Austin City Limits may be known as a showcase of good musicians, but the vendors featured in the festival are some of the best local eateries. Ranging from ice cream and popsicles to two different pizza sellers, the variety of food vendors can be overwhelming and even confusing.
To help wade through the 34 different vendors, here are the Texan’s top five recommendations to check out during both weekends of the festival.
Austin’s Pizza
One of the many pizza sellers in Austin, Austin’s Pizza makes one of our favorite pies, the White Pizza. It’s provolone, mozzarella and alfredo sauce. Simple, yummy and thoroughly cheesy. Their margherita pizza is also delicious, as is pretty much any item on their menu. They also have pizza rolls large enough to constitute a whole meal, though we won’t blame you for calling it a snack.
Amy’s Ice Cream
Their famous Mexican Vanilla ice cream is one of our favorites, but Amy’s has something for everyone, no matter your “flavor.” Their specialties include All Thai’d Up, a mix of ginger, basil, coconut cream and rum, lime juice and toasted coconut; Banana, which is just sweet cream and pureed bananas; Avocado, seasoned with key lime juice and salt; and Black Velvet, a dark chocolate ice cream mixed with rum. The forecast shows hot and sunny weather for both weekends, so ice cream for lunch may not sound so bad.
Good Pop
Good Pop makes some odd but delicious popsicles, perfect for beating the 95-degree ACL heat. Festival goers will thoroughly enjoy their watermelon agave pop. Their gluten-free cookies and cream pop is one of their more unique offerings, as well as coconut lime, banana cinnamon, chocolate milk and hibiscus mint. All of their pops are organic and none of their flavors are artificial.
Maine Root Beverages
Maine Root offers unique riffs on many popular sodas, such as their Mexican cola, root beer, sarsaparilla and lemon-lime, as well as their own unique flavors such as pumpkin pie, blueberry and prickly pear lemonade. This lemonade is a must-try, with a balance of the flavors of lemon and prickly pear that is unexpectedly complementary. These pair well with tacos and pizza.
Torchy’s Tacos
Their little flying devil calls to festival goers at every ACL fest. Offering more common varieties of breakfast tacos as well as their own signature tacos, Torchy’s can satisfy any hunger. Whether that hunger is for a jalapeño sausage wrap “Republican” or fried avocado taco for a safely vegetarian option, they’ve got ACL covered.
Honorable Mention:
Bananarchy, which serves frozen bananas covered in various toppings, will also be at the festival. The frozen banana stand is a nice alternative to good pop for those interested in a more filling non-dairy option. Our recommendation is the Milly Vanilly, which has a vanilla base half-dipped in chocolate.
Mightycone serves nearly every food imaginable, in a cone, making it the ultimate in-festival food. Every item is served in paper-drinking cones, and there are a variety of options ranging from a light snack to a full meal. These include the Chicken Cone, the Avocado Cone and the Monster Cone.
