mario’s Tennis, and the accompanying warning to play only for short periods of time so…
Best Way to Rest in Peace
We dream that, after death, we at least will leave a trace of our passing in stone and soil. But like the flesh, even the most imposing tombstone will crumble. The volunteers of nonprofit Save Austin Cemeteries seek to preserve not just the stones themselves, but the meaning of funeral rites. Since 2004, they have…
Tastiest Way to Work Geek Culture Into Your Dinner
Contrary to popular opinion, geek culture isn’t a monolith. There are as many unique tastes as there are stars in the Verse – and Chris-Rachael Oseland has a dish to match many of them. The self-styled Kitchen Overlord crafts tasty plates that riff on genre subcultures in easy-to-follow recipes, many of which are cleverly illustrated by…
Best Big-Box Widespread Energy Conservation
Between 3 and 6pm, during the summer months, Austin-area Target stores voluntarily cut half their lights and run their air-conditioning units at half output. Is it uncomfortable to shop under these conditions? Not at all. Does this conservation effort make a difference to the pressure on Austin’s energy grid? Undoubtedly. Could we all take a…
Best Way to Plug In Without Frying Your Brain
Sure, the nexus of energy, food, water, waste, and alternative transportation sounds kind of important, but ouch! Learning about it makes our brains hurt. Luckily, Austin has the Webber Energy Group to make it all better. Led by professor Michael Webber, this UT-based research group hosts monthly Clean Energy Beers events, has developed an innovative…
Best Garage Conversion
A quick glance at the Empire Control Room calendar finds shows from Ruby Jane, the Terpsichorean Nutt Generators, Pharoahe Monch, and William Beckett. That’s folk, funk, hip-hop, and rock – all packed into a 350-capacity space that until two years ago looked like it could slip into Waller Creek. The Seventh Street venue’s immersion over…
Best Cup of Ambition
When you work 9 to 5, it’s easy to get caught up in the daily grind. That’s why we sometimes trade our morning iced coffee for something that really gets our blood pumpin’. The Juice Well’s vegan Dolly Parton smoothie is a hydrating blast of coconut water, pineapple, agave, and, of course, watermelon. It’s just…
Best All-Access Storytime Freeplay
The Play Zone at All Things Kids is a parent’s best friend. The welcoming, enclosed back area of this toy shop is set up for imaginative free play with hand-picked toys from all over the world. Twice a week, kids are entertained by storytime with CJ (costumed as her alter-egos Princess CJ or CJ the…
Best Punk Internet Radio Channel
An unsung local success story, gregarious former pro-wrestler Stig Stench has built an international punk radio empire from an East Austin apartment. In a field (Internet radio) where you’re lucky to get 30 listeners per show, StenchRadio.com averages a weekly audience of 10,000 homes across 49 countries. Specializing in live interviews with punk celebrities, Stench…
Best Feminist Flamekeeper
It’s hard to imagine what Austin would be like if it hadn’t grown up with BookWoman, and it’s hard to imagine that BookWoman would have grown up at all without Susan Post. For 39 years, co-founder Post has kept up with changing times and shifting locations, all while stocking an inclusive variety of written material…
Handiest Solution to “No Wire Hangers!”
Every bride wants a shot of her wedding dress hanging on the door. But those plastic hangers you buy in bulk at Target? Not photogenic. Wire hangers? Heaven forbid. Local wedding shutterbug Ashley Garmon – clever gal – saw a need and decided to satisfy it herself by starting a side business, Heirloom, that produces…
Campaign Snapshots
Get up-to-date on the D3 and D4 candidates before next week’s Ballot Boxing forums
The Road to 10-1 Ethics Charges Flying in D3 & D6
Where do Susana Almanza’s donors work? Where does Jay Wiley live?
City Council: All This, and Bull Creek Too
Council adopts budget after two grinding days of debate
SXSW Post-Mortem
Taking stock of the most tumultuous SXSW in the event’s history
AISD Hunts Chief and Trustees
Superintendent Search and Board Campaigns Continue
Hornography
This year’s theme is going to be patience. Texas fans are reeling from an embarrassing home loss against Brigham Young. Saturday’s 41-7 train wreck marks two in a row dropped to the Cougars. A certifiable has-been has turned what should be a cushy rivalry wrong-sided. People who’ve paid any longstanding attention to this Longhorns program…
Death Watch: The Capital Aggravation Question
Does Lisa Ann Coleman deserve to die?
Soccer Watch
The Texas Longhorns extended their unbeaten streak to six games (4-0-2) with a pair of shutout wins, 6-0 at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and 2-0 victory over Montana. Freshman forward Olivia Brook had two goals and two assists in Corpus; with five goals in her first five games, she’s off to the best start by any…
What’s Next for American YouthWorks?
TEA’s closing leaves at-risk students adrift
Day Trips
Some of the best new developments in day-tripping around Texas
AmeriCorps at 20
Celebrating over 1.2 billion hours of service
Stripped-Down Shakes
The player and the text take center stage in this one-man adaptation of Shakespeare’s history
The Hightower Report
Mitch’s minimum-wage glitch
Exhibitionism
This melding of sci-fi and ancient myth found a powerful beat that made it hard not to move
Food Events
Dining for Life
Headlines
AT LONG LAST, City Council concluded its FY 2015 budget process Tuesday, approving a $3.5 billion All Funds budget ($854 million General Fund), after two days of surprisingly detailed adjustments of additional funds. See “City Council: All This and Bull Creek, Too.” BULL CREEK and Onion Creek were also on the table – although off-budget…
Gay Place
Austin’s Gayest September Ever continues with aGLIFF and StarGayzer
Quote of the Week
“Even accepting procreation as a legitimate state interest, [Texas’ gay marriage ban] defies logic.” – Attorney Daniel McNeel Lane, representing two same-sex couples suing the state to repeal the law, in a legal brief to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Stargayzer Fest
It’s buzzing internationally, darlinks, this first-ever, three-day fest of queer music and performance with a most esteemed and mind-blowing lineup. Friday Andromeda: Mouthfeel, 4pm; Big Dipper, 5:30pm; BLXPLTN, DJ Collin Bass (between sets until 10pm), 6:30pm; Yo! Majesty, 7:15pm; the Crystal Ark, 8:15pm; Trust, 10pm. Phoenix: DJ Blood Kisses (between sets until 6:45pm), 4pm; Bitter…
Public Notice: The Battle Is Joined
Life Inside the Campaign War Zone
aGLIFF/Polari
Whoa, Nellie. It’s time to sit in the dark with your kin, at our beloved Austin Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, with a crazy sched of mixers, panels, and film, film, film that’s way gay gay. So get online, and get your passes now. Thursday Films: Experimental Shorts, 10am; Queers in the Kingdom: Let Your…
Point Austin: Three Cheers for Spelman
Council member makes his final pitch for sane police spending
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
The Chicago Cubs are reportedly worth $1.2 billion and were the most profitable team in baseball in 2013. President Nixon’s drug czar was a physician, and two-thirds of the administration’s drug control spending went toward treatment. American record producer, singer, and musician Kim Fowley created the iconic tradition of having audiences light matches and lighters…
Oops!
In our Pride preview feature, we made two errors for which we apologize: In “Gay Town in the A-Town,” we neglected to credit Neha Aziz in the byline and listed incorrect URLs for Austin Pride’s websites, which should have read: www.austinpride.org and www.fb.com/austinpride.
