A Taste of Koko founder Jane Ko and fiancé Josh Campbell walk their dog, Bo, on the East Side
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From award-winning restaurants and hip retro bars to rooftop pickleball courts and lush trails, these bustling areas are filled with treasures old and new.
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Notes From Underground
Austin music’s not dead! As the city’s cultural landscape shifts, a new generation of talent is emerging from some of the most unexpected locales.
Austin punk band Sexpert plays at Rio Market, a convenience store turned live music hub.
Scout
Adorn your neck with these colorful glass bolo ties 29
Everything you need to know about the total solar eclipse happening April 8 30
Cow cuddling and lymphatic drainage massages are among the new self-care trends 32
Feast
Whole-animal barbecue shines at LeRoy and Lewis’ first brick-and-mortar 35
New culinary concepts take flight at Playground ATX 36
Upgrade your cutlery with these hand-forged knives 38
Beat
An I-35 expansion lasting nearly a decade will demolish beloved businesses 41
The CMT Awards are back! Here’s why they matter 44
Tuscan-inspired landscaping that actually lasts in Texas 46
Jane Ko and Josh Campbell take a walk near Sour Duck Market, by Rick Cortez
Wardrobe courtesy Howdy’s Vintage
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March/April 2024 | Vol. 32 | No. 2
Editor-in-Chief Madeline Hollern
Creative Director Becky Plante
EDITORIAL
Executive Editor Bryan C. Parker
Associate Editor Saba Rahimian
Contributing Writers
Ali Khan, Lauren Larson, Rosie Ninesling, Robyn Ross, Clara Wang
ART
Contributing Photographers
Rick Cortez, Dave Creaney
Contributing Illustrators
Kate Dehler, Ishaq Fahim, Margaret Flatley
DIGITAL
Digital Manager Abigail Stewart
ADVERTISING
Sales Director Molly Lochridge
Account Director Dana Horner
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Editorial Director Rebecca Fontenot Cord
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Audience Development Director Kerri Nolan
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ACCOUNTING
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Editor’s Letter
This Must Be the Place
ON A LATE January afternoon, less than two weeks after I was dripping my faucets during the seasonal freeze, I stepped out of my car into nearly 70-degree weather. Gorgeous winter days are among my favorite things about Austin (and the reason we put up with unending triple digits in summertime). Soaking in the sunshine, I strolled down the sidewalk on Manor Road toward the courts of a new private pickleball facility, Other Racquet Social Club, which was celebrating its grand opening. Along the street, shoppers thumbed through outdoor racks at Howdy’s Vintage and kids played on the green space of Fleet Coffee.
While this bustling stretch of Cherrywood has only arisen in the last few years, my love affair with the neighborhood is nothing new. I’ve spent the better part of the last two decades on Manor Road, from toasting my UT graduation at the original El Chile in 2007 to living with my best friends in a big house behind Haymaker for four years.
In our latest cover feature, “The 8 Hottest Neighborhoods in Austin” (page 48), we champion the dynamic areas of town that bring us together with vibrant new hangouts and community hubs. The article chronicles new energy in historic districts like Hyde Park, where a former post office has emerged into the home to the buzziest French restaurant in town. And classic Austin sights, as in Bouldin Creek, where it’s not uncommon to find peacocks roaming on the patio at brunch favorite Mattie’s. The feature also highlights a funky stretch of town in North Loop that calls to mind the slacker era of the city.
Indeed, feelings of nostalgia for Old Austin continue to erupt with every passing season. While we were working on this issue, ACL Radio announced that beloved summer series Blues on the Green would not be returning in 2024. Despite ongoing cries that the “Austin music scene is dead,” executive editor Bryan C. Parker has unearthed a new generation of intrepid bookers and makeshift venues sprouting up all over the city. In his excellent feature, “Notes from Underground” (page 62), Parker delves into the burgeoning DIY music scene, which ranges from punk shows taking place in convenience stores to DJ sets in subterranean tunnels.
While there are certainly losses to mourn in our ever-changing metropolis, these shifts also mean the city is always bursting with new areas to explore and activities to discover. In that way, Austin today isn’t so different from a generation ago—a place united by a spirit of creativity and a feeling that anything is possible.
Madeline Hollern Editor-in-Chief mhollern@austinmonthly.com
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Breakfast, lunch, parking, commemorative wine glass, eclipse viewing glasses, and one complimentary glass of wine.
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LESS WEIRD. MORE WONDERFUL.
Tie One On
When Katie Heiselberg creates her turquoise bolo accessory, she begins with “frit.” Flakes resembling lapis, jade, and amber are shaken together before being fused in a 1,500-degree kiln, layered with clear artists’ glass, and cut down to a minimalist geometric shape. The local maker branched off from her eclectic jewelry company, Katie Kismet, to create this brand of gender-neutral ties crafted for those with a penchant for minimalist postmodern art and design. Some of the showpieces hang from natural leather or suede chords adorned with modern brass or sterling silver tips, while others feature chained collar pins that link from two lapels. For Heiselberg, the bolo line is a way to embrace her Texas roots and explore her avant-garde alter ego. “Katie Kismet felt like the M OMA side of myself,” she says. “Austin Bolo is more like the little bit of country in me meets the rock ‘n’ roll in me.” Shop the vibrant neckwear at austinbolo.com. —Saba Rahimian
Corona:
The outermost atmo sphere of the sun, much hotter than its surface. Normally impossible to see amid the sun’s bright light, this area is visible during an eclipse.
Baily’s beads: Sunlight that peeks through valleys on the moon’s surface just before totality and just as it’s ending, visible as beads of light.
Everything you need to know about the upcoming celestial event.
BY ROBYN ROSS
GET READY FOR a once-in-a-lifetime experience: On April 8, locals will be able to view a total solar eclipse in their own backyard. More than 1 million visitors are expected to come to Texas for the astronomical occasion, as the area is part of the 115-mile-wide path of totality, which stretches from Eagle Pass to Maine. As the sun disappears, the sky will darken to deep twilight, the temperature will drop, and stars will become visible. In Austin, totality will begin at 1:36 p.m. for around a minute and 40 seconds. Near the centerline, which passes through the Hill Country, it will last about four-and-a-half minutes. Here’s what to know, where to go, and how to safely view the total eclipse this spring.
What is a Solar Eclipse— and Didn’t We Just
Yes, but this one is a bigger deal. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon’s orbit takes it between the Earth and the sun. In an amazing coincidence, the sun’s diameter is about 400 times larger than the moon’s, and the sun is 400 times farther from the Earth. This is why the two appear to be the same size in the sky.
Have One?
An annular solar eclipse, which Austin had in October, happens when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun but is too far away to fully cover the sun. It’s only a total solar eclipse, like on April 8, when the moon is closer to Earth, appear‑ ing large enough to fully block the sun. Mon, Apr 8, 2024 at 1:36 p.m.
Austin
► Other Terms to Know
Umbra: The darkest part of moon’s shadow.
Diamond ring: A visual effect just before and just after totality, created by a single Baily’s bead —the “diamond”—set in a ring of light created by the corona.
Path of totality: The path of the moon’s shadow across the Earth’s surface.
TOTALITY IN AUSTIN BEGINS:
What Festivals Are Happening?
WHERE?
Lucky Arrow Retreat (near Dripping Springs)
WHAT TO EXPECT: A low-key, intimate affair for fewer than 200 people.
Overnight guests will stay in cabins or yurts and enjoy stargazing with a UT astronomer, while day visitors can reserve a cabana by the pool. Live music, food, beer and wine tastings, and games round out the experience.
Live music, art installations, camping, and outdoor revelry at a 1,200-acre ranch. The lineup includes talks by astronauts and engineers as well as yoga and meditation classes—and, of course, more than four minutes and 20 seconds of totality.
What Are Some Cool Austin Events?
Eclipse chasers from all over the world will converge on Hill Country towns such as Kerrville, near the centerline. But you don’t need to travel: If you’re anywhere inside the path of totality, you’ll see the total eclipse (and avoid traffic jams).
The Long Center will hold a free eclipse viewing party on its lawn from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. that includes music by local composer Graham Reynolds and programming by Radiolab host Molly Webster and writer Roxane Gay.
Multiple Austin Public Library branches will host eclipse watch parties, and the Central Library will hold an event that features an exhibit from NASA and a rooftop viewing of the eclipse.
On April 5, 6, and 7, NASA representatives will lead science and astronomy talks at library branches. They will also staff an exhibit about Mars, complete with kid-friendly activities, at the Austin Nature & Science Center
While camping reservations at area state parks booked up long ago, day passes are released one month in advance, on March 8 at 8 a.m., at tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/ reservations or (512) 389-8900.
