My best friend and I thought it would be completely necessary to take advantage of my current employment situation and figured I should spend a week down in the Texas heat. So, I packed my bag and jetsetted to the lovely city of Austin, the live-music, beer guzzling, capital city of Texas.
We wasted no time to get to the live music or the beer for that matter. She picked me up from the airport (which also had a live band playing in the atrium. I don’t think they compare to the piano players who indulge us with soft melodies in Milwaukee’s airport, but still pretty cool) and headed straight to the Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co. It was sticky outside, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying a cold brew outside in their garden.
Complete with large picnic tables, jumbo artistic bike rack, and lights strung up in trees, this place is beaming with rustic charm. They have five standard brews and five rotational taps, which gives any beer guru a plethora of options. I settled for a Czech-style pilsner, while Angela went with an American pale ale; both were delicious. Though happy hour prices were a bit steeper than expected, I am always game to spend good money on beer that is well crafted.
While enjoying our brews we decided we were hungry, so we order the Smoked Turkey Melt, which was piping hot and yummy! As soon as it was set in front of us my mouth was watering. The sandwich was topped with gooey cheddar cheese, caramelized onions, their own house-made barbecue sauce (hello, this is Texas), and a roasted garlic mayo on sourdough. Toasted to perfection and served with a side of coleslaw, this sandwich would hold us over until our next meal and was delectable!
Once we downed the rest of our beers, we snuck off to Opa!, a small coffee shop and wine bar tucked away from a busy street boasting with board games, ping-pong, and greek fare. We enjoyed a couple more beers and devoured a plate of baked feta, which is as delicious as it sounds! Baked to perfection and served with warm pita, cool cucumbers, tomatoes, and topped with herbs, this was a Grecian dish of perfection! And perfect to hold us over for another brew back at the Beer Garden. We also had a chance to divulge our inner-child with a couple rounds of Connect 4. We won’t talk about who won more games…
We returned to the beer garden to meet up with some of Angela’s friends, and enjoyed the beautiful evening outside (and the all night happy hour). They had a live band playing by the time we returned, but we wanted the opportunity to chat, so we returned outside where they had a speaker piping the music outside. The vibe was still incredibly chill. The tables were filled with friends chatting and enjoying pizza, as well as individuals studying with a cold one. This place definitely catered to all needs.
For sure a neat place to check out! And as a beer connoisseur, it was great to see the variety of taps they had. Can’t wait to see what else Austin has in store for me!
