Hey there! Welcome back to Day 2, part 2 of my BBQ pilgrimage to Austin, Texas. Hopefully, you know the drill by now. Just in case, I am documenting my travels through Austin, the barbecue capital of the U.S., with my always-up-for-an-adventure girlfriend Allyson. In part 1, I went into exhaustive detail about our trip to Franklin Barbecue — in my view, the best barbecue place there is.
In today's blog, we learn about Austin's nocturnal mascot(s) and take an ill-fated trip to a rooftop restaurant that turns out alright!
Day 2 (cont'd.)
Itinerary
The Congress Avenue Bridge Bat Colony
One of the unique aspects of Austin is that the fact that the Colorado River winds right through the city, dividing it in two. I would guess that in its early history, the Colorado River represented the city's southern boundary, but Austin has spread quite far on both sides of the river now.
The entirety of Austin's downtown, which includes a number of skyscrapers, the Texas Capitol and the University of Texas, is on the northern side of the river. There are at least two major bridges — Congress Avenue and Cesar Chavez — and one pedestrian bridge in between them. The Congress Avenue Bridge makes a beeline all the way to the state Capitol.
As you follow the bridges southward, you move into some of Austin's funky neighborhoods, filled with quirky bungalows, stucco homes and even some homes and businesses made from corrugated tin.
This makes for spectacular viewing of the Austin skyline from the southern banks of the Colorado River!
Thanks to our new friend, James, we were tipped off that there is a colony of bats that live under the Congress Avenue Bridge and, if the conditions are right, they fly out en masse just before sunset.
Yes, it turns out that Austin is home to the largest urban bat colony in the world! (Everything is, indeed, bigger in Texas!) A big renovation of the Congress Avenue Bridge in the 1980s made it an ideal home for migrated hoards of Mexican free-tail bats seeking shelter as they move back and forth for warmer weather. And at night, when its warm enough, they will take flight to scavenge for food.
Unfortunately, we arrived just a few minutes after they started their nightly quest for food. Luckily, we still got to see them in flight but we weren't in the best position to get their picture against a sunsetted backdrop.
Also lucky for us, it was a spectacular evening to be out. The weather was mild and the river, completely serene. So after viewing the bats for awhile, we decided to make the most of it and went for a walk.
Down the river to the Cesar Chavez bridge, across the bridge and all the way back to where we started at Congress Avenue. Austin at night, with the river gently hugging the city's edge, is just wonderful when the weather is right.
Final stop: El Alma
To round out this perfect little evening, I planned for us to stop at El Alma, a Mexican restaurant that a co-worker told me about with a rooftop bar.
Now, when I hear rooftop bar, I imagine in my mind a place like 8UP in Louisville, which is a rooftop bar on the 8th floor of a hotel. So, having already seen these stunning night time views of Austin, I was really excited to head to El Alma for some margaritas.
What I quickly discovered as we pulled into the parking lot, however, is that "rooftop" doesn't mean that it has to be eight stories up! A rooftop just means it's on the roof!
El Alma is a cozy and chic Mexican restaurant with exactly one floor. But it does have a great spot on the roof where you can get a captivating view of Austin from a distance. And it has a stacked drink menu!
For starters, we were served the customary chips and salsa. Let me say that their chips and salsa were next level. I can't imagine they make the chips in-house but they were so light and had a delicious, almost grainy taste to them. It was as if they had fresh-milled the corn to make the chips.
On top of that, the two salsas they served us were just erupting with flavor. Our waiter told us that the green salsa is made with tomatillos and cilantro, and we suspect some delicious jalapeños. The red salsa is made with tomatoes and cilantro. The waiter didn't mention any kind of pepper for the red salsa, but it tasted to me almost like cayenne.
From what I know about growing peppers, I suspect that the ones grown in Texas must be especially flavorful and spicy. Peppers get spicier in dry conditions with more sun. So I bet a lot of Tex-Mex places have amazing salsa here!
Next, for drinks I got a Mangorita and Allyson got a drink called a Flaquita, which is made with a watermelon-serrano infused tequila, watermelon purée and a chili rim. Beyond being flavorful drinks, the presentation for both was picturesque.
Finally, we got the queso fundido to share and I got the al pastor taco. To be really honest, the queso fundido isn't anything to write home about (but I guess it's worth a blog). It was melted cheese in a cast iron pan with tortillas. There are other options with more ingredients that I'm sure may be more interesting but we were in the mood for just a straight up good queso. This was just alright.
I was so hungry I didn't even stop to take a picture of my taco when it came. (Phones eat first, right?) Same as with Chuy's, the pork was a little crispy for my taste. Maybe that's just the Texas way! Despite that, it hit all the notes I love in an al pastor taco — a little earthy heat and alotta sweet.
Ironically, I don't know that we got to enjoy the view near as much as we could have. I gave Al the seat with the better view but we were busy eating and chatting as always. We made sure to at least get a picture of the view before we left!
Conclusion
That, my friends, was Day 2, in two parts, of our BBQ pilgrimage. I can definitively say this: If you're gonna go to Austin, make sure all three of these spots are on your list. Each of them was uniquely Austin in their own way. Maybe just pass on the queso fundido.
I also really can't say enough about how enjoyable the weather is these past two days. With highs in the 70s and lows in the upper 50s, it makes the best adventuring weather.
Tomorrow, we dive into some places doing traditional Texas BBQ with their own unique twists and head to the biggest state capitol building we've ever been to. See you then!
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