► What Should I Drink?
Three local breweries—Austin Beerwoks, Zilker Brewing Company, and Meanwhile Brewing Co.—are collaborating on a new beer to commemorate the occasion. Called “In the Path of Totality 1:36 pm,” the hazy IPA will be released in early March in cans and will be on draught throughout Austin. Additionally, each brand is producing its own beer, all in a different color representing the changing light of the eclipse, and all three breweries will host viewing parties.
Performances from Austin bands including Golden Dawn Arkestra, Good Looks, and THEBROSFRESH.
Guests can camp out while enjoying science talks and family-friendly music in one of the best places on Earth to watch the eclipse.
► What Glasses Should I Wear?
Regular sunglasses are not enough. To avoid permanent vision damage, everyone should view the eclipse through glasses that meet the ISO 12312-2 safety standard. Keep your specialty shades on until the sun is completely covered by the moon, and put them back on the moment sunlight becomes visible again.
Reveille Peak Ranch (near Burnet)
Quiet Valley Ranch (home to the Kerrville Folk Festival)
Soothe Operators
From farm animal snuggles to mouth massages, here’s the rub on four new self-care activities.
BY MADELINE HOLLERN
Cow Cuddling
Looking for an adorable road trip? Drive about two hours east to Waller, Texas, where the Texas Gaushala farm sanctuary offers a chance for bovine bonding. For 30 minutes, guests can pet, hug, and snuggle Brahman cows with names like Nandini and Suraj. The docile creatures will even lie next to you and put their heads in your lap for some belly rubs. Between the animals’ rhythmic breathing and the tactile quality of the exercise, the activity instantly reduces stress and promotes tranquility for participants. And that’s no bull. texasgaushala.com
Breathwork
Take a deep breath. You’ve heard the refrain all your life, and with good reason. The restorative power of breathwork is harnessed through the therapeutic classes at Centrd, a brand-new wellness studio opening this spring in East Austin. Lie down on a mat as an instructor leads participants through exercises like nostril and deep diaphragmatic breathing or more intensive holotropic breathwork. By activating the parasympathetic nervous system, thus reducing stress levels, you can expect better sleep, improved mental clarity, and an overall feeling of Zen. centrdstudio.com
Lymphatic Draining
For those who find Swedish massages too pampering and deep tissue pressure painful, The Tox offers a Goldilocks option that’s just right. Opened this past fall, the downtown studio boasts a signature massage designed to re-activate the lymph nodes and flush out toxins. Cozy up on a heated bed under a fuzzy blanket as a technician uses their hands to knead your torso, back, and limbs with firm compression and a suction machine to remove extra fluid. In addition to boosting digestion, the service is said to banish bloating; in fact, practitioners take a before-and-after picture of your stomach, which will be visibly tighter by session’s end. thetoxtechnique.com
Intraoral Massage
Here’s a cheeky idea: As part of the sculptural or savasana ritual facials at downtown’s Sun Up Skin, a gloved technician gently massages the muscles inside the mouth between your jawline and upper face. The calming treatment helps to release adhesions, relax the muscles, and sculpt the face. Though it’s especially beneficial to provide a deep release for those who struggle with TMJ dysfunction, the buccal massage is also said to increase circulation for a brighter complexion and smooth out wrinkles over time. Talk about a glow-up! sunupskin.com
Wholly Smokes
Chef Evan LeRoy first challenged barbecue-loving Texans’ eating habits when he decided to serve beef cheeks daily, saving brisket for the weekends. The pitmaster considers this approach part of his “new school” BBQ mantra. At long last, that school of thought is getting its own campus. Seven years after debuting its popular trailer at Cosmic Coffee + Beer Garden, LeRoy and Lewis opened a brickand-mortar in South Austin this February. “This place is a whole animal barbecue restaurant, and we’re doing a lot of butchery in-house,” LeRoy says. Never mind de rigueur sausage and rib offerings: His menu features lesser-used cuts including a smoked flat iron that falls between brisket and beef cheek, and a chuck steak cooked over direct coals reminiscent of the pork steak from legendary Snow’s BBQ in Lexington. Here, expect distinctive sides such as pinto jalapeño hummus, miso-glazed carrots, and hog fat cornbread, plus weekly specials like Tri Tip Tuesdays. In addition to an on-site bar with bottles to go, the 5,000-square-foot restaurant has a retail store selling pantry staples like LeRoy and Lewis’ famed beet barbecue sauce. Now that’s worth a pit stop. leroyandlewis.com —Ali Khan
TAYLOR GORMAN
Recipe for Success
By providing a launchpad for upstart restaurateurs, Playground ATX is changing the culinary game.
BY CLARA WANG
IN MARCH 2020, Sue Kim-Drohomyrecky landed in the capital city on behalf of Chicago-based restaurant group Lettuce Entertain You to help launch Aba Austin. Two weeks later, the world shut down. While the pandemic spurred a wave of innovative food trucks and pop-ups, the 30-year hospitality veteran noticed that many of these small businesses lacked the support to succeed. Inspired to help, she reached out to her sister-in-law, business consultant Katie Kim, with a mission: create a food incubator for fledgling concepts to take flight.
“There are a lot of food trucks in Austin that serve us incredible food
with a tireless smile, but the reality of running those businesses is grueling,” Kim-Drohomyrecky says. “Often ‘mom-and-pop’ shops don’t have access to a C-suite that helps them with HR, legal, marketing, strategy, leases, etc.”
Acting as a culinary launchpad, Playground ATX hosts chef and restaurant “headliners” for six months at a time, during which their concept can be tested. Each startup is put through a crash course on opening a restaurant, where they create a menu, develop branding, and learn the ins and outs of operations—with bakedin room for trial and error.
Starting last November, the incubator partnered with its first headliner, East Meets Wings, an offshoot of former food truck Fil N’ Viet. The concept owned by husband-and-wife chef-partners Kevin Truong and Rosie Mina-Truong serves Fil N’ Viet’s trademark Filipino sinigang chicken wings and Vietnamese VFC chicken wings, plus a range of Pan-Asian flavors such as Szechuan cucumber pickles and purple ube soft serve topped with red beans and jackfruit.
Along with developing restaurants, Playground ATX regularly hosts chef popups and private events within its Airport Boulevard space, a charming 75-seat building ornamented with colorful Vietnamese lanterns across the ceiling. On select Mondays, the venue features a series called Mission Mondays, where local culinary creatives and craftsmen host sessions alongside wine pairings. Guests can also purchase goods from Mission Monday partners like local knife brand Cooey Forge Works (page 38) during normal business hours.
As the food industry gravitates toward innovation and personalization, Kim-Drohomyrecky hopes projects like Playground ATX can foster this evolution and provide a platform for culinary entrepreneurs to thrive. “With Austin’s growth, one thing remains constant,” she says. “People need to be nourished.” playground-atx.com
From left: Sisters-in-law Katie Kim and Sue Kim-Drohomyrecky co-founded Playground ATX in 2023; exterior view of the Airport Boulevard venue; whole chicken wings and the sinigang chicken sandwich from East Meets Wings.
Knives Out
Cooey Forge Works’ heirloom-quality blades are a cut above.
BY SABA RAHIMIAN
WHEN BUSTER COOEY lands his searing cube of steel onto a 375-pound anvil, there is a word in mind: chatoyance. To achieve this wavy strata, t he artisan has up to five minutes to hammer, pull, stretch, and compress hot sheets of alloy into his envisioned aesthetic. Once cooled, he cuts the forged rectangle, stacks the pieces again into a billet, and sends them back into the fire—much like a pastry chef layers dough to form a croissant. In the face of a raging 2,150degree furnace, the pattern Cooey conjures is typically invisible, only revealed once submerged in a ferric chloride solution. The acid slowly eats away specific layers, exposing the whimsical topography of a Damascus design. A one-of-akind, labor-intensive chef knife is underway. The first time Cooey welded two pieces of metal together was for a pair of light fixtures while working as a key grip for music videos and commercials in Los Angeles. The bladesmith says operating rigs in film was like running away with the carnival; while it was
adrenaline-packed and lucrative, he felt he had little to show at the end of an 80-hour workweek. “Unless you’re the director or cinematographer, you don’t have a product,” he says. After the ad hoc exposure to welding, he felt, “I can make this thing that can last centuries.” Cooey left LA and plunged headfirst into the world of forging, opening Dirty Anvil in Asheville, his “earn to learn” crash course into blacksmithing. He eventually closed his business and came to Austin in 2008 to run the fabrication shop at Redbird Flight.
