@Aust in
Ezinefall 2020
Tabl e of Cont ents 6-7 Meet The Edit ors Let t er f rom t he edit ors
8-9 By LizaTsoi
The peopl e of 10-13 draf t house By LizaTsoi
Behind t he Scenes 14-15
By MarinMaycotte
Lots of Crossed 16-19 Fingers By MarinMaycotte
The Perf ect Day in Aust in 4 @Austin
20-21
By Sol G arcia
The Experience of TAcodel i
22-25 By Sol G arcia
26-27
TAcodel i: t he ingredients
By Kai Suggs
Diverse yet l ocal
28-31 By Kai suggs
32-33
Top 10 parks in aust in
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LizaTsoi . Hello! My name is Liza Tsoi and I am . 15 years old. I really enjoyed creating . this magazine because I love journalism; . designing, writing, and creating. I am a . volleyball player, track runner, and swimmer. In . fact, I am currently a swimmer for the LASA . swim team. I enjoy doing activities such as rockclimbing, snorkeling, and reading. This summer I . grew a passion for Roblox because it was the . only game my friends and I played due to . COVID. The majority of my time spent . during this time is either on school or on . a call with my friends. I adore traveling . and have been all over Europe. I aspire to . spend my life traveling all over the world. . Some random facts about me are that . my favorite color is green, my favorite . food is steak, and my favorite place I . have been to is Florence. My favorite . quote is "Life is the greatest . adventure."
MarinMaycotte ..
Hi! I'm Marin Maycotte and I am a freshman at LASA. Some of the things I enjoy are math, writing, drawing, magic, video games, and running. I am a . . competitive rower on the varsity team at the Texas Rowing Center and I play . . tennis. I love to travel, be in nature, camp and hike. My favorite adventure that . my family has been on is backpacking across Indonesia and . Singapore. I got to experience a different culture and it was very eye opening. Most of my time during the pandemic is spent doing schoolwork, reading, attempting to draw hyperrealism with colored pencils and working out. When I grow older I would like to be a CEO, engineer, or an animator, but my choices aren't limited. I know everything can change at any moment. Some of my favorites include: food - fruit, book - maybe altered carbon or I Become Shadow, color - don't even ask . me, place Proxy Falls in Bend Oregon, dream . moving to Europe, and quote - ?You?re mad, . bonkers, completely off your head. But I?ll tell . you a secret. All the best people are.?
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Meet t he Edit ors . Hello, my name is Sol Garcia and I attend LASA HS in Austin, . . TX as a freshman. I play JV tennis for my high school team and for an . . Austin league. I also play a lot of video games and see my friends a lot. . . I've always wanted to be an engineer, it's so interesting and complicated. . I've never been out of the country but I've always wanted to go to Norway, I . . love the cold. My dream house is a house in the mountains. We have an . . . . . . annual trip to Colorado that I've grown to really like. I love pizza and horror movies. I also love to watch NFL football. Ever since the.beginning of the pandemic, I've had to adjust my lifestyle for school and to do everything I need to do to get enough sleep. As time goes on, I feel the need to socialize with other people. I know I'm not the only one . I think extroverts and introverts want this. We've been in . .... . isolation to close to nine months now. I hope .. . . soon we are able to go back to school together, .. . and to do everything people do in a normal life.
Sol G arcia Kai Suggs Hi! My name is Kai Suggs and I am a freshman at LASA Highschool. I really enjoy biology, math and science in general, along with my love of video games, which are a huge part of my life. Over the summer, I played lots of games with my friends, Minecraft, Jackbox and lots of other video games online. During the break, I also learned how to draw a lot better than I could before, and I started designing things on the computer in photoshop. I really enjoy traveling, and once quarantine is over, I look forward to go to Cancun, Mexico with my family.
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Let t er From The Edit ors Dear Reader, We hope you enjoy this magazine we have complied. Creating it was a memorable experience because we had to work together through zoom rather than in person due to COVID. It was challenging to make the magazine together as a whole, for we each had individual sections to work on. But when we did combine those sections, it was astonishing to see what each of us has worked on for this whole semester. The interviews we scheduled (also occurring on zoom), the graphics we put in lots of time
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and effort into and the stories we wrote. The reason why we chose this topic for our magazine is to inform people living or visiting Austin what attractions are available to them. Austin is a lovely place with motivated, hard working individuals, such as the mayor, restaurant employees, owners of entertainment centers such as movie theaters, and every-day normal people who work as tour guides to provide visitors an amazing experience. Enjoy! :)
Sincerely,
Sol Garcia
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The Peopl e of Draf t house Aglim pseintotwom ajor figures servingup delicious treats andeats at Alam oDrafthouse
Photo courtesy of Shelli Taylor.
