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Not from Austin, but was there recently.

Not going to touch the bbq question - too many choices.

Must play - Barton Creek.

Value - Falconhead.

Locals - please correct this New Yorker if he's off.

Barbeque....Smokey Moe's, it's a small place that's underated

Courses....Barton Creek, Avery Ranch, Terravista

Value w/ a view...Pine Forest in Bastrop, about 30mins. east of Austin

[quote name='JNewsted' date='Jun 25 2008, 08:23 PM' post='1136591']
I'll be in Austin next weekend and Im looking to play a round or two.

What are the cant miss, cost no issue courses?

What's a good, solid, interesting value course?

Where can I get some awesome BARBECUE?

My "lady-friend" just moved down there so Im going to visit, we dont quite know all the hot spots. What other cool stuff is there to do?


Ok I am an Austinite and we have some great courses.

Cost no issue: Barton Creek has 3 courses, Don't play the Crenshaw course. Play either Fazio Foothills or the Canyons both are fantastic courses. Another solid course is the Hyatt Lost Pines resort course called Wolfdancer. Beautiful views and challenging. Falconhead is decent but very typical of a TPC like course.

Interesting but inexpensive: Shadow Glenn. This is a funky course, somewhat links style, few trees, open to the wind and lots of hills and humps all down the fairways.

Others to consider: Avery Ranch, Teravista.

Best BBQ in town: The Salt Lick, great BBQ and its BYOB. You can haul your own ice chest to the table and they only take cash! Its about 20-30 min drive from downtown. Just ask a local they will tell you more about it and how to get there. The drive out there is scenic and the atmosphere is great.

Best cheap and fast BBQ: Rudy's Country Store. There are multiple locations in around town.

Other things to do: 6th street is the bar district. Lots of live music on 6th street and Congress Ave.

Try some great mexican food at Gueros on South Congress.

Rudy's.?

As a regular cook-off participant Rudy's is not Texas bar-bq. More like a Taco Bell for Mexican food.

Salt Lick is more of a icon than really good food. IMO.....Great atmosphere, but not a place that my family once they have been has a desire to go back.

County Line is the same....

Trust me Smokey Moe's will leave you wanting to come back.

You know you can't ask Texans about their favorite bar-bq w/o strong opinions...

My comments regarding Austin are:

1. BBQ. Go to Lockhart--Kruez. Better yet-detour to Kansas City--way better BBQ than Austin. I have lived in both cities.

2. Golf. Either Fazio course at Barton Creek Resort. Or stay at Mariott Resort in Marble Falls and play either of the two newer courses for other high end options. Wolf Dancer at Hyatt in Bastrop also interesting play as is Hill Country Hyatt in San Antonio or La Cantera in Sa or Tapitio Springs Resort in Boerne. Greystone and Falcon Head in Austin are both fun and good values.

3. Oher Food. Lots of semi-good Mexican, but SA has better stuff, but stay away from the Riverwalk.

4. Entertainment. Lots of live music--especially South Congress.

Have fun.

I agree with all of the recommendations I've read so far. The only thing I'd add if you're looking for interesting is Crystal Falls in Leander. Some people love it, many HATE it. The scenery is great and you often see deer and wild turkey on the course. Lots of elevation change. Two of the pare threes have major dropoffs (and I'm originally from Colorado so I know dropoffs). The crazy thing is both are blind from the back tees! If you don't mind hitting it in the fairway and it ending up in the junk or vice versa, check it out.

You might want to try to play Lions Muni if you can get on. It isnt the nicest course in town but has been around for over 80 years and has a ton of history. Chances are pretty good that it will be turned into a development in the next five years or so. Check golf512.com for lots of public course info and savings.

Other courses: Riverplace and Avery are both good courses but can test you from the back tips. If I remember the tips will play over a 74 at Avery Ranch. If you are staying south I would also look at Grey Rock. If you are north you have several good courses.

Take you lady friend to Brown Bar for a martini or a nice glass of wine... on 8th street... its a locals deal, very nice... short walk to all the 4th street bars and stuff... she'll be surprised you know what that is... 6th street is for the kids, 4th is for the adults...

