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What the fuck is wrong with you, Austin?


crash_davis

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6 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

dibs on 'Honolulu Taint' for alt.ukulele indie band name.  

Also-what the fuck are they doing to that office building on top of Ego's?  It gets weirder and weirder each week.  

The Related Companies owns it and have submitted an application for a PUD.

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Shit, that's right.  Somebody else mentioned that on the downtown development thread, getting old and forgetful.  Still a head-scratcher to me to have PUD that close to the CBD.  I assume that other building to the west of Chevron is enveloped in the same district proposal, maybe even the old Threadgill's.  

Anecdotally, I have seen a metric fuckton more trash on the side of the roads lately.  Most I've seen since camping ban/Covid era.  But according to my Zilker Eagle newsletter, we're going to get the kiddie choo-choo about 9 years before we get our first ProjectConnect train.

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5 hours ago, honolulu horn said:

Honolulu is exceptionally different from other US cities. But it sucks, it's terrible, definitely don't move here. 

One of my co-worker buddies transferred from Denver to Honolulu a few years ago for a 60% salary bump to work at a branch there. He left after a year, said everything was still too fucking expensive. 

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15 hours ago, Bevo said:

 So where can I live that is like the old Austin if I don't want to live in a place that is like a far inferior version of New York?

Asheville NC, Knoxville TN, Lexington KY, Wilmington, NC, Chattanooga TN.

That's as close as I've seen in my travels.

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3 hours ago, BurntEyes said:

Asheville NC, Knoxville TN, Lexington KY, Wilmington, NC, Chattanooga TN.

That's as close as I've seen in my travels.

I promise you each one of those towns has locals bitching about people moving in and the town changing.  I know Asheville has had a big influx of new residents.

This took me half a second to find...

https://wlos.com/news/local/asheville-crime-public-safety-fox-news-and-friends-criticized-violent-ongoing-homelessness-issues-residents-speak-out-business-owners

“North Carolina locals are demanding their city leaders address surging crimes and homelessness making their streets dangerous,” said 'Fox & Friends' anchor Todd Piro.

The news channel highlighted the city’s 31% increase in violent crime over the last five years, and more than 600 homeless people.

“The city has become completely lawless and all of this drifts over into our neighborhoods,” said Helen Hyatt, of the Asheville Neighborhood Coalition

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4 minutes ago, texasdago said:

I promise you each one of those towns has locals bitching about people moving in and the town changing.  I know Asheville has had a big influx of new residents.

This took me half a second to find...

https://wlos.com/news/local/asheville-crime-public-safety-fox-news-and-friends-criticized-violent-ongoing-homelessness-issues-residents-speak-out-business-owners

“North Carolina locals are demanding their city leaders address surging crimes and homelessness making their streets dangerous,” said 'Fox & Friends' anchor Todd Piro.

The news channel highlighted the city’s 31% increase in violent crime over the last five years, and more than 600 homeless people.

“The city has become completely lawless and all of this drifts over into our neighborhoods,” said Helen Hyatt, of the Asheville Neighborhood Coalition

Okay, got it - like Austin 15 years ago.

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In mid-January, there was a murder of a 22 year old at the Cricket Hollow apartments on I-35. Two 21 year-old guys arrested for it this weekend. According to the news story:

"Court documents said officials believed Jaimes and Allen identified Gamez-Santos as a target for robbery, as he was wearing an “Audemars Piguet watch valued at $99,850,” and in the process, committed capital murder when he was shot and killed."

One person dead, three lives destroyed over a fucking fancy watch.

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1 minute ago, Cap33 said:

And it was probably a $100 fake version anyway.

I mean, given the age of the people involved and location, it's very possible. I'd hope that if you have the means to buy a $100K watch that you aren't hanging out in the apartments off 35.

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On 2/9/2024 at 2:07 PM, texasdago said:

I'm on my second round living in Austin.  First round was during my college years... the best time for one to live in Austin.  Yeah, it was kick ass back then for sure but "round two" me will tell you the current Austin while more expensive - definitely more expensive - offers better food than it used to, dare I say more music options than before (the music scene/options are truly ridiculous), more places to go have fun at night (used to just be mostly 6th street and Red River a few places in west campus... now east Austin, west 6th, south Lamar/1st/congress, etc), more outdoor options (just look at the people paddleboarding on Town Lake and having a good time... nobody did that crap when I was in college), breweries, wineries, stuff in the hill country, a more vibrant downtown (I don't miss the surface lots)... I really enjoy it.  I do hope to get the F out of Texas eventually but, for now, I'm making the most of it... even at 109 degrees.

