This is my first time coming here. I have parked my car in the attached parking garage. I believe…read moreit's $12.00 to park. There was a police officer guiding the cars between 2 lanes. The line did move quickly. I came here today because they were having an import car show. I wasn't sure what to expect. I haven't been to a car show in a long time. The last really awesome show I went to was San Diego, and it was massive! This car show was much much smaller. But doesn't mean it was lacking. Most cars were Supra's, which are sexy, no question about it. Type R, couple BMW, Mustang, Volkswagen, even Lexus. Obvious these owners put a lot of love in their cars. The paint, the upgrades, the engines, the stereo system, and all the extra bells and whistles with interior lights, racing seats, and exhaust and rims. If you don't think cars have a personality, you wouldn't understand this car show. The line to get in was extremely long. But moved pretty quickly. I had my ticket on my phone in an email. But I also printed it out just incase. I checked in and got a wrist band. Once inside, you can roam around freely. They do have bathrooms inside and some food. I saw people walking around with popcorn and big warmed pretzels. Also you can buy drinks. And I think I saw liquor too. I wasn't sure where this center was, but if you're trying to picture where it is, it's across for Terry Blacks BBQ.

It has been a while since I visited Palmer Events Center on Barton Springs Road. Yesterday I had…read morean all day conference at the Palmer Events Center. It is surprising large, aesthetically pleasing space. One of the first things that strikes you is the size breath and depth of square footage. Extremely high ceilings makes the space look even larger. The projection monitors were large and easy to see, which made you felt like there was no bad viewing vantage point. In addition, our conference received flat rate parking of $12, which was excellent. In so garages, you can easily pay $25 upwards. Also, we used their concessions for breakfast and lunch. Having concessions near our meeting hall was super convenient. Surprisingly, concession items were reasonably priced and tasted very good.

I love the programs they have here. They are very informative. Sxsw edu always teaches me a lot. I…read moresee good films at Sxsw as well.

SXSW has been held at the Austin Convention Center since its creation in the 1990s. I'd like to…read morethank the staff for keeping this institution so kempt, as you couldn't even tell it's over 3 decades old with how clean it is. The convention center is located in a prime location that's accessible and walkable for all. Though the convention center tries its best to be easily navigational, some of the smaller room signs could be more noticeable. Would suggest putting on comfortable shoes at the Austin Convention Center, as it has two wings and three floors. In order to get to the other side, you'll have to walk all the way from point A to point B.

Eddie and his team are very professional and thorough. They catered back to back events within a…read more10minute start time and handled it with grace and ease. Eddie went above and beyond by perusing Pinterest for our Indian themed dinner. He even glued little diamonds to the dinner menus!! He is extremely communicative and I will absolutely use them again. They are worth the money.

We were looking for caterer on short notice for my mom's funeral, and Eddie and his team were quick…read moreto respond and make sure we were taken care of and had everything we needed.

I attended my first Supper Friends this past Saturday eve. I really enjoyed the environment,…read morewelcome drink, and food! The friends I went with had been there several times before and spoke highly of the experience. The appetizers consisted of oysters, Brie crostini's, and prosciutto wrapped butternut squash! I enjoyed the nicely spiced seafood gumbo, gulf fish, and a few bites of the sweet King cake. I was able to bring some leftovers home too so I could enjoy it again! The owner was there and I think he got the baby in the cake. :-) You can order additional drinks while there and we were recommended a very nice red wine that went well with the meal. I'm so glad I got a check to check it out and look forward to trying it again hopefully this year!

Supper Friends at Swoop House is an Austin institution when it comes to pop up dinners. We have…read morebeen going for many years, maybe ~9 years since our first dinner here! And we keep on coming back. It is fun, delicious and the ambiance inside the house and the gardens is optimized for enjoyment! Supper Friends offers a themed meal (usually dinners, sometimes brunch). It is normally a 5 course prefix menu that is carefully thought out. I'm particularly fond of their passed appetizers - they usually have 3 different types of delicious bites - that you can nibble on as you wait for guests to arrive and dinner to get served. There's an option to pair your meal with wines. The staff there is amazing from the wait staff, the sommelier, the chef, owner (including his family) - all very attentive and friendly! We would like to see more dinners offered. Our last dinner there was a couple of months ago and we've been waiting for the next event since! We can't wait to go back!

