The allegedly business-friendly, freedom-minded inclinations of the Texan government fall apart pretty fast when you take stock of our state’s alcohol regulations, a bizarrely complex assortment of laws dating back to Prohibition and informed by, no joke, the 1930s public policy research of a eugenicist think tank. We got a nice reminder of these laws and their general backwards-assedness earlier this month, when…
restaurants
With Instagram and Memes, These Guys Are Finding You Things to Do in Austin
The chaos and energy of South by Southwest 2018 is only three days away when I meet Chris Cates, but he doesn’t seem stressed. In fact, he’s pretty hung over. That’s one of the occupational hazards you might discover when your job is keeping a finger on the pulse of events all over the city,…
Getting to Know Block 71, Downtown’s Most Fascinating Mixed-Use Plan
If we’re being precise, Block 71 is the City of Austin’s assigned number for a 1.75-acre downtown block owned by the University of Texas and bordered by West Seventh, Colorado, West Sixth and Lavaca Streets. But more importantly, it’s also the presumed name of developer Trammell Crow Company’s planned mixed-use complex, set to transform the site with a 36-story office tower, retail, restaurants, an…
Renovations Planned at Scholz Garten, Austin’s Oldest Restaurant
Scholz Garten, located in downtown Austin at 1607 San Jacinto Boulevard, isn’t just the oldest restaurant in the city — originally opened by German immigrant August Scholz in 1866, the establishment is also the oldest continuously operated German biergarten in the country, now owned by German-Texan heritage organization Austin Saengerrunde. But that doesn’t mean there’s no room…
Real-Life Los Pollos Hermanos Restaurant Headed to Austin for SXSW
According to permits filed with the city last week, a private party is seeking permission to open a temporary Los Pollos Hermanos fried chicken restaurant, as made famous by AMC television dramas Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, in a parking lot in downtown Austin near 122 West 5th Street. Unless some anonymous local entrepreneur…