Photos by Katharine Shilcutt

No. Just...no.

​Last year, I wrote an entire series of posts on places to get great grub while you're slumming in Austin at SXSW. Those were:

• Polvos (2004 S. 1st Street)
• Torchy's Tacos (1311 S. 1st Street)
• Moonshine (303 Red River)
• Mozart's (3825 Lake Austin Blvd)
• Mr. Natural (1901 E. Cesar Chavez)

I still stand by those choices (especially Polvos). And while I'm not at SXSW this year, I still feel the need to warn festival-goers about where not to eat while they're in town: Freddie's (1703 S. 1st Street).

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Photos by Katharine Shilcutt

​More and more, organizers are mixing music with food at the industry parties that permeate the scene during the daylight hours of SXSW. This morning, I quelled my angry stomach with a full English breakfast of grilled tomatoes, Heinz beans, egg butties and tea at the British Music Embassy while I listened to musicians from Blackburn and Manchester Britrock the morning away.

Yesterday, the day party with the best food in town was Wunderbar: Lunch With The Germans, a showcase of both music and food courtesy of Germany's Initiative Musik and the German Federal Minister of Economics and Technology. (Yes, it appears that Germany still has incredibly long and official-sounding bureau names that are probably even longer in their native tongue.)

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Photos by Katharine Shilcutt

Horrendous green tint courtesy of the green awnings that surround the porch and windows.

​I'm not going to lie to you. There is far, far better food to be found in East Austin -- particularly along this stretch of Cesar Chavez -- than at Mr. Natural (1901 E. Cesar Chavez). But for a uniquely Austin experience that you won't soon forget, it can't be beat.

The first thing you'll notice about Mr. Natural is that everyone in line around you smells like a potent combination of patchouli oil, bong resin and B.O. Many of them have dreads. Some of them are wearing completely foolish outfits that make them look like they've escaped from a group home for adults who have the mental capacity of five-year-olds. I once saw a grown man there wearing a faded orange Care Bears nightgown, sandals and neon green glasses. No pants. Never pants.

The second thing you'll notice is that there is no meat on the menu whatsoever. To quote its website, Mr. Natural offers "a variety of vegetarian, vegan, ovo-lacto, non-dairy, wheat-free or gluten-free specialties." In other words, if you're a picky eater or think that cows have souls, you'll be in heaven at Mr. Natural.

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Photos by Katharine Shilcutt

​Shiny black ducks bob in the placid water of Lake Austin, just above the dam that creates Lady Bird Lake (nee Town Lake) just below the immense concrete barrier. They dive underneath the water every few minutes or so, catching minnows while they wait patiently for a kind patron at Mozart's (3825 Lake Austin Blvd) to toss them the leftover crumbs of a bagel or slice of coffee cake.

From the sprawling wooden decks that overlook the lake, you can take in Austin's rolling hills, the far-off McMansions that have sprung up on the limestone bluffs, some very brave squirrels who will clamber onto your table in search of scraps and what is one of the city's most relaxing and scenic spots (at least since the original multi-tiered decks at The Oasis burned down and were haphazardly rebuilt into a horrifying tourist mecca). If the hustle and bustle of SXSW has you feeling stressed, Mozart's is the place to come unwind.

A quick drive down Cesar Chavez until it turns into Lake Austin Boulevard, then just a few blocks further west and you'll reach Oyster Landing, a collection of restaurants, cafes and a meditation center, with Mozart's square in the middle of it all. Parking can be difficult in the main lot, so just head up the hill opposite the lake and park your car there. At Mozart, which roasts its own beans on site every two days, your best bet is a cup of bottomless coffee for only $2.99 and a selection from its pastry case; the bakery is on site, as well. There's not much else to be found at Mozart's -- no paninis or beers or anything else to clutter up the simple aesthetic -- which is a good thing. They've been doing coffee right for 17 years (and pastries almost as well for eight years), so why mess with a good thing?

Thursday through Sunday evenings feature live music, so you won't escape the music scene entirely this week. But you're in Austin, after all -- why would you want to?

More pictures of Mozart's are after the jump.

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Photo by Katharine Shilcutt

​Armando Rayo (Mando for short) and J.D. Nasaw are two Austin-based food bloggers that you couldn't help running into during SXSWi, and for good reason: They're intent on changing the world for the better through food and blogging.

Mando originally hails from El Paso and is better known through his food activism by the names @tacojournalism or @elmundodelmando. His philosophy is simple: connecting people over universally loved and simple-to-create food like tacos, and engaging the Hispanic community that creates these tacos through social media.

I first met him in Houston during an intimate taco truck crawl where a band of Austin food bloggers hit the road to experience the best that Houston had to offer. (They weren't disappointed.) Here at SXSW, Mando set up a free "best of Austin's breakfast tacos" tent for hungry attendees on Sunday morning, which was probably the best meal most people had all weekend. This tent tied not only to his love of tacos, but to the recent national attention focused on him when he was featured in a New York Times article on breakfast tacos, as was our own Robb Walsh. And while most Houstonians (and San Antonians and Valley residents) will strongly disagree that Austin is the home of the breakfast taco, or that the city has the best breakfast tacos in the nation, you can't deny that Mando is getting his message across from some of the largest podiums available.

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​Although there was no shortage of food-related panels at the Interactive portion of South by Southwest (SXSWi) this year, none were as insightful or as incendiary as The Yelp Effect, a frank discussion on the effect that online reviews and criticisms have on the restaurant industry.

