South Congress

True to its motto, "Keep Austin weird," Austin, Texas is a weird city. Nowhere is this weirdness exemplified better than on South Congress Avenue, a wide boulevard a few miles south of the capitol. South Congress, or SoCo as it's sometimes called, is a long stretch of the street replete with food trucks, restaurants, cafes, vintage clothing stores, antique shops, and cozy hotels. The patrons on South Congress are as weird as the stores, ranging from youthful hipsters to big-haired old women.

Most of the fun is just strolling down South Congress and gawking. It bears some similarities, I thought, to South Street in Philadelphia. I first browsed the food trucks before settling on SnackBar for a late Thursday afternoon lunch: a quinoa, arugula, avocado salad with baked pineapple and mustard dressing. I came back to South Congress with my friend who lives in Austin on Saturday and tried brown sugar dusted sweet potatoes fries from one of the food trucks. Both dishes were delicious.