ACL 2021: The Eats!

Totally underrated part of this Festival.  And now the organizers get it, releasing a poster for the Eats.

Although what I really want is for them to release a list of what each booth will sell.  Hard to know how pumped I might be about East Side King, when they could fire up some Por Qui Buns, or they might fire out some weird noodle thing.  You never know!

You will eat well at this festival.  They do an awesome job of bringing legit local food folks out there to offer a wildly diverse menu, from pizza and burgers to ethnic and back to BBQ. I know for most of you, it is no longer a big deal to see legit food available at a festival, but I'm old enough to have suffered through Willie's Picnic at the big field beside Luckenbach, where your choices were like cold, stringy turkey legs and cheese whiz nachos.  It ain't cheap, but you can probably do two meals for about $30 total (plus $800 in beer) for a good day at Zilker.  Or you can bring your kids and watch them blow through $300 in food and yet refuse to finish any of it because it "tastes funny."  Whatever!  Wheeee!

The original Eats zone is still over there between the Tito's tent and the Barton Springs beer hall (on the river side of the park), and then the smaller Eats space is still over by that new VRBO stage that is across Barton Springs Drive from the rest of the park.    

The food booths obviously take cash, but the easiest thing to do is to connect your credit card to your wristband and just pay with a PIN all weekend.

Unfortunately, they stopped showing you the actual menu items with prices.  So even though a place might sell a great burger in their brick and mortar, they may only bring tacos to the festival booth.  So I'm making guesses on the costs and selection, based on prior years.  The selection will allow you to try several iconic Austin places or just get some food in your belly. The choice is yours.  Here are some eats that I remember from the past few years.

Actually, before I get to that, I have to note that they screwed us all since the past years.  The absolute best deal in the park used to be the P. Terry's burger.  You could get a very good burger for $4, in a line that hauled ass because they already have the burgers ready to hand out.  So it was quick, good, cheap, and easy.  The best thing to just nab while trying to haul ass between shows.  But its gone again.  That sucks.  Wholly Cow is on the menu still, but in my opinion that joint is overpriced and overrated.

Awesome Things:

• East Side King's Poor Qui Buns.  $8.  So stinkin' good.  I love those soft, steamed buns, and the pork and seasoning going on in this was great.  They also do fried chicken thigh chunks that are awesome (but sometimes overly crunchy, like they were cooked 8 hours ago and then just kept warm).
• Mighty Cone!  $7.  I had a freakout just now, because that Eats menu is alphabetical, and they listed Mighty Cone under "The Mighty Cone."  If it had been gone, I would have been deeply sad.  These things are awesome.  They have a chicken and a shrimp, and I recall destroying several a year ago.  Great crunch on the fried protein, plus a tasty sauce, some slaw, and a bad, hard tortilla.  Yummo.
• Burro Cheese Kitchen.  I've eaten these things several times and they are freaking good.  Those little King's hawaiian rolls with cheese melted inside are mighty tasty!
• Torchy's is awesome, but I'm not going to wait in line for this stuff.  They always have a long line, and I can get it anytime at home.
• Taco Deli!  I know a lot of taco nerd purists from San Antonio think this place is jenky, but they are dumb.  If they bring the Frontera Fundido tacos up in there, get like 5.  SO GOOD.
• Flyrite Chicken.  Haven't tried them at the Fest before, but their fried chicken sammies are good stuff. 
• Pizza Rolls from Austin's pizza.  Easy, greasy, and good.

Not Awesome Things:

• Chi'Lantro Kimchi Fries.  $8.  This trailer used to be right across the street from my office and it was awesome.  They pretty much serve that one kind of meat 7 or 8 different ways.  The burger, with a fried egg on it, is so fantastic.  But that wasn't an option here, so I went with the fries.  I recall them being less than warm, and kind of sad and soggy underneath the yummy kimchi.  Mediocre.
• Also had their chicken taco last year, and the meat was pretty cold.  Kinda nasty.
• Mmmpanadas green chile chicken empanada.  $8.  My recollection of this is that this was a poor choice.  I thought it would be a good change of pace, but I recall it being kind of waxy and dry.  And pretty sure I pooped green afterwards.
• Lonesome Dove Austin.  I can't recall what I ordered, but I remember thinking that there was no line at that booth for a reason.

No more Stubb's, which is jenky, because it was my other go to easy meal in the park. Their chopped beef sandwich comes with chips for $8.  But they aren't listed on the website anymore.  Crap, and Salt Lick is gone too!  They used to have great, huge, messy nachos.  You can also get Micklethwait Barbeque, which has some great food.  I ate at their festival-style booth at a golf tournament once and it was excellent.  The brisket was well cooked and flavorful and all the nerdy nerd things that BBQ snobs demand now out of anything they eat.  I recall a pickle or something too.  Anyway, you should try this.

Assuming I can tear myself away from East Side Kings and Mighty Cone, here are some things that I want to seek out to try:

• I love Easy Tiger in its normal habitat.  I wonder what they will dial up at the Park?  if it involves their pastrami, then you should get it for sure.  The New York board they used to serve at the downtown location was one of my favorite plates of food in the City.
• Homie Fries?  May be good, if it is like a pile of good meat dumped onto french fries?
• Taco Bronco.  This is a taco trailer by the Micklethwaits folks.  Smoked meats in a taco?  Bring it to me.
• Wing Dady (apparently spelled that way becauise it's the chef's last name, this was not a typo of "daddy") - chicken wings, crispy wings, and hummus/Buffalo cauliflower.  The thought of eating chicken wings and getting my fingers all foul at the Fest is not especially appealing, but we'll see.
• Wicky's Walkup.  I remember reading something good about this on Eater, that it was a New Orleans thing.  I'd eat a Muffuletta!

As for actual eating, know that it is a grind to get the best stuff during the usual eating times. If you want to get Torchy's at noon, expect to wait for it.  The word is out and the tourists want to eat the tacos.  This is one of the reasons I used to just go with the burger - for ease - they have them ready and you just snag, pay, and roll along.  And on hot days, the sno-cones and popsicles and whatnot are going to have insane lines.  

Also, regardless of how tired you are of standing, you likely are not going to get a spot to sit in the shade by the food stands unless it is an off time.  Usually, every seat in the big eating tent is occupied by some large group of bored-looking college kids who are texting each other and fanning themselves with their hip, straw fedoras.  They aren't eating, but when you glance around with food in hand, hopefully scanning for a spot to sit, they do not move, or offer their seat, they just continue to chew their gum and stare.  I love the youth.  

The new food area by the Barton Springs stage did not have any seating or tents in which to eat, it was just a place to buy the food and shove it into your gullet.

There are a handful of other weird things you can get, like Amy's ice cream or snocones or cake pops or bananas covered in stuff or juice or popsicles, but I'm not about that stuff.  I want fuel to get me to the next show and soak up my beers.  I AIN'T GOT TIME FOR THE BULLHONKEY BANANA COATED IN PEANUT DUST!  GIMME MEATS AND CHEESES WRAPPED IN CARBS!