I miss Austin - buying pan dulce at La Mexicana at 3 in the morning was always fun. Thanks for reminders - I would like to add Mr. Natural's [www.mrnatural-austin.com], a vegetarian's heaven with great Mexican food options, pastries and desserts.

Just this morning I bought plane tickets to Austin so the timing of this is perfect!

Amy's Ice Cream - If you want ice cream, go here.
- I haven't been to their store, but I do buy their nuts in the bulk bins at the grocery store sometimes.

Whoops. I messed that up. The last link goes to Austinuts.

So so many delicious spots in Austin. As a terribly homesick Austinite, I've got more than a few favorites, here are a few:

Quacks Bakery - they supply a fair majority of Austin coffee shops with creamy cheese danishes, crumbly blueberry muffins & just about the best coffee cake I've come across

Mother's - a home-y all vegetarian restaurant with killer homemade veggie burgers & enchiladas

The Good Knight - relatively new to Austin, this east side gem serves up a small menu of modest French fusion & old fashioned cocktails. a really great spot for an early dinner

East Side Pies - this joint only delivers to east Austinites, but if you not lucky enough to live east of I-35 you can pick up a pie or order by the slice & sit on the back porch with a sixer from the corner store.

El Chile - killer margaritas & Mexican Martinis (an Austin classic that any out-of-towner should consider a must while visiting)

Amy's Ice Cream - (as mentioned above) the best ice cream ever. period. with 16% butter fat, how could it not be? their Mexican vanilla is not to be missed

Real Ale Brewery - their brews are sold at most convenience stores, grocery stores & lots of restaurants in the area

You can't talk Austin food without talking breakfast tacos and migas. Torchy's Tacos for all things taco (we do them on corn or flour tortillas down here, not hard shells) is my bliss. http://torchystacos.com/
Curra's for tamales. http://www.currasgrill.com/
Pure Luck farms makes amazing goat cheese of all types available in locally oriented gorcery stores and also offer tours, making a fun day trip.http://www.purelucktexas.com/

Also, there's a large South Asian population here, so plenty of good India restaurants and grocery stores.

I could go on and on about all the amazing and wallet friendly eating in this town. I haven't even mentioned the pizza, cupcakes, and high-quality sushi options! Chowhound has a pretty active Austin board, and Yelp has a lot of good lists, so if you want to do a food tour, those are good resources.

And I can't say enough about the Austin Farmer's market. I'm moving soon and I know I'm going to miss talking to "my farmers" year round.

What about Paula's Texas Orange and Texas Lemon? Great liqueurs, handmade locally. Check them out at www.paulastexasspirits.com/.

When I bring Austin food along as a gift it's usually either salsa or some fresh corn tortillas from El Milagro. Go straight to the source at the El Milagro factory, with it's small storefront filled with interesting stuff, on Sixth Street just east of I35. www.el-milagro.com/

I can't believe no one has mentioned Wheatsville, our fabulous local food co-op (open to the general public). They've got lots of produce from local farms, and labels on food stating how many miles away from the co-op that item was made. They're finishing up an impressive remodel and have a great deli.
Also, Asahi Imports is definitely worth checking out for anyone interested in cooking Japanese or Asian food.

Whenever I go "home" to TX, my souvenir to bring back to NYC where I live now is Rose's salsa verde.
Loved this post . . . oh the memories of Austin . . .

Thanks halfjapanezegrl for mentioning Wheatsville Food Coop, I didn't want people thinking that the only grocery stores worth going to were big corporate ones. Another fun place to go for mexican food is Juan-In-A-Million, amazing people and service!

I'd like to second squirrely's mention of breakfast tacos and migas. Must haves. I love Elsi's (http://www.elsisrestaurant.com/), Mi Madres (http://www.mimadresrestaurant.com/) and La Michoacana (http://lamichoacanameatmarket.com/).

Further, everything in Austin tastes better on a patio with a beer in your hand. Most especially the salsa.

For a great list of local food artisans visit edibleaustin.com.

I read the comments that links should not be specific restaurants but tips for cooks:

MT Grocery Store: It is this huge ass Asian grocery store in North Austin - on North Lamar specifically. It is out of the way from the center of Austin, but I can tell you that the last time I went (I know longer live in Austin, so it has been about a year) I stocked up on Cafe Du Monde coffee at almost half of the price elsewhere ($3.99.) I bought the cheap coffee because they were also selling those individual coffee presses that you use to make Vietnamese coffee drinks for $5. I bought several and gave them as gifts with the Cafe Du Monde. They have an extensive Ramen aisle, and I used to find these really delicious, low sodium ramens there (although they weren't consistently there, you had to check through the many high sodium bags first.) They have fish in the tanks, although for vegans this could be depressing as some didn't look so happy and they were all going to meet their end soon. They had durian fruit and all kinds of happy looking Asian produce. You can also find some pretty decently priced cooking tools. If you have a great Asian area in your town this may not seem special, but to me it was such a blessing - an Asian grocery that was actually the size of a regular grocery.

Vino Vino - because the wine I've tasted here has been go to wines for my kitchen table since I started going here. I taste the wine here, buy a bottle, but then I go to the grocery store or Grapevine (Spec's is fun, but they don't have as much control over what they stock. Grapevine does have control, and the workers will do everything they can to get you the bottle you want) and buy it for much less afterward. Every time I will hear about the wine far after the fact. The wines are just a step ahead of the trend.

Just one shout out to a restaurant - there is a drink called the chilango that I love. It is a margarita with spicy red pepper. You can find it at El Chile on Manor.

If you are making anything that requires great bread, Mandola's bakery in the Triangle has the best. If you can get the Pugliese, then I think that would impress any dinner party guest. I always volunteered to bring the bread. If you want to make the best bruschetta, then buy your Italian loaf here.

Having a margarita with chips and queso at any Mexican place with an outdoor patio is pretty Austiny, and I must agree with jessekl, the beer or margarita makes the food better. I personally like the Mexican martini, but some people - real martini lovers I imagine - hate it.

Having a breakfast taco is Austiny.

Visit the flagship of Whole Foods.

Austin now has Ethiopian, Asters, off highway 35 and Dean Keaton.

Little New Orleans in Austin? Casey's Snowballs on 51st and Aiport because if you are lucky the owners will be your servers, and they definitely have the New Orleans accent and are often easy to chat up - depending on how busy they are. Speak loudly, so they can hear you.

Oh, also, I didn't mean that others didn't read that comment, just that it should explain why I personally didn't have pages and pages of individual restaurant suggestions. I love Austin, so I could literally go on and on. I also second all of cloves and creams suggestions, adding maybe the Casa De Luz experience along with Mother's. It's not just vegan but macrobiotic.

Second the Edible Austin suggestion. Look around free publication areas (The Onion, The Chronicle) and you will often find them there.

Second the Texas Paula's suggestion but also add the Tito's. Buy Tito's when you are here.

bingsy, I so glossed over the comment about tips for cooks, and all your suggestions are spot on!

I will say that the food & drinks in Austin restaurants inspire me almost weekly to riff on a dish. I always tell my guests to eat up while there here and try and replicate their favorite taco combos, salsa, etc. while they're home. Few things are more fun than an evening spent with friends trying to create the "perfect" Mexican martini (though really, I can only drink attempt #1 because after the first round, I'm done!)

There's a serious oversight here: Kerbey Lane pancakes. They are important. They are epic.

I miss las manitas.

I know this is a while after the original post, but I'm thinking there might be someone that uses this post before a trip to Austin.

1. Quality Seafood - aka Eaves Brothers - on