Throwing by little brother’s Bachelor Party this coming April in Austin. I’ve never been. Any recommendations on restaurants, lodging, nightlife??? Thanks Brothers.
Bachelor Party Austin, TX
- Thread starter cornnoleio11
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Lodging: will be expensive. Accept it and pony up. Stay downtown or don't go.
Shoe Shows: not great. Recreate Varsity Blues at The Landing Strip.
An afternoon at Jester King is worth your while. Good beer, beautiful scenery.
IMO Rainey Street > Sixth Street for bars. Other opinions will differ.
What kind of restaurants are you in the mood for? Lots of good options there.
Shoe Shows: not great. Recreate Varsity Blues at The Landing Strip.
An afternoon at Jester King is worth your while. Good beer, beautiful scenery.
IMO Rainey Street > Sixth Street for bars. Other opinions will differ.
What kind of restaurants are you in the mood for? Lots of good options there.
Rainey St. is better for Bars if you're older than 27. However 6th is still a specticle and no self respecting night of debauchery would be memorable without getting thrown out of at least one college bar.
I'm a big fan of The Continental Club on Congress. There are a few other good bars there too.
Franklin’s BBQ ( https://franklinbarbecue.com/ ) This place is world famous and constantly tops every list as best ever bbq. However it is absurd how long you have to wait. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 hours. However, they have folding camp chairs for the wait, and there is a little bottle shop right up the street where you can buy a six pack and drink a few beers while you wait. The way I look at it is that it’s not a wait, it’s just a social activity that builds your appetite. In my humble opinion it is totally worth the wait if you like BBQ. The line would be a blast with a few cases of beer in coolers and a bunch of dudes for a Bachelor's party, in my opinion.
The Salt Lick ( https://www.saltlickbbq.com/ ) It is out in Driftwood, about 30 mins drive. It is also famous, I don’t think it’s quite as good as Franklin’s but there is something to the experience.
Nice Restaurants:
Barley Swine ( http://barleyswine.com/ ) I ordered the whole menu once, very good food, highly regarded in foodie circles.
Foreign and Domestic ( http://fndaustin.com/ ) excellent and also highly regarded.
Fork & Vine: ( http://forkvine.com) New American, some good local stuff.
Fonda San Miguel: ( http://www.fondasanmiguel.com/). High end Mexican, very very good Mexican food if you like it.
Dai Due: ( http://www.daidue.com/) Some great local stuff and quite a few wild game dishes. Very interesting.
Dives for food:
Tacos and food trucks. There are really too many to name. There are a couple of food truck parks, you can go and wonder around and get some very creative crazy things. It’s a big scene there. CheckYelp.comyou’ll see them everywhere. The Picknic (1720 Barton Springs Road), Midway Food Park (1905 S Capital of Texas Hwy) Both have a good variety.
Casino El Camino ( http://www.casinoelcamino.net/ ) Some really excellent burgers, right in the middle of the 6th street shitshow, pardon my language, but you will probably agree with me that 6th street is a shitshow.
Lucy’s Fried Chicken ( http://lucysfriedchicken.com/ ) famous for fried chicken, I’m a fried chicken expert and renowned connoisseur, I’d give it an 8. (Gus’s is down town and probably easiest to get to http://gusfriedchicken.com/austin-texas-location/ and Ms.P’s are also very good, however, I am a fan of cold fried chicken, and Lucy’s is the only place I’ve ever seen it offered in that option other than home)
Music: (There are tons of venues, the only two that I went to that really stuck out to me are as follow)
Austin City Limits ( http://austincitylimits.com/ ) it is an iconic venue, and a really cool centrally located spot, connected to the W. I don’t know if anyone is playing there when you are visiting, but you should check it out.
The Continental Club ( http://www.continentalclub.com/ ) It is a fun time, kind of a dive.
I have been to a lot of other very solid restaurants and bars in Austin, almost anywhere seems to be a good time, these were just places that stood out to me.
As for hotels, you will spend money. I like the JW Marriott, very centrally located, great bar on the corner of the building always packed with talent if the weather is nice. Right across the street is Second Bar and Kitchen, they have nice craft coctails.
The W, as I said before, it's connected to Austin City Limits, also very centrally located.
