Dark in the City, Night Is a Wire, Steam in the Subway, Earth Is Afire (Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do Do)

(Duran Duran, Hungry Like the Wolf)

After reading this post over at Burnt Orange Nation earlier today, regarding the "Mount Rushmore" of Austin restaurants, and discussing our favorites (naturally) with Micah, I decided I'd have to delve a little deeper and really put some thought into this. We both had some obvious, no-thought-required favorites, but were having a hard time narrowing it down. Micah thought it needed to be broken down into two perspectives, "Student" and "Resident." I believe it must go one step further, adding a "Weekend Visitor" category, because there are places I might feel the need to go with only 48 hours in town that, given all the time in the world, might not be as high of a priority.

So (and this is a bad idea to do right now, considering the fact that I have not yet eaten dinner and might well devour my own right arm), below are my "Mount Rushmores" of Austin restaurants. I've tried to make sure each category has a good variety of cuisines, which, given my affinity for breakfast foods, tex-mex, and barbecue,

Student Rushmore
1. Salt Lick. Let's be honest, you knew this was coming. Not the highest quality barbecue meat I've ever had, and it would be great (or deadly) if it took less than 30-45 minutes to get there from central Austin, but this place is just awesome. If you ever have the chance, trust me. Take it. The sauce is so good, it's almost drinkable. And as a student, I could handle the all-you-can-eat situation with no problem whatsoever, really getting the most sauce for my dollar. I'm already starting to drool.

2. Trudy's. Trudy's is just about the most perfect place I've ever been. The food is really good (but not great), it was pretty close to everywhere I lived in Austin, and it's always packed with people having a great time. The bar area includes a big outdoor deck area, which, given the beautiful weather in Austin, is a must.

They also serve the legendary Mexican Martini. This is basically a really, ridiculously, overwhelmingly, knock you on your ass margarita that they serve you in a full shaker, with a martini glass. You can generally get about 7-8 martini glasses out of one shaker. Then you order another one. After your 15th or 16th glassful, you're done. Literally and figuratively. They will only serve you two Mexican Martinis, and then you're cut off from anything else at the bar. And they don't mess around.

One afternoon in my senior year of college, I was there with some friends in the afternoon and had my dos Martinis Mexcianas, and I was feeling pretty good. Then we left, went somewhere else for dinner, and ended up back at Trudy's later that night (of course). I sauntered in and tried to get a beer, and the bartender somehow remembered that I had my limit on Mexican Martinis earlier that day, and would not serve me a beer. How this is possible escapes my understanding, because they must have had hundreds of people in there that day, but after about 45 seconds of being pissed and trying to convince him to pour me a Shiner, I realized that's probably the mark of a really responsible bartender, and I walked away beerless but satisfied, my faith in humanity reaffirmed.

3. EZ's. This place, I would probably never go back to, but when I was in college I ate there ALL the time. They had just about anything you could imagine: pizza, sandwiches, burgers, chicken tenders, salads (yeah, right). And the food there was definitely inexpensive. But the main draw was that if you showed them your University of Texas student ID, you got a $2 discount, which usually knocked your meal down to around four or five bucks. Can't beat that.

4. Crown & Anchor Pub. Just a good old fashioned crappy bar with a ridiculous beer selection by the pitcher (no liquor or wine), pool tables, dart boards, an outdoor patio, and a $2.75 burger and fries. Need I say more? Fine. In addition to being really cheap, the burgers were awesome. They also had good tacos. This place was about 3 blocks from our apartment junior year. Russell and I once went there on our way home from the gym, for burgers and beers. You can tell we were real serious about our workouts.

Resident Rushmore
1. Salt Lick. Yeah, it's that good. And if I lived there, I'd be much less concerned with the trek out there.

2. Guero's. We ate at this tex-mex joint a few years ago on a trip to Austin, and everybody was really happy. They had great margaritas, and really great food. Bill Clinton ate there once (or so we were told), and the restaurant was also prominently featured in the movie Death Proof. This may have been in my Student Rushmore, but I never ate there as a student, so that settles that.

3. Kerbey Lane Cafe. This is a great breakfast place, but what immediately comes to mind when you mention it to anyone who's been there is "Kerbey Queso." Not traditionally a breakfast food, but it's Austin, and every restaurant in Austin also serves tex-mex. Their queso is awesome, loaded con carne, which is a welcome appetizer, even for an omelet or migas (migas!) or some of their awesome gingerbread pancakes. This place probably would have been in my Student Rushmore as well, but when I was there they only had one location, on Kerbey Lane, which wasn't nearly as close as the location they have since added right next to campus.

(By the way, I just put salt and ketchup on my right arm. I'm not lying when I say that this is driving me crazy with hunger. Could get ugly.)

4. Huts. Edging out Handy Andy's in Oxford, Mississippi, this might be my favorite hamburger place ever. (Which is saying something, because I do love a good burger.) And for some reason, I ALWAYS forget about it when I'm visiting Austin and never consider it for a meal. However, if I lived there, I'd probably remember to go there more often. This needs to change. I vow, this day, that on my next trip back to Austin, I am going to go to Huts and order myself an Allen Freed buffalo burger (bbq sauce and cheddar). 2 for 1 on Mondays!

Weekend Visitor Rushmore
1. Salt Lick. Only two days in town? Go to the one at the airport as soon as you get in, or on your way out of town, and you don't have to worry about that long drive!

2. Texadelphia. This is the home of the cheesesteak in Texas, and is the best hangover cure known to man. You're gonna have to trust me on this one. However, usually when I eat there, I don't get the cheesesteak. I go for the turkey sandwich. Strange, I know, and I don't quite know how to explain it, but their turkey sandwich, with the mustard blend sauce, is just amazing. If I lived there, I probably wouldn't eat there with great frequency (except for maybe those Sunday mornings when I needed a cheesesteak to get me through), because there is no shortage of amazing restaurants in Austin, but going back for a weekend, it's a tough one to pass up, if for no other reason than the nostalgia factor (and the mustard blend).

3. Trudy's. See above. I don't think I have been back to Austin and not gone to Trudy's ever. And that's a streak I'd like to see continue.

4. The Omelettry. This place is a diamond in the rough. I didn't discover it until late in my senior year of college, and I could never convince any of my friends to go there with me, so many of them have probably never heard of it. It's out of the way (over on Burnet), and it's largely visited by locals and people who live in that neighborhood. It is, however, very close to the Top Notch, which everyone remembers from Dazed & Confused. They have amazing omelets, pancakes, migas, anything you could want. But don't go there if you're in a hurry, because they don't care. And they're not a very big restaurant, so there's usually a bit of a wait. But it's worth it. Interestingly enough, this restaurant is also featured in a very long scene in Death Proof, though it is only seen from the inside, and appears in a part of the movie that supposedly takes place in Tennessee. I took Amanda, Brandy and Robert there on our trip to ACL a few years ago, and everyone loved it. Robert's been talking about it ever since.

Anybody out there agree/disagree with my choices? Anybody out there reading at all? Feel free to leave a comment and let me know your favorite Austin eateries.