Dining Advice for Austinites During SXSW 2017

The madhouse of mind-boggling creative energy and networking that characterizes SXSW Interactive is upon us. Here are some rules for us local folk to keep in mind when dining out during SXSW.

During the Interactive event forget dining within three miles of downtown. Focus on fun perimeter restaurants like Chinatown Westlake, Dai Due, Sap’s Fine Thai Cuisine, Café Blue, Jack Allen’s Kitchen, Bartlett’s, Barley Swine, The Dog and Duck Pub, The District, Via 313, and The Oasis, to name a few.

Avoid the downtown hotels and their restaurants as well unless you intend to attempt to schmooze with the tech gurus.

During the music part of the festival, forget your favorite food trucks as they’ll be mobbed. The fine dining restaurants downtown will have plenty of space but will still be impossible to gain access to. So revert back to the advice in the previous paragraph.

If you want to listen any of the several thousand bands who’ll be playing virtually anywhere there’s a power source, park far enough away and be prepared for a damn long walk.

We’ll get our city back in a few weeks. 🙂