Led by Addie Broyles, food writer for the Austin-American Statesman and Jennie Chen, popular food blogger and prominent Yelper in the Austin food community, the interest level surpassed even the panel leaders' expectations and their small room in a far corner of the top floor at the Austin Convention Center quickly became packed to capacity with more than 150 attendees.

Difficult questions were raised at the panel, none of which were easily answered on the short hour that was allocated to the "core conversation" (SXSWi-speak for a "panel in the round," where the whole room is invited to advance and facilitate the discussion). But several key points were raised, points which the restaurant industry -- owners, chefs, managers, wait staff, bartenders or even hosts -- needs to start paying attention to. To quote Broyles, "Social media has made it to where restaurants can't just serve food; they need to have their ear to the ground."

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Photos by Katharine Shilcutt

​If you've got some cash to spare at SXSW and you love comfort food, Moonshine (303 Red River) will scratch your itch in more ways than one. Located directly across Red River from the downtown Hilton -- no cabs or buses needed -- this high-end down-home restaurant is nestled into the rustic limestone of the historic Waterloo Compound, a series of buildings that comprise Austin's oldest commercial district.

While nearly every dish on Moonshine's menu is fantastic (except for the griddled polenta, which comes drenched in an abominable and entirely out-of-place marinara sauce), there is one dish that stands out as the best: pecan-crusted catfish with crawfish tails in brown butter with homemade hot sauce. Trust me -- it's every inch as good as it sounds. It comes with seasonal vegetables and your choice of sides, but do yourself a favor and order the nearly perfect macaroni and cheese to go along with it.

If you're eating with a group and want to spend precious stomach space on starters, the corndog shrimp are excellent (and Haven could learn a lesson or two from Moonshine in this area). And Monday through Friday, Moonshine offers a 3:30 to 6:30 p.m., which is an excellent time to try one of their signature cocktails. The Ruby Slipper -- a sweet and tart mixture of vodka, champagne, grapefruit juice and grenadine -- is my favorite, but feel free to experiment. And no authentically Texan meal would be complete without a fat slice of red velvet cake at the end. Luckily, Moonshine turns out a cake so good, it'll make want to you slap your grandmother.

More photos of Moonshine are after the jump.

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Photos by Katharine Shilcutt

​In only three years, Torchy's (1311 S. 1st Street) has managed to establish itself as an Austin tradition. In a market saturated with both tacos and food trucks, that's no easy task. Torchy's secret is simple: They just serve damn good food.

Located in the almost-too-cute-to-be-taken-seriously South Austin Trailer Park & Eatery, the little taco truck with a red devil logo has expanded over those three years to include several other locations across Austin, but anyone's first Torchy's experience truly needs to be at the Trailer Park where it all started. The taco stand opens at 7 a.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. on the weekends, but lunch is the best time to go. The lines really start to form around 11:30, so do yourself a favor and get there early.

Everyone has their own favorites, but you have to start somewhere on the menu. I recommend the fried avocado -- my personal favorite, and not just for vegetarians even though it includes creamy vegetarian refried beans -- and the Trailer Park, with fried chicken and green chiles from New Mexico. Be sure to get it "trashy," which means it comes smothered in Torchy's excellent queso.

Purists aren't going to find traditional tacos here. No cilantro y cebollo, no deshebrada or barbacoa, no aguas frescas behind the counter. But you will find a uniquely Austin experience: fresh, local ingredients, an abundance of creativity and delicious food.

More photos of Torchy's are after the jump.

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Photos by Katharine Shilcutt

​Yes, there's plenty of free food to be had at SXSW. But complimentary Zone bars and bags of Southwest peanuts can get a little old, as can waiting for 90 minutes in line only to get the dregs of some potato salad at a party for a company you've never heard of.

So get up early one morning and hot-foot (or cab) it to Polvos (2004 S. 1st Street), home of the best breakfast in Austin. The breakfast menu only has about a dozen items on it, but it's served all day long (prices go up after 3 p.m., so be warned) and it comes with your choice of salsas off the legendary fresh salsa bar.

My favorite breakfast plate at Polvos is the Huevos Motuleños (pictured above): two eggs on a bed of dusky black beans, covered in a tangy chipotle sauce and topped with thick strips of fried plantains (not bananas, as the menu would lead you to believe). For the less adventurous, however, there are your standard Mexican breakfast standbys like huevos rancheros and migas.

Don't come here expecting the twee, hipper-than-thou Austin attitude that pervades many of the restaurants close to downtown. Instead, enjoy the down-to-earth, no-nonsense staff and a hearty breakfast that will tide you over for the rest of the day. At least until the next party has you downing all the free Shiner you can get while it lasts...

More photos of Polvos are after the jump.

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Jenny Wang, the "Berry Fairy."

​It's been far too long since we had a good, old-fashioned LSD miracle berry trip. The last flavor-tripping party was in September 2009 at then-new nightclub Ei8ht, and although Eating Our Words didn't attend, we heard it was still as big as every other miracle berry event that Jenny Wang has put on since throwing her first party back in 2008.

To refresh your memory, miracle berries are a fruit native to West Africa that resemble a cranberry in nearly every way except one: Once eaten, the Synsepalum dulcificum changes the way that foods and beverages taste for up to one hour. The fruit's flesh and juices interact with the flavor receptors on your tongue, causing sour foods to taste sweet, spicy foods to taste mild and sweet foods to taste oddly bitter.

Our own flavor-tripping experiences have never been disappointing. Among the favorite trippy food-bending experiences have been balsamic vinegar that tasted exactly like caramelized sugar (although it still burns your throat going down), goat cheese that tasted like a block of pure, sweet butter and bologna sandwiches that tasted like really good birthday cake.

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