The craftsman’s workbench sits in a meticulous ly organized garage studio in South Austin, show casing finished knives he hopes will become heir looms. The mono steel chefs’ knives take around eight hours to craft, while the cutters with Damas cus patterning require upwards of 45 hours each. The maker also sources different materials for ar tistic handles, from sealed Hawaiian Koa to recycled fire hoses. While Cooey loves the technical challenge of all blades, he focuses on cutlery for culinary professionals. “What I love about the chef knife is it’s used eight hours a day, all day, and my knives are going to be tested to the limit,” he says. “I want to make it beautiful, of course, but it has to work—and work really well.” cooeyforgeworks.com
Top: Buster Cooey showcases finished knives and etched billets at his South Austin workshop. Right: a hand-forged Damascus steel chef knife.
The Floating World : Masterpieces of Edo Japan
Enjoy more than 130 woodblock prints and painted scrolls from one of history’s most vibrant artistic eras. These “pictures of the floating world” depict popular interests of the time, from samurais and geishas to boat parties and lush landscapes.
This exhibition is organized by the Worcester Art Museum with support from the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation.
Image: Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Kaga: Yuki (detail), 1820–1861, color woodblock print, 23 1/8 x 17 1/8 in. Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA, John Chandler Bancroft Collection, 1901.567
Blanton Museum of Art / @blantonmuseum
blantonmuseum.org / @blantonmuseum / MEMBERS GET IN FREE
DR. GREGORY THIEL
Doctor Thiel has been practicing pediatric dentistry in Austin, TX since 2004. He is boardcertified in Pediatric Dentistry and a Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry. He completed his Master’s degree at The Ohio State University and his Pediatric Residency at Columbus Children’s Hospital.
Prior to his residency, Dr. Thiel graduated dental school Magna Cum Laude from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in 2002, where he was selected as the sole recipient of the “Outstanding Senior Dental Student” award.
His undergraduate degree in Biomedical Sciences was awarded to him from Texas A&M University in 1998.
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Taking a Toll
A vast overhaul of I-35 will rip through Central Austin, devastating dozens of iconic and cherished businesses in the process.
BY BRYAN C. PARKER
ON A FOGGY morning in January, 72-year-old Charles Herrman hops into his Lincoln sedan and drives north on Interstate 35 to Stars Cafe. Arriving at the classic diner at 9 a.m., he takes the last seat at the counter and orders a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel and a cup of black coffee. As a longtime regular, his coffee is on the house, which helps since he’s on a fixed budget and lives in city-subsidized housing downtown. Herrman has practiced this daily ritual for 27 years, long enough that the bagel sandwich is now called “The Charlie” on the menu.
“It’s an old dive, and it’s convenient to me,” he says. “And they don’t mind my spending an hour and a half reading and lapping down coffee.” But come this time next year, it’s likely that Herrman’s routine will be a remnant of the past, and Stars Cafe along with it.
A massive TxDOT-led expansion of I-35 includes plans for the destruction of more than a hundred residences and businesses along the highway corridor that cuts through the heart of the capital city. Stars Cafe is far from the lone victim here. Among the dozens of establishments that will be forced to relocate or shutter permanently are Dreamers, Nature’s Treasures, The Austin Chronicle, Taqueria Los Altos, and the Glass Coffin. Compared to the imposing juggernaut of a freeway, small businesses seem like bugs squished against the cold glass and metal of a speeding big rig.
With a cost upwards of $5 billion, the project’s total scope begins at the nexus of I-35 and SH-45 in Round Rock and runs south to where the two roads intersect again near Buda. The upgrade adds two non-tolled HOV lanes in both directions and, more notably, calls for the demolition of the elevated deck of I-35 in Central Austin.
TxDOT has already begun construction on the north and south portions of the plan, with the central section expected to break ground this summer, barring any setbacks. Ultimately, the renovation is expected to take about eight years to complete. At that point, most of the interstate will have 18 lanes of traffic (including access roads, turn lanes, and flyovers), but some sections, such as at Riverside Drive, would swell to 21 lanes. In one extreme instance at MLK, I-35 will balloon to a staggering 25 lanes.
Opponents of the plan—like Adam Greenfield, board president for the nonprofit Rethink35—claim that the entire concept of highway expansion is ineffective, and plenty of data supports that view. A 2011 research paper from professors Matthew Turner and Gilles Duranton shows that making roads wider actually increases traffic congestion. The term for the phenomenon is induced demand, which essentially means that when supply of something grows, t he market adjusts to meet it.
While there are no guarantees that the project would alleviate gridlock, it’s certainly going to make
Charles Herrman, an Austinite since 1997, has been dining at Stars Cafe for decades.
CONCRETE JUNGLE
The wild numbers around Austin’s interstate highway and the plan to widen it.
53
Average number, per driver, of hours lost annually to traffic delays during commutes.
28
Miles of highway to undergo expansion during the TxDOT project.
200,000
Approximate number of cars that drive through Central Austin on I-35 each day.
28%
The portion of greenhouse gases in the U.S. produced by the transportation sector.
2032
The expected year for a completed, fully operational I-35 in Austin, assuming all goes according to plan.
BRYAN
C. PARKER
In one
extreme instance at MLK,
I-35 will balloon to a staggering 25 lanes.
congestion a lot worse in the short term. As if Austin traffic weren’t bad enough already, imagine suffering through major event weeks like SXSW and F1 with I-35 in shambles for most of the next decade.
But the futility of the endeavor isn’t even the main hangup that Greenfield has about a larger highway. “There will be 130,000 extra cars going through Austin every day, and all that pollution will be breathed in and experienced by people living nearby,” he says, pointing out that a number of schools and preschools sit on or very near I-35. The transportation sector is responsible for the greatest portion of greenhouse gases emitted in the United States.
He and others contend that TxDOT has skirted environmental protection rules and guidelines by breaking major projects into smaller sections. For example, the I-35 expansion technically consists of three separate projects. That sort of segmenting isn’t explicitly forbidden, but it must meet specific criteria to comply with regulations by the Federal Highway Administration. Greenfield also says that the environmental surveys for the project aren’t thorough enough to determine the true ecological impact, especially since they’re conducted internally by TxDOT.
“The federal government years ago granted TxDOT the ability to basically grade its own homework,” Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea said in a meeting last September. “And in this case, they moved out a big section of what we requested, and they gave themselves an A.” Shea went on to specify examples involving the release of particulate matter from car exhaust and the impact of discharge rainwater to Lady Bird Lake, both of which she says were ignored.
Greenfield’s team filed a lawsuit in late January that focuses on environmental concerns around the project. Even as construction barrels forward, he sees hope in past examples—such as San Francisco’s Embarcadero Freeway—where major projects were successfully deterred even after construction had begun.
Austinites relentlessly bemoan toll roads. And in this case, the toll on both pocketbooks and human health are well documented. But for Stars Cafe manager Deitrich Armstrong, the erosion of the city’s identity and cultural capital is more tragic than anything else. He can’t help but think of cafe regulars, like Charles, and how the project will alter their entire world. “I get it, that’s not going to outweigh the millions of travelers who have to go up 35,” Armstrong says. “But man, those are some of the moments that you’ll lose, and it takes away from the Austin that we love.”
Eyes on the Prize
The CMT Awards return to Austin this spring. Here’s how the show pulled up its Nashville roots and landed in the Live Music Capital. BY
BRYAN C. PARKER
NO T WO CITIES are more synonymous with music than Nashville and Austin. In recent years, the like-minded municipalities have engaged in a cultural tussle that falls somewhere between a friendly two-step and a backyard brawl. In May 2022, Ryman Hospitality (the group that owns and manages the Grand Ole Opry) wrestled away Austin’s Block 21, the Second Street property that houses ACL Live at the Moody Theater, for a whopping $260 million. But a month prior, forces within the Texas capital were already making plans to rope in the CMT Awards—an enterprise that Visit Austin president Tom Noonan says brings in a direct economic impact of about $19.8 million per year.
