There is, of course, the Tex/Mex food which is quite good at Guero's. They say that (former) President Bill Clinton eats here when in Austin -- I'm not sure if that's true but it sounds good. We went several times for dinner and took Sam there for brunch one day. It's interesting to see the ladies making tacos and tortillas by hand over a large hot surface in the open kitchen.
But there's lots of good Tex/Mex food in Austin. For example, we went around the corner on South 1st for lunch one day at Little Mexico to find out if for Susan Torres and Conjunto Clemencia were playing (they weren't but do sometimes). Little Mexico is a nice friendly neighborhood restaurant, where the staff are very kind -- an older guy with health problems was having lunch and the owner/manager sat with him while she ate hers and kept him company. She told us after he left that he was a nice man. They have very, very, very hot salsa at Little Mexico! Even by Austin standards it was hot!
And then there's the Habanero Café on Oltorf, Torchy's Tacos (Damn Poor Parking) and El Mercado (Mystery Mondays) on South 1st, the Magnolia Café further down Congress and lots more. So if you're after Tex/Mex food in the neighborhood there's lots to choose from. And all are quite good. Guero's is more than food.
The best thing about Guero's is the live music played under the live oaks in the waiting area beside the restaurant. Their music calendar shows a regular live radio broadcast on Wednesday evenings (we caught Joe Ely one night), early evening shows Thursday through Saturday, and afternoon shows on Saturday and Sunday. The afternoon shows, when the weather is fine, are especially fun. People come to dance on the small dance floor in front of the band shell. Another thing we like about the music -- they're always early evening shows. So you can return home at a decent hour or continue on exploring music at other venues.
The second best thing about Guero's is probably the excellent margarita's they make at the outdoor bar so you can better enjoy the music being played. There's beer or course but we prefer the margaritas and like ours shaken with no salt. They turn them out by the gallons when the music is playing and the bar tenders must develop very strong arms shaking the drinks.
We arrived in Austin about 3:30 on the last Thursday of January and unpacked our car after the long drive from Texarkana. Guero's was our first stop after taking the cats out for a bit of time in the backyard. We had dinner outside on the street under the verandah and heat lamps. But the music was cancelled that night because it was too cold (it got a lot colder while we were there). The restaurant was not busy at all that night – very unusual from past experience. I suppose the cold kept people away.
We caught the Bob Fuentes Show (it's a regular Friday night gig at Guero's) with our friend Sam when she was visiting from Winnipeg. That night he had Alvin Crow playing with him. We had seen him years ago at the Broken Spoke in the dance hall. He plays several instruments but is more famous for the fiddle. Bob Fuentes plays drums. I gather who plays in the Bob Fuentes show can be quite fluid. He had a very young girl from the audience come up and join him on tambourine! I understand Bob is also the booking agent for Guero's. They played a lot of Dylan and Rolling Stone covers which were enjoyed by all and especially Sam. Kate got up and danced to the song "Is Anybody going to San Antone" made famous by the Doug Sahm and the Texas Tornados. Her first attempt at dancing on her new knee.
One of Bob Fuentes favorite lines (we heard this several times) was to ask the audience if there was anyone visiting from out of town. He'd thank them for visiting Austin and then tell them to go home -- we have enough traffic in Austin and don't need anyone moving into town! There's apparently a T-shirt to that effect that circulates during SXSW.
We saw Paula Maya one Saturday afternoon at Guero's early in our visit. She's originally from Brazil and shows some latin influences in her music. On another Sunday afternoon we caught Mitch Webb & the Swindles playing Texas Roadhouse. They're a regular act from San Antonio and did covers as well as some of their own. There was lots of dancing to their music – it wasn’t that hot out but some of the men were sweating real bad as they did their fancy dancing.
And of course there was our surprise night with Joe Ely at Guero's. We didn't even know he was playing and only happened upon the event -- "Hey I recognize who is singing that song, it's Joe Ely!" A cold last evening in Austin with a packed house under the live oaks soaking up Joe's music in a live radio broadcast for KDRP. He clearly enjoyed himself, as did we.
Guero's is an Austin institution both for the food and the music (and the drinks). If your taste in music leans anywhere near mine you'll enjoy the music and drinks under the live oaks at Guero's on South Congress in Austin Texas.
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