Two Totally Different Spots on Rainey Street in Austin

This is the first in a series of posts related to being a solo, travelling businessman out and about away from the hotel restaurant. It is very easy being a middle aged male business traveler to just eat dinner at the hotel restaurant or to eat at the bar at one of the same chains that is in every town. Most everyone else eating at the bar is just like you. No one is upset if you just stick your nose in your phone or laptop. I’ve done that many times. There have also been many times when a conversation was struck with the guy or gal next to me in the bar. You really can meet some interesting people on the road.

With all of that being said I decided to head out of the hotel and walk to Rainey Street in Austin. It was a beautiful evening and I did not want to just stay in the hotel for a second evening. So I headed out to walk the 4 or 5 blocks from the hotel to Rainey Street. I definitely don’t look like a UT college student or a young adult typical of the Rainey Street patrons. I look like a middle aged white guy that had enough room in his carry on luggage to pack a golf shirt but not enough room to pack an extra pair of shoes. So it’s dress shoes, jeans and a golf shirt to head out to a very urban hot spot.

My first stop was Craft Pride. This is supposedly one of the best tap houses in the country. It is stocked with tons of local (to Texas) craft beers. I have been here before as a tourist and was excited to stop by again. Although I have to admit that a place like this is much more fun when you are with more than a party of one.

Got there a little after 6:00. Kind of hitting that post happy hour pre-dinner crowd. It was a Thursday evening and it wasn’t very crowded. Although a bunch of people that were overwhelmed with the selections in front of them did slow down the service a little bit. Luckily a second bartender showed up and sped things along.

I decided to go with the Stash IPA from Independence Brewing. I honestly thought that was a pretty damn good beer and I was happy with my choice.

Took my beer and meandered out to the back patio. It wasn’t overly crowded and a band was setting up for the evening. The crowd out on the patio range in age from about 21 to 60 or so. Yes, I am the only solo patron there so I grab a seat at a small table to check things out.

For my second beer I ordered an Electric Jellyfish IPA. Yet another good IPA from Texas. I am rather biased on IPA’s though. Watched the band set up for a little while longer then decided to venture out to find dinner.

Wandered up and down Rainey and finally decided to walk into Unbarlievable. I’m not sure why I picked this place but here I am. I overhear a couple ladies discussing screwmosa’s while I’m walking in. I have to admit that I’m not up to date all of the latest and greatest trends so I had to ask. So, a screwmosa is basically a mimosa with vodka added just to liven things up a bit. I may have to try one of those on my next vacation. Although I think one or two of those at brunch could wreck the better part of a day.

Instead of a screwmosa I ordered a Karbach Big and Bright IPA. I also ordered dinner but I don’t remember exactly what I had. Forgot to write that down and it’s been a few weeks now. Whatever it was it was good. Again I was the only solo person here but the one man band. I did not feel at all uncomfortable being solo at this place.