After the awards show got picked up by CBS the year prior, it moved to the spring, a season that made it much tougher to secure a venue. The NHL schedule of the Nashville Predators cut into the availability of the event’s
longtime home of Bridgestone Arena, and the production had outgrown smaller venues like the Nashville Municipal Auditorium. “We wanted to be in a city that loved music as much as Nashville,” says Margaret Comeaux, executive producer for the CMT Awards. So, in April 2022, she and CMT exec Heather Graffagnino left their Tennessee headquarters and boarded a plane headed southwest. While Austin’s brand-new, stateof-the-art venue, the Moody Center, had not yet hosted its inaugural show, it had been courting the CMT Awards for over a year. “We reached out, just trying to create a robust kind of venue programming calendar, looking at ways outside of concerts to bring in marquee, high-profile events,” says Michael Owens, Moody Center’s VP of programming. When Comeaux and Graffagnino arrived on-site, the venue’s team made sure to display its full capabilities. Videos from CMT Awards
broadcasts played on televisions hung along the pristine concourse and its logo was writ large across the venue’s 27-foot-wide scoreboard.
“The goal was to help them envision their presence in the building and feel a little bit of extra love,” Owens says. Somewhere between the marvels of the Moody Center, the taste of Texas barbecue, and a stroll down South Congress, Comeaux and Graffagnino decided that Austin just might be the perfect home away from home for their show. Plus, the venue agreed to grant the event its necessary two full weeks of prep time without the interference of other concerts or sporting events.
Also of interest was the capital city’s reputation as not only a bastion of roots music but also a haven for a wide range of styles. Lately, the borders of country music have been reshaped by the pop of Taylor Swift and the R&B of Mickey Guyton, making Austin a ripe market for a forward-thinking awards program. Viewers of last year’s show saw as much in Jelly Roll’s brand of Americana hip-hop, as well as country singers Lainey Wilson and Ingrid Andress’ rendition of “You Oughta Know” alongside Alanis Morissette.
After experiencing the palpable excitement at the inaugural awards show at the Moody Center in 2023, Graffagnino feels like the team made the right call. “You never know what it’s going to be when you go to a new place,” she says, “but the fans showed up in a big way for us.” The major question that lingers is whether Austin will be the home for the CMT Awards for years to come. Comeaux says business decisions like that are never g uaranteed, but adds that the team is loving the time spent here thus far.
Last year’s event showcased an affinity for notable capital city musicians, including Gary Clark Jr. playing in a tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jackie Venson shredding on guitar. While Comeaux is still tight-lipped about exactly what the upcoming event has in store, she says you can expect even more local love when the 2024 CMT Awards kick off on April 7.
Clockwise from left: Lainey Wilson, Jelly Roll, Gary Clark Jr., Ingrid Andress, Alanis Morissette, and Morgan Wade perform at the 2023 CMT Awards at the Moody Center.
The Italian Job
Austinites love Mediterranean flora, but it suffers in our extreme weather. Local landscape designers have suggestions for hardier alternatives.
BY LAUREN LARSON
FOR A FEW weeks in the spring, driving through rolling hills dotted with vineyards and schlocky villas as a temperate breeze caresses you through an open car window, the Hill Country really does feel like Tuscany. During that brief time, the Confederate jasmine outside my apartment produces intoxicating white blooms. Every time I step outside, I am Diane Lane in her white sundress in Under the Tuscan Sun, trotting off to meet my Italian lover.
But for the other 50 weeks of the year, the plant is a nuisance, and I have the Sisyphean task of keeping it alive. Before our winters reliably delivered ice storms and our summer temps regularly broke records, Mediterranean mainstays could eke by. Now, the hottest months make it difficult and unethical to keep the soil around my jasmine “consistently moist,” as required. And in the winter, it barely recuperates from one freeze before the next hits.
No, grazie: Jasmine
Sì, per favore: Texas Kidneywood
Central Texas landscape designers evangelize the Texas kidneywood, a spindly but hardy little tree. Anguiano includes one in every design she does. “Our plants and our landscape can be so rugged and harsh,” she says, and the owner loves the delicacy of the kidneywood’s jasmine-like flowers, which bloom several times a year.
No, grazie: Lavender
Sì, per favore: Russian Sage
In lieu of lavender, try Russian sage. Though it’s adapted rather than native, the shrub is an excellent pollinator and a low-maintenance perennial, says Rachel Raise, owner of Raise Design and a Zilker Botanical Garden Conservancy board member. She loves how it looks layered next to more structured plants. “It grows in different directions,” Raise explains. “It can get a little drunk.” (Salute!)
“The love affair Central Texans have with jasmine— there is nothing next to it. Maybe crepe myrtles,” says Mia Anguiano, owner of Full Circle Urban Permaculture. Requiring less maintenance, reducing waste, and saving money, permaculture mimics natural ecosystems—and in recent years, Anguiano and other Austin landscape designers have seen demand for native plants and hardier gardens soar.
But among Central Texans, particularly those California transplants accustomed to Edenic regions that actually have a Mediterranean climate, lust for the Tuscan aesthetic remains, even as the plants themselves wither. We must therefore face a hard truth: The Hill Country is not Italy. So, we asked Austin flora fanatics to suggest some battle-tested alternatives that can thrive under the Texan sun.
No, grazie: Cypress Tree
Sì, per favore: Scarlet’s Peak Yaupon
Those seeking the striking verticality of the cypress trees that tidily line boulevards across Italy can choose from a pin-straight lineup of yaupon holly trees. Amy Medley, lead horticulturist at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, suggests the Will Fleming yaupon or the Scarlet’s Peak yaupon. Both have a similar shape, they’re evergreen, and they’re drought- and cold-tolerant.
No, grazie: Olive Tree
Sì, per favore: Anacacho Orchid Tree
And what of that postcard staple, the olive tree? Lisa LaPaso, owner of Lisa’s Landscape and Design, recommends the Anacacho orchid, which can mimic the multi-trunk shape of an olive tree. While it doesn’t share the olive’s silvery green, LaPaso says, “It does have a really interesting leaf texture, and it plays really neatly with the light.” She has two in her own yard. “Once you have one, you’ll be in love forever.”
HEATHER WITBECK COMPASS REAL ESTATE
As a top Realtor in Austin, Heather Witbeck puts clients first. By really listening to her clients, Heather hears their needs, desires, and dreams. That translates into finding them a house they can call home, in a neighborhood that fits their lifestyle. Heather has a detailed knowledge of the Austin real estate market, combined with 15 years of experience in business focused on public relations and event planning, which gives her insight to help clients decide when to buy or sell and how to assess the competitive Austin real estate market. When working with buyers, she does her research and is a strong negotiator. With a service-obsessed attitude and go-getter personality she works with her network of contacts to locate properties that might be “coming soon” or are not on the market yet to provide clients with every possible option in the market. She understands the importance of effective marketing, communication, and organization when listing a property. With her attention to detail, utilizing advanced promotional strategies, and her strong negotiation skills, Heather is ready to sell any home and make the process stressfree for her clients. She demonstrates an exemplary approach to real estate in the Austin area. No one will work harder to make your purchase or sale a success.
Heather lives with her boyfriend in Travis Heights, one of Austin’s founding neighborhoods located in the heart of the city, where she loves to walk along South Congress enjoying the shopping and restaurants. She works with Austin Pets Alive and the Austin Animal Center donating her time and funds to help support local animals find forever homes. Taking full advantage of the outdoor lifestyle Austin offers, Heather is an avid tennis player and runner. Early mornings you will find her at the gym or on the trail. She is passionate about food, both cooking and eating out, as well as live music—an ideal fit for Austin!
“Heather did an excellent job helping me find my dream home. Within the 78704 zip code, finding a home and not getting outbid is tough, but she helped guide me through the process and best options to make sure I secured the home I wanted. I would recommend her to anyone looking for the home of their dreams - she can help you find it and make it yours. Thanks so much.” JDB
NEIGHBORHOODS
Hottest IN AUSTIN
A Taste of Koko founder Jane Ko takes a stroll with fiancé Josh Campbell near Sour Duck Market.
From
the revival of an antiquated post office turned chic French restaurant to a funky thoroughfare where you can relive the Austin of the ’90s, new treasures and old troves capture the evolving enclaves of our booming city.
by MADELINE HOLLERN and SABA RAHIMIAN
HYDE PARK
Boundaries:
E. 45th St., Duval St., E. 38th St., Guadalupe St., W. 46th St., Rowena Ave., E. 51st St., Clarkson Ave., Red River St.
Median
$722,800
IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE that one of Austin’s most iconic central neighborhoods was the city’s first suburb— accessed by an electric streetcar in 1891. Around that time, Hyde Park became home to the classic German sculptor Elisabet Ney, who wanted to live in the Hill Country but stay near the city’s urban buzz. Today, her castle-like estate operates as a neighborhood museum, showcasing a collection of busts and full-size sculptures of figures like Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston.
