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Postcards from When we walked in, the average age skyrocketed. The wait staff

Austin TX “Beardos,” our waiter said, who was sporting the fullest one of
wore T-shirts saying, “Hopdizzle fo’ sizzle” and “We spank our
patties and they like it.” In the first 10 minutes we counted 10
ironic lumber-sexual beards (think Luden Brothers cough drops).

the bunch. The burgers — of course made from humanely raised
cows never fed antibiotics or growth hormones — were delicious.
The truffle fries and aoili dipping sauce — scrumptious. But the
real magic: the Nutella Pretzel Milk Shake. That alone is worth a
trip to Austin.

While the South Congress area has its share of fancy restaurants,
we zeroed in on the food trucks where we found everything from
cupcakes to ravioli to fried chicken to dal. But we were in Texas so
we went straight for the elevated tacos at Torchy’s in a food court
of sorts on First Street. The complicated fried oyster taco and
green chili pork taco were so good we headed back there for our
final Texas meal, two breakfast tacos with brisket, eggs, potatoes,
avocados and surprising sauces.

South Congress has a handful of stores that have survived its
raunchier days. Folk-art gallery “Mi Casa” has been there for 20
years. Owner Jim Luedeke pointed to the far wall covered with
religious paintings and said, “The working girls used to live right
above there.” The antique/junque store Uncommon Objects,
where you can buy everything from used horse shoes for $4 to
Top: Right: Colorful paper mache animals in Austin folk arts Galleries.
Bottom: Silverstream Texas Taco shop. Opposite: Jeff blaylock “I’m a
sucker for the pretty girls.”

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