Living in Austin, TX

$100 Weekend in Austin, TX

2012-02-02T13:14:00.002-06:00

A friend of mine forwarded this article published in NY Times' "Frugal Traveler" - $100 Weekend in Austin, Tex by Seth Kugel.

- manzoor

$100 Weekend in Austin, Tex by Seth Kugel

6th & Congress

2012-01-28T08:55:00.000-06:00

Took this pix back in '06 (September 4th). Don't even remember what I was doing there :o( Should have made the note much much earlier. Someone just saw this on flickr and favorited it, which prompted me to create this blog.

- manzoor

Phonatic

2012-01-17T11:57:00.001-06:00

- manzoor

Opal Divine's

2012-01-10T09:09:00.001-06:00

- manzoor

Official Site

Amaya's Taco Village

2012-01-10T08:56:00.004-06:00

- manzoor

Official Site

Baguette Et Chocolat

2011-12-29T01:31:00.000-06:00

- manzoor

Official Site

El Greco Grill

2011-12-23T09:49:00.000-06:00

- manzoor

Blue Dahlia Bistro

2011-12-23T09:36:00.000-06:00

- manzoor

Another Broken Egg Cafe

2011-11-20T20:32:00.003-06:00

- manzoor

Rosa's Cafe Tortilla Factory

2011-11-20T20:32:00.001-06:00

- manzoor

hopdoddy burger bar

2011-11-03T17:41:00.001-05:00

1400 S Congress Ave STE 190A,
Austin, TX 78705
(512) 243-7505
Hours - Open at 11am, Close at 10pm (Friday & Saturday at 11pm)

- manzoor

Cake & Spoon

2011-10-19T20:16:00.001-05:00

- manzoor

Official Site

Various Restaurants on My Wish List

2011-10-02T08:31:00.000-05:00

- manzoor

Non Austin / Central Texas

90th Triple Digital Temperature Day of the Year

2011-09-29T23:22:00.002-05:00

And hopefully the last.

- manzoor

The Peached Tortilla

2011-09-26T17:22:00.001-05:00

Sep 26th '11 - They came by the office and I got to try them for the very first time. Had a couple of their sliders (not the Crab one - they'd run out) - very good. Unfortunately was rushing thru and couldn't even get a shot of the food :o( Hoping they're going to be back soon for me to try again.

- manzoor

Hairy Man Festival

2011-09-21T22:01:00.001-05:00

- manzoor

Official Site
2011 - Saturday Sep 24th

Old Pecan Street Festival

2011-09-21T22:00:00.001-05:00

- manzoor

Official Site
2011 - Sep 24th 11am - 10pm, Sep 25th 11am - 8pm

Old Pecan Street Cafe

2011-09-14T20:44:00.001-05:00

Location -
Phone -
Hours - ??

- manzoor

Official Site

Wholy Bagel

2011-09-14T20:38:00.001-05:00

Location - South (MoPac & William Canon)
Phone -
Hours - T-F 6am-3pm, S-S 7am-2pm

- manzoor

Cat Mountain Grill

2011-09-14T20:37:00.001-05:00

Location - 3815 Dry Creek Dr, Austin TX 78731
Phone - (512) 432-5390
Hours - Sun - Wed - 11-8, Th - Sat - 11-9

- manzoor

Official Site

Fires Around Central Texas

2011-09-06T05:30:00.001-05:00

Over the last couple of days, there has been a half dozen wild fires in & around central Texas.

- manzoor

Pflugerville
Steiner Ranch
Bastrop
Galleria
Leander

Ka-Prow Bistro

2011-09-03T14:37:00.000-05:00

- manzoor

Anderson's Coffee-Tea

2011-09-02T13:33:00.001-05:00

- manzoor

Official Site

Hottest Day in Austin

2011-08-28T19:19:00.000-05:00

By reaching 112^oF just around 2:30 PM, we have matched the record for being the hottest day. This record was first set on Sep 5th 2000.

BTW, today was the 73rd day this summer we reached or crossed the triple digits!!!!

