Texas

Houston is fine. Dallas is fine. The rivalry is silly. Both places aren't as bad as the other lets on. I'd love to be under an hour from the ocean, even if it's the Gulf. I love my hometown but Dallas is severely lacking in natural beauty. It's probably why we live near White Rock Lake, even though that's manufactured given it's not a natural lake. Dallas has nice pockets of communities like Little Forest Hills, Lake Highlands, Kessler Park, Bishop Arts. Pretentious people are here sure but that's true of any city even Austin. I love Austin and lived there for 4 years when I went to Texas but it's changed a lot and not necessarily for the better. I think a truly underrated city in Texas is San Antonio. I swear I've never had a bad time in that city.
 
Also, though I don’t claim Beyoncé, I DO claim Lizzo and White Denim (though I guess for WD I’ll split the claim with Austin)

I honestly find the anti-Houston music rhetoric silly, and that’s without Beyoncé. Between Chamillionaire and Travis Scott and into ZZ Top, H-Town has been a hotbed for great music acts that are southern rap, trap, country and more. I’ll stan this city till the day I die.
 
Houston is fine. Dallas is fine. The rivalry is silly. Both places aren't as bad as the other lets on. I'd love to be under an hour from the ocean, even if it's the Gulf. I love my hometown but Dallas is severely lacking in natural beauty. It's probably why we live near White Rock Lake, even though that's manufactured given it's not a natural lake. Dallas has nice pockets of communities like Little Forest Hills, Lake Highlands, Kessler Park, Bishop Arts. Pretentious people are here sure but that's true of any city even Austin. I love Austin and lived there for 4 years when I went to Texas but it's changed a lot and not necessarily for the better. I think a truly underrated city in Texas is San Antonio. I swear I've never had a bad time in that city.

Grew up in Houston, as well as my wife, and we swore never to go back. All the refineries there are having such an impact on the weather, and it's not pleasant. It's also incredibly big and lots of traffic.
I never wanted to move to San Antonio, wanted to stay in Austin, but now that I'm here I'm loving it. The food, the culture, the drinks, the museums, the coffee shops, the surrounding areas, and everything else is amazing. They're getting a bigger music presence, which I'm loving, Car Seat Headrest was here in March and now Mitski will be here in June.
 
Checking in from Richardson.

I've lived in the North Dallas areas since I was 3 but I really love this whole state (even tho we have some social/cultural issues, obviously). Josey is probably my favorite "real" record store in the Dallas area but Half Price Books -with its umpteen DFW locations has my heart. In Houston, Vinal Edge is a mandatory stop whenever I'm visiting my family there and Austin has too many to pick a favorite.
 
Hi guys, I will be in Austin in June. Looking for any recommendations for food/live music/bars to visit while there. Please and thank you! :)

As I mentioned earlier, I don't really have a ton of food recs for Austin proper since I'm out on the fringes these days. Definitely recommend Stiles Switch BBQ. Easier to park and get in and out of than a lot of other notable BBQ places in town. And their food is good too. Not sure when exactly you are going to be here, but I like checking out shows at The Mohawk and Barracuda. Check their websites out to see who is playing when you are here. If you are able to get to The Cactus Cafe at the Texas Union on the UT campus, it's a cool little venue to see singer songwriters if you are into that. If you're with a bunch of friends, that probably won't be a place anyone else will want to go along. It's a listening room. Stubb's might have something going on--either on the bigger outdoor stage, or on their smaller inside stage.
 
howdy!

mostly San Antonio now, would love to get together for a hang or a show with some of y'all.

@kaboomkate - around what dates? any fave types of food? bar vibes? I've got suggestions, but Austin has an overwhelming amount of places worth a trip these days.
 
howdy!

mostly San Antonio now, would love to get together for a hang or a show with some of y'all.

@kaboomkate - around what dates? any fave types of food? bar vibes? I've got suggestions, but Austin has an overwhelming amount of places worth a trip these days.
Hi! I’ll be there June 2-7 for work but my evenings will be free. I love all kinds of food and music. Would love to get some good Mexican and bbq while there but really up for anything you recommend locally that is a must. I’ve found the best places are usually hole in the walls or neighborhood dive bars. I know the music scene there is phenomenal and based on posts I have read from you that you would not steer me in the wrong direction. Thanks! :)
 
As I mentioned earlier, I don't really have a ton of food recs for Austin proper since I'm out on the fringes these days. Definitely recommend Stiles Switch BBQ. Easier to park and get in and out of than a lot of other notable BBQ places in town. And their food is good too. Not sure when exactly you are going to be here, but I like checking out shows at The Mohawk and Barracuda. Check their websites out to see who is playing when you are here. If you are able to get to The Cactus Cafe at the Texas Union on the UT campus, it's a cool little venue to see singer songwriters if you are into that. If you're with a bunch of friends, that probably won't be a place anyone else will want to go along. It's a listening room. Stubb's might have something going on--either on the bigger outdoor stage, or on their smaller inside stage.

Thank you for the recommendations, I’ll check out the websites you recommended to see what is playing while down there. :)
 
Growing up I always imagined living in texas would be amazing.
All the chilli food.
All that memphis music so close to me that I could actually participate.
Being able to go to music stores and buying rare memphis shit.

My view of texas is very driven by this music and media and I glamorized it a bit im sure.
 
I'm not a rap fan, but I think a number of rap fans would probably disagree with this statement.

Yeah, I'm not a big rap fan. I'm sure they would disagree with me. UGK and Paul Wall among others are big deals in that genre, but historically speaking, Houston doesn't really have the music cache of an Austin, or even a Lubbock. Lightnin' Hopkins was out of Houston. And a lot of singer-songwriters like Nanci Griffith and Steve Earle played there frequently when they were starting out. But, considering its size and population, it really doesn't have super deep roots musically.
 
Hi guys, I will be in Austin in June. Looking for any recommendations for food/live music/bars to visit while there. Please and thank you! :)

Anywhere, really.

But i like
Contintenal Club for live music
The Eastern for hole-in-the-wall DJ'ing

Food: Moonshine, Gueros, Lambert's. I have yet to make the line for Franklin's, but its KEY.
 
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