A Girl from Boston Goes to Austin

In 2004 I had made up my mind about Texas. Being chastised for being a "skinny brunette vegetarian" during a trip by my hosts in Amarillo had convinced me that this was not a state suited for my tastes. However, my trip to Austin in 2007 proved me wrong on multiple counts. My Texas verdict was thus overturned.

Over the years I had travelled to Dallas, El Paso, Amarillo, Lubbock and Houston on various trips. Austin was unlike any other Texan city I had ever been to, but was fast my favorite. Creative and diverse types of people are welcomed to Austin with open arms. You can find cowboys and blond bombshells here as in the other Texan cities, but they are not the only types of people that stand out. Artists, college students, musicians, and typical business people can be found almost anywhere you look. It was refreshing to see such a diverse crowd in Texas.

Upon my first dining experience at an Austin restaurant, I was surprised to see a vegetarian section of the menu. When I commented to my dining companion that I was surprised to see such a thing in Texas, he responded that almost every restaurant in Austin catered to the large population of vegetarians living in the city. What a difference from my other Texan dining experiences where I was laughed at for requesting meatless food.

The live music and artistic scenes that have flourished in Austin are factors that have led the city’s progressive mindset. Almost any type of music one can imagine can be heard in a number of venues on Sixth Street every night of the week. The huge SXSW musical festival occurs every year here in March and the diversity of that festival is reflected in the diversity of the typical nightly music selection and crowds.

Austin has many quirks that allow it to keep to its mantra; "Keep Austin Weird". Among these quirks are the bats that live under the Town Lake Bridge that swarm every Spring evening in a feeding frenzy, UT Austin’s strange owl-building in the middle of town, and the strange-looking eco-friendly residences that are abundant on the outskirts. Capitol buildings and rock-and-roll historic landmarks both exist peacefully within the city limits thanks to proper city planning and open-mindedness of the population.

2007’s trip to Austin might have been my first, but it hopefully won’t be my last. This is one Texas town that might call itself "weird", but allowed me to feel ironically "normal" during my stay. Progressive thinking and fun made Austin home-away-from-home for this girl from Boston.

On a pleasant Thursday evening, my dining companions and I were looking for somewhere a bit more upscale than the typical Sixth Street Tex-Mex in Austin. We did not plan on having the company of one of the senior account executives of our company, so we did not plan ahead and make reservations at somewhere he would approve of. Lucky for us, a short walk Congress Avenue towards the Town Lake Bridge brought us to Manuel’s.

Manuel’s had the ambiance of a nicer, more-dressed-up dining atmosphere, but thankfully they did not require a reservation. After a brief ten minute wait at the bar for our table, we were seated in the dimly lit swanky dining room. The dark interior and luxurious finishes and décor made our senior executive friend feel right where he belonged.

The menu at Manuel’s is what I would describe as upscale authentic Mexican. As we were seated, the waiter brought out chips and salsa; but instead of being entirely typical of more casual establishments they were served in an elegant presentation with several artfully arranged dipping bowls. The menu items consisted of familiar Mexican favorites, but with mentions of more upscale ingredients. For instance, there is no mention of plain old salsa here, but a pineapple-sesame-avocado version or one with roasted onions and chipotle cream.

Manuel’s is known for having one of the best Mole dishes in Austin and most of my dining companions ordered the Mole enchiladas. I’m not such a big fan of Mole, so I stuck with the Enchiladas Verdes which came coated in a bright green tomatillo salsa. All enchiladas came with the choice of mushroom, chicken, steak or pork filling which was great for the many different tastes and dining restrictions at our table.

Prices at Manuel’s surprisingly were not too high. They were mostly comparable with the more casual Sixth Street Tex-Mex establishments with most Mexican dishes ringing in at under $15. There were a couple of steak and fish specials that were more in the range of $20-$30, but overall I was pleasantly surprised by the prices here and the value we got for our money.

I would highly recommend Manuel’s in Downtown Austin for an authentic Mexican dining experience. The service was good, the food was great, and I ended up being pleasantly surprised by the value. Definitely off the tourist-main-drag, but worth the ¼ mile walk anyday.

After previous visits to other areas in Texas (Amarillo, Houston, and Dallas), I had become acutely aware of the lack of options for vegetarians while dining out in this state. Surprisingly my visit to Austin yielded many places with not just one or two vegetarian entrée options, but entire menu sections devoted to this cuisine preference. The Iron Cactus Mexican Grille was no exception.

The Iron Cactus specializes in Southwestern fare with an emphasis on casual dining atmosphere. We ended up choosing to dine here after looking for a good place for an after-work happy hour. They have a very nice open-air roof deck complete with a bar and live music acts on several nights during the week on their upper floors. They did not charge a cover the night that I happened to go here, but they might on nights where they host live musical acts. There are probably twenty other bars within earshot of the Iron Cactus whose music acts could be overheard at this bar.

After several drinks at the bar upstairs, we journeyed downstairs upon the news that they had a table opening for our party of four. The downstairs dining room reminded me of a large Mexican cantina- brick interior with Southwestern-themed decorations. The large picture windows in the front of the restaurant look out upon the scene on the boisterous Sixth Street. Whenever dinner conversation lagged, we were able to find new topics to discuss just by looking outside.