In this historic district featuring large Tudor Revival homes and Victorian estates, it’s more common to see a thoughtful renovation than a teardown. The sidewalks are dappled with shade from centuries-old live oak trees, and longstanding businesses like Blue Moon Glassworks, Quack’s 43rd Street Bakery, and Avenue B Grocery & Market are points of pride for residents. But a recent development breathes new life into the established area. Last year, the former post office building became the home of First Light Books and the second location of Tiny Grocer, which houses Top Chef contestant Jo Chan’s celebrated new French bistro, Bureau de Poste. “It was clear early on that people were excited to have us here,” Chan says. “They would wave and say good morning, and it felt like a Mr. Rogers moment, where I get to be the neighborhood chef.”
Independent bookstore First Light Books is located inside the former Hyde Park post office.
Above: Tiny Grocer; inset: the patio at First Light.
DON’T MISS
A red neon sign reading “Rosette” shines bright when the sun goes down at the reinvented Baker School. Inside, the nonprofit Austin Classical Guitar presents a lineup of eclectic, outside-of-the-box concerts in an 85-seat theater. The former public school building has also become the hip local headquarters for Alamo Drafthouse.
CLARKSVILLE
Boundaries:
Mopac, Enfield Road, N. Lamar Blvd., W. Sixth St.
Median Home Price:
$1,335,000
COMING SOON
This year, construction is scheduled to begin in Clarksville on Sixth&Blanco, MML’s much-anticipated foray into mixed-use development. The group teamed up with famed Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron to create a block-long project that includes a posh hotel, 10 private homes, and several restaurants and retail concepts open to the public.
PERHAPS NO OTHER neighborhood in Austin has a more important history—nor more dramatic changes on the horizon—than Clarksville. Filled with charming bungalows and craftsman-style homes, the area was founded by Charles Clark in 1871 as one of the first freedman’s communities west of the Mississippi River. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, Clarksville has staples such as 97-year-old grocery store Fresh Plus as well as decades-old Wally Workman Gallery and Waterloo Records. Residents enjoy exploring West Austin Neighborhood Park, a beloved space with a fenced, off-leash area for pets and a small swimming pool, and frequenting hip haunts like Lin Asian Bar + Dim Sum and Nightcap.
“It’s always been quite cozy and treasured. But in the last few years, it’s just really grabbed a lot of traction,” says realtor MariaFrancesca Repucci of Sotheby’s International Realty. “There are a lot of new spots opening up and a lot of new real estate developments—single family homes as well as condo projects.”
Since 2012, one of the biggest storylines in the district has been its transformation by McGuire Moorman Lambert (MML). In addition to taking over fine-dining staple Jeffrey’s and launching Josephine House on Waterson Avenue, the hospitality group has revitalized the West Sixth and Blanco Street area of Clarksville with half a dozen tony concepts such as seafood restaurant Clark’s Oyster Bar and home goods store La Embajada— and even bigger changes are on the way (see sidebar).
From top: A rendering of the Sixth&Blanco mixed-use development; the patio at Rosie’s Wine Bar; oysters at Clark’s.
CHESTNUT
NESTLED BETWEEN CHERRYWOOD and Rosewood, this diminutive neighborhood is teeming with hidden gems. Blink and you’ll miss the subtly marked gates at Camp East, an urban escape housing Sammataro pizza trailer. Or Birdie’s, which recently earned a Restaurant of the Year nod in Food & Wine for its rotating pastas like orecchiette and gnocchi. New hangouts like retro sports bar Skinny’s Off Track and ethereal speakeasy TRONA are bringing fresh energy to the strip of drinking holes that line East 12th Street, while Zed’s fruity, freshchurned soft serve ice cream provides a reprieve from the frequent hot days of the year. Speaking of frozen treats, treasured Paws on Chicon is a trusted resource for pet owners, with bathing stations and house-spun goat’s milk fro-yo for dogs and cats.
In recent years, the expansion of local businesses surrounding artist Chris Rogers’ famous “We Rise” mural at 12th and Chicon further emphasizes the struggle to preserve the area’s roots in the face of gentrification. While Roland’s Soul Food just shuttered in 2022, Black-owned restaurants like Galloway’s Sandwich Shop and Sam’s BBQ remain neighborhood staples.
Boundaries:
Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Chicon St., E. 12th St., Airport Blvd.
Median Home Price:
$687,150
Change in Sales Price Year Over Year: ↓ 7.1 percent
Walk Score: 76
DON’T MISS
True to Chestnut’s local-centric vibe, Community Garden whips together acai bowls and sandwiches daily and boasts a calendar of pop-up dinners by night. The shop is tucked into a tiny strip on Cedar Avenue, known chiefly by residents who pass by on foot.
1. E ast 12th Street bars Skinny’s Off Track Bar, Outer Heaven, and Full Circle
2. C hris Rogers’ “We Rise” mural
From top: Birdie’s owners Arjav Ezekiel and Tracy MalechekEzekiel; the restaurant’s panisse dish.
DOWNTOWN
Boundaries:
I-35, W. Cesar Chavez St., N. Lamar Blvd., E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Median Home Price:
$717,500
Change in Sales Price Year Over Year: ↑ 1.8 percent
Walk Score: 92
AT THIS TIME four years ago, the downtown area was largely boarded up and empty, reeling amid a global pandemic. Since then, the central hub has risen like a phoenix from the ashes. With an inviting mix of hospitality and retail spaces next door to condos, the neighborhood boasts incredible views and a gorgeous 10-mile-long hike-and-bike trail that borders Lady Bird Lake. For realtor MariaFrancesca Repucci of Sotheby’s International Realty, one of its biggest selling points is its proximity to everything. “A few new pickleball courts [like Austin Pickle Ranch] have popped up, and they’re literally on top of garages. For a lot of people, that’s side by side to their office as well as their condo,” says Repucci, who also lives downtown. “You can kind of do all of your life within a radius of a half a mile.”
COMING SOON
Looking to shed its “Dirty Sixth” reputation, Sixth Street welcomed new gathering spots like Joe Rogan’s Comedy Mothership comedy club and Marlow Bar in 2023. Pecan Street will continue to glow up this year with the opening of famed NYC bar Dead Rabbit, as well as emerging properties from Stream Realty Partners, which has purchased more than half of the real estate between Brazos and I-35 and plans to transform the thoroughfare back to its heyday.
Recent additions to the dining scene include the arrival of New York transplant RedFarm’s modern Chinese cuisine and the much-hyped debut of Uchiba, the latest concept from James Beard Award–winning chef Tyson Cole. Congress Avenue has also seen a nightlife revival, with new bars from multi-level club Higher Ground and cocktail lounge Saturn (1) to the country’s first nonalcoholic bar, Sans Bar. In the market for luxury digs? Keep an eye out for The Modern (2), a 56-story residential skyscraper slated to open on Rainey Street this year.
Yoga at Waterloo Park
Wonders
Ready to explore Central Texas?
These burgeoning towns are worth venturing beyond Austin city limits.
1. KYLE
Perhaps best known for its “Gathering of the Kyles,” a hilarious recurring attempt to beat the Guinness World Record for largest same-name meeting, this booming town was also listed as the third fastest-growing U.S. city in 2023. Expect multiple Austin eateries to expand to Kyle this year, including brunch favorite Snooze and burger joint Mighty Fine.
2. LOCKHART
As the barbecue capital of Texas, Lockhart has always been a destination for brisket fans, with legendary purveyors including Kreuz Market and Smitty’s Market. But since 2021, Austin bar owner Travis Tober (Nickel City) has also revamped the downtown nightlife scene with concepts like Old Austin–inspired bar Old Pal and cozy wine bar-bookstore Best Little Wine & Books.
3. BASTROP
There’s a reason that celebrities like Adrian Grenier and Richard Linklater have purchased properties around this thriving city east of Austin. In addition to multiple state parks with stellar outdoor activities, Bastrop and nearby Cedar Creek have cool attractions for bibliophiles (Painted Porch Bookshop), foodies (Sushi by Scratch Restaurants), and music lovers (Bastrop Music Festival).
From top: Downtown Bastrop and the annual Bastrop Music Festival.
4. TAYLOR
Residents are flocking to this town around 40 miles northeast of Austin, as Samsung’s $17 billion semiconductor plant is slated to open here by the end of 2024. Drive to the growing city to explore Old Taylor High, a school turned mixed-use hub that features Loose Screw Craft Beer House & Garden in a converted English classroom and Plowman’s Kitchen in the former band room.
Plowman’s Kitchen is housed at mixed-use development Old Taylor High.
From top: The water tower in Kyle; barbecue from Kreuz Market.
