SXSW Interactive Community Blog

I make no claims on being a vegetarian, however, you folks have to eat way too much fried cheese at American restaurants. I think I might even be able to speak with more authority about vegetarian restaurants, because I would willingly drop my steak knife and go to these places for a feed. I swear.

Unfortunately, none of the veggie restaurants I know of are directly downtown. However, most are within a short cab ride or bus ride from there.

Veggie Heaven
1914 Guadalupe St Ste A
(512) 457-1013
Bus 1, 3, 5, ‘Dillo

A mostly Asian themed veggie restaurant right across from the Dobie Mall near UT campus. Protein 2000. Either TVP or wheat gluten this stir fried delicacy topped with broccoli florets and a tangy sauce is hands down my favorite vegetarian dish ever. When my buddy Shawn wants to rock the vegetarian cuisine, I am always game for this place.

Other nice things about Veggie Heaven are that it’s cheap, cheap, cheap and there are lots of student cuties to look at.

NuAge
2425 Exposition Blvd
(512) 275-6925

My veggie friends had a triple birthday party planned this past October. As I looked at the menu, I thought, “Oh no. I’ve been duped. Another flavorless, vegetarian restaurant.” But no. I was so wrong. They have roti and egg curry on the menu, folks! I thought that I’d have to go back to Amsterdam or get on a flight to South America to score some more of that. ‘Twas good. I also sampled some of Shawn’s tasty grilled tofu and vegetables concoction.

Keep in mind, NuAge isn’t cheap, but if you’re on a per diem, why not splurge? How often do vegetarians get to eat at a fancy restaurant?
Madras Pavilion
9025 Research Blvd Ste 100
(512) 719-5575

The number of South Asians I saw eating at Madras Pavilion the first time I walked in this Texas chain, tipped me off that this wasn’t your typical strip mall Indian restaurant. And the countless lunchtime buffets I’ve eaten there have been good and filling. Dinner is also good, but my lack of familiarity with southern Indian cooking sometimes vexes me a bit when it comes down to ordering the right thing. It’s a bit of a hike from Downtown, but if you have a car and a group of buddies, go for it.

Also, another place of note that I’ve heard consistent positive veggie buzz about. However, I have never been.

Mother’s Café
4215 Duval St
(512) 451-3994
Bus 7

The grandmother of Austin vegetarian restaurants. Personally, I have not been in almost 10 years since my more hippie college student days. Back then a definite slacker, bad/excruciatingly slow attitude ruled the place. I pretty much swore it off. HOWEVER, I have gotten repeated reports from veggies and non-veggies alike, that Mother’s has changed its ways. Tasty and good service are apparently the name of the game now.

If Hyde Park Grill is crowded on an expedition to Hyde Park, you might want to try walking across Duval to Mother’s.

Mr. Natural
1901 E Cesar Chavez St
(512) 719-5575

Last weekend while I was at a party in San Francisco, I never knew my culinary knowledge of downtown Austin would be useful. The party’s host had an agenda—good grub. Suddenly my new friend handed me another Newcastle and started writing down names of restaurants and my favorite meals in his Treo.

You might try to feed yourself on heavy hors d’oeuvres at official parties, but any budding Web developer knows you can’t make it on jalapeno poppers for three days in a row.

Here are some of my favorite places to go Downtown or nearby Downtown in Austin. [Disclaimer: I have not received compensation from any Austin restaurant to make these recommendations]. The favorite BBQ discussion has already begun, so why not focus on the most important meal of the day. BBQ is far too political. If the stale bagels, limp watermelon slices, and flaccid bacon strips at your hotel breakfast bar buffet got you down, rock that corporate card at these places.

Breakfast/Late Night

Las Manitas
211 Congress Ave
(512) 472-9357
Open ‘til 4pm daily.

Especially on weekend mornings, this is the place for Mexican breakfast. And if you come to Austin, you must eat Mexican breakfast. The unofficial hangover outpost of most SXSW attendees, you might even spy former Texas Governor Ann Richards or Texas Monthly editor Evan Smith holding court. My early adult Sunday mornings would have been sorely lacking without scarfing down Las Manitas’s migas with friends.

Migas are the Austin breakfast specialty. Migas con hongos is my favorite dish. Ask to substitute the black beans for the refried beans. It’s a heart attack on a plate anyway, you’re not fooling anybody. The Chilaquiles are also pretty darned good.

