Our guide to all things Austin, Veronica Meewes shares her suggested pairings for Austin City Limits from the curated vocalists and vendors.

In the Field

Food + Music Pairings for Austin City Limits | Listen

By: Veronica Meewes

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This time of year, the vibe shifts in Austin. Sure, it may still be in the ’90s, but fall is here! Everyone’s donning UT burnt orange, drinking iced pumpkin spice lattes, and collectively preparing for Austin City Limits, the huge three-day music festival that takes over Zilker Park for the first two weekends of October.

Austin City Limits was one of the first festivals to curate an incredible lineup of food vendors, and each year they continue to up the ante with even more options from incredible chefs. In fact, your biggest challenge will be narrowing down what to eat and when. So I’ve put together a food and music pairing guide to help you plan a delicious festival experience.

La Santa Barbacha + Chaparelle
This year, ACL is introducing a new area called La Pachanga, which will feature some of the best taquerias in town. Kick off Friday afternoon with a slow-cooked Angus beef barbacoa taco from La Santa Barbacha and then head to the nearby IHG stage to watch the sultry country sweethearts of Chaparelle.

Hawk’s Hot Chicken + Leon Bridges Like a good Texan, Leon Bridges is a fan of all things spicy. So make him proud and stop by Hawk’s for some hot chicken on your way to the American Express stage to check out his smooth dance moves and soulful vocals.

Burro Cheese Kitchen + blink-182 You can always expect to see a couple throwback artists perform at ACL, and this year blink-182 is one of them. Swing by Burro Cheese Kitchen before the headlining show. They’re both cheesy, yes, but irresistible—and best enjoyed together.

Blenders & Bowls + promqueen Plan to arrive early on Saturday to check out Austin’s own promqueen, a queer Vietnamese-American pop rap artist. But first stop by Blenders & Bowls to properly kickstart your day with a protein-packed smoothie or vibrant açai bowl.

Blenders and Bowls by Dusana Risovic for ACL Fest W DR

Four Brothers Venezuelan Kitchen + BALTHVS + Hermanos GutierrezTravel through South America with a trio of taste and sound. First, fuel up with a Four Brothers arepa (packed with plantains, beans, avocado and meat) to experience the psychedelic-surf-funk stylings of Colombian band BALTHVS, then chill out with the cosmic desert sounds created by Ecuadorian-Swiss brothers Hermanos Gutiérrez.

Bambino + Jungle This year, the Barton Springs Beer Hall will become The Big Tent, offering the largest selection of beer at the festival, plus kegged cocktails, and now a special food feature too. Bambino will be slinging their delicious wood-fired pies and I can’t wait to polish off a Tracksuit (tomato sauce, mozzarella, ricotta, two types of pepperoni, basil, and hot honey) right before Jungle hits the Miller Lite stage.

Con Todo + Vince Staples
You’ve got to visit La Pachanga eatery more than once all weekend, so let your next stop be for Con Todo’s juicy carnitas with guacamole, fresh salsa, cilantro, and onion on a house-nixtamalized tostada. After that, head to the IHG stage for some serious storytime with Vince Staples.

Bananarchy + Dua Lipa Dance-pop superstar and fashion icon Dua Lipa’s wellness routine includes eating a banana before working out, so she would absolutely approve of Bananarchy’s iconic chocolate-dipped bananas. It’ll give you just the energy you need to dance the night away.

Dulce Amor Mio + Chappell Roan Chappell Roan will be hitting the American Express stage on Sunday, undoubtedly in a number of incredible getups. It would only be right to show up for the Midwest Princess’ set with a scoop of Pink Pony Club-hued ice cream with rainbow sprinkles from Dulce Amor Mio.

Mama Fried or Skull & Cakebones + Sturgis SimpsonSturgill Simpson will be bringing his genre-bending style of outlaw country to the Honda stage to close out the fest on Sunday night. But first you’ll want to hit Mama Fried for their “outlaw fries” topped with garlic parmesan ranch or melted cheese and chopped beef. Plant-based friends, fear not: Skull & Cakebones is serving vegan garlic parmesan fries (plus vegan smashburgers, corndogs, and chik’n tenders).