- manzoor

More Records Set

2011-08-28T19:08:00.003-05:00

- manzoor

Hottest day in Austin
More Heat Records Fall - KXAN

My Thanh

2011-08-28T10:58:00.001-05:00

- manzoor

Official Link

70th Triple Digit Day

2011-08-24T13:11:00.000-05:00

We just beat the 86 year old record for most triple digit days. From the looks of it, we will be setting a new record that's going to be significantly more than the 69 days it was at all this time.

- manzoor

Taqueria Arandinas

2011-08-20T21:27:00.001-05:00

- manzoor

Oasis Cafe & Pizza

2011-08-19T19:34:00.001-05:00

Location - North (Merriltown) 14735 Bratton Ln Austin, TX 78728
Phone - (512) 251-5777
Hours - ??

Very few people know of this place and I believe they actually like it like that. Though I have not been there in a long time, I remember the place to have very good & fresh food. Though not cheap, it wasn't expensive at all.

The one thing that I didn't like was their hours. They were closed more than they were open. I need to go back and find out exactly what their hours are.

- manzoor

Official Site

Zakia's Greek Cuisine

2011-08-14T11:17:00.004-05:00

Location: North (Parmer Ln & 620)
Hours: M-F Lunch 11-3, Dinner 5-9, Sat Lunch 11-5, Dinner 5-10, Sunday CLOSED

- manzoor

Official Site

Green Pastures

2011-08-14T10:40:00.003-05:00

Location - South 811W. Live Oak, Austin TX

- manzoor

Official Site
My "Best Brunch" Pick

Hickory Street Bar & Grille

2011-08-14T10:33:00.005-05:00

Location - Downtown - 8th &amp; Congress

- manzoor

Official Site
My "Best Brunch" Pick

Iron Cactus

2011-08-14T10:26:00.007-05:00

Locations - 3

Downtown
North
South West - Hill Country Galleria

Most of my visits to Iron Cactus for brunch has been in groups of 20+ and those experiences have always been very positive. Their ability to accomodate our group of 10~15 adults and another 10+ kids has been something I have always appreciated. The couple of times I have been there for brunch with my family were just as positive.

They have a expanded brunch hour that starts at 10am and goes all the way till 3pm. Though personally I like my brunch around 11 or just a little earlier so that I am done around noon or maybe a little later.

They used to be about $15/adult and under $10 for kids. But now it seems they have bumped it to $20/adults and $12/kids (12 and under).

They have a fairly wide selection of juices and fruits in addition to eggs / omelettes, fajitas, a carving station, pancakes & waffles, pastries etc.

Of the 3 Austin locations, I have always only been to their North location (at the corner of Stonelake Blvd & 360) but have been meaning to visit the Hill Country Galleria location sometime (it's a just a little too far for me).

- manzoor

Vivo

2011-08-12T15:44:00.004-05:00

Locations:

Manor & 26th Street (Dean Keaton)
620 & Lake Creek Pkwy

Hour

- manzoor

Official Site

Lucky J's Chicken & Waffles

2011-08-07T18:15:00.005-05:00

Locations:

Burnet & Hancock
E. 6th Street and Waller

Hours:

- manzoor

Official Site

Coworking in Austin

2011-08-05T17:41:00.003-05:00

Just heard my co-workers talking about a couple of co-working places in town.

- manzoor

El Greco Grill

2011-08-05T16:10:00.002-05:00

- manzoor

Official Site

Early Morning Rain

2011-07-16T08:29:00.002-05:00

Didn't get much, but it was still good.

- manzoor

La Fuente's

2011-07-12T20:39:00.002-05:00

- manzoor

Official Site

Mansfield Dam

2011-07-09T09:25:00.004-05:00

- manzoor

Franklin BBQ

2011-07-08T17:31:00.003-05:00

Locations:

East / Downtown - 900 E. 11th Street, Austin TX

Hours - Tues - Sun 11am to SOLD OUT

Oct 15th, '11 - Finally made it. Got in line just before 10:30. After waiting over 2 hours and driving back home it was almost 2 before I got to try. Happen to also pick a couple of the pies (from Cake & Spoon).