Magnolia Café
2304 Lake Austin Blvd., 512-478-8645
1920 S. Congress Ave., 512-445-0000
24 Hours

My buddy Jeff from L.A. makes a run to Magnolia for Gingerbread pancakes after a hard night of listening to the newest bands at SXSW. Filled with a mix of slackers, students, and bands unwinding from a gig, both the Lake Austin and South Congress locations of Magnolia provide Austin’s weirdness over cups of coffee. The pancakes are great, the migas aren’t bad, and for those short on cash, the various “Landscapes” on the menu are a tasty and cheap choice.

Star Seeds
3101 N. Interstate 35
(512) 478-7107
24 Hours

If I they had a frequent buyers program here during my college days, I would have gotten several free toasters at Star Seeds. Basically, just good greasy spoon diner food here. Though they do black beans just like Las Manitas and Magnolia, the focus here is on blocking arteries quickly. Essentially, a good feed.

Dunno if this is the best way to do this, but how about we all post our blog urls here as a blog roll? Post a comment with your blog link(s) and I’ll try to put these all together in a php and/or javascript include sometime a few weeks before the event.

Here’s my link:

Ask Derek Scruggs

Because we’re all geeks, here’s the Austin Wireless Hotspots Map, which I came across via SXSW Baby!.

Yes, we ought to be spending our SxSW time to actually talk to the people we’re with instead of reading their blogs, but it’s still nice to know where we can get our online fix.

Anyone from Orange County hitting up the festival? SqueezeOC’s planning is hitting up SXSW this year and we’d love to meet up with fellow OCers. Drop us a line here or email omarc@squeezeoc.com.

If you’ve got something interesting going on: speaking on a panel, playing a show, doing a signing or anything else, let us know and you might get hook you up with some local press.

Ok, so everyone who has been to SXSWi in the past knows that it’s not about the tradeshow booths, the presentations, or even the people.. yes, that’s right, it’s about the booze. Keith came up with the great idea of having a SXSWi drinking game. Since the buzz this year seems to be Web 2.0, those of us here at Blue Flavor decided to take a drink any time someone at the SXSWi Web Awards Show and The Bloggies mentions “Web 2.0″. Interested in joining us? Read more about The Web 2.0 Drinking Game (basic version). Hope to see you there because there’s nothing better than a room full of drunken geeks.

This will be my first SXSW experience, and I’m especially interested in connecting with professionals who have worked in both the old and new media worlds. My specific interest is New Journalism and its impact on mainstream media outlets. I’d like to get together for a cocktail and discuss best practices and how I can improve my new media applications in higher education. I’m a former TV anchor/reporter and would welcome the chance to meet others with similar backgrounds. Looking forward to a great experience in Austin.

OK, I’ll be the first to say it. Some of the best BBQ in Austin is Artz Rib House, 2330 South Lamar. Great food. Good music. West Texas atmosphere (some would say South Austin atmosphere). The real deal.

Best French restaurant in Austin: Chez Nous, 510 Neches, just a block or two from the Hilton. Doesn’t take reservations, but if you get a table, you can sit there and talk all night, just like a Parisienne. My wife and my favorite restaurant.

I’m Joel Greenberg. I’ve been talking at SXSW Interactive since the first one, I think it was around 1995 or so at the Hyatt Regency. Back then, I spoke about cross platform development–how quaint. This year, I’ve put together a panel on What People are Really Doing on the Web with some top notch researchers answering that question with real data. OK, I’ll say it, they’re research superstars!

I’ve been involved in interactive…whatever…since before there was a QuickTime 1.0. Anyone remember Interactive Video Disk? (Beat you there, too, Molly. Smackdown!)

I track trends in society, culture, and technology at the Austin ad agency, GSD&M. I have a small podcast where I interview interesting people at Friends Talking. Sometimes I blog at MIT’s Convergence Culture Blog. Sometimes, I hang out in Second Life.

Welcome to Austin! Stop by, say hi.

I made it (finally) to my first SXSW last year. Spoke on two panels. Met a few heros. Saw a few bands play live. Had a great time. This year I’m moderating the final panel on the final day… we’ll see who straggles in. It should be a good one, though, featuring a few people from Make Magazine and a few other D.I.Y. media production types. The panels called “Consumer as Producer” or something like that. More on this when I’m not in a hurry to get out of my office and get to a political meeting. (Or didn’t you know that Democracy for America is still going strong?).

Meanwhile, check out my personal blog, of course, or the one I write for the man!