AUSTIN, TEXAS – MAY 13: The view over Lady Bird Lake from one of the 48th floor penthouse apartments at Paseo on Rainey Street, May 13, 2026. (Sara Diggins/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images)
Austin American-Statesman/Hearst/Austin American-Statesman via Ge
Most cities have their own slang and way of doing things. Austin is no different.
If you’re visiting or a newcomer to the city, we’d advise you to take a look at this poor man’s version of an Austin encyclopedia.
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It won’t cover everything but it’s sure to make novices a little more comfortable.
ACL
Mack, Jack & McConaughey founders Mack Brown, Jack Ingram and Matthew McConaughey pose for a photo during the MJ&M acoustic concert that was headlined by Luke Combs on April 25, 2025 at ACL Live in Austin.
MJ&M/Giant Noise
There’s “Austin City Limits,” the longest-running music television show in history that started in 1974 with the pilot episode starring Willie Nelson. These days, people probably say “ACL” and mean Austin City Limits Music Festival, founded in 2002 and held each year in Zilker Park. There’s also ACL Live (full name: ACL Live at the Moody Theater), the downtown music venue home to tapings of the “Austin City Limits” TV show since 2010. And finally, there’s Austin City Limits Radio, a name adopted by station KGSR in 2018.
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Alamo Drafthouse
Austin cinema company Alamo Drafthouse has sold its collectibles and art arm Mondo to the Funko company.
Stephen Spillman for American-Statesman
People like to call the Austin-born cinema brand just Alamo, but sometimes you’ll run across someone who favors simply “Drafthouse.” The first group isn’t talking about the historic Alamo in San Antonio, but the second could easily be confused with the Medical Parkway bar Draught House.
The rest of the country is now familiar with the dinner-and-a-movie chain, but it all started in 1997 at 409 Colorado St. That theater is now closed, but Alamo Drafthouse still operates five Austin locations.
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Alex Jones
Before he was Donald Trump’s favorite conspiracy theorist, Austin resident and “InfoWars” host Alex Jones was best known as a fixture on local public access TV in the 1990s.
Ann Richards
Gov. Ann Richards, seated, signs a proclamation declaring May 4, 1991, as ZZ Top Day in Texas.
AMERICAN-STATESMAN FILE
The 45th governor of Texas and longtime Austin resident died in 2006, but Ann Richards’ legacy is hard to miss in town. She’s the namesake of Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders in South Austin and the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge. She’s well-remembered for her whip-smart quips, her progressive politics, a play about her written by Holland Taylor and her iconic white hair.
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Armadillo World Headquarters
The Live Music Capital of the World couldn’t forget this venue if it tried, even though the Armadillo World Headquarters shuttered in 1980. The nexus of Austin’s “cosmic cowboy” scene that thrived in the town’s laid-back 1970s, the concert hall and beer garden was opened in an old armory building at South First Street and Barton Springs Road. It hosted Willie Nelson, hippies, rednecks and a whole lot of drugs. Co-founder Eddie Wilson later opened a nearby location of another Austin icon, Threadgill’s, that celebrated the Armadillo’s legacy. That restaurant closed in 2018; the historic original Threadgill’s closed in 2020.
The Armadillo has had something of a renaissance in recent years, with the Wilson family relaunching the brand as “once a venue, always a state of mind.” A 2025 activation on South Congress celebrated the relaunch, and the brand has had its hand in presenting live music performances, producing a short documentary about Jim Franklin, the venue’s famed longtime poster artist, and selling vintage-inspired merch.
Aqua Fest’s river parade in 1995.
AMERICAN-STATESMAN FILE
Aqua Fest
A splish-splashing summertime celebration, Aqua Fest started in 1960 and involved parades, boating races, water skiing, beauty contests, concerts and more. The event folded in 1998 but is bound to come up in conversation with anyone who lived here in a previous century.