CHERRYWOOD
Jane Ko and Josh Campbell enjoy drinks at Este.
Boundaries:
Airport Blvd., Manor Road, E. Dean Keeton St., I-35
Median Home Price:
$750,000
Change in Sales Price Year Over Year: ↑ 6.6 percent
Walk Score: 69
SOMETHING ABOUT CHERRYWOOD
just makes you want to spend time outdoors. Maybe it’s the proliferation of oak and pecan trees shading its quaint cottages and ranchstyle homes. Or all the lush spaces, from the urban vegetable garden behind Este to the expansive patio at Butterfly Bar (a nationally certified butterfly sanctuary). Even the little ones can relish alfresco live music during Cherrywood Coffeehouse’s family days every Sunday. Located east of the UT campus, this neighborhood has a convivial, unpretentious vibe that attracts residents and visitors alike— especially at mealtime.
While the western portion of Manor Road has long been filled with classic restaurants, the three-block stretch between Larry Lane and Alexander Avenue on the east part of the thoroughfare has emerged into a mini destination of its own in recent years. Head to the walkable area to explore pizzeria Love Supreme, thrift shop Howdy’s Vintage, and brand-new pickleball haven Other Racquet Social Club. The stretch’s new Fleet Coffee trailer has become a regular hangout spot for A Taste of Koko founder Jane Ko, who is currently building her dream house in Cherrywood with her fiancé, Josh Campbell. “Fleet is fenced off so you can let dogs play, and there’s a food truck next door that’s also one of my favorites, La Santa Barbacha,” the blogger says. Her go-to order? A flat white along with a quesabarbacha (a barbacoa-filled quesadilla).
DON’T MISS
Whether you need your morning brew or a late-night cocktail, there are plenty of spots to grab a drink. In addition to java shops like Progress and Civil Goat, the neighborhood features popular sports bar Haymaker and a scholastic-themed lounge called School House Pub. Keep an eye out for The Alright, a patio bar slated to open at the corner of Manor and Cherrywood in 2024.
In the last three years, the eastern stretch of Manor Road has flourished with attractions.new
1. A retro truck in front of Howdy’s Vintage
2. A kitschy fence at Other Racquet Social Club
3. The lush garden at Butterfly Bar
HOLLY
Boundaries:
Chicon St., E. Seventh St., Pleasant Valley Road, Colorado River
Median Home Price:
$687,150
SINCE BEING NAMED one of the top 25 coolest neighborhoods in the world by Time Out in 2019, Holly has continually ranked among the best areas to live—and play. On quiet avenues and trails that meander away from the busy streets, you’ll find both quirky dives and some of the city’s boldest new culinary concepts. Stellar Israeli fare at Ezov and the 17-course omakase experience at Sushi Bar bring high-caliber cuisine to fine-dining enthusiasts, while Bufalina’s New York–style spinoff Palm Pizza offers gourmands a quicker bite.
FOUR QUESTIONS WITH AUSTIN BOARD OF REALTORS’ PRESIDENT,
Change in Sales Price Year Over Year: ↓ 7.1 percent
Walk Score: 76
Austin Monthly : What is the state of the market in 2024?
Kent Redding: Our Austin market, from what we see in the numbers, is very stable. We’re able to help our clients much better than 24 months ago when it was somewhat of an anomaly that our market spiked during COVID. That was not sustainable, and it was difficult to advise clients on multiple-offer scenarios and what’s a comparative price for a particular property because we just didn’t have the static data that we have now.
Are there any housing trends in Austin right now?
The hybrid work-from-home model is backtracking a little bit. Some corporations and companies are asking their staff to come in more often or come in 100 percent. So, we’re seeing a little less work from home than we were, but certainly way more than before COVID. We’re also seeing multi-generational buying, where a couple or family might be looking for housing, but they’re also looking ahead to maybe a parent moving in.
On the eastern end of Holly, Pershing East crafts unique espresso drinks, and Freewheelin’ Coffee pulls a perfect flat white from an Airstream trailer outside the Coral Snake. New bars like Mama Dearest embrace nostalgia with distinctive libations and an environment that feels like the convergence of a roadside antique fair with a 1950s garage sale. A recent addition on Cesar Chavez, Tiny Minotaur welcomes guests into a theatrical, fantasy-forward experience. Teetotalers will love nonalcoholic bottle shop Dear Dry Drinkery, the first of its kind in the city, which offers regular activities like mocktail-making classes.
1. The garlic knot from Palm Pizza 2. A swirling mural at BLK Vinyl
3. Vinyl Beauty Bar’s colorful interior 2
DON’T MISS
As the neighborhood attracts artists and musicians, more businesses are designing spaces for mixed use. Drinks Lounge hosts a record store, Vinyl Beauty Bar books local music acts on its glittery pink stage, and Riches Art Gallery brings Black creatives to center stage with comedy and group art shows.
What advice do you have in this current market?
It’s a great time to buy in Austin. Our prices are down over the last couple of years. In the next six to nine months, we think they’re going to stay fairly flat, and then go back to some normal appreciation, which might be 3 to 5 percent a year. The interest rates were a little bit high, but you can always refinance in the future. I strongly believe that buyers three years from now that didn’t buy are going to look back and go ‘We should have bought at that time.’
What should homeowners know for the next year?
The homestead exemption got raised in November from $40,000 to $100,000, and over age 65, it’s even more than that [an additional $10,000]. I still run into homeowners that forget to file their exemption. On a $300,000 home, if you have a $100,000 exemption, that’s a third off your property taxes.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Riches Art Gallery features comedy sets and group art shows.
NORTH LOOP
Boundaries:
I-35, E. Koenig Lane, N. Lamar Blvd., W. 51st St., Clarkson Ave., Red River St., E. 45th St., Airport Blvd.
Median Home Price: $722,800
Change in Sales Price Year Over Year: ↑ 2.2 percent
DON’T MISS:
Feeling adventurous? Goat neck pot pie and crispy beef tongue are just a few of the rotating nose-to-tail items you might find on the menu at Foreign & Domestic, an award-winning European-American restaurant just off North Loop Boulevard.
WHETHER THEY MOVED here in the cosmic cowboy era or the early aughts, Austinites love to wax poetic about the good old days, a golden (if undefined) time when the city was an affordable, funky enclave for musicians and slackers. If there’s still a part of town that embodies the soul of “Old Austin,” it’s North Loop. Largely frozen in time, the walkable area lined with ranch-style homes remains free-spirited, with a blend of approachable lounges, relaxed coffee hangouts, and the highest concentration of thrift stores in the city.
Here, shoppers can peruse throwback threads and decor
(Blue Velvet, Ermine, Room Service Vintage), thumb through a vast selection of curated vinyl (Breakaway Records), and even explore their sexuality during expert-led workshops at an adult toy store (Forbidden Fruit). On top of its famed New York–style pies, the North Loop iteration of Home Slice Pizza features location-specific buffalo wings, plus a layered green play space for kids in the backyard. In the eastern part of the neighborhood, you’ll also find an array of homegrown favorites around Airport Boulevard, including The Omelettry, JewBoy Burgers, and Casey’s New Orleans Snowballs.
BOULDIN CREEK
THE “GREETINGS FROM AUSTIN” mural is a magnet to verdant Bouldin Creek. In this area, you’re likely to stumble across a peacock as you walk into Mattie’s for brunch, or spy robins and mourning doves on the West Bouldin Creek Greenbelt trail. The neighborhood’s South First thoroughfare boasts iconic eateries such as intimate French fusion bistro Lenoir and vegetarian Bouldin Creek Cafe. But in the last year, newcomers like Underdog, which Austin Monthly named its Best New Restaurant in 2023, have brought exciting fare to the promenade. Its Korean-forward menu features standout dishes like savory pancakes with shiitake and scallion and fried chicken with shiso ranch. Down the road, Nômadé Cocina transports guests to Tulum through its gorgeous open-air patio, while Dovetail Pizza brings Neapolitan-esque pies to the neighborhood.
Peppered throughout the district are reminders of South First’s artistic allegiance. Roadside Relics remains untouchable as a neon mausoleum beside the aforementioned mural. Ancient Ink Tattoo continues to create no-nonsense body art, and Art for the People holds its ground as a hub for local makers to show and sell their work. Bouldin Creek is also home to the impact hub at VUKA, a time-tested coworking space and cultural incubator.
Boundaries: W. Oltorf St., S. Congress Ave., Lady Bird Lake, W. Bouldin Creek
Median Home Price:
$840,000
Change in Sales Price Year Over Year: ↓ 1.9 percent
Walk Score: 82
BouldinAll-vegetarian Creek Cafe has been a local favorite since 2000.