Oct 8th '11 - Again failed to try. Got there too late. Will attempt again next Saturday.

Aug 20th, '11 - Just went by to check out the place that I've heard so much about. There was a long line, the expected wait time was about 45min

- manzoor

Official Site

No Fireworks this 4th of July

2011-07-04T11:38:00.006-05:00

It's been a very, very dry / hot summer and the city has decided to cancel the usual fireworks.

Georgetown, TX did still have fireworks and we were able to (at the very last minute) decide and run over there to watch the festivities.

It was really fun. We pulled into the Sonic had some shakes and sundaes and watched the show.

- manzoor

4th of July '10

Louie Mueller Barbecue

2011-07-02T21:23:00.007-05:00

Location - Taylor, TX
Cuisine - BBQ
Cost - ??
Hours - M-S 11am-7:30pm
Rate - ??

- manzoor

Official Site

Carrob's Cafe

2011-06-28T07:40:00.001-05:00

Sun Harvest Farmers Market

2011-06-27T08:48:00.003-05:00

- manzoor

Official Site

My Thanh

2011-06-27T08:48:00.000-05:00

Shahi Foods

2011-06-27T08:44:00.002-05:00

I have been shopping at Shahi for years now. We primarily shop there for the Halal meat and spices (ginger / garlic paste and other special spice for our Bangladeshi cuisine). But we also get various cookies (which we call Biscuits) and fish (from Bangladesh) and various other items that are from other parts of the world that I can only find at Shahi.

On top of that they have recently expanded and made it even easier to find all sorts of new items.

- manzoor

My Review on Yelp

Burger Revolution '11

2011-06-27T08:30:00.004-05:00

What - Burger Revolution
Where - Central Market
When - June 22nd '11 thru July 5th '11

- manzoor

Red Rabbit Cooperative Bakery

2011-06-26T10:17:00.003-05:00

- manzoor

Official Site

Summer '11

2011-06-21T16:00:00.001-05:00

So far this month (August) we've had 1 day when the high temp did not reach / exceed 100^oF. Last month (July) we had 3.

- manzoor

July 10th - 99^oF
July 7th - 99^oF
July 1st - 99^oF

Spring '11

2011-06-20T16:37:00.004-05:00

- manzoor

Will it be hottest summer ever? Blog by Jim Spencer of KXAN
Summer '11

Cafe Yolly

2011-06-19T16:45:00.004-05:00

- manzo0r

Grin's Restaurant

2011-06-18T16:55:00.006-05:00

- manzoor

Official Site

Lake Travis

2011-06-14T18:33:00.005-05:00

- manzoor

Enchiladas Y Mas

2011-06-14T09:20:00.002-05:00

- manzoor

Official Site

La Casita

2011-06-14T09:17:00.002-05:00

- manzoor

Official Site

The Original Dimassi's Mediterranean Buffet

2011-06-10T22:53:00.004-05:00

Aug 20th, '11 - went by to to check the menu and found out that they no longer have the lamb shank. Apparently it's too expensive to include in the buffet (and they don't have any order menu).

Dimassi's used to be in this location, but they closed a few months ago. Not sure how these two enterprises might be related . . . .

- manzoor

Wires & Cables

2011-06-07T16:26:00.004-05:00

- manzoor

Spicy Monsoon

2011-06-04T18:49:00.004-05:00

This is the most "unique" Indian restaurant I have experienced so far in Austin.

- manzoor

Official Site

University of Texas

2011-05-27T19:02:00.007-05:00

I spent most of my initial time in Austin in and around UT. So, of course, UT has a special place in my memory and always will do. Of the many, many spots in UT a few are:

Drag
Duck Pond
Libraries

Main Building
Tower

- manzoor

FM 90.1

2011-05-19T17:32:00.001-05:00

- manzoor

false matters

2011-05-18T05:41:00.002-05:00

- manzoor

Movies, Books, Music and more

Time Capsules

2011-05-18T05:25:00.002-05:00

- manzoor

DK Sushi

2011-05-17T13:20:00.004-05:00

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Official Site

24 Diner

2011-04-15T07:14:00.002-05:00

- manzoor

A+A Sichuan China

2011-04-07T18:24:00.006-05:00

- manzoor

Rice Bowl Cafe

2011-04-07T18:19:00.006-05:00

Finally had lunch with my girls yesterday (June 25th). It was very good.

