White trash food courts

Austin is a fun food town, I judge after spending a single weekend here and eating some below average convention food.  The totally fun part is the kitschy food parks, trucks, and trailers that are throughout the city, including right next to my hotel.

The Austin Food Park, open only a month, I find out, is next to the Holiday Inn where I stayed on Town Lake.  It has about eight of what can only charitably be called food "trailers."  Some of them are more like food "outhouses."  (Said with love and in reference only to their size, not their smell or quality of food.)

Sorry this is so dark.  I got excited and took the picture at night. When my flash went off, the people at the nearby table (not in the picture) laughed because they thought I was taking a picture of the hooker at the bbq joint.  I was just taking a picture of the food park, but the hooker makes for good imagery anyway.

So we ate at the Thai one on the first night, ordering green curry and something with beef and hot peppers in it.  They were both moderately spicy, and I quickly discovered the disadvantage of food parks: no waiters to refill your drink.  But both were delicious and at only $16 bucks for both, a great bargain.

The next morning we got breakfast burritos at a place called "Crucitas Kitchen."  I don't know what that means, but I went on calling it "Cruciatus Kitchen," joking that eating there would be torture.  It wasn't.  Their tortillas and salsas were yummy, even if their offerings weren't anything special (eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausage, cheese, etc.  They did have chorizo as an option, which we got and was fine.)  Still, at only $6 for two to eat breakfast, another bargain.

Two days later I had a burger from the burger outhouse for lunch.  I go the one with chorizo and queso. It was fine, but less of a bargain ($6 for just the burger) than the others.

There was also a chicken place, a bbq place (why would I ever go there when I can go here), and some kind of juicy place that I couldn't figure out and wasn't open when I was at the place.

And there was more down the street.  Rainey Street, to be exact.  It's a street of mostly decrepit old hosues that have been converted into bars, clubs, and restaurants.  But because of a city ordinance requiring that business there can only operate in original structures, the houses are all left in tact, sometimes remodeled, with trailers, tables, and whatnot put in the back or side yards.

Here's one that hasn't been turned into a business yet, just to give you a flavor of the neighborhood.

This one is a sausage house and beer garden.  It was always crowded on the picnic tables in the backyard.

This one is called "The White House," and it's been refurbished in front to look fancy. The sign in front says "United Nations of Food."  Their outhouses include Greek, Mexican, and Vietnamese joints.  There's also a spaceship in front along with a Weekly World News headline telling you that this spacecraft landed at the actual White House.

Maybe this sort of food would get old over time, but it sure was fun to eat at for a visitor, especially when it was sunny and 80 degrees every day.