Lunch at the Driskill Hotel

| tralev | austin | food |

The historic Driskill Hotel in downtown Austin is the oldest operating hotel in Austin Texas. Completed in 1886, this Romanesque Revival style hotel is one of the most beautiful buildings in all of Austin. The luxurious interior lobby and lounges are finely decorated and celebrate Texan themes. Paintings of prairies, lone stars in most tiles, and naturally a steer head mounted on the wall. I had the pleasure of stopping by for lunch during my visit to Austin.

The restaurant was not yet opened, so I sat down at the bar. Since I was still recovering from my massive burger from the night before, I ordered a healthy(ish) lunch of split pea soup and a salad filled with all sorts of goodies.

Healthy Lunch at Driskill

There was a business man, who appeared to be a regular, day drinking there. We talked for a while about the city, politics, and life. He shared an interesting perspective on the pros and cons of not having a state income tax. Texas, is one of the few states that does not have income tax. This seems very appealing at first, but the money has to come from somewhere. In addition, lack of funding can have some detrimental effects on the infrastructure of the entire state.

Driskill Lounge

There is something special about the feeling that you get sitting at a bar at such a historic place. Its hard to imagine how many countless people of varying “importance” sat in the very same place over the last hundred years. If the walls could talk I am certain that they would share stories that you would never be able to find in the local history books.

 

Thank you for reading! Share your thoughts with me on bluesky, mastodon, or via email.

Check out some more stuff to read down below.

Most popular posts this month

Recent Favorite Blog Posts

This is a collection of the last 8 posts that I bookmarked.

Articles from blogs I follow around the net

“Stop calling it work” – Cedric Raguenaud

Cedric Raguenaud argues that.. “When we label our photographic pursuits as “work,” we unconsciously impose constraints and expectations that belong in the professional world. Suddenly, we feel pressured to maintain visibility, chase originality, and demon…

via Colin Devroe February 10, 2025

The Art of Making Websites

Hidde de Vries gave a great talked titled “Creativity cannot be computed” (you can checkout the slides or watch the video). In his slides he has lots of bullet points that attempt to define what art is, and then in the talk he spends time covering each one…

via Jim Nielsen’s Blog February 10, 2025

Corporate “DEI” is an imperfect vehicle for deeply meaningful ideals

I have not thought or said much about DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) over the years. Not because I don’t care about the espoused ideals — I suppose I do, rather a lot — but because corporate DEI efforts have always struck me as ineffective and blan…

via charity.wtf February 10, 2025

Generated by openring