Jun 26th, '11 - So far I've only been to Rice Bowl once. We ended up ordering way too much (it was just me and my daughters). But we did get to try a good variety.

- manzoor

Official Site

Dos Batos

2011-03-27T08:34:00.003-05:00

- manzoor

Official Site

Tea Lounge, The

2011-03-20T18:33:00.003-05:00

- manzoor

Official Site

Gateway Theater

2011-03-17T20:05:00.002-05:00

SXSW

2011-03-17T19:46:00.002-05:00

Downtown

2011-03-16T16:37:00.005-05:00

- manzoor

2nd Street
6th Street
State Capital
Live Music
Restaurants
Zilker Park

The Drag

2011-03-16T16:30:00.003-05:00

Hill Country Galleria

2011-03-16T16:29:00.001-05:00

- manzoor

Official Site

Restaurants at the Arboretum

2011-03-16T16:15:00.007-05:00

Amy's - Dessert, $, 7
Kenobi - Japanese, $$$, 7+
Thundercloud - Lunch, Sandwhich, Sub, $, 7

- manzoor

Emma Long

2011-03-16T15:18:00.002-05:00

Mayfield Park

2011-03-16T15:17:00.003-05:00

Pedernales Falls

2011-03-16T15:16:00.005-05:00

Hamilton Pool

2011-03-16T15:16:00.004-05:00

San Francisco Bakery & Café

2011-03-15T09:26:00.002-05:00

- manzoor

Official Site

Mongolian Grille - Downtown

2011-03-12T08:55:00.001-06:00

- manzoor

Official Site

Get Sum dum sum

2011-03-08T10:17:00.003-06:00

- manzoor

Official Site

Ranch 616

2011-03-04T14:15:00.002-06:00

- manzoor

Official Site

Perla’s Seafood & Oyster Bar

2011-03-04T14:13:00.003-06:00

- manzoor

Official Site

South Congress Cafe

2011-03-04T14:11:00.003-06:00

- manzoor

Official Site

Cafe Crepe of Austin

2011-03-04T14:09:00.002-06:00

Shoreline Grill

2011-03-04T14:08:00.003-06:00

Conscious Cravings

2011-03-04T14:06:00.002-06:00

- manzoor

Official Site

La Casita

2011-03-04T14:05:00.002-06:00

- manzoor

Official Site

Tacos & Tequila

2011-03-04T14:04:00.001-06:00

Simplicity Wine & Eats

2011-03-04T14:02:00.002-06:00

Baguette House & Cafe

2011-03-04T14:01:00.002-06:00

Apothecary Cafe & Wine Bar

2011-03-04T13:59:00.003-06:00

- manzoor

Snack Bar

2011-03-04T13:57:00.003-06:00

- manzoor

Peek at the Sky thru Winter Tree

2011-02-28T17:14:00.004-06:00

Both of these pictures were taken in late February and mid March - one in 2011 and the other back in 2007. It's soon interesting to see how every year nature looks the same all over again.

- manzoor

Genuine Joe Coffeehouse

2011-02-28T17:01:00.003-06:00

- manzoor

Official Site

Long Center for the Performing Arts

2011-02-23T09:22:00.002-06:00

- manzoor

Official Site

Palmer Events Center

2011-02-23T09:20:00.002-06:00

- manzoor

Official Site

Events & Activity

2011-02-22T14:28:00.003-06:00

Austin City Limit - ACL
South by South West - SXSW

- manzoor

Mongolian Grille

2011-02-16T18:46:00.008-06:00

The good thing about Mongolian Grille is that if you don't like the food you can always blame yourself ;~) And, maybe, not make the same mistake the next time around.

- manzoor

Official Site