For four days Ev and I were hosting one of our good friends (Mike) from high school at our house.  Here’s a chronicle of our escapades broken into each day’s debauchery.

Get caught up with Day 1 and Day 2.

Monday

With a weekend like Saturday and Sunday, Monday had a lot to live up to.  We started at Whole Foods downtown for coffee before I headed off to work and Mike went to Counter Cafe for a giant pancake.  He also got a breakfast taco there too and his developing palate told him that Me Llamo Taco does breakfast tacos better.  Duh.

He then toured UT Campus on foot to see all the school, which was a brave move considering the weather report.  He made it to the Law School, various quads, and checked out the UT Football Stadium.  Unfortunately the Frank Erwin Center offered little of interest for basketball news.  Timing worked out well that he finished up and I could meet him downtown for lunch.

Keeping with the “All Austin All The Time” theme, we had to hit Torchy’s Tacos.  This is where we got a little out of control.  We each got two tacos (green chile pork for each of us, and a Baja Shrimp for him and Mr Orange for me) and we shared a chips & guac and a street corn side.  The tacos were bananas (figuratively… no bananas were harmed in the making of these tacos) and we were both testing the limits of our gastropods (my new word for stomach).  But it’s Torchy’s, so what can you do?

A Torchy’s Feast

Post-feast I had to go sit in at my desk for hours while Mike toured the Texas State Capitol building.  From what I gathered from his report, there was a good bit of sitting and not too much touring thanks to the food coma.  He learned a few fun facts from a passing tour group, got subtly interrogated by a security officer due to his loitering, and waited things out until I got back downtown to pick him up.  For non-Austinites, here’s a shot of the Capitol building.  Like a skinnier, pinker version of the US Capitol.

Texas State Capitol

But wait, the Austin-ness of the day was just getting started!  Once home, we three musketeers rallied for what turned out to be a special dinner at Uchiko!  We hit the bar for their awesome “Social Hour” specials before heading to our table.  With a friend in town, a corporate credit card, and a lot to live up to, we had no choice but to go with the 10 13 course omikase tasting.  We each had our favorites, but agreed that the scallop and beef dishes were killer and the dessert, although creative, was a miss.  Olive oil gelato, eggplant mousse, and a chocolate crumble just didn’t work for us.

As we left Mike pointed out that we were in the Live Music Capital of the World and he had only heard some live music indirectly at dinner and while walking on 6th Street.  Ev and I couldn’t think of a more Austin place than the Continental Club on South Congress.  Dale Watson (for those in the know, yes the Dale Watson) was playing downstairs, but we were early and in no mood to pay a $7 cover, so we went upstairs where Brad Engel (who?) was playing with a drummer who may or may not have had a stroke.  The music wasn’t too bad though!  The highlight was the old man (like 70+) walking across the room to a young woman at the beginning of each song to ask her to dance.  He taught her to Texas Two-Step and we watched her skills grow from “zero” to “not bad” over the course of their five dances.  Mike also made Texas proud first getting a Tito’s on the rocks and then going for a Lone Star.  Well played.

Continental Club

If we stopped there it would have been a good follow up to the weekend, but we had one more card up our sleeves.  Remember that dessert shelf?  Not completely full from Uchiko, so what better place to get overstuffed than Gourdough’s?  In no time we were at the airstream ordering one doughnut to share.  Though Mike wanted a raspberry filled jelly doughnut with chocolate icing (The Razzle Dazzle), we nudged him over to the Dirty Berry, topped with grilled fresh strawberries and chocolate icing.  We took it down handily

Dirty Berry

The weekend was a hard act to follow, but I’d say Monday did a great job holding its own.  All I know is, Tuesday has some big shoes to fill.