Written by Liza Tsoi
The Alamo theaters are lined with rows of seats, as well as rows of tables to accompany guests who eat food and drink beverages during showtimes.
The smell of crispy buffalo cauliflower seeps into your nose as you pass the kitchen. It?s a savory scent, one that prompts you to try some of this food yourself. As you sit in your seat, you look through the menu, your eyes darting from word to word, taking in the variety of food options before you. But the thing is, you aren?t at a restaurant, you?re at a movie theater. You?re inside one of Alamo Drafthouses?s theaters which provides a meal alongside a fantastic movie experience.. Alamo Drafthouse was founded by Tim and Karrie League in 1997, right here in Austin, Texas. They were driven by a simple passion;
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watching movies and enjoying food and beer. Drafthouse soon flourished into a multi-million dollar business with locations all over the United States. This theater chain is known for its dine-in auditoriums, craft beer and special screenings, such as its Terror Tuesday and Weird Wednesday events. It also hosts many events for holidays such as Halloween. This year, they gifted kids bags of candy as a safe alternative to trick-or treating. Alamo theaters would be nothing without their employees who put hard work into creating a memorable experience for guests. Shelli Taylor, the Chief Executive Officer of Alamo Drafthouse,
is a crucial figure in the business who contributes a great amount of time and effort. After Taylor finished college, she started working at Starbucks Coffee Company, which back in 1992 was an unknown company with less than 125 stores. Taylor spent 20 years working at Starbucks, and she described it as being an experience where ?you could take different paths and not just go straight up, but learn skills in different areas.? That was a pretty good thing, for it gave her a really good foundation to follow other passions. After that, she met with Tim League, one of the Alamo Drafthouse founders, and the two of them hit it off, and League granted Taylor the position of CEO. ?There are doors that are constantly opening. The question is, can you see the door? And then, can you decide if you really want to go open that door and walk through it? And so I think that as you go through your career, you have a chance to take these different opportunities and start to realize, who am I?? Taylor said. Taylor is a risk taker who loves adventure, and when presented with those doors in life, she tried them out. She went through each one, and when she stepped through the door that introduced her to taking care of the Alamo business, she seized the opportunity to see how fast she could grow a company and retain its soul, as well as how she could bring together a collective of individuals who all bring really cool, special talents and
personalities, and organize it in a way that honors yet helps get a bunch of people to go towards a common goal.
"I was abletocalmtheteam down, evenwithsom e incredibly horriblenews, and paint apictureof howwe wouldget out of this. And that it wouldbehardand taketime, but wewoulddoit. Andthensincethen, I'vebeen abletobuildonthat m om entumandbuildtrust with theteam , whichis pretty significant."
?I'm pretty new to Alamo, I've only been here four months, which is kind of crazy because I started during COVID, which one could argue is a weird time to take on my role. And so I think that I'm proud in the sense that it came at a tough time, I was able to calm the team down, even with some incredibly horrible news, and paint a picture of how we would get out of this. And that it would be hard and take time, but we would do it. And then since then, I've been able to build on that momentum and build trust with the team, which is pretty significant, because I've only met a handful of them in person,? Taylor said. A big part of Alamo theaters is the workers, and how each member's job and role is intertwined to form the Alamo Drafthouse community. One thing Taylor strives to do is to take this company's culture and
Shelli Taylor, the CEO of Alamo Drafthouse theaters.
