With the thriving 6th Street bar scene and half a dozen independent breweries (with more popping up all the time), Austin is a beer lover’s playground. If there’s one thing Austinites know how to do better than drinking, it’s eating, and the city’s weekend brunch scene keeps them coming back for more.
by Lydia Schrandt
Stubb’s is famously known as the spot where Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash sang for their supper. It also gets attention for specializing in a home- grown Texas staple: barbecue. Reminiscent of an old Western outpost, Stubb’s serves up a casual weekend brunch scored by live tunes from a different gospel band each week. The all-you-can-stuff-in-your-face buffet includes unlimited brisket, garlic cheese grits, buttermilk pancakes and migas (Tex-Mex-style scrambled eggs with tortilla strips), all paired with pickles, onions, jalapeños and plenty of the tongue-searing sauce that made Stubb’s an Austin institution.
For more than 30 years, Trudy’s four locations have lured in residents from all parts of the city with the promise of gooey, cheese-slathered Tex-Mex comfort food. This Austin favorite is famous for its Mexican martinis (margaritas served dirty in a Texas-sized martini glass with olives) and stuffed avocados filled with spicy shredded chicken and cheese, breaded, deep-fried and soused with the house suiza sauce. The weekend brunch menu includes options like Mexican-style eggs Benedict, breakfast tacos and a menu of morning libations made with fresh-squeezed juices.
The romantic Old Pecan Street Cafe, housed in a historic turn-of-the-century hardware store in the heart of downtown, serves an elegant French-inspired brunch menu each week. While the menu features a little bit of everything, the Crepes de Mer, stuffed with seafood, mushrooms and onions and covered in a creamy white wine yellow curry sauce, and the Quiche Lorraine, made from scratch daily, are not to be missed. Top off your meal with a slice of pecan pie or a fruit- and sweet-cheese-stuffed dessert crepe with a cup of spiked coffee. •
LATE-NIGHT NOSH: Before turning in, swing by Kerbey Lane Cafe. The restaurant caters to the closing-time crowd with a 24/7 eclectic menu featuring the best hangover cure in the city: the Cowboy Queso, a bowl of bubbling cheese, guacamole, pico de gallo, black beans and salsa that’s good enough to eat with a spoon.