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Barbara Jordan
American congresswoman Barbara Jordan (1936 – 1996) from Texas, on the House Judiciary Committee during a hearing on the impeachment of President Richard Nixon, Washingon D.C., July 1974. Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Keystone/Getty Images
When you descend the escalators at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, you’ll see a statue of this iconic Austinite as you pick up your bags. You’ll also find a statue of her on the University of Texas campus, where she served as a professor. Former U.S. Rep. Barbara Jordan was the first Black woman in the Texas Senate; the first Black woman to act as governor (for a day); and the first woman and first Black person to give the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention.
Bats
AUSTIN, TEXAS – MAY 14: People watch the bats emerge from the Ann Richards Congress Avenue Bridge. (Jay Janner/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images)
Austin American-Statesman/Hearst/Austin American-Statesman via Ge
Austin is obsessed with these baby Draculas because the city is home to North America’s largest urban bat colony. The majestic migration (or horrifying horde) of Mexican free-tailed bats that emerge from the Congress Avenue Bridge are a huge tourist attraction. (Author’s note: They’re just fine.) Some of the city’s notable examples of bat symbolism: the annual Bat Fest, the “Nightwings” sculpture near the bridge and the Ice Bats, Austin’s once-dearly-departed minor league hockey team that’s making a comeback.
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Breakfast tacos
Austin did not invent breakfast tacos, but we love to claim them. (One time, Austin and San Antonio went to war about them.) Californians might be used to a breakfast burrito; this is not that.
Though variations exist, the classic form involves a medium-sized flour or corn tortilla filled with savory ingredients — usually some combination of potato, egg, bean and/or cheese, with bacon, sausage, chorizo, nopales and other tasty stuff sneaking in there. Usually folded in half if you’re eating at the restaurant, but it’s wrapped into an aluminum foil missile to go.
Not all tacos are created equal, and the bandwagon is packed tight. Our recs: Veracruz All-Natural, Taco Joint, Rosita’s Al Pastor, El Tacorrido and wherever the nearest gas station-based truck is.
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Bridges
Fog rolls over the hills near Pennybacker Bridge in this Dec. 29, 2021, file photo. Austin emergency crews responded to reports of two swimmers in distress near the bridge Saturday evening. One was rescued and treated; the body of the second swimmer was recovered Sunday.
Mikala Compton / American-Statesman
There’s the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge; people call it the Congress bridge instead. There’s the Drake Bridge; literally no one calls it that, and it’s known as the South First Street bridge. Now, the Pennybacker Bridge (star of many souvenir coaster sets) does have some name recognition, but it’s also called the Loop 360 bridge. The Pfluger Bridge is the popular footbridge over Lady Bird Lake. Most of the other major bridges — Montopolis, Lamar Boulevard — have fairly self-explanatory names.
Broken Spoke
Exterior view of the Broken Spoke dance hall, Austin, Texas, February 27, 2004. (Photo by John Anderson/The Austin Chronicle/Getty Images)
John Anderson/Getty Images
A historic honky-tonk on South Lamar Boulevard that, thanks to decades of development, now sticks out like a line-dancing thumb. The Broken Spoke opened in 1964. Featured in many a song, film and postcard, and even a “Queer Eye” episode.
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Barton
AUSTIN, TEXAS – JUNE 21: People gather at Barton Springs Pool on June 21, 2023 in Austin, Texas. Extreme temperatures across the state have prompted the National Weather Service to issue excessive heat warnings and heat advisories that affect more than 40 million people. The southwestern region of the state has suffered record-breaking 120-degree heat indexes in recent days, with forecasters expecting more of the same. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
There’s the famous Barton Springs Pool, a swimmer’s paradise, which is fed by the underground Barton Springs, the fourth largest spring in Texas. That’s connected to Barton Creek, which is home to the Barton Creek greenbelt. It’s also namesake to Barton Creek Square mall. They’re all named after William Barton, a settler who moved near the springs in 1837 before Austin was founded in 1839.
Cedar fever
Batman has the Joker. Austinites have allergy season. Cedar fever is a pollen allergy. It doesn’t have anything to do with cedar, or even fevers, usually. When male Ashe juniper trees spread their pollen to the female Ashe juniper trees via wind, humans suffer. Cedar fever is characterized by nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat, sneezing and itchy eyes, nose and throat. It usually hits in December and can last as late as February.