Every perk of "New Austin" is nothing unique to Austin.  Breweries, wineries, live music, decent restaurants, all these things are popping up in almost every town with a decent sized population.  Breweries are sprouting up left and right, and are currently experience attrition due to oversaturation and people switching from beer to other alternatives or not drinking.  Seems like local restaurants are overtaking the chains left and right, too.  As good as we are locally, we still don't have a ton of great James Beard winners, nor do we boast a single Michelin star in the city.  I would say your experience is more of a post-covid culture shift versus an Austin awakening.

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2 minutes ago, PvilleStang said:

Seems like local restaurants are overtaking the chains left and right, too.  As good as we are locally, we still don't have a ton of great James Beard winners, nor do we boast a single Michelin star in the city.

It would be impossible for an Austin restaurant to be granted a Michelin star.  They only review restaurants in New York, California, Illinois, Florida, and Washington DC.

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55 minutes ago, PvilleStang said:

Every perk of "New Austin" is nothing unique to Austin.  Breweries, wineries, live music, decent restaurants, all these things are popping up in almost every town with a decent sized population.  Breweries are sprouting up left and right, and are currently experience attrition due to oversaturation and people switching from beer to other alternatives or not drinking.  Seems like local restaurants are overtaking the chains left and right, too.  As good as we are locally, we still don't have a ton of great James Beard winners, nor do we boast a single Michelin star in the city.  I would say your experience is more of a post-covid culture shift versus an Austin awakening.

But... so???  Just because Austin has new breweries and wineries and decent restaurants and other places do too doesn't mean anything to me.  It doesn't discount the positives of those things were I live.  

As for Michelin Stars, I've never cared about that.  Is there a single Michelin starred restaurant in Texas?  If there was, would most of the people in Austin care?  And if they did, would they be the people that Old Austin rants about?  Probably.  

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4 minutes ago, texasdago said:

As for Michelin Stars, I've never cared about that.  Is there a single Michelin starred restaurant in Texas?  If there was, would most of the people in Austin care?  And if they did, would they be the people that Old Austin rants about?  Probably.  

Again, 4 states and DC.  No other states could have a starred restaurant.  The lack of a star is a non-starter (heh) for restaurants in most states -- they can't get one, no matter how good the food is.

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3 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

Again, 4 states and DC.  No other states could have a starred restaurant.  The lack of a star is a non-starter (heh) for restaurants in most states -- they can't get one, no matter how good the food is.

used to do nevada until 2019 as well but stopped because people weren't buying the book for vegas.

as our local michelin reviewer expert, i can tell you that there are a few restaurants in austin that that would definitely qualify for at least a star if, as jimmy points out, michelin actually reviewed austin.

i would venture a guess that amongst pasta bar, juniper, este, dai due, suerte, franklin, odd duck...there'd be a couple that could get a star.  certainly nowhere in austin has the focus on service hospitality necessary for a 2 or 3 star but food quality wise, there are a few.

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6 minutes ago, sidis said:

i would venture a guess that amongst pasta bar, juniper, este, dai due, suerte, franklin, odd duck...there'd be a couple that could get a star.  certainly nowhere in austin has the focus on service hospitality necessary for a 2 or 3 star but food quality wise, there are a few.

I rarely dine at that level . . . would any of the Uchi restaurants make the grade in your mind?

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1 minute ago, jimmyjazz said:

I rarely dine at that level . . . would any of the Uchi restaurants make the grade in your mind?

uchi and uchiko are definitely michelin star level food.  they have no service though.  they have waiters.  nowhere in austin has 2/3 michelin star service/hospitality.  not even close.  it's an order of magnitude difference...totally inconsequential to the quality and enjoyment of the food but it there is not a single place that even tries to achieve anything in that arena.

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Good points, all.  I still pay attention to the Michelin rating when we used to travel in Europe and still in New York.  but other than that, it doesn't mean much.  But it's an interesting outlier.  It's a completely provincial and antiquated and outmoded ranking model, but yet still carries weight in significant sub-populations.  Kinda like Wine Spectator rankings.  You can just as easily glean more insightful and current intel on a restaurant or bottle or whatever from more reliable sources these days, but for certain niches...it has gravitas.  Kinda like I'd laugh at somebody giving me a hotel suggestion from a Fodor's, but I still like watching Rick Steve's on PBS and take his recs to heart. I dunno.

But Austin absolutely has superlative food quality, sourcing, chefs, and sommeliers.  But do sorely lack in service and circus experience.  Just the nature of our town.  I remember about 10 years ago, the Austin Food & Wine Foundation (or whatever the fuck it was called) was promising this massive upgrade in our dining scene and I thought it was just Austin ego.  And they wanted to start coalescing around the windfall of cash and culinary opportunities coming into town.  And I naively brushed it off thinking it was just pride of authorship.  Covid pause notwithstanding, our town is just flush with an embarrassment of riches when it comes to mid-to-high end dining.  And we still have some unique long-time stalwarts to boot.  We still have younger munchkins so rarely get to dine out these days except for a business dinner or fundraiser here or there, but it's in almost every part of town fucking insane how good our restaurant scene is.  It was always good, but it's world-class now.  Just not star-rated apparently.  But then, who gives a shit?  

