Sign Me Up!

This neon sign is in the Texas Chili Parlor. You can get their chili in X, XX, or XXX varieties (as well as vegetarian, pork and venison I believe). But a cold brew is always required.

Once Upon a Steak

There used to be a couple of locally-owned restaurants around Austin that were destinations in the sixties and seventies.The original Night Hawk stood at Riverside and Congress. In Threadgill's downtown some vintage Night Hawk neon flashes hawk wings in the bar. The Frisco Shop by Night Hawk at Burnet and Koenig survived the demise of the little empire and then was razed to build a chain drugstore. It re-emerged in a location further north on Burnet serving the same hamburgers with history.

New Sign, Mystery Spot

They've been developing a new bar or restaurant at 1417 South First. Still no name on the place but this sign went up.

Not Your Grandmother's Chicken

I think I read somewhere that the owner of this chicken place on South Congress named it after his grandmother. Surely not or, if so, she didn't model for this neon! It's a great sign but we haven't tried the food yet.

Celebrate

The ceiling at Threadgill's (South Location) is festive. So I'm presenting it and wishing you a Happy New Year. Have good safe fun tonight.

Old South Austin

For some reason a Mexican restaurant on South First has a sign that looks like vintage neon that says "Old South Austin" with a cutout of the Capitol (which is north of the river) above it.

Favorite Liquor Store

Well, not my favorite, but the name of a long-standing liquor store on West Sixth with some good, old-fashioned neon still burning. My favorite liquor store would be more problematic. This one will be close to my new home, but I can't ever remember shopping there.

Late Night Ice Cream

It wasn't late when I took this picture of the Amy's just west of Lamar on Sixth Street but it was dark enough to show the neon to good effect. This Amy's, our local ice cream success story, however often has a line late at night. In the past we've featured the Amy's on Burnet where they have a hamburger joint (Phil's Ice House) and a playground, and we showed the selection board of the SoCo location. So I guess we are doing a pretty good job of promoting Amy's even though they don't advertise much in traditional ways (according to their WEB site) preferring to get PR through participation in charitable works. We aren't big ice cream eaters in this family. One of us can't eat it, one eats some a few times a year. That would be me. My favorite is usually a coffee flavor but once Amy's made a Guinness one and it was great!

Hamburgers

Hut's is an Austin classic. I haven't had a burger there in a long time, but last night I walked by the West Sixth location of this burger joint. It was between 6:30 and 7:00 and FFP and I were going to a fund raiser that started at Aquarelle (just north of West Sixth and Rio Grande) and ended at Nest Modern in the Whit Hanks center (just west of Lamar on West Sixth). The weather last night was cloudy but warm (over 70) and we decided to park near the second location and walk to the first. Hence I captured Hut's neon and peeked through the big front window to see crowds inside. Classic burgers? It's been too long since I had one for me to give an opinion. But classic neon anyway.