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Cheer Up Charlies
AUSTIN, TEXAS – FEBRUARY 8: Cheer Up Charlie’s in Downtown Austin, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. (Sara Diggins/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images)
Austin American-Statesman/Hearst/Austin American-Statesman via Ge
Someone might ask if you want to “go to Cheer Ups.” They mean this Red River Street bar and music venue. Cheer Up Charlies is a hub for Austin’s LGBTQ and creative communities.
Chili’s at 45th and Lamar
There is a Chili’s (the ubiquitous American chain restaurant) at 45th Street and North Lamar Boulevard. It became a meme on social media for reasons probably impossible to explain, except that the Austin subreddit decided to make it one. Do not examine this one further; you’ll only find skillet queso.
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Circuit of the Americas
Most people call it COTA in casual conversation. Built in the southeastern part of town to host the Formula One U.S. Grand Prix in 2012, the racetrack and amphitheater really diversified its offerings: the X Games set up shop there for a couple years, the Rolling Stones played there, and now it’s home to the Germania Insurance Ampitheater. Note: Circuit of the Americas is technically in the unincorporated community of Elroy.
Continental Club
Willie Maese invites a passerby into a Casper Rawls show at the Continental Club on June 27, 2019.
Dave Creaney for American-Statesman
Often spoken of in reverent tones, this eclectic music venue that opened in 1955 is keeping the Austin vibe alive on a rapidly changing South Congress Avenue. Stevie Ray Vaughan, Dale Watson, Alejandro Escovedo, Robert Plant, Patty Griffin, the Killers and many more have played the stage at the Continental Club.
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David Komie
Austin injury attorney David Komie is familiar to drivers. His distinctive billboards, featuring his smiling, dreadlocked head, call him “The Attorney That Rocks.”
Dan’s and Fran’s
Fran’s Hamburgers closed its South Congress location in 2013 after 40 years of business.
Ricardo B. Brazziell / American-Statesman
Once upon a time, married couple Daniel Junk and Frances Maldonado founded Dan’s Hamburgers, an Austin mini chain. In 1990, they divorced and split the restaurants. Frances renamed her share Fran’s Hamburgers and kept the same food. These days, there are four Dan’s locations, but the Fran’s joints are closed, including an iconic, retro-tinged South Congress Avenue location that is now home to a Torchy’s Tacos (itself an Austin fast food hero).
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Daniel Johnston
People pay their respects at the “Hi, How Are You” mural created by musician and artist Daniel Johnston on Sept. 11, 2019, after Johnston died at the age of 58.
AMERICAN-STATESMAN FILE
Daniel Johnston is just as known for his music, including songs like “True Love Will Find You in the End,” as he is his art — including the “Hi, How Are You” mural at 21st and Guadalupe streets. A well-known landmark near the University of Texas and a popular spot for photos, Johnston created it in 1993. The frog-like character in the mural, who also appeared on Johnston’s 1983 album of the same name, is known as “Jeremiah the Innocent.” The building housing the mural was torn down, but the mural itself still stands. The musician and artist died in 2019.
‘Dazed and Confused’
AUSTIN, TEXAS – SEPTEMBER 28: (L-R) Anthony Rapp, Esteban Powell, Mark Vandermeulen, Wiley Wiggins, Christin Hinojos, Catherine Avril Morris, Marissa Ribisi, Mona Lee Fultz, Michelle Burke, Heidi Van Horne, Kathleen Cunningham, Christine Harnos, Milla Jovovich, Richard Linklater and Joey Lauren Adams attends the 30th Anniversary Screening Of “Dazed And Confused” at The Contemporary Austin – Jones Center on September 28, 2024 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Amy E. Price/Getty Images)
Amy E. Price/Getty Images
Richard Linklater’s 1993 movie classic was filmed in Austin and is responsible for at least 60% of the world’s perceptions about the city. (That statistic has not been fact-checked.) Not only did “Dazed and Confused” bring Matthew McConaughey’s lecherous, lackadaisical Wooderson into the world — he’s on a mural downtown — the 1970s-set film also made local haunts like Top Notch Hamburgers into movie magic.