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Besides the company culture, Alamo theaters are well known for the service they provide regarding food and beverage. Jeff Mann, the Vice President of Food and Beverage, is also a major figure in the Alamo Drafthouse community, as he is in charge of working on sourcing, purchasing, and innovation with the culinary team. He attended culinary school in Chicago, worked as a line cook for quite a few years, and was then promoted to being a sous chef. Mann then worked his way up to executive chef and was in operations for around 20 years. He got a phone call from Alamo Drafthouse a little over five years ago for an interview, and was fortunate enough to get the position he has now. ?A guest that comes down wouldn't think that we bread every piece of fried crispy buffalo cauliflower. We grate our own cheese, those big blocks of cheese that goes on our burger. We're making every dressing in house now. (We?re also) trying to bring back and elevate the food bar at the Alamo. It's probably my biggest achievement and success since I've been with Alamo,? Mann said. When Mann first joined, the majority of the menu was either a frozen product or not made in house, not coming from a scratch kitchen. However, pre-COVID, the menu they had was over 90% in-house scratch cooking. ?My favorite part of my job is being able to put a smile on
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people's face when they taste something. What's unique about Alamo is it's not like a typical restaurant, you eat in the dark. So that first bite has to wow you. What I can control and what my team can control at Alamo is your experience when it comes to food and
"My favoritepart of my job is beingabletoput a smileonpeople's face whenthey taste something. What's unique about Alamois it's not likeatypical restaurant, youeat inthedark. So that first bitehas to wowyou."
beverage. And if you walk out of there thinking you would expect to have a good pizza, but it was actually a really great pizza, then I believe that me and my team have accomplished our job,? Mann said. Alamo Drafthouse isn?t just a regular theater chain, it is a business that is built upon the value of creating a memorable experience for the guest by showing them the world and providing them with food and beverage to accompany them along the journey. This entertainment center has brought a lot of joy into the lives of many Austinites, as well as Austin tourists. It is a big part of Austin and it?s culture.
Alamo Drafthouse theaters have a full, multi-course menu where every meal is prepared from scratch in house.
Photo courtesy of drafthouse.
make it better.
The original Alamo Drafthouse location at 409 Colorado Street. Photo courtesy of drafthouse.
All Clown Screening of IT Photo courtesy of Shelli Taylor.
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Behind t he Scenes
Behindthescenes of thework that goes intotheAlam o theater business Written by Liza Tsoi
Overcom ingObstacles Food&Beverage The Covid-19 pandemic has affected many people and businesses, movie theaters being one of those. "Because studios had stopped releasing big films, the films that should be coming out every week went from a really rich, fantastic movie slate down to almost nothing." Said Taylor. "We do continue to serve food and drink. What we've done is we have gone to a very limited menu, where the majority of it is pizza and a couple snacks, but you order everything online when you purchase your tickets, so there's not a lot of interaction with our servers and the guest." Jeff Mann said.
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Alamo theaters are well known for serving food and drinks during movies. "My favorite part of my job is being able to put a smile on people's faces when they taste something. What's unique about Alamo is it's not like a typical restaurant; you eat in the dark. So that first bite has to wow you." Jeff Mann, the Vice President of food and beverage, said. With the guidance of Mann, Alamo theater employees have transitioned from serving frozen items to food cooked in house (pre-Covid). "A guest that comes down wouldn't think that we bread every piece of fried crispy buffalo cauliflower. We grade our own cheese, those big blocks of . cheese that goes in our burgers. . We're also making every dressing . in house now." Mann said.
CoreValues The Chief Executive Officer of Alamo theaters, Shelli Taylor, strives to take the company culture and make it better. "We have our core values, and our beliefs... and so I have helped put in conversations and training and practice that better allows and enables us to actually live our values." Taylor said. The first core value is to do the right thing. The second one is to boldly go, or ?go out into the into the unknown and take big, big chances?. The other is to care deeply, and the last is community first.
ADiverseEnvironm ent Alamo theater has a team of programmers, so unlike most theaters, which may show 500 to 750 different titles a year, Alamo shows over 2000 to create an experience for people to see everything from documentaries, to foreign film, to a variety of many other different genres. "A lot of them are women or people of color that are making these films, so we bring such a diversity to our customers and our fans. And then our fans, they love that, because we open the world to them. They get to see the big ones, right? Marvel or Captain America, we show those as well. But when they come and see that, they see the trailers, all these other movies they might not have ever been exposed to." Taylor Said.
TheHistory Alamo Drafthouse was founded in . Austin, TX by Tim and Karrie League, . who were driven by a simple . passion for watching movies and . enjoying food and beer. A non. descript parking garage became . a hub for cinephiles far beyond . central Texas as Alamo . Drafthouse soared above peoples' . standards. Information provided . by Draftouse.