The retail shops on South First come with culinary delights. High-end footwear boutique Blue Suede doubles as a wine bar with grazing boards featuring Antonelli’s cheeses, while curated home goods store Maaribu has a coffee bar with baked goods like the golden spice sandwich cookie and cinnamon pumpkin doughnut.
DON’T MISS
Nômadé
AUSTIN’S ECCENTRIC ETHOS THRIVES IN OFF-THE-GRID MUSIC VENUES THAT HAVE TAKEN ROOT IN EVERY CREVICE OF THE CITY—SOME OF WHICH ARE RIGHT BENEATH YOUR FEET.
ON A CRISP winter night, a small crowd of shadows hangs around in the dimly lit parking lot of an unassuming convenience store near UT’s campus. The soft red glow from a marquee overhead illuminates the excitable faces of teenagers. A few gaze through the store’s glass double doors at a swaying huddle encircling a four-piece band, playing directly on the floor among the bags of Hot Cheetos and Sour Patch Kids. The venue is at capacity, and those in line wait for their chance to watch this spectacle taking place in the radiant white light from backlit fridges of soda. The singer of Austin band Sexpert hunches over a microphone, her long black hair shrouding her face, and lets out a guttural scream as her supporting cast issues a punishing barrage of sound.
One of the subculture’s buried gems, the Friendly Rio Market is among the capital city’s buzziest places for upstart bands to play. Amid the arrival of pristine venues, the loss of cultural staples like Barracuda or Blues on the Green, and endless waves of transplants, many have lamented Austin’s withering culture. Maybe the looming silhouettes of new high-rises obscure the view on the ground. But in truth, there’s still a robust community of people committed to drenching this city with sound until songs sprout up out of the dirt. Whether in a convenience store, a dormitory cafeteria, or a drainage tunnel under a bridge, music is very much alive in Austin—you just need to know where to look.
At Rio Market, a cacophonous burst of punk music echoes out into the night as the door to the corner store swings open briefly before a tall guy with thickrimmed glasses promptly snaps it shut. Wearing a puffy vest and sporting a mop of salt-and-pepper hair, Moo is the establishment’s owner and defacto bouncer. There’s exuberance in the slight wrinkles at the corners of his mouth and eyes as he cradles his adorable Boston terrier, Ollie, with one arm.
Moo, the only name he goes by publicly, monitors the line of would-be showgoers and enthusiastically greets any actual shoppers who turn up to grab a snack. Several patrons come and go and seem completely unfazed by the situation, clearly neighborhood regulars who are
accustomed to Rio’s frequent punk shows. (Which tracks, since the store has a TV display and microphone permanently set up so anyone can walk in and perform impromptu karaoke on the fly.) A few of the customers smile as they take in the scene, and one even raises his forefinger and pinky—the universal symbol for “rock on”—a parting gesture of solidarity.
“A s a society, we haven’t left a place for these people to go,” says Moo, who was born in India, came to the U.S. at 20 years old, and moved to Austin three years ago. “They’re safe here; they’re not drinking.” Hanging in the window just over his shoulder, there’s indeed a sign that says No Drinking on Premises, right next to another one specifying a max occupancy of 35 people. The venue has had run-ins with authorities who sought to shut it down in the past, so he’s always careful to keep a low profile by minding capacity and making sure shows end before 10 p.m.
It’s unclear if Moo knows that all-ages venues and straight-edge philosophy have been staples of the punk scene for around half a century. Or how much this recent transplant’s open-minded ethos aligns with the free-spirited values held sacred here for generations. But Moo has created an oasis of joy and levity in a world of music that too often feels self-serious. He’s like a patron saint of weird Old Austin that somehow got dreamed into existence—a scene dad of sorts. With a keen sense of the age discrimination baked into our social structures (a major reason kids become punks in the first place), he seems to understand youth a hell of a lot more than most adults, including city leaders.
But Rio isn’t just some kitschy spot for teen gatherings. It has become a foothold for nascent bands looking to break into Austin’s saturated market. It even snagged a nomination for Best New Club in the Austin Chronicle music awards poll. That status has allowed it to propel artists from DIY shows into more established clubs and venues.
“Accessibility is the best quality of Rio,” says Jaelyn Valero, drummer for dream rock band Farmer’s Wife. “There’s just no expectation or standard, and the people who are booking the shows there are doing it with open arms.”
Bands like Farmer’s Wife played shows here before becoming some of the most exciting new acts in the city and amassing thousands of fans. Less than a year after gracing the beige porcelain tiles of Rio, the band sold out Hotel Vegas for a Tuesday night show. That kind of ascent offers evidence that the humble corner store is more than just a quixotic punk mission. It’s an incubator for one of the most championed music scenes in the country.
Music fans at Rio Market hang out in the parking lot while a show is at capacity.
A NEW WAVE
A few short hours ago, the cafeteria of the Pearl Street Co-op in West Campus was filled with heavy wooden tables and benches. Now, the room has been cleared of furniture and a couple hundred college students are packed into the space watching Party Hats, a screamo band from Denton. The singer yanks his shirt off before leaping out into a sea of raised hands that hoist him toward the rafters where a tiny disco ball hangs.
The University of Texas gives Austin’s culture a secret weapon. Each year, around 9,000 teenagers show up ready to discover the town, and many of them actively seek out music experiences. However, the city’s scene is brimming with even more energy than usual right now. Perhaps that’s owed to a general awakening from post-pandemic malaise, but whatever the case, a wave of activity is cresting. And more than a small part of that can be attributed to one woman.
The co-op’s primary entertainment booker, Cristina Mauri, wears a coonskin cap and an oversized olive canvas jacket as she watches the crowdsurfing singer with a grin. Mauri, who works under the moniker Moonbby, has become a local legend for throwing all-out bangers: the “punk prohibition” show where she alter-
From top: A small mosh pit forms during a set by punk band Bosh; area high schoolers Layla (left) and Cody hang out at the show; dream rock band Farmer’s Wife performs at Rio Market.
“IT’S AUSTIN—YOU CAN GO TO A SHOW ANY DAY OF THE WEEK. THERE NEEDS TO BE SOMETHING THAT’S DIFFERENT FOR PEOPLE TO EXPERIENCE.”
nated jazz and punk bands and everyone dressed in ’20s attire, or the random show where she decided to dye the pool in the courtyard red just for the hell of it. “That was kind of disgusting for a little bit,” the 22-year-old booker admits, “but it looked cool.”
Tonight has its own spectacle. With just a couple weeks until the new year, there’s a “ball drop” after Party Hats finishes playing around midnight. Everyone heads outside and bats around a giant inflatable balloon while fountains of foam soak the crowd. “It’s Austin—you can go to a show any day of the week,” Mauri says. “There needs to be something that’s different for people to experience.” Exuding a Gen Z nonchalance, Mauri manages to inhabit a tone that’s sincere and enthusiastic, especially about music, while simultaneously making it seem like she has zero f**ks to give.
These student-run communities near campus (not only Pearl Street but also 21st Street, New Guild, and Taos co-ops) have always teemed with youthful energy. First opened as a women’s dorm called Mayfair House in 1961, the building that is now Pearl was once home to Farrah Fawcett. However, it became the Ark Co-op in the mid-’70s and entered a golden era of raucous parties when all the sodas in the vending machines were replaced with beer that cost 75 cents. Austin guitar hero Stevie Ray Vaughan even played there once in October 1980, but by the end of that decade, dwindling occupancy and general disorder among residents forced ownership to close the building and re-open a few months later as Pearl Street.
Mauri arrived in August 2021, at another pivotal moment for the co-op: the tail end of the pandemic’s first wave, when the institutional knowledge of hosting shows had vanished, as lockdown interrupted a lineage of events coordinators. Having just moved from San Antonio, where she saw her sister become an active part of the city’s DIY underground rave scene, Mauri was determined to bring that energy to her new digs.
At a moment when some of Austin’s official venues were still struggling against the effects of the pandemic, fellow residents of Pearl jumped at the idea of a return to normalcy. “People just wanted to go out and dance more, because everyone was locked up for so long,” Mauri remembers. It didn’t take long before her shows became must-attend affairs, thanks to her keen awareness of how to cultivate a moment and appeal to peers. The talented young booker and promoter also managed to amass more than 28,000 followers on her Instagram account, @wormtriip, which features memes as hilarious as they are inscrutable to most people born before 2000. If original punk looked like black leather and spiked studs, Gen Z’s rejection of norms embraces a parlance of intentional cringe—like screenshotting a scene from SpongeBob and typing over it in Papyrus font. Low-key sick, bro.