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DKR
AUSTIN, TEXAS – MAY 11: Fireworks are displayed during the conclusion of commencement at the DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium on May 11, 2024 in Austin, Texas. Amid nationwide tension on college campuses over the war between Israel and Hamas, students continue protesting and calling for universities to divest from Israel. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
DKR is where Texas Longhorns fans show up to cry. (And sometimes, to cheer.) The stadium on San Jacinto Boulevard was called Texas Memorial Stadium when it was dedicated in 1924, according to the Texas State Historical Association. It was renamed Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in 1996 after Royal, a legendary UT football coach. Most folks just call it DKR now.
The Drag
Common parlance for the section of Guadalupe Street parallel to the UT campus. The Drag proper extends from Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to 26th Street, according to the Statesman’s house style guide, though you could make a case for including some of the street that creeps farther north, in the author’s opinion.
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Eeyore’s Birthday Party
Ashley Heck and Ivy Hernandez danced around the maypole during Eeyore’s Birthday Party in Pease Park on April 29, 2017.
Dave Creaney for American-Statesman
Eeyore’s Birthday Party, Austin’s funkiest fest, began in 1964 when Lloyd Birdwell first invited folks to celebrate the birthday of the depressed donkey from A.A. Milne’s “Winnie-the-Pooh,” who likes to complain that no one remembers his birthday. It grew into an annual spring festival at Pease Park, rife with drum circles, body paint and just a whole lot of vibes.
Fiesta Gardens
Guatemalan Blues & Latin musician Gaby Moreno plays guitar as she performs onstage, during Pachanga Latino Music Festival, at Fiesta Gardens, Austin, Texas, May 30, 2009. (Photo by John Anderson/The Austin Chronicle/Getty Images)
John Anderson/Getty Images
Fiesta Gardens is officially named Edward Rendon Sr. Park at Festival Beach. It’s the lakeside park where you’ll find festivals like Austin Pride and annual Cinco de Mayo festivities.
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Forty Acres
If you’re a UT student or alum, you know “the Forty Acres” is a nickname for the main campus. In the 1800s, Texas set aside a 40-acre tract for the university in Austin. The rest is burnt orange history.
Franklin Barbecue
Close-up of a tray of BBQ (and sides) on table outside the Franklin Barbecue trailer (along Interstate 35), Austin, Texas, May 20, 2010. Among the visible food is brisket, sausage, pulled pork, pork ribs, bread, potato salad, and coleslaw. (Photo by John Anderson/The Austin Chronicle/Getty Images)
John Anderson/Getty Images
Franklin Barbecue is as famous for its long line as it is for its juicy brisket. Aaron Franklin’s mega-popular meat joint at 900 E. 11th St. is sometimes just called Franklin’s, which we suppose is correct on a possessive technicality.
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Gary Clark Jr.
US musician Gary Clark Jr. poses in the press room for Best Rock Song, Best Rock Performance and Best Contemporary Blues Album during the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards on January 26, 2020, in Los Angeles. (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images
The biggest modern music star to come out of this city? Austin High School alum and guitar god Gary Clark Jr. has only a couple of competitors for that description. The “Bright Lights” blues-rocker was mentored by local greats and played ACL Fest when he was still a teen in the early 2000s. He’s gone on to a Grammy-ful career with fingerprints all over the modern Austin music scene and beyond. (Not a lot of local artists can say they’ve been the musical guest on “Saturday Night Live.”)
Grackles
A grackle eats pizza crust outside Stubb’s during South by Southwest on March 17, 2018.
Jay Janner / American-Statesman
Hell birds, winged demons, ebony-clad thieves. We speak, of course, of the ignoble grackle, a scourge of any Austinite trying to eat outside or move through an H-E-B parking lot in peace. Austin is home to two main grackle species. The males are black and the females are brown; they’re sleek and lacking anything resembling personal boundaries. And yet, they’re kind of the city’s unofficial feathered mascot.