The menu at the Iron Cactus was pretty standard to what one would expect in a typical Tex-Mex or Southwestern restaurant; burritos, fajitas, tacos, steaks, and quesadillas. Our waitress brought us tortilla chips with three dipping salsas (spicy, mild, and green) as soon as we sat down and replenished them several times during our dinner. I almost didn’t leave room for my entrée.

The waitress was very helpful at the Iron Cactus in making sure that every side-dish I ordered was prepared in compliance with my vegetarian lifestyle. She made certain that I did not want food prepared in chicken stock as soon as I requested the vegetable fajitas. It was nice to know that the staff here knows to watch out for their vegetarian customers. Much better than how they treat vegetarianism in other Texas towns!

Dishes at the Iron Cactus were reasonably priced (around $15-$20 for dinner) and drinks followed suit (no beers over $5). The atmosphere was a little noisy at times, but it was a perfect restaurant for grabbing a casual bite to eat.

The Clarion Hotel is a newly updated building located about a mile south of downtown Austin on I-35. The scenery outside is a bit boring with views of the highway and scattered office parks in this part of town, but the Clarion is ultimately convenient to downtown and the airport which were the main criteria of my hotel search.

The staff at the Clarion was very helpful, recommending places to eat on Sixth Street (without forcing the on-site restaurant on guests), arranging for Taxi transportation downtown, and suggesting alternative transportation routes when I-35 was backed up at busier times of the day. The Hotel staff also was very helpful in getting my Wi-fi problems figured out in a timely fashion since their network was experiencing some troubles during the time of my stay.

Rooms at the Clarion are pretty nice with typical 3-star hotel amenities. Furniture and linens were on the newer side. Common areas in the hotel are decorated with modern touches and a light and airy design scheme. The pools and gym are also on the newer side with updated equipment for use by guests.

Cleanliness at the Clarion Hotel was a bit questionable. When I checked into my room, I found a three-quarters full bottle of vodka in the closet next to where the iron was stored. I didn’t notice anything else lacking in the housekeeping service during my stay, but I was very wary due to my first impression.

The Clarion Hotel was not as expensive as other Austin-area hotels that I looked into booking in March (a very nice time of year to visit this city). At $90/night, this hotel was about $200 cheaper than comparable competitors. I used a pre-paid internet package to make my reservation that was non-refundable. The first time I intended to make my visit (in February) my flights were cancelled since Austin was in the midst of a large ice storm. I was a little worried about the conditions under which I booked this hotel rate, but they had no trouble refunding my money due to the acts of Mother Nature. I re-booked the Clarion for my re-scheduled trip since they were so accommodating even though they did not have to refund my money in the first place.

The Clarion has conference capabilities for business functions which I didn’t get a chance to use during my stay. However, I did make full use of their complimentary continental breakfast every morning that was delicious. Overall I was impressed with the value I got out of my stay at the Clarion and would recommend it to others who are open to staying outside of downtown.

The Hula Hut is about a mile away from the Sixth Street restaurant drag, but the lively atmosphere and fun environment might make customers of this restaurant feel like they are in the middle of all the action. I only discovered the Hula Hut because it was across the street from the convention center where they were holding the State Energy Conservation Office meeting I was attending. This was really the only sit-down restaurant option that was within walking distance to this center.

The Hula Hut looks like a Hawaiian Style tiki hut with palm frond decorations and exposed palm beam construction. The chairs, tables and paper placemats keep with the theme and the waiters and waitresses dress in Hawaiian shirts to complete the look. The back of the restaurant is actually built on stilts over the lake, adding to the beach-side ambiance.

Important to note so that your enjoyment of the Hula Hut is not impeded is that the back of the restaurant is completely open-air. Times to avoid this area would be during days with a lot of mosquitoes (given the close proximity to water) or when the birds are abundant. During one lunch dining occasion in the back of this restaurant, a crow landed a plate away from me and started chowing down on my neighbor’s French fries. Nothing spoils an appetite faster than seeing that.

The Hula Hut’s menu reminded me of many other Mexican Restaurant menus I had seen, only with a Hawaiian twist. Enchiladas, Fajitas, Burgers, and Quesadillas were all accounted for. I tried the Mango quesadillas during one of our lunches and I must say that adding mango to the typical cheese and pepper combination of the quesadilla was an excellent idea. Highly recommended by the waitstaff (but not tried by me since I don’t eat fish) were the fish tacos. One of my dining companions tried these and said they were excellent- especially when taking into consideration the price.

At another lunch, I ordered a veggie burger which came (to my surprise) with a full plate of vegetables and French fries. I could hardly eat half of it, especially after filling up on the crispy chips and salsa that they bring to your table before your meal arrives. Considering that my entire meal was under $10 and I could have split it into three meals, there certainly is something to be said for the value of one’s dollar at this restaurant.

The service here was very friendly and obliged our request to be seated either inside or out (whatever we happened to be feeling that day). Table wait times for our group of 8 for lunch varied between 1 minute and 15 minutes- all-in-all quite reasonable. The Hula Hut also takes reservations for lunch and dinner, for those days that you don’t want to leave it to chance.