But it’s not just about throwing epic parties for Mauri. She sees these DIY events as a place for young bands to perform and a way to build a hub of creativity. “It doesn’t really matter who’s playing, it’s going to pack out every single time there’s a show,” she says. “So, you have a built-in audience.” As a result, these spaces facilitate connections between artists and creatives. More than in any college setting, the participants in this scene are learning to network— not to mention internalizing valuable music industry knowledge like sound production, venue logistics, and event promotions.
Mauri’s penchant for capturing an audience hasn’t gone unnoticed by the capital city’s more entrenched businesses. In January, she was asked to partner with Resound Presents, the state’s largest independent booking company, to arrange a Free Week show at Empire Control Room. Tapping some of Austin’s hottest rising talent—Farmer’s Wife, Daydream Twins, Grocery Bag, and Sad Cell—Mauri’s event surpassed all expectations by bringing in even more attendees than the show in the adjacent (and larger) Empire Garage, which was booked in-house by Resound.
“We should have switched rooms; her show was bigger than the big stage,” muses Graham Williams, the company’s owner. In short, Mauri mobilized an audience of fervent fans from their usual DIY haunts into Austin’s established music ecosystem—proof not only that these spaces are a runway to bigger things in a city where live music means everything, but also that the people participating in them offer tangible economic value. “We very purposely hire people from the scene because they have their finger on the pulse more than a lot of us,” Williams says. “This is the future.”
FRAGILE ROCK
If you believe the lore of some longtime Austinites, city drainage tunnels have been a mainstay of the local music scene for decades. Stretching back to the ’70s or ’80s, perhaps earlier, hippies used to gather at the subterranean locale every full moon for a drum circle. Fifty years later, the same tunnels have become a hot spot for pop-up shows, particularly punk and electronic music. That longevity points to something about Austin’s inborn love of musical expression, as though sound is always out there beneath the city, just waiting to be unearthed.
From a parking lot beneath an elevated section of Mopac, a paved trail leads into the woods toward a steady but faint drifting sound. On many weekends, the path is illuminated by little glow sticks hung in the trees, or sidewalk chalk teasing the destination that awaits those seeking. It crosses over an old pedestrian bridge and then turns right and angles down toward a ravine and three drainage tunnels that run into a hillside.
On a frigid night in January, a few dozen people have congregated here for a show featuring a bunch of local DJs. This show has been organized as a benefit to raise money for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund—an indication of the social
consciousness prevalent in this DIY community. A few people head into the middle tunnel, their silhouettes backlit by pulses of multicolored light as they walk toward the cadence of a house beat.
Bass drum thuds and synth squeals echo off the graffiti-covered walls as bodies bounce in unison, crowded around a small folding table where the DJ is positioned. The energy has the immediate impression of some secret rave in 1990s Berlin, if it had a more distinctly wholesome undertone. People like Sam Wilson, who first heard about the tunnels on Reddit, enjoy attending shows here because it feels authentically focused on art. “I appreciate when it’s clear people are doing something for the passion of it, and it’s not commodified,” Wilson says. “When nobody’s trying to make money off me.”
Here, there’s no official booker or manager. No gatekeeper to decide who gets to play. There’s also no official website or social media, and no easy way to get the word out about events hosted here. Without bar sales or even cover charges, the tunnels force music into focus. It’s a space that belongs to everyone and no one.
Screamo band Party Hats plays a show at Pearl Street Co-op, which acts as a music incubator thanks to a steady influx of youthful energy.
“We sucked when we first started, and bands need to play live to get good,” says Kate Halter, bass player for punk rock outfit Die Spitz. “Thanks to DIY bookers and venues like the tunnels, we were able to sharpen our skills.”
But however vital, these spaces are also precariously positioned. They face the constant threat of public complaints or the heavy boot of some city official. Even Austin’s mainstay venues face continual pressure and hardship. Before landing in its current digs on Red River, beloved hangout Cheer Up Charlies battled neighborhood groups and strict city sound ordinances on the East Side. Its downtown locale has granted some insulation from those threats, but the financial reality of centrally located real estate is its own burden.
Other endeavors, such as the Electric Church or the Church of the Friendly Ghost, faced similar struggles before shuttering. Since official clubs are typically bars and their model fundamentally comes down to selling alcohol, dedicated DIY rooms face the unavoidable question of how to generate revenue. Still, some physical spaces have managed to persist, like the Museum of Human Achievement, a multidisciplinary arts venue in East Austin that hosts everything from music and film screenings to live theater productions. And a new house willing to host shows always pops up for a while before fading away without fanfare.
But ultimately—like New York, San Francisco, and Seattle before it—Austin’s growth and the associated rise in cost of living have created a paradox for music spaces: They can’t afford to exist in places they’re allowed, and they’re not allowed to exist in places they can afford. Despite the difficult situation, the devoted musicians of the capital city will find anywhere possible to play. In the past, that might have been the Hole i n the Wall or the Cavity Club, back when those businesses didn’t have to fight and claw to survive. As the city has become more occupied, those spots have manifested in less visible locales. Those who find themselves thinking the live music capital died along with one venue or event just aren’t looking hard enough.
Rio, the co-ops, the tunnels, and other spaces like them are fertile soil where Austin music germinates and eventually flourishes. The same spirit that birthed them gave the town its identity. Without our scrappy devotion to music, Austin as we know it would not exist: no South by Southwest, no ACL, no live music capital. A city that built its reputation on the backs of artists owes it to the larger creative community to protect organic spaces that foster culture—as though they’re some rare crystalized rock formation found in the wild. Delicate habitat, do not disturb!
But the unfortunate truth is that venues, official or otherwise, will crumble. The corresponding redemption is that the people who make them, and the idea behind them, matter more. It’s not a corner store, or a dorm, or even the city itself. It’s a feeling. An ideology that can’t be toppled. The next exciting thing is just beneath the surface, if you’re willing to dig.
Right: DJ Tedd Dancin draws a crowd inside one of the tunnels during a benefit concert for Palestine in January 2024.
Below: Punk band Corinth performs beneath a highway as traffic passes by overhead.
Austin Home
The Great Outdoors Tour
Saturday May 11
Looking for all the best inspiration for your yard? Presenting Austin Home’s second annual outdoor event: an exclusive tour of the area’s coolest properties.
Prepare to add to your backyard wish list. These homes will showcase outstanding exterior features ranging from outdoor kitchens, pools, and decks to dreamy green spaces and more.
Learn more and buy tickets at austinhomemag.com/greatoutdoorstour
Weird History Strange Bedfellows
Open Barre
Amid the freewheeling hippie culture and rock ‘n’ roll loyalists of Armadillo World Headquarters, Austin Ballet Theatre found a new home base in the ’70s. BY ROSIE NINESLING
IN 1972, HUNDREDS of locals clambered to their seats at Armadillo World Headquarters for one thing only: Sunday night ballet. Stanley Hall, the British-born artistic advisor of Austin Ballet Theatre, watched on as guests settled in with overflowing baskets of nachos and ice-cold Lone Stars, the smell of marijuana drifting up to the lofted ceilings as the curtain rose.
Surely, ’Dillo manager Eddie Wilson was holding his breath. After all, a stage filled with tutu-wearing twirlers was no substitute for, say, Frank Zappa. But between Austin Ballet Theatre’s plea for a permanent home and the Armadillo WHQ’s desperate need for cash, an unlikely union was made that would last nearly a decade.
The collaboration had a rocky start. One of the ballet’s first shows, “Dante,” included dancing demons that left mothers swearing they’d never come back. But sure enough, the crowd returned the next month to watch the 30-piece troupe take to the cramped stage once again.
The performers went unpaid, but they weren’t alone; the president of Austin’s Planned Parenthood volunteered to do custodial cleanup post shows, while library worker Kate Bergquist designed the programs and schoolteacher Judy Thompson helped with rehearsals. As for the audience, the typical hippies and deadheads at the Armadillo were transfixed by the choreography, and many signed up for dance classes with the theatre to hone their own pliés
Despite the success of the shows—and Hall having finally found a home for his theatre—Wilson’s attempt to keep the venue afloat fell flat in 1980. Armadillo World Headquarters and its monthly ballet program permanently closed on Dec. 31, ending an eight-year stint. “We were different as night and day, but we were perfectly suited for each other,” said Wilson in a 1973 issue of Texas Monthly. “One band of renegades found another.”
A vintage flyer for the Armadillo World Headquarters.
The power to keep you ridin’