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The greenbelt
Many greenbelts, one “the greenbelt”: The Barton Creek greenbelt is Austin’s built-in natural paradise, and it’s so beloved that it gets one name, like Cher. This particular swath of untouched beauty has multiple entrances along Barton Creek, including from the Violet Crown Trail at Zilker Park.
Hike and Bike Trail
View of an unidentified cyclist as he rides mountain bike past a statue (of musician Stevie Ray Vaughan) on the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail, Austin, Texas, June 10, 2002. Pictured in the background is the Drake Bridge (also known as the South First Street Bridge) and the downtown skyline. (Photo by John Anderson/The Austin Chronicle/Getty Images)
John Anderson/Getty Images
You can hike and bike on plenty of Austin’s many, many trails, but if someone invites you out to the Hike and Bike Trail, they mean the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail at Lady Bird Lake.
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Hippie Hollow
THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS – APRIL 23: Athletes reach “Hippie Hollow” on the run course of the IRONMAN Texas on April 23, 2022 in The Woodlands, Texas. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images for IRONMAN)
Meg Oliphant/Getty Images for IRONMAN
In the mood to be nude? Hippie Hollow in Northwest Austin is the city’s only clothing-optional public park. There’s swimming, there’s sunbathing, but there’s no shame.
Hole in the Wall
AUSTIN, TX – DECEMBER 18: The impeachment proceedings air on a television at Hole in the Wall on December 18, 2019 in Austin, Texas. The House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. (Photo by Tamir Kalifa/Getty Images)
Tamir Kalifa/Getty Images
Legendary campus bar on the Drag since 1974. A dive, but it’s Austin’s dive. Jimmy Fallon even featured Hole in the Wall on “The Tonight Show.” Folks like Lucinda Williams, Shakey Graves, Spoon and Fastball had to get started somewhere.
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‘Katz’s never kloses’
New York-style delicatessen Katz’s kept the cheesecake shakes coming 24 hours a day until it closed in 2011. Owner Marc Katz used the restaurant’s catchphrase in advertisements, and Austinites with some pastrami still in their hearts can hear it with their eyes closed. Katz’s son carries the brand on in Houston these days. Good news for Austin Katz’s lovers: The brand is reportedly making a comeback.
‘Keep Austin Weird’
AUSTIN, TX – MAY 23: A rainbow “Keep Austin Weird” t-shirt is viewed in a terminal gift shop on May 23, 2022, in Austin, Texas. Austin, the State Capitol of Texas, is the state’s second largest city and is experiencing a bustling building boom based on increased government, a return of tourism following Covid-19, and an influx of Silicon Valley tech companies expanding their operations. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)
George Rose/Getty Images
The ship has sailed, but you still see the slogan on T-shirts and such. Red Wassenich, an Austin Community College librarian, said he coined the phrase “Keep Austin Weird” and put it on stickers in 2000. (Per Statesman history columnist Michael Barnes: Some say it was first spoken on radio station KOOP’s “Lounge Show.”)
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Then in 2002, BookPeople and Waterloo Records adopted the phrase in a fight against a proposed Borders bookstore nearby. Outhouse Designs then trademarked the slogan in fall 2003, according to the Statesman archives, and spun it off into merchandise.
The slogan hearkens back to a different, Elon Musk-less time. These days, kind of feels like saying “Keep Pompeii Undestroyed,” don’t it?
Lady Bird Lake
Longtime locals still call it Town Lake, even though it was renamed after former first lady Lady Bird Johnson in 2007. Lady Bird Lake is also not really a lake: Austin’s preeminent body of water is actually a reservoir — a dammed section of the Colorado River.
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Leslie
Austin icon Leslie Cochran was known for his outrageous sense of style.
AMERICAN-STATESMAN FILE
Gone but not forgotten, Leslie Cochran was long considered the ambassador of Austin’s weirdness. The local celebrity was known for wearing thongs and high heels while out and about. He was a frequent presence on Sixth Street and even ran for mayor a few times, all of which earned him the right to a mononym. Cochran, who chronically experienced homelessness, died in 2012.