The Hilton Austin, The Courtyard downtown is nice for a courtyard and it's walking from everything. The Four Seasons is right on the river and also a very reasonable stumble.
I'm a big fan of The Continental Club on Congress. There are a few other good bars there too.
Franklin’s BBQ ( https://franklinbarbecue.com/ ) This place is world famous and constantly tops every list as best ever bbq. However it is absurd how long you have to wait. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 hours. However, they have folding camp chairs for the wait, and there is a little bottle shop right up the street where you can buy a six pack and drink a few beers while you wait. The way I look at it is that it’s not a wait, it’s just a social activity that builds your appetite. In my humble opinion it is totally worth the wait if you like BBQ. The line would be a blast with a few cases of beer in coolers and a bunch of dudes for a Bachelor's party, in my opinion.
The Salt Lick ( https://www.saltlickbbq.com/ ) It is out in Driftwood, about 30 mins drive. It is also famous, I don’t think it’s quite as good as Franklin’s but there is something to the experience.
Nice Restaurants:
Barley Swine ( http://barleyswine.com/ ) I ordered the whole menu once, very good food, highly regarded in foodie circles.
Foreign and Domestic ( http://fndaustin.com/ ) excellent and also highly regarded.
Fork & Vine: ( http://forkvine.com) New American, some good local stuff.
Fonda San Miguel: ( http://www.fondasanmiguel.com/). High end Mexican, very very good Mexican food if you like it.
Dai Due: ( http://www.daidue.com/) Some great local stuff and quite a few wild game dishes. Very interesting.
Dives for food:
Tacos and food trucks. There are really too many to name. There are a couple of food truck parks, you can go and wonder around and get some very creative crazy things. It’s a big scene there. CheckYelp.comyou’ll see them everywhere. The Picknic (1720 Barton Springs Road), Midway Food Park (1905 S Capital of Texas Hwy) Both have a good variety.
Casino El Camino ( http://www.casinoelcamino.net/ ) Some really excellent burgers, right in the middle of the 6th street shitshow, pardon my language, but you will probably agree with me that 6th street is a shitshow.
Lucy’s Fried Chicken ( http://lucysfriedchicken.com/ ) famous for fried chicken, I’m a fried chicken expert and renowned connoisseur, I’d give it an 8. (Gus’s is down town and probably easiest to get to http://gusfriedchicken.com/austin-texas-location/ and Ms.P’s are also very good, however, I am a fan of cold fried chicken, and Lucy’s is the only place I’ve ever seen it offered in that option other than home)
Music: (There are tons of venues, the only two that I went to that really stuck out to me are as follow)
Austin City Limits ( http://austincitylimits.com/ ) it is an iconic venue, and a really cool centrally located spot, connected to the W. I don’t know if anyone is playing there when you are visiting, but you should check it out.
The Continental Club ( http://www.continentalclub.com/ ) It is a fun time, kind of a dive.
I have been to a lot of other very solid restaurants and bars in Austin, almost anywhere seems to be a good time, these were just places that stood out to me.
As for hotels, you will spend money. I like the JW Marriott, very centrally located, great bar on the corner of the building always packed with talent if the weather is nice. Right across the street is Second Bar and Kitchen, they have nice craft coctails.
The W, as I said before, it's connected to Austin City Limits, also very centrally located.
The Hilton Austin, The Courtyard downtown is nice for a courtyard and it's walking from everything. The Four Seasons is right on the river and also a very reasonable stumble.
Did one there a couple years ago. Stay at the W and plan a day at the pool. Its like a club pool you’d see in Vegas. Great way to spend the day after a long night of drinking.
Continental Club is great.
Is Franklin reopened? They had a big fire not long ago.
Is Franklin reopened? They had a big fire not long ago.
Oh yea, I heard about Franklin's... the website seems to indicate it's opened except Dec 25-28th for Christmas.
La Condesa for Mexican food. With a group you'll need reservations well in advance.
I was in town for business last month and went to the Palazio wearing an FSU polo. One stripper ran over to me right away and told me she graduated from FSU and another one told me later she went to TCC. 
OP would probably be interested in some "company" (
), I've got a cousin that's an expat in Juarez but regularly travels as far San Antonio and Houston for select orders. If you'd like to make a "donation" I'm sure he would get you something real nice .
