For those of you who aren’t frequent readers, we started a new thing here called “The Guest Eater” column. Friends of the blog pop in and share some great food stuff they have come across with all of you! This week, Shannon Brown, from the sketch group ManiPedi writes in about their trip to Austin, Texas (where they were performers in the “Ladies Are Funny” (or LAFF) Festival). 

While preparing for Austin, I found myself very excited for a few things: performing, seeing shows, The Bat Bridge and eating…well, mostly eating. We had heard a lot about all of the great food we would eat, we watched shows about food in Austin, and picked up maps of food truck locations. We were an unstoppable group, with cast iron bottomless pits for stomachs.

Outside of Gueros

Around the fourth minute into our stay in Austin we were on the hunt for food. Due to seeing shows and eating at some okay places, I found my favorite dishes the second day we were there. During our visit to the Capitol Building, the wonderful people that ran the LAFF suggested we go to Guero’s. I ordered a chicken especial, breakfast taco (with eggs, cheese, and if I remember correctly, bacon).

The chicken especial

I can’t describe any of the flavors of the chicken taco, because I more or less inhaled it. It was so good, I couldn’t stop eating until I reached my own human fingers. I loved it. I didn’t dig the breakfast taco as much( I also don’t really like breakfast pizza) but it was still pretty good. I added some of their mild salsa—from their salsa bar(just as you would imagine, an array of salsas) and that made it pretty great. I also drank a strawberry margarita which was also wonderful.

A photo of Amy’s, taken from across the street, under a tin roof.

That same day, I spotted Amy’s, an ice cream shop I had seen on a tv show about five
strangers who travelled to Austin together. They made a pretty big deal about the place, so I wanted to check it out.

It had been a dreary, rainy day. While everyone else went to get coffee, I convinced Briana to walk over to the outdoor establishment (on the show the cast went inside. When we went, it was only a walk up window. I felt duped.) to wait in the rain as the patrons ahead of us sampled various flavors.

“Cheer up emo kid”

When it was our turn, I ordered an emo kid—dark chocolate ice cream, homemade chocolate cake pieces and homemade hot fudge. I opted for rainbow jimmies, which was met with a “hey, I guess this is a cheer up emo kid now…” I didn’t find this as amusing as the youth behind the counter did. However, the slightly tweaked specialty was goddamn amazing. It was everything I could have ever wanted. The suckers who opted for coffee each had a taste and loved it as well.

Apparently Austin was in the middle of a drought…until the weekend we were there.

I should also mention that the Embassy Suites we stayed at had a fabulous free breakfast buffet. We hung out there as long as possible each morning stuffing our faces with all of the delicious hotel food they offered. They also had a complimentary happy hour every night. We only went to that once. In spite of all of the rain, that was my favorite day in Austin.

Thanks to Shannon & to the gals in ManiPedi for writing up thoughts on Austin food on the trip! Check out their new video “The Taco Bell Jar”. Funny stuff!