Liberty Lunch
Locals remember seeing bands like Oasis and Nirvana at Liberty Lunch, a downtown rock club that experienced its heyday in the 1980s and ‘90s. It took its final bow in 1999, but the name Liberty Lunch has become shorthand for the death of that epoch of Austin cool.
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Margaritas
People anywhere love a nice, frosty jolt of tequila and lime, but Austinites make margaritas their personality. A couple notable tipples: the purple margarita at Baby Acapulco and the avocado margarita at Curra’s. Bonus trivia: Jimmy Buffett wrote his hit “Margaritaville” while in Austin in the mid-1970s.
AUSTIN, TEXAS – FEBRUARY 7: Actor Matthew McConaughey on the court before a NCAA basketball game between the Texas Longhorns and the Ole Miss Rebels at Moody Center on February 7, 2026 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Scott Wachter/Getty Images)
Scott Wachter/Getty Images
Matthew McConaughey
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Mexican martini
One of Austin’s signature drinks, the Mexican martini is the subject of the so-called Trudy’s challenge, a gauntlet popular among college students that involves hopping to each location of that Tex-Mex restaurant and hitting the order limit for the uber-potent concoction. It is essentially a very large martini, served in the shaker and poured into a martini glass with olives.
Moody
AUSTIN, TEXAS – MAY 3: The Dallas Wings take on the Las Vegas Aces at the Moody Center on Sunday, May 3, 2026 in Austin. (Aaron E. Martinez/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images)
Austin American-Statesman/Hearst/Austin American-Statesman via Ge
Another one of those names that you can’t escape. Let’s break it down: There’s the Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park, ACL Live at the Moody Theater, the Moody Center arena, the Moody College of Communication at UT, plus the Moody Patio at the Blanton Museum of Art — and let’s be real, there are probably more we’re missing. The name belongs to William Lewis Moody, who settled in Galveston in the 1850s and whose descendants help operate the grant-giving Moody Foundation in Texas.
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Moontowers
A moontower in Zilker Park is seen on April 15, 2019.
Jay Janner / American-Statesman
For a city with so many creative artists, Austin sure runs out of names. When you see the word “moontower,” know that it refers to the 31 structures around town first built in the 1890s to provide light at night. About half of them still operate. Their name spread to Moontower Just For Laughs Austin comedy festival, South Austin’s Moontower Saloon bar and more.
Mount Bonnell
Mount Bonnell is a mountain like Danny Devito is an NBA forward, but the West Austin elevation point is a beloved view in town. Up 102 stairs and 781 feet in the air, Mount Bonnell is named for George Bonnell, who served as commissioner of Indian Affairs for the Texas Republic.
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Muny
People are always trying to save Muny, aka Lions Municipal Golf Course. It’s the city’s first public golf course, opened in 1924. Advocates in the city have long touted the course’s 1950s desegregation as historic, and they work to preserve it.
O. Henry
If you read “The Gift of the Magi” in junior high, you know the author William Sydney Porter, aka O. Henry. He lived in Austin from 1885 to 1894. A lot of work has been preserved by the Austin History Center; he’s the namesake of O. Henry Middle School; and the annual O. Henry Pun-Off is held in his honor, sponsored by Henry’s namesake museum.
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‘Oh, you do know Betty Blackwell?’
Longtime criminal defense lawyer Betty Blackwell ran a beloved and kinda campy TV ad starting in 1990 that features a character who says the now-iconic line, “Oh, you do know Betty Blackwell?” on the phone. (The surrealist magic of the moment lies in the fact that those words don’t really make sense with the rest of the dialogue.) The ad went on to air pretty much forever.
Pronunciations
You won’t see any Manchaca Road signs around town, like this one in 2018. The city renamed the street Menchaca Road.
Ricardo B. Brazziell / American-Statesman
When we asked around for ideas for this guide, this was one of the most frequent suggestions. So, here’s how to say things around these parts, or not.
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Burnet Road: The street name is pronounced BURN-it Road, not Bur-NET Road.
Guadalupe Street: Colloquially, many pronounce it as Gwada-LOOP, though the proper Spanish pronunciation would be more like Hwah-da-LOO-pay.