), I've got a cousin that's an expat in Juarez but regularly travels as far San Antonio and Houston for select orders. If you'd like to make a "donation" I'm sure he would get you something real nice .
Gotta give OP credit for planning ahead. Usually these threads are of the "My buddies and I just landed in Austin for a bachelor party what should we do?" variety.
I don't have much to add. If you don't want to wait for Franklin's there is la barbecue and Kerlin's. Uchi, Uchiko, and Kuneho are very good Asia/sushi places
April is too early to float the river. You can check out Barton Springs and go skinny dipping in Hippy Hallow.
April is too early to float the river. You can check out Barton Springs and go skinny dipping in Hippy Hallow.
La Barbecue is just as bad as it was at Franklin’s at least for me. We gave up after showing up half an hour before opening and an hour went buy with the line barely budging. Maybe it was just a busy time or something but I would say the wait would have been 2-3 hours for it. Which is CRAZY talk to my ears.
You can (and we did twice!) actually drive down to Kreuz Market and get what I think is the best Texas BBQ in less time than just waiting in Austin for La BBQ or Franklin’s. And I did like Kreuz better than Franklin’s straight up (although I’ve only been to Franklin’s once and Kreuz twice).
I did think both Franklin’s and Kreuz are substantially better than Salt Lick. But it is a nice drive to Salt Lick and the wait is ordinary busy Famous restaurant (ie 30 mins to an hour) rather than stupid Austin wait times (2-4 hours).
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Was just there last weekend. The JW Marriot is a phenomenal hotel and was only about $200/night. Perfect location.
6th East of Congress is a disaster.
West 6th is great.
Rainey Street is awesome for the not college but not 45 crowd.
Moonshine is amazing for brunch
Odd Duck is a must.
Manuels is very good higher end Mexican. Chile Relleno may have been the best I've ever had.
Trulucks and Lonesome Dove are great steaks.
Also, really enjoyed Perlas for seafood.
6th East of Congress is a disaster.
West 6th is great.
Rainey Street is awesome for the not college but not 45 crowd.
Moonshine is amazing for brunch
Odd Duck is a must.
Manuels is very good higher end Mexican. Chile Relleno may have been the best I've ever had.
Trulucks and Lonesome Dove are great steaks.
Also, really enjoyed Perlas for seafood.
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Also, second the Continental Club recommendation. As well as add the Elephant Room and Roosevelt Room.
Elephant Room is small. Get there early
Elephant Room is small. Get there early
Broken Spoke for Honky Tonk.
Steiner Ranch House for steak. It’s outside of downtown, but has a decent view looking over Lake Travis and great steak. Also has a good crowd.
Z Tejas on W6th street is a good Tex mex place.
Can’t go wrong in Austin. Continental Club is awesome if their is a good band playing, wouldn’t recommend if it’s a band you don’t care for.
So many bars to choose from, not even sure where to tell you to begin. There is a bar right off west 6th that has all kinds of arcade games and skee ball to play, drawing a blank on the name, but it was my favorite.
Check to see who is playing Austin City Limits (the actual venue) that night. I was able to catch a live recording of Willie Nelson once by randomly checking. Was a freaking blast
East 6th is a must for at least a little bit. I would start your night there right before sunset or on 1st street.
Rainy is fun, West 6th can be fun too.
The Ranch is the standard place to go and hit on chicks.
Austin is the best...you will have a blast. Just stay away from the strip clubs. They are not good. Want to say they put clear patches on their nipples.
Oh yeah...there is a dueling piano bar there as well. Always a fun place to get night started as well.
Just remembered the bar I couldn’t remember...Kung Fu Bar. It’s smaller, but we always had a blast there. Highly recommend it for Sunday Funday as well.
Kreuz Market is the truth and Salt Lick is a true Texas fun experience - waiting outside with your own BYOB and listening to live entertainment. Setting is great.
For steakhouses, I'd stay downtown and try Bob's Steak and Chophouse for the tremendous bone-in ribeye. Or III Forks, which is maybe a little more upscale and pretty damn good. I love Steiner, which someone recommended above, but why spend the time to go all the way out there (to my suburban neighborhood) when you're in party-hardy mode? If you're going to leave town (for anything other than BBQ, ie Kreuz or even Luling City Market or Louie Mueller) I've "heard" it should only be to uber up to Perfect 10 in Round Rock.