Just had a negative experience here. I signed up for a football watch party through Eventbrite…read more They had several events like this before where I could attend without being a UT club member. I got 3 tickets and when I arrived I was told that the cost was $35 a person for the buffet to be allowed entry even though there was no mention of this in the event info. This was not communicated on the event page and my guests were not interested in eating. I drove in traffic 30 minutes to get there and then walked over a mile to avoid paying for parking only to be turned away. Even asked if we could just stay and watch the game based on the miscommunication and was told no. I support the UT club all the time for their pep rallies and am disappointed in how this was handled. Seems like there could have been an exception made based on the miscommunication. It was an embarrassment for my guests and didn't reflect well on the club. I was informed that the Club had no control over the info put on Eventbrite and the only accommodation made was a free lunch voucher which does not address the impact to my self or guests for watching the game. For full disclosure, attaching the link to the event and for the verbiage. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ut-club-watch-party-texas-vs-kentucky-tickets-1797142815539?utm_experiment=test_share_listing&aff=ebdsshios&sg=a809b3f26d39f787453f24c37cd1e8699bda95ef3a3b044426c8024546acbf53340bd0e59d3601341612d45b3e4e882f4575187876804fd0f24d03ca498b2dc38d2c44a7a6fb9c2597777c5c

Awesome spot. Highly recommend. Fantastic game day experience and the service is great.read more

My daughter got married at Chapel Dulcinea 2 weeks ago, and it was absolutely magical. The chapel…read morestaff were excellent to work with and I was very pleased. HOWEVER, for convenience, we also chose to have her reception on site at the Veranda Room, since it was to be a small gathering (45-50 people). Indigo and Joe, the couple in charge of renting and maintaining the Veranda Room, left a LOT to be desired. Indigo was our first point of contact. She seemed extremely uninterested in showing us the venue and was very difficult to get ahold of from day 1. When we were finally able to plan to meet her with the wedding coordinator, she showed 15 minutes late and skulked in the back of the room, not approaching or interacting with us in the least, until I approached her and asked if she was Indigo. During this meeting, we laid out the entire reception plan. As is standard, our coordinator outlined a specific table setup inside, which included dancing on the patio. Indigo was present for this meeting, yet we were not told any of what we outlined (with her) during that meeting was an issue until the day before the wedding. Admittedly, this was ultimately a shortfall on the part of the planner (she misunderstood the number of tables available), but it also tells me that Indigo was not in any way engaged in the lengthy conversation we all had with her that day and didn't actually look at the plan until the day before the event, which was then followed by several frantic phone calls to me for a resolution. Fast forward to the day of...they don't give you much time to set up the entire reception, as the reception reservation was from 5-10 pm (the ONLY availability without having to reserve it all day, we were told), and the ceremony time that came with it was 5:30-6:30, with no wiggle room whatsoever. We knew this and planned accordingly, but would never have been able to pull off such a tight schedule without a LOT of help. According to Indigo, Joe was 'in charge' of sound. However, he was always 'unavailble' and never showed to go over their sound system until 10 minutes before the couple walked in, and then announced that we were not allowed to have music on the patio, where we had planned weeks before, WITH INDIGO, to have the dancing. Thank heavens our planner was able to pivot on a moment's notice, or things would have taken a nosedive. It did cause me to miss a lot of the photo time between the ceremony and reception because I had to pair up with the day of coordinator to become the conflict resolution specialist, for which, as the mother of the bride, I'm still pretty salty. To add insult to injury, my daughter (the bride) reported that, during the reception, Joe approached her and announced loudly in front of her group of friends that they are running the place at a loss and made a big deal about how he and his wife "have to come back to clean up whenever there is a wedding." It warrants noting here that we paid full asking price for this venue, so if they need more to run the place at a profit, they should include it in their price point instead of trying to guilt the bride at the reception! Also, if it is a problem to work at night to close up a wedding venue after a reception for which the client is packed up and gone by the contracted time of departure, they SHOULD NOT RUN A WEDDING VENUE! Despite the absolute unprofessional behavior of this couple, the other people in charge of making this wedding reception happen were able to work around them and make it beautiful, which is the reason for my 3 star rating. If the experience would have relied solely upon Joe and Indigo, my rating would have been lower. In short, I absolutely recommend that you either retain a wedding planner who is adept at working with inconsistent and misinformation or get married in the chapel and have your reception off-site. The Alchemy bar staff was superb, the chapel staff were great at helping us work around Joe and Indigo, and it turned out beautifully, despite our difficult interactions with them.