Menchaca Road: Similarly, this road (which up until recently was spelled Manchaca) is pronounced as MAN-shack by many longtime locals. It’s a name of Spanish origin, though, which would be pronounced Men-CHAH-ka.
Dessau Road: Most say it DESS-aw.
Manor: Both Manor Road and the nearby town are pronounced MAY-nor, not MAN-ur (like the house).
Buda: The town to Austin’s south is pronounced BYOO-duh, not BOO-duh.
Elgin: Drive east on U.S. 290 and say you’re going to ELL-ginn, with a hard “G,” not ELL-jinn with a “J” sound.
Del Valle: Another longtime mangling of a Spanish word. A lot of folks say Del VALL-ee; it would be more accurately pronounced Del VY-yay.
Koenig Lane: It’s KAY-nig, not KOE-nig (and definitely not KOE-ing).
Mueller: Austinites used to call the former airport site and current residential/retail hub MILL-ur, but we think proponents of that pronunciation lost the war — it’s hard to find folks who don’t just call it MYOO-lur now.
Pflugerville: That “P” is silent in the name of the northern suburb; it’s FLOO-ger-vill.
Purple martins
Every summer, hundreds of thousands of purple martins flood the city at dusk, roosting by the thousands in trees. It’s common to be asked to a purple martin party to watch the action. (The party might be in a parking lot.) They eventually migrate to South America for the winter. They’re kind of the bats for people who don’t care about the bats.
Queso
The Spanish word for cheese is queso, but when Austinites order it at a restaurant, they’re asking for a very specific dish called chile con queso.
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Culinary interpretations abound across the country, but the classic Tex-Mex dip involves a smooth, melty yellow (or sometimes white) cheese (or Velveeta-style cheese product), mixed with peppers and often chopped tomatoes (like canned Ro-Tel). There are variations on the form; South Austin institution Matt’s El Rancho serves a popular Bob Armstrong Dip that adds guacamole and ground beef, while all-night eateries Kerbey Lane Café and Magnolia Café serve up Kerbey Queso (plus guacamole and pico de gallo) and Mag Mud (plus black beans, avocado and pico de gallo), respectively.
Rainey
Shorthand for Rainey Street, the Austin district on the eastern edge of downtown that has now fully gentrified from a residential neighborhood into a rowdy strip of bars and condos.
Secret Beach
Secret Beach is a secret beach. Or it was. Once idyllic, it’s now a pretty well-known slice of rocky waterfront hidden a short hike into Roy G. Guerrero Colorado River Metro Park in East Austin.
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‘Slacker’
Austin filmmaker Richard Linklater’s breakout hit from 1991, “Slacker” was filmed around town. It captures a time capsule of the city’s vibe at the time, as laid-back, liberal college town misfits deep in the heart of Texas go about their lives. How were they supposed to know that Joe Rogan would move here one day?
Sixth Street
AUSTIN, TEXAS – MARCH 16: The Nando’s chicken mascot Barci is seen on Sixth Street during the 2026 SXSW Conference And Festival on March 16, 2026 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Julia Beverly/Getty Images)
Julia Beverly/Getty Images
Folks from around the world have heard that Sixth Street is the place to be in Austin. Locals know the answer is more complicated than that. Sixth is best understood as three separate districts: “Dirty Sixth,” the booze-soaked stretch of college partiers going to shots bars, which stretches roughly from Congress Avenue to Interstate 35; West Sixth, a comparatively more upscale but no less rowdy avenue frequented by young professionals and other people in fleece vests, which spans Congress Avenue until a few blocks before Lamar Boulevard; and East Sixth, a hipster enclave that’s been gentrified to high heaven and still hosts more creative types, which starts at I-35 and heads for many blocks east.
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You can get a drink at any Sixth Street bar, but don’t believe the tourism guides: West and Dirty aren’t known for live music. The eastern district is home to venues like Hotel Vegas and the White Horse.
