The Austin Diaries: 1st Night – Cocktails at Container Bar and Dinner at Iron Works BBQ

The hubby and I are in Austin, Texas right now (kid free). I’m here for the PBS Annual Meeting, courtesy of PBS Kids, and we decided to come in a few days early. We flew in yesterday morning and are really enjoying Austin.

First Day in Austin

Flew in, took a car to our hotel, right near the JW Marriott. Our driver, Trey was very cool and was helpful in telling us great things to do. He suggested we go to Ironworks for BBQ (though warning us that it wasn’t fancy). Marissa, at the front desk of our hotel, helpfully marked some of Trey’s suggestions on a map and added some of her own. While I’ll admit I am very digitally orientated, sometimes having a map is helpful!

First Night in Austin:

We left our hotel around 3PM and walked near where the Iron Works BBQ was. It was a short walking distance right from our hotel.

We passed by the restaurant (it was way to early to eat) and kept on going to Rainey Street, where the bars started. It started raining, so we ducked into one.

It was the Container Bar, which was created out of shipping containers.

They had some fun cocktails for $8, so we indulged a little. I had the Cherry Limeade: Which was Hendrick’s Gin, Lime Juice, Simple Syrup, Cherry Bitters, Lemonade, & Cherry Syrup served over crushed ice.

My husband had two drinks, one of which was “The Mule”, which was Reyka Vodka, Apricot Liqueur, Orange Bitters, Lemon Juice, & Ginger Beer.

Container Bar
90 Rainey St, Austin, TX 78701
(512) 320-0820
http://austincontainerbar.com

We found a lot of cute little bars and then went back to Ironworks for dinner at 5. There was a scavenger hunt going on around town and we noticed lots of teams, dressed up as superheros, tacos, Super Mario Brothers — it was pretty funny.

Then we went to dinner at Iron Works BBQ.

It was so delicious. This isn’t a fancy place, there are checkered tablecloths, and you order your food at the counter and seat yourself, the back patio is the ideal spot to sit in. However, I’m not a fancy person and that worked for me.

Eric and I split a plate of beef ribs and brisket. I had a side of corn on the cob, he had a side of macaroni and cheese. While we didn’t stuff ourselves, the food was amazing.It was still wayyy to early for dinner, so we took a walk around.

Iron Works BBQ
100 Red River St, Austin, TX 78701
(512) 478-4855
http://www.ironworksbbq.com/

Then we went to see the Congress Avenue Bridge, where there are a huge amount of bats right under. Everynight at dusk, they fly out from under and it’s quite a sight. However, we were too early and were getting tired.

 

We walked back to our hotel, done for the night by 6:30! We were both asleep by 9 (which NEVER happens back home in NY). Can’t wait to see what Austin has in store for us!