This venue is beautiful and the team made my party a breeze…read more Tuscan Hall is already beautifully decorated with garland and lighting. The tables and table linens are included, so the only decor I added was centerpieces. The room has a great sound system and a projector with a big screen. The room was perfect for my party with 40 people--not crowded, not cavernous. Could have easily held 50, and more if you take advantage of the beautiful outside area. It was too cold during my event. Many of my guests commented on what a beautiful, intimate venue it was. And don't be scared that it seems far from Austin. Many of my guests used Uber or Lyft and didn't have any problem getting a ride.

We loved our visit. I didn't know anything about the art before coming here but was very pleasantly…read moresurprised. I'm drawn to classically influenced, figurative sculpture, rather than highly abstract contemporary styles. Umlauf's work was precisely that -- it focused on the human form primarily and touched upon themes of religion, war, love, beauty. There were some pieces that took my breath away, particularly the refugee mother and baby pieces. The garden itself is small (you'll likely spend an hour here, at most) but very pleasant to stroll around. The trees were bare when we visited but I can see it being even lovelier in spring/summer. Very reasonable admission fee ($8 per adult). Children 0-4 are free. Super friendly staff. The woman working the front desk was very kind to us and made our family feel so welcome (we brought our two small children). Small parking area but it wasn't crowded when we came (despite it being a weekend afternoon). If you're visiting Austin and you like classical and figurative sculptural work, make sure you add this spot to your itinerary.

A friend of mine was stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend and he then committed suicide. Today my…read morefriend's family had a celebration of life ceremony for her. This celebration of life ceremony was a deeply moving and beautifully planned tribute to her life well-lived. The ceremony took place in UMLAUF Sculpture Garden + Museum. The grounds are serene and peaceful with art sculptures sprinkled throughout the garden. UMLAUF is strategically hidden behind Zilker Park in Austin, TX. The garden was a perfect place for my friend's celebration of life. She would have loved the tree canopy, small ponds, and the bronze and stone works in the garden. My friends passing caused me to think about life, death and the dash in between the two. The commentary today came from her younger brother, two friends and her aunt. Their glowing remarks intertwined with snippets of humor helped to soften the moment. One of the comments from her brother is that you need to keep in touch with family and friends, tell them you love them and do not miss those very important moments. Those thoughts resonated with me. Sometimes in this microwaveable society, we do not make time to be intentional and spend uninterrupted time with family and friends. I committed today to be more intentional from this day forward. When my mom and sister passed, I was selected by our family to do the eulogy, which is one the hardest things you can possibly do in life. How can you capture one's life in 15-20 minutes? What topics are most salient to discuss? Inevitably, my mind drifted to gratitude. I am so grateful for my family who loves me unconditionally. I am grateful to all my friends and especially those friends who have been riding with me for 25+ years. "The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience." Eleanor Roosevelt

A friend hosted her 50th bday bash here last Tuesday and although I've been to Justine's several…read moretimes over the years, I had no idea this place existed! What a cute place and location. We had a full menu at sit down tables and great staff supporting the event. Even had some escargot! Loved that it was a shared menu so we could all try everything on the menu if we wanted to. The host brought her own dessert/cake which was amazing as well. There was an outside champagne bar and place to set up for photos. There was an inside bar with cocktails of the day like French 50 instead of French 75. ;-) We were fortunate the business next door was closed for the day so we could park there for the event, otherwise we would have had to hunt for parking. I will definitely have to keep this place in mind for future events.

I recently attended a wedding at Justine's Secret House. I was trying to find some information…read moreabout the venue ahead of time, but they really take the "secret" part seriously - the website is just photos. It was a smaller wedding so the ceremony part took place in the front courtyard area, which was intimate and cozy. It's right on the street so we heard some loud vehicles but nothing that really took away from the wedding. The venue is a house, of course, with many rooms and different nooks. One small room had the bar and an appetizer spread laid out, and another room had the dance floor with a DJ. I liked the different areas to mingle and hang out. The reception dinner was held in the back courtyard area, which was beautifully done with lights and great ambience. However the ground is a bit uneven back there, so I was slightly tilted on my chair throughout dinner. That was a little annoying and could be limiting for those with mobility or balance issues. The employees I interacted with were all very polite and provided great service. The wedding was beautiful and I think this is a unique venue that's perfect for a smaller wedding or party.