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2 hours ago, sidis said:

uchi and uchiko are definitely michelin star level food.  they have no service though.  they have waiters.  nowhere in austin has 2/3 michelin star service/hospitality.  not even close.  it's an order of magnitude difference...totally inconsequential to the quality and enjoyment of the food but it there is not a single place that even tries to achieve anything in that arena.

dipdipdip tatsuya gives it a real go.

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Yeah the reality is the restaurant scene is much much better than it used to be... I mean light years... old Austin wishes we would only eat at Players, Threadgills, Nighthawk and Matt's El Rancho.  We're better off than we were... I don't need Michelin stars... there's plenty of great options around town.

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Just now, texasdago said:

Yeah the reality is the restaurant scene is much much better than it used to be... I mean light years... old Austin wishes we would only eat at Players, Threadgills, Nighthawk and Matt's El Rancho.  We're better off than we were... I don't need Michelin stars... there's plenty of great options around town.

You left out Holiday House. Do you even Old West Austin, Bro?

 

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22 hours ago, crash_davis said:

We are just a bunch of old ladies at a denture finding party complaining about shit. Here's all of us on this thread to everything in Austin.

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1, 1, 1, 1

1, 1, 1, 1

4 minutes ago, hornian said:

You left out Holiday House. Do you even Old West Austin, Bro?

 

Pig Stand ftw 

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Disclaimer: I rarely get out of my bubble and eat at the same spots over and over... but does Austin have many restaurants with outdoor ambiance? I feel like this city is the king of restaurants that feature great views of parking lots and outdoor seating surrounded by parking bollards. Hell, I'd take indoor ambiance. Recently went to Tiki Tatsuya and absolutely loved it... in no small part because I felt like I was transported somewhere else. 

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7 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

Disclaimer: I rarely get out of my bubble and eat at the same spots over and over... but does Austin have many restaurants with outdoor ambiance? I feel like this city is the king of restaurants that feature great views of parking lots and outdoor seating surrounded by parking bollards. Hell, I'd take indoor ambiance. Recently went to Tiki Tatsuya and absolutely loved it... in no small part because I felt like I was transported somewhere else. 

You need to get out of your bubble for sure as we love all the places where we can eat outside.  Where is your bubble?

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3 minutes ago, texasdago said:

You need to get out of your bubble for sure as we love all the places where we can eat outside.  Where is your bubble?

NW Austin

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11 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

Disclaimer: I rarely get out of my bubble and eat at the same spots over and over... but does Austin have many restaurants with outdoor ambiance? I feel like this city is the king of restaurants that feature great views of parking lots and outdoor seating surrounded by parking bollards. Hell, I'd take indoor ambiance. Recently went to Tiki Tatsuya and absolutely loved it... in no small part because I felt like I was transported somewhere else. 

Have you ever been outdoors in Austin from May through September?

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There's a new dashboard for crimes in Austin that you can break down by district, year, or crime. Pretty interesting.

https://app.powerbigov.us/view?r=eyJrIjoiYmYyNTQ4NjgtNjhlMC00YjNiLWE0MDAtZTUwNWU5ZGIwNTk4IiwidCI6IjVjNWUxOWY2LWE2YWItNGI0NS1iMWQwLWJlNDYwOGE5YTY3ZiJ9

Surprisingly, theft from motor vehicle is trending down nicely (columns are 2020-2023):

image.png.5d8ef823c20ab07b5060b15332c19db1.png

Car theft has soared (thanks, Kia). 

 

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44 minutes ago, texasdago said:

Yeah the reality is the restaurant scene is much much better than it used to be... I mean light years... old Austin wishes we would only eat at Players, Threadgills, Nighthawk and Matt's El Rancho.  We're better off than we were... I don't need Michelin stars... there's plenty of great options around town.

Readers Poll - Food - The Austin Chronicle

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6 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

Have you ever been outdoors in Austin from May through September?

Shoot... I'll eat outdoors year round.  No Fs given.

But it does depend what you're looking for.  I mean, you can go the path of something like Bar Peached and eat in their sunken patio area or hang outside of Cosmic Saltillo or drive over Flo's off of 35th.  I mean, you can always drive over to Ski Shores from NW Austin and pay a bit more to enjoy the experience.  I have done it in August when it was 105+ and I maybe would not recommend that unless you pull up in a boat.

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5 minutes ago, YChang said:

Yes and not every Michelin star place is a French Laundry level either. 

you named a 3 star restaurant considered for a long time to be one of the best in the world.  way to take a stance.  

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