Recognizing that everyone is entiltled to his or her opinion, I would not waste my time or money going to Lions Muni if good golf is what you are after nor would I go to Riverplace or Crystal Falls both of which have too many quirky and to be honest poorly designed holes. To put it in perspective, I can play at Riverplace anyime for a cart fee only and I would not pay that amount. Granted there are some great views at Riverplace due to the elevation changes, but there is simply not enough land for the course, which resulted in major design flaws.

Avery Ranch, if it is in good ccondition, which I do not know one way or the other, is a nice layout from the very back or the next to the back tees.

The advice regarding going to 4th Street is good advice.

Another vote here for the Salt Lick.

cost no issue (and assuming you can get on) -- Escondido near Horseshoe Bay. Boot Ranch in Fredricksburg. ACC in Austin.

good local courses -- falconhead, teravista, wolfdancer.

There is always a variety of good music down town or a nice walk by town lake. There are several activities for the whole family near town lake.

another good family place on the water is the Hula Hut. one final suggestion is a local lake pull up, ski shores. good outdoor environment.......

lots of courses and i think most of the members have covered the ones i would recomend. BUt what i can hel with is food.
if you like steak texas land and cattle is a great place for food and if you like seafood "papadoes" someone correct my spelling if im off on that one but both are my 2 favourite spots for food when in austin

Lions is not a great course but it does have a ton of history. I play it every once in a while just to remember the old days when I played there all summer when we were out of school. Some day lots of people will be able to say the played golf where that condo is.

My favorites in Austin are Grey Rock (was Circle C) and Teravista. Colo Vista in Bastrop is a nice track, too. As far as muni's are concerned, Clay/Kizer has a very nice practice facility and the courses are in pretty good shape for muni's.

Golf512.com is a good place to pick up cheaper tee times on the nice courses.

BBQ? County Line on the Hill (go at sunset)
Southern Soul Food? Hoover's or Hill's Cafe
Beer? Draughthouse near N. Lamar
Pizza? Mangia (get the $30 deep dish - worth every dime) or Conan's (whole wheat deep dish to die for)
Mexican? Torchy's or 10th Street Tacos (formerly Chuco's) are great

Other food options: http://www.yelp.com/c/austin/restaurants

Avoid Kizer at all costs...greens look like a minefield...took the brunt of the public play this past year when it's sister course Jimmy Clay was closed for renovations. Kizer is a good course, but needs time to recover from 60+k rounds this past year. Can't go wrong with Avery Ranch, Falconhead, Star Ranch (Round Rock), Grey Rock, or even Crystal Falls. Star Ranch has an all day golf package on the weekends which includes breakfast and lunch and all the golf you can play for like $62. If you're willing to go north a few miles to Georgetown, Sun City has two excellent courses...WhiteWing and Legacy Hills. It's easier to get on them after 11am as the residents (senior citizens) don't come out of their air conditioned homes between 11am and 7pm

For BBQ...Saltlick and County Line are the two best in Austin. I agree with the above poster r.e. Rudy's...it isn't anything to write home about.

Don't forget the music scene here...you can find tons of great bands and musicians playing at countless venues every weekend here...jazz, blues, metal, alternative...you name it, Austin has it.

Austin Golf Club in Spicewood is probably the neatest golf experience in Texas if you can find your way onto there. They've also got the best burger that I've ever had in my life.

courses: shadow glen, avery ranch...falcon head not worth the money and terravista usually has slow greens. i hate lions and i live pretty much across the street rude people.

food: el gallo on south congress, for the view go to the oasis is cool, also off of town lake is hola hutt here is a regular hot spot for austin locals such as lance armstrong and that mcconaughey fella, also chinatown has great food and sushi, huts hamburgers is good and it has lots of history

Nightlife: 6st is fun, but go towards 4th and 5th street and colorado, more of an older crowd but same atmosphere as 6st, west 6st is fun (going towards lamar) again young money crowd, 4th and colorado is bar 6 which is lance armstrongs bar pretty cool, another is terrace 51 or 57 cant remeber for sure cool because it sits ontop of another bar so good views

hope this helps

Haha... Stumbled across this thread...

I grew up in this area (age 6-12) and played a few of the courses mentioned here. Sure brings back good childhood memories.

As far as food goes, my parents will forever order very large shipments of Salt Lick Dry Rub and Rudy's BBQ Sauce. Rudy's used to label their stuff as "The Worst BBQ in Texas." They have since dropped this from their bottles.