Festival Feasting

Where to eat at ACL Fest: 6 Austin favorites join food lineup for the first time

ACL Eats food court Austin City Limits Music Festival 2016

ACL Eats vendors are cooking up your favorite festival bites.

Photo by Daniel Cavazos

The time has finally come. You’ve scored your tickets, slathered yourself in sunscreen (or perhaps donned your cutest rain gear), curated the list of your favorite bands’ showtimes and stages, and grabbed your vaccination card and mask. You’re ready to take on the Austin City Limits Music Festival with all the gusto of an extreme fan who has been denied the in-person famed event for too long.

But have you thought about what you’re going to eat and drink while you’re tripping around Zilker Park for hours on end each day if the fest? (Aside from lots and lots of water. Stay hydrated, people!) After all, a zealous live-music lover cannot subsist on rock ’n’ roll alone — even with a side of country and hip-hop.

From mini kiosks serving up big flavors to single stands and beefy double booths, ACL Eats offers literally dozens of dining and drink options, including plenty of longtime faves (Mighty Cone, JuiceLand, Torchy’s Tacos) and a tasty array of local newbies, which we’ve listed for you below. Head to the fest October 1-3 and 8-10 with an appetite, and dig in!

Easy Tiger
Yes, it may seem hard to believe that Austin’s beloved purveyor of all things baked and graze-worthy has never before graced the booths at ACL Eats. But there’s no time like the present to gobble up the Easy Tiger goods while celebrating the October music festival with the flavors of Oktoberfest. Easy Tiger’s ACL Fest menu includes vegetarian-friendly pretzel sticks served with house mustard and beer cheese (three sticks for $14), vegan-friendly Beyond Sausage served with house kraut and mustard ($12), carnivore-friendly signature sausages with house kraut and mustard or green chili sausages with sweet and spicy pickles ($12), and the indecision-friendly grazing box with a selection of Antonelli’s Cheeses ($20).

Four Brothers Venezuelan Kitchen
As a note to ACL Fest newbs (and a reminder to old stagers), often the best food choices at the festival are those you can easily eat while holding in one hand and booking it across the park to your next chosen performance. And Four Brothers’ perfectly portable chicken empanadas ($6) and cheese empanadas ($6), both served with a spectacular house-made garlic sauce, definitely fit that bill. The booth will also serve up pulled pork and cheddar arepas ($10), a packed chicken bowl ($13), a vegan bowl ($13), and must-have tequeños aka Venezuelan cheese sticks wrapped in delicate dough ($8).

Lick Honest Ice Creams
Here’s a tasty scoop for you: Joining ACL Eats at the fest this year is none other than wildly popular local artisanal ice cream shop Lick. Really, is there anything better than a cold, creamy scoop to get you through a scorching festival afternoon? We think not. Lick will serve up three varieties of its ice cream: vegan chocolate chocolate, Hill Country honey & vanilla bean, and coffee with cream, each for a pittance, just $6. For an extra buck, you can also add toppings like rainbow sprinkles, toasted Texas pecans, house-made chocolate sauce, or house-made brownie bites.

Taco Bronco
At some point during ACL Music Fest, maybe more than once, you will have an undeniable craving for tacos. Luckily, you won’t feel like you got bucked if you hit up Taco Bronco, which specializes in smoked meat tacos with a kick. Taco Bronco is rolling out to its first ACL Fest with a stacked menu that includes a chopped and ’que’d brisket taco ($6), a pit-smoked pork carnitas taco ($6), a smoky chicken tinga taco ($6), and Austinites’ bread and butter: deluxe chips and queso ($10 or $14 with meat added).

The Original Black’s Barbecue
Speaking of smoked meats, blazing into ACL Fest for the first time and with a double booth is local love The Original Black’s Barbecue, the ideal spot to get your baby back — ribs, that is. In addition to those porky bites ($14), the barbecue geniuses from Black’s will also serve up their chopped beef brisket sandwich ($11), a pulled pork sandwich ($11), smoked sausage on a stick ($11), and potato chips ($2).

Wicky’s Walkup
Though this new Austin sandwich shop won’t be serving up your favorite daiquiris to go or providing its popular notary public services at the fest, the fare promises to be wicked good. Wicky’s Walkup’s ACL Eats menu includes the Okay, Boomer, a traditional and heavenly muffuletta ($14); the Beet It, Nerd, a sammie with citrus-marinated beets, Swiss, provolone, and olive tapenade ($12); the Elotes Tots, tater tots topped with roasted corn, queso fresco, crema, cilantro, and lime ($10); and voodoo or regular flavored Zapp’s Chips ($2).

where-to-eat vegan tacos austin-city-limits festivals barbecue

Movie Review

Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin are both funny and deep in A Real Pain

Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg in A Real Pain.

Comedy film duos have a long history, from Laurel and Hardy in the 1920s and ‘30s to Tina Fey and Amy Poehler in movies like Baby Mama. But the majority of duos have either been friends or work partners; relationships that can be close, but not as close as family. The new film A Real Pain aims for the comedy that a great duo can bring, but hits deeper because the two lead characters are related to each other.

Benji (Kieran Culkin) and David (Jesse Eisenberg) are first cousins who decide to take a trip to Poland to visit the childhood home of their grandmother, who has recently passed. Their personalities could not be more different, with David buttoned-down and reserved and Benji extremely social, if a little wild. This contrast is on display from the moment they leave on their trip, affecting almost every aspect of their journey.

The two meet up with a diverse tour group in Poland, including guide James (Will Sharpe), recently divorced Marcia (Jennifer Grey), married couple Mark (Daniel Oreskes) and Diane (Liza Sadovy), and Eloge (Kurt Egyiawan), an African man who has converted to Judaism. As the group visits various historical sites, David confronts contrasting feelings about Benji, who goes from charming to abrasive seemingly at the drop of a hat.

Written and directed by Eisenberg, the film is about both the family we have and the history of those who came before us. With Benji and David being Jewish and their grandmother having escaped from the Nazis in World War II, the themes hit harder than they might in other situations. Eisenberg takes care to honor his Jewish ancestors both in the way he has Benji and David talk about their grandmother and the places they visit.

But even though emotions are heightened due to the significance of the trip, the film is far from a dour affair. Benji keeps things interesting at almost all times with a series of impulsive decisions, many that are entertaining for both the tour group and the audience watching the film. He is one of those film characters that is great to watch on screen, but would likely be too much to handle if you were confronted with him in real life.

The relationship between Benji and David is a complicated one; the two obviously have love for each other, but they rarely see eye-to-eye on the best way to approach certain situations. This tension keeps the film grounded, and Eisenberg does a great job at showing the push-and-pull the two cousins have with each other. The little moments, especially when Benji and David go their separate ways, say a lot as the characters try to reconcile where each is at in their respective lives.

Eisenberg has always been an understated performer, so this role is almost perfect for him. Culkin, fresh off his Emmy-winning role in HBO’s Succession, is an ideal foil for Eisenberg, as he has a manic energy that he can control or not control at will. It’s also nice to see Grey in action again, as she brings just the right touch to her supporting role.

The drama in A Real Pain comes from the life experiences of its two main characters, which are on full display despite the story only doling out details in small doses. The film is subtle yet powerful, a testament to Eisenberg’s filmmaking ability and the actors never trying to make too much of their scenes.

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A Real Pain opens in theaters on November 15.

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Movie Review

Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin are both funny and deep in A Real Pain