Last Week Around the -ISTs
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True Stories Can Be Stranger Than Fiction [Extra Extra ]
Seems like all the -ist sites are here for SXSW this week, and we've all hacked our way in to Austinist! Gothamist arts & entertainment editor Jen here, live from somewhere off I-35 and still recovering from our Austinist, Gothamist, Gorilla vs Bear show yesterday.
There are of course plenty of great shows to catch today and tonight, and thanks to this map and directory - you should be able to find the right one for you! One we're sad to be missing is the Quack!Media and FOUND Magazine Party featuring Okkervil River, Tally Hall, Great Lakes Myth Society and The Walkmen. It's today from 1 to 5:30pm and free. You needed to rsvp, but you know - they may just let you in anyway. If not, find us and we'll give you our laminate!
We need your help though, Austin. For the past three years we've enjoyed queso at Curra's, yet the other day we were told that El Chile has the best queso. We tried, and politely disagreed. Please settle this for us: who has the best queso in town?
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For queso try these:
Kerbey Queso at Kerbey Lane
Polvo's (all additions are on the side so you can build it to your own specs)
El Sol y la Luna
gueros and matt's el rancho are also great. but curra's is the absolute best.
I like Santa Rita's queso, but I think Kerbey Lane's is pretty darn good too.
Anybody that makes chorizo queso is gonna be good, but the best kind is mamas and she don't like out of towners.
Great Lakes Myth Society is amazing... best live band nobody's heard of.
All I know is Curra's has the best tres leches I've ever tasted. Chips and queso followed by a thick slice of tres leches sounds like a hardy meal to me!
Magnolia's Magnolia Mud Queso — mmmmm, heaven.
Kerby Queso is the ultimate! I'm dreaming of it in LA right now & I'm an Austin native.
I'd have to agree with the Magnolia's Mud suggestion. I second that nomination.
get the queso from Torchy's taco stand down on South 1st.
I third the Mag Queso!
It's creamy and dreamy.
My favorite....Chango's
El Chile has Queso flameado style which I am not a big fan of even though I guess it is more traditional.
El Chile has my favorite salsa....Yum!!
I second the Polvo's nomination (because if you mix in one of their salsa's it's extra amazing), but the Bob Armstrong dip at Matt's El Rancho is pretty good as well.
Brian Hartman's special queso for Q on the P is pretty special too.
"Kerby Queso is the ultimate! I'm dreaming of it in LA right now & I'm an Austin native."
oh my god! I clicked on the comments to write just that! I'm an Austin native here in LA and what I wouldn't give to be sitting in Kerby Lane right now. PS - ya gotta go to the original Kerby - the one on Kerby Lane to really enjoy it properly. Mmmm... if I just jump on I-10 that'll take me all the way to Austin, right?
Guero's. No question.
mag mud from Magnolia, of course...then try diablo del sol from Maudie's.
you fools. it's Mi Madre's.
Polvo's choriqueso w/pastor. Winner. Next.
Choriqueso.
That's what I'm talking about. Thanks, Ape.
There is no doubt that Magnolia Mud is the best substance ever created for the express purpose of coating tortilla chips. It is creamy, spicy, and has avocado and black beans. Nothing better.
The queso in that picture looks sketchy to me and I don't know if it's my resolution or the picture but does that look like rotel dip to anyone else?
Mag Mud!
Mag Mud!
I hate black beans. They taste like dookie.
...not that I know what doo-doo tastes like.
#1A Kerby Queso
#1B Bob Armstrong Dip
Basically, if you are in S. Austin go to Matts, if not then go to Kerby. The one on 183 in N Austin, surprisingly, has a nice patio and is usually less crowded.
However, If you must break down and buy Queso from the grocery store, TEXAFRANCE Queso is sublime.
I can't say I've had it all, but the Mag Mud is pretty wonderful, as is Kerby Lane's queso with the big chunks of avacado and all hanging out beneath the surface of the cheese. I went to Mexico for a summer once, and I missed Tex Mex so bad (it's ironic and sort of like a tease that no such thing exists in Mexico) that the first thing I had when I got off the bus was a bowl of queso at Kirby--and a stack of blueberry pancakes. Yum.
TexaFrance's salsas are the only kind I'll buy in a jar. Doesn't have that weird preservative taste every other jarred salsa has--tastes like good restaraunt salsa.
Hands down, Fonda San Miguel--but if you're on a budget (and who isn't?), Curra's rules.
IMO, El Chile's queso is really good, but completely different from Curra's. I'm not a big fan of El Chile's food, but I do like the queso.
Another former Austinite in L.A. who's now craving queso. I was duped into the Magnolia Mud, too, when I was UT freshman. Their chips are weak, though, which ruins the experience (Tacos X-Press on S. Lamar has the best chips). Plus, they don't season the beans in the mud, so they taste too out-of-the-can. Kerbey is a good pick. When the right amount of tequila is consumed in tandem, both Trudy's and Polvo's are contenders. And if you slather their gooey queso on top of their SLAMMING nachos, Chango's gets my vote, too.
Curra's Queso is the bomb, way to give Curra's props Austinist. :-)
matts el rancho!
one i don't think i saw mentioned that i loved personally and get everyime i'm back in town from SF is Maudies. The thing with queso is that it goes beyond just the queso and involves all the reasons you love a tex mex place. Maudies is great for sunday morning hangover or mid afternoon during the week lunch. Curra's is a close second for sure.
i'm voting for Mag Mud