It’s been a banner year for Austin – voter turnout increased, a makeover for Paramount Theatre was announced, and tons of cool art was everywhere. To celebrate, we’ve rounded up our favorite drinks, bites, and experiences from 2025:
🍗 Jupiter Supper Club’s Chicken and Summer Succotash
The heritage chicken at Jupiter Supper Club downtown is perfectly crisped and the meat falls right off the bone. Pair the chicken with the restaurant’s summer corn succotash, made with corn, red peppers, and cheese. It’s a flawless mix!
🍪 Allday Pizza’s Chocolate Chip Cookie
Allday Pizza may not be a bakery, but it absolutely does chocolate chip cookies better than anyone else. The cookies are the ideal size – not too big or too small – and they have the correct crunchy-to-soft ratio. Topped with flaky salt, every bite is to be cherished.
🫒 Casa Bianca’s Fried Olives
Starting your meal at Casa Bianca with the fried olives is the nicest thing you could do for yourself. Served with gorgonzola cheese, they’re a delightfully crunchy and soft bite.
🍉 Veracruz Fonda and Bar’s Agua Frescas
An agua fresca from Veracruz Fonda and Bar is the ultimate antidote to a hot summer day. The drinks, in flavors like watermelon and hibiscus, come in huge glasses and go down fast!
🧂 Bar Peached’s Spicy Margarita
This is Austin, where a good margarita awaits around every corner, so you know Bar Peached’s spicy one means business. It’s quite spicy. It’s made with a habanero and Thai basil-infused tequila and will knock you off your seat.
🍹 Small Victory’s Daiquiris
Small Victory does daiquiris the best. Period. Stop in for the bar’s take on a Hotel Nacional, with rum, lime juice, and sugar, and thank us later!
💃 Country Fried Dance
Country Fried Dance, led by instructor Nico Osier, took Austin by storm this year, popping up at honky tonks and breweries with line dancing lessons. Osier’s approach offers an inclusive space for everyone to learn, which feels very Austin.
🏈 UT vs. Texas A&M
This year’s UT vs. Texas A&M football game was the best experience to come through Austin in a while. The weather was perfect, the hype was just right, and the Longhorns pulled out a win 27-17.
🎶 Run the Jewels and Wu-Tang Clan at the Moody Center
Run the Jewels and Wu-Tang Clan brought nostalgia to the Moody Center this year. Both groups went all out and had us leaving with more merch than we want to admit to buying!
🪩 DJ Mel
DJ Mel hosts early dance parties for those of us who want our nights to start before 11 p.m. It’s genius! Sets often start around 7 p.m. and end at 11 p.m., just in time for bed.