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Lots of crossed f ingers Aglim pseat howAustin?s tourismscene has heldupduringthePandem ic Written by Marin Maycotte Breaking news: A worldwide pandemic has swept across the globe causing over a million deaths and thousands of lost jobs especially in the tourism industry. You stare at your meticulously packed bags disappointed that your trip to Europe is going to have to wait. Instead you prepare to spend the next six months binge watching Netflix on your favorite couch. Tourism is a key part of Austin Texas?s economy. From the
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Congress Bat Bridge to the Texas Rowing Center, there are several iconic locations around Austin that usually bring in hundreds of tourists from across the country. The pandemic has majorly affected travel by bringing the amount of people flying in planes down by over 40%. This has caused far fewer tourists in Austin which has affected many businesses. The Texas Rowing Center (TRC) is a big attraction in Austin, Texas that allows one to rent a paddleboard, kayak, or canoe and take it out on the beautiful Lady Bird Lake. Falesha Thrash has been the head coach of the center?s junior rowing team for over 13 years and knows a lot about the business?sales and tourism. She explained that TRC?s initial reaction to the pandemic was flooded with confusion which reflects the initial thoughts of many local businesses.
Austin Duck Adventures has continued to run during the Pandemic. Here, the bus is passing by the Texas Capitol, photo courtesy of the Austin Duck Adventures.
Cindy Lo is the CEO of Red Velvet Events, an event planning company that has a lot of knowledge on the back end of tourism. Back end meaning the hotels, restaurants and places ?We were just trying to understand, that host large tourism related right? There was a lot that we events. Lo explains how their didn't really know. But we knew company and many others were that we couldn't do anything in denial about the effects of normal,? Thrash said. ?We couldn't COVID-19, especially when it be open, we couldn't row, and it came to large events like South was just a lot of sitting and By Southwest (SXSW) a large waiting. There was a lot of entertainment conference that uncertainty? We just wanted to typically takes place in Austin know more, which was really hard, once a year. because nobody really did.? ?We're very involved with South by Unlike a lot of other rowing Southwest. The clients that were programs and local businesses, over in Europe started The Texas Rowing Center was questioning, ?I don't think we lucky to receive help during the should come over to the US,?[I hardest parts of the pandemic. was slightly confused at that and basically told them why wouldn't ?I know that a lot of programs around the country have struggled, you? It's not here, it's only in China and Europe,]? Lo said. we did, fortunately, receive some of that PPC loan, which was great ?When South by Southwest did get canceled, I figured, well, this a and really helpful,? Thrash said. ?With the rentals, the summertime pretty serious situation.? was hit a lot because that is our The Austin Visitor?s Center is a busiest time of year. But when we company that knows almost were able to operate, we were everything there is to know about making really good numbers.?
tourism in Austin. Natalie Pollen is the Director of Retail and Visitor Services at the business. She thinks that Austin has handled the effects of the pandemic rather well. ?I'm really actually proud of Austin for how it?s been handling everything. I feel that it?s also done such a great job with some of the mandates,? Pollen said. ?And sure, I think that there are definitely some pockets of
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businesses that need a little additional help. But I feel safety and health wise, I feel Austin has handled it correctly.? Around Austin some tourism related businesses have handled the pandemic better than others. Many have adjusted by mandating masks and social distancing. Pollen highlights some local businesses that she thinks have done well in the past several months. ?Austin Duck Adventures is really busy, obviously, it's a fun, pretty family activity that is outdoors,? Pollen said. ?I feel like the Bob Bullock history museum has also done a really great job of keeping capacity levels at a minimum? Tito's Vodka did a good job of continuing to sell for pickup while they were shut down and when they did open up [they really used their land to social distance]. They also donated hand sanitizer to those in need. That really stood out to me.? In addition to places that have done well, there are also businesses and genres of businesses in Austin that have struggled in keeping up with the pandemic. Pollen notes some of the places that have
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had a harder time. ?Second Street contains a lot of the places that are just not really happening right now. Sixth Street and Rainey Street, can?t be at full capacity just because they have a lot of bars. It's iffy if they can be open or not, depending on if they have food to serve people safely,? Pollen said. ?There's also not a big music scene at this moment. So [when I am giving advice to people on what to do] I try to skirt around that and just talk about our wonderful outdoor
things to do like seeing the bats and going biking around.? Even though a lot of places in Austin did a pretty good job of handling COVID-19 and some places struggled, some businesses had to close completely. Lo?s company was able to stay open and she says the main way they were able to remain open was being smart in their business strategies and contracts. ?I can't stress enough of how many of our friends have closed their business because they didn't have these contracts in place,? Lo said. ?[A lot of companies went out of business because they didn't even get paid for the work they already did. Their clients requested full refunds, and without solid contracts they had to comply which caused lots of money to be lost which leads to the businesses having to close.]? To remain successful the local businesses that can remain open, such as the TRC, have to follow the City of Austin?s guidelines and add any of their own precautions with their best judgement.