South by Southwest
AUSTIN, TEXAS – MARCH 15: South by Southwest Festival attendees wait in line for an official SXSW event at Esther’s Follies, March 15, 2026. (Sara Diggins/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images)
Austin American-Statesman/Hearst/Austin American-Statesman via Ge
Have we ever heard someone call Austin’s annual March music/film/interactive festivals and conference by the full name? Nope. Most folks refer to it in conversation as “South by,” and the initialism SXSW is far more recognizable.
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Southpark Meadows
Now: Southpark Meadows is a big ol’ shopping center in far South Austin. Until 2000: a large outdoor music venue in the same spot. Bands who played Southpark Meadows included U2 and the Police in the 1980s, and Pearl Jam and R.E.M. in the ’90s. A couple of Willie Nelson’s Fourth of July Picnics were held there.
Stevie Ray Vaughan
The legacy of blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan looms large in town. Among the many visual tributes to the brimmed-hat-wearing player: a statue of Vaughan standing in Auditorium Shores. The “Texas Flood” artist made his name in town in the 1970s and rose to national fame in the ’80s. Vaughan died in a 1990 helicopter crash.
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Street names
A few confusing ones, or nicknames to know:
The abbreviation “SoCo” has mostly stuck for referring to South Congress Avenue. (There have been attempts to rebrand South Lamar Boulevard as SoLa, but your author has never heard anyone actually say that out loud.) \
From U.S. 183 to Loop 360, you can refer to MoPac Boulevard as Loop 1; well, some maps might, but we wouldn’t recommend it unless you like stares.
Speaking of Loop 360, you’ll also hear it called Capital of Texas Highway.
A stretch of Texas 71 in South Austin bears signs for Ben White Boulevard, and the highway also runs the same route as U.S. 290 at one point until it hits Oak Hill.
At various points, FM 2222 is called Northland Drive, Allandale Road and Koenig Lane.
Where’s First Street, of the non-South variety? It’s called Cesar Chavez Street (for now).
Most of the north-south streets downtown were named for Texas rivers, originally following the order of the rivers as they appeared on Texas maps. For example, Trinity Street, Rio Grande Street, etc. The east-west streets were first named for trees, like Pecan Street. That’s now Sixth Street. In 1886, the city adopted numbered street names on those arteries, and the tree names gradually fell out of use.
Violet Crown
The City of the Violet Crown is an old-timey nickname for Austin that has had surprising staying power. It refers to an atmospheric phenomenon in the sky. According to the Austin History Center, an article in the Austin Daily Statesman on Aug. 8, 1894, first used the City of the Violet Crown to refer to Austin; some also point to an Oct. 27 short story published that year by O. Henry (remember him?) called “Tictocq,” which uses the phrase, too. Nowadays, it lives on as the Violet Crown Cinema movie theater, the Violet Crown Social Club bar and more.
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Waterloo
Waterloo is the original name for the city that would become Austin. (Also a great ABBA song.) Like Violet Crown, we love to repurpose this. Peep: Waterloo Sparkling Water, Waterloo Ice House, Waterloo Records and more.
Willie Nelson
The “Willie Nelson For President” mural on Stag Provisions for Men was painted by Joe Swec from a drawing by Jacqui Oakley and a design by Erick Montes.
Jay Janner / American-Statesman
The Red Headed Stranger. The man who needs no introduction. Willie Nelson, the king of outlaw country, is the pot-smoking, guitar-strumming spirit of the city. Though other cities can claim ties, his legendary 1970s heyday in Austin, which gave birth to the modern live music scene, and his continued presence well into his 90s mean that this is Willie country.
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Find a statue of the braided-and-bandanna-clad troubadour outside ACL Live on Willie Nelson Boulevard, a section of Second Street renamed for him, and more than one mural bearing his likeness.
The Y
If someone in Austin says something is near the Y, they could be talking about a branch of the YMCA, sure. But it’s far more likely they mean the point in Oak Hill where Texas 71 and U.S. 290 split off in different directions.
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Zilker Park
The Great Lawn at Zilker Park on Monday July 8, 2024.
Jay Janner, Jay Janner/American-Statesman
Our very own central park, Zilker Park was named after Andrew Jackson Zilker, a businessman who owned the land it now sits on. That’s a name you see around plenty of places, too.