" o
"Austinhas wonderful outdoor things todo!"
Paddlers on Lady Bird Lake, photo courtesy of Tomek Baginski.
?The city has a lot of orders and rules for us to follow as a business in general. So always wearing the masks, [wiping down all of our equipment], things like that,? Thrash said. ?Masks are the easiest things to implement. So I think until we're totally safe from
COVID-19, we will continue to enforce that. Especially as long as it's an order from the state, we'll keep that. I think the sanitation practices are what we're gonna keep no matter what.?
even just call up the Austin Visitor?s Center and ask them a few questions about the history of Austin! COVID-19 remains a serious threat for local businesses but only time will tell how everything eventually plays out.
Overall businesses around Austin have been keeping up with the dire effects of COVID-19. To keep the tourism economy alive during times of limited travel, go to a local restaurant, go paddle boring,
Most Illustrations done by Marin Maycotte. COVID-19 illustrations provided by the Innovative Genome Institute.
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The Per f ect Day In Aust in A qui ck gui de on w hat t o do an d w her e t o go i n Aust i n f or all ages ( covi d f r i en dly*
Start your day right by getting a delicious coffee at Houndstooth Coffee followed by the some tacos at the award winning taco resaurant, Taco Deli, right next door.
Head over to the Texas Rowing Center and rent a paddle board, canoe or kayak. The have remained open during this time, providing a very fun activity for anyone to enjoy.
From TRC take the quick walk on the lake trail to downtown and walk around. There are many COVID friendly coffee shops and places to check out.
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Written by Marin Maycotte
Explore the many shops and restaurants along Congress. Window shop and enjoy the cool evening weather.
For a fun activity go to the Escape Game and test your clue finding skills in an escape room. If you have younger kids, check out the Thinkery. To complete the day go to the Congress Bat Bridge to view hundereds of bats leaving their home to hunt for the night inbetween 7:30 and 9:45.
Stop by the downtown library to witness the amazing open spaces and cool archatecture. After looking around the library enjoy a good lunch at the CookBook cafe that features dishes from cook books.
That concludes the perfect day in Austin. For more ideas go to the Austin Visitor's Center Website: https:// www.austintexas.org/ plan-a-trip/ visitor-center/
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The experience of t acodel i Why tacodeli is at thetopof thetacorestaurants Written by Sol Garcia When you walk into Tacodeli, your senses are stimulated. You will get the smell of lettuce, cheese, meat, beans, onion, pico de gallo, queso, tomatoes, green chiles, jalapenos, tortilla chips, salsa, corn, sour cream and guacamole. You can hear the chatter of the people sitting and enjoying their meal. You feel hungry from these smells and go up to order your food.
in Management Information Systems, so I worked as an IT consultant with Unisys, Kurt Salmon Associates and IBM prior to leaving to pursue an independent path," Wilkerson said. "Roberto Espinosa, our founder, was born in Mexico City and moved to Austin when he
was about 10 years old. He and his family always wanted to share the tastes and flavors of home with their new community in Texas,". When you taste a taco from Tacodeli, you can taste the flavors Wilkerson was talking about. Tacodeli was first founded in 1999, and since then has opened ten locations since.
Owned by Robert Espinosa and Co-owner Eric Wilkerson, what, where, when and possibly the why Tacodeli is a restaurant founded in 1999 with locations in Austin, Dallas and Houston. The original Tacodeli (located on the right) is located in Austin right around the corner from Barton Springs and Zilker Park. Eric Wilkerson, the co-owner of Tacodeli, spoke on his background before starting Tacodeli. "I graduated from UT with a BBA The original Tacodeli location. Courtesy of TexasMonthly.
"RobertoEspinosa, our founder, was borninMexicoCity andmovedtoAustin whenhewas about 10years old. Heandhis fam ily always wantedtosharethe tastes andflavors of homewiththeir newcom munity inTexas," 22 @Austin
Owners Robert Espinosa (left) and Eric Wilkerson (right) at one of their restaurants locations. Courtesy of TexasMonthly.
The mix of Espinosa's childhood and life in Austin resulted in a big, different menu with something for everyone. It's a healthy merging of two cultures and quality ingredients. Every taco is inspired by the tastes of Mexico. Tacos like the Migas Taco are traditional foods of Mexico. Their Vaquero taco is a taco with scrambled eggs, grilled corn, roasted peppers and jack cheese. "Tacodeli is continuing to focus on growing in Texas and we?re continuing to evolve and expand our menu, so please drop by when you can!" Wilkerson said. I talked with Meredith Bethune who told me of her experiences and what she likes about Austin. "Tacodeli?s menu was so big that I thought it would be a good fit for that series. And my friends and I thought it would be fun to sample
all of their tacos and have someone else foot the bill!" said Bethune, a journalist with the Houston Chronicle who wrote an article about her experience at Tacodeli. Bethune was living in Texas at the time she wrote the article, noting that New York editors were interested in working with Southern food trendsetters. "New, cutting-edge restaurants were opening constantly and editors in New York were excited to work with someone on the ground in Austin who was plugged into the latest trends," Bethune said. I asked Wilkerson what was difficult about starting a restaurant in Austin over 20 years ago. There are lots of hurdles trying to start a restaurant business, how you will get
"I think oneof the biggest challenges facing all newbusinesses is havingenoughliquidity to get off thegroundand growthebusiness toa profitablelevel inspite of themultitudeof issues that popupalong theway,? 23 @Austin
publicity, what to serve, where to start and how you will get the money. Wilkerson touched on these problems remembering when he was starting Tacodeli.
business from scratch really keeps things interesting....the nature of the work is constantly changing and evolving, so you rarely get bored,? Wilkerson said.?Being in hospitality, I think "I think one of the biggest we all like the camaraderie of challenges facing all new working in a fast-paced, businesses is having enough people-focused business. liquidity to get off the ground and Developing relationships with our grow the business to a profitable team members, partners and level in spite of the multitude of those in the community is very issues that pop up along the way,? rewarding.? Wilkerson said, remembering his difficulties bringing a small During the COVID-19 pandemic, business up. ?The food business Tacodeli has had to adapt to can be very difficult - sourcing, satisfying customers safely, finding good employees, effectively attracting attention and building awareness, etc." I asked him what was fun or interesting about his job. The average american household spends just over 3,100 dollars annually eating away from their home. That?s 258 dollars a month.
effectively and appropriately. ?The challenge of building a business from scratch really keeps things interesting....the nature of the work is constantly changing.? Oftentimes, older children and teens have a different job than they thought they would. When asked if he always imagined himself doing this as a kid, Wilkerson said: ?Restaurants can be a risky venture, so when I was younger, I assumed that if I
?Thechallengeof buildingabusiness from scratchreally keeps things interesting....the natureof thework is constantly changing.?
?The challenge of building a
A meal at Tacodeli inspired by the essence of Mexico and feeding many people of Austin. Courtesy of TexasMonthly.
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ever did anything like that, it would?ve been later in life, not towards the beginning of my career.? ?At the end of his college career, Espinosa asked his dad if it was a good idea to open a restaurant after graduating and if he would help him,? Wilkerson said. ?He said, ?You should get some more experience.??
So, Espinosa?s dad hooked him up with a buddy of his, who was the human resources director of Fiesta Americana Condesa in Cancún. That?s when he had his first real experience in a professional kitchen; he was there for about three and a half months. The chefs in the Yucatán have an amazing variety. 13 of the tacos are heavily influenced by Yucatan.
Everything they did was made right there. He fell in love with cooking when he was working with these guys. Thanks to his dad and his encouragement, this experience set the tone for what he wanted to do. Every chef that he was working for had classical training that they used as a foundation to interpret their own dishes that were local, regional food.
The Otto taco showcasing the diversity of the foods at Tacodeli. Courtesy of Serious Eats
Wilkerson mentioned a contest Espinosa held for the best salsas, where he would reward the winner with $30. A woman named Doña Gonzales brought her salsa in, and Espinosa was blown away when he tasted it. Today the salsa is called ?Salsa Doña??.
Tacodeli began serving tacos based onMexican tradition in Austin in 1999. Founder and co-owner Roberto Espinosa had always loved food. After working with Mexican chefs for some time, he moved back to Austin in 1998 and opened Tacodeli the next year. Tacodeli uses fresh ingredients
and partners with local farmers to support them. They support nonprofits and organizations who are stewards and champions of their communities. They are a Texas original and proudly champion many local farmers, ranchers and brands.
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Tacodel i: The Ingredients
Written By Sol Garcia
Thepast, present, and futureof this iconic Austin tacochain
History Tacodeli was founded in 1999 by Robert Espinosa. The first location was on Spyglass Drive. Since then, it has opened 5 more locations in Austin, two in Plano, two in Dallas, and one in Houston. Robert's restaurant was inspired by his childhood in Mexico City and working for a hotel there.
Menu Tacodeli offers a wide variety of food on their menu including tacos, wraps, salads, and appetizers. They have vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free options. If you're vegan go for the Freakin' Vegan. If you're into a Mexican classic, the Migas Taco is a good choice. If you're not into tacos Tacodeli had other wraps and appetizers to please you with.
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Story On their website, they say "a big, ambitious menu, prepared by hand every day. A healthy obsession with both the quality of our ingredients and the quality of our lives. And a merging of flavors from both sides of our heritage to create something all its own." In my interview with Eric Wilkerson he said "Tacodeli is continuing to focus on growing in Texas and we're continuing to evolve and expand our menu."
Today During the Covid-19 pandemic, thousands of small businesses across the country have shut down. Tacodeli has adjusted to the requirement of face masks and social distancing. They've come up with a system to enjoy their food and you did before. You can pick up or get it delivered at any location,
About theco-ceo When I spoke with Tacodeli's Co-CEO Eric Wilkerson he said "One of the biggest challenges facing all new businessesis hvaing enough liquidity to get off the ground and grow the business to a profitable level."
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Diverse yet l ocal Why theAustinWildflower Center is ahiddengem . Written by Kai Suggs
While you walk into the garden, you can smell the pleasant aroma, and you breathe in the fresh air. Walking through the warm breeze, you can feel yourself almost drifting away. You came here to have an incredible experience, and an incredible experience is just what you'll get.
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is a state botanical garden in Austin, Texas that houses many plants native to the Texas area. Lady Bird Johnson was the wife of President Lindon B Johnson, and was avid about Wildlife, and really cared and loved about native plants in Austin. Visitors are allowed to visit the Austin Wildflower Center to admire the plants grown in the gardens and surrounding areas.
Karen Beaty, a biology major, is a horticulturist at the Austin Wildflower Center and puts a lot of work into each of her gardens. Beaty works in the nursery and takes care of many plants and flowers.
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Milkweed is one of the many diverse plants at the Wildflower Center. Photo courtesy of Karen Beaty.
Beaty said, "I think that the thing I do that makes the biggest positive effect is probably just inspiring our visitors to use native plants in their own homes or businesses or wherever, they have control of our garden space."
Beaty said that visitors can choose what goes into the
garden space somewhat as the plants are all locally sourced from Texas and are grown normally in these areas. This shows that many people can get native plants grown by the center to use outside their houses and in their own home gardens. Not only do they grow these plants for sale, but for entertainment purposes of anyone visiting the gardens.The plants in the gardens and the plants that are sold are all
native to Texas and are still very different from each other. "I can see people who are visiting the gardens, and I can tell they have a question about something, but maybe they're not gonna ask a question. And so sometimes I'll try to prompt that for them," Beaty said.
The Wildflower Center focuses on positive visitor experience. Not only do they work hard to keep Austin wildflowers alive, but they want to share knowledge and their passion for Austin's native species.
"At the Wildflower Center, we work exclusively with native
plants. And so all of the plants that we have in our gardens are native to Texas or to some part of Texas, not always here in Austin. But I think what I enjoy most about working with native plants is that you get to see them outside the garden too," Beaty said.
Beaty said that the visitors have fun experiences, but also that as she works there she has fun as well. This is important to maintain company morale or else the Wildflower Center would lose its charm. Keeping these differences between the plants is crucial for the goal of showing people of Austin or visitors to Austin that shows how Texas
itself has differences and can use these differences in a good way to give people good experiences.
Ryan Mecredy is a propagation specialist at the Austin Wildflower Center, and is very passionate in the wildlife community. Working in propagation, Mecredy goes all around Austin gathering samples and working with genetics to breed plants.
Mecredy said, "We sometimes go around and collect plants and specimen to bring back and cultivate here, we especially love to grow crops
"As abotanical garden, thegardens andthe plants that arein themareconsidered our collections. It's likehowamuseum wouldhavecollections. Amodernart museum wouldhavecollections of different kinds of modernart, but we havecollections of plants," saidbeaty. Echinacea purpurea displays the wide variety of local plants in Texas that the Wildflower Center has. Photo courtesy of Karen Beaty.
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that people can have in their homes; it isn?t ordinary grass, it is so much better, it is very diverse wildlife and we grow so much of it."
Not only do they only grow native plants to Texas, but they also have a very diverse and varying collection of plants they grow. They even breed native plants to sell to people so that they can use these natives instead of simple grasses and such. Building on to what Mecredy
said, the Wildflower Center cares for all of their plants while continually entertaining visitors that come to visit and selling the plants that they work hard for each and every day to make sure that wildlife all over Austin becomes much more diverse. "At the center, we grow many diverse plants and I really think that impacts the environment so much because we can get that diversity out there, I know at one point in time we had over 900 different kinds of
plants at the center and it was amazing, obviously throughout the year the amount of different plants varies," Mecredy said. The Austin Wildflower Center has so many diverse plants even ranging up to 900 of them over the year, and not only that, but they are all native. The fact that all of these plants are native and diverse, yet there are also over 900 of them that the Center grows, is what changes Austin and fuels nature in Austin and keeps everything feeling fresh and alive.
Red Yucca is another plant native to Texas that showcases the diversity very well. Photo courtesy of Karen Beaty.
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The Wildflower Center in Austin is one of the many things that makes it very diverse, not only are the wildflowers they have diverse, but also native, and grown by people who love their job just as much as anyone visiting enjoys their time at the Center.
The Wildflower Center purposefully only grows native plants to show how beautiful Texas can be on its own. This sense of being native and the diversity that Lady Bird Johnson wanted to show with these wildflowers is truly one of the many things that keep Austin weird.
Field of Rudbeckia hirta shows how much time and energy each worker puts into the plants. Photo courtesy of Karen Beaty.
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Top 10 parks in Aust in Our recommendations for thebest parks torelax andhavefuninAustin's wildlife. Written by Kai Suggs
Zilker Park (A) A great choice for strolling around or biking around the wonderful trails, along with being able to see Lady Bird Lake and all of the paddle boarders and kayakers.
Mayfield Park (B) Amazing gardens with glorious stone pathways, ponds with fish, turtles and water lilies. With many peacocks roaming around everywhere, it is a very lively place to go see.
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McKinney Falls State Park (C) Great picnic spots accompanied by incredible fishing areas, amazing camping, and even roaming wildlife to look at as you enjoy the nice Texas air.
Mueller Lake Park (E) Bull Creek District Park (D) Many great trails to wander on while you see the limestone that Austin rests upon, the sheer amount of trails will amaze you.
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Very scenic park with nice trails everywhere, many animals including tons of fish, turtles, even ducks and many different birds. Many activities for kids to enjoy.
Red Bud Isle Park (F) Great place for dogs, very quiet and secluded, best time to go is in the spring when the red buds bloom, but it is enjoyable and peaceful year round.
Emma Long Metropolitan Park (G) Great trails that wind all around Lake Austin, beautiful place to sit down for a nice picnic while staring at the pretty lake or playing volleyball at one of the already set up nets.
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Pease Park (H) Incredible place to go with kids, or just to go on a walk or run on one of the trails of many different lengths. Very secluded and quiet for relaxation.
Walnut Creek Metropolitan Park (I)
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Not very many people, later in the day you can see deer and wildlife roaming all around.
Balcones District Park (J) Beautiful place when the creek is flowing, great for dogs to roam around and play. Very scenic with many trees and rocks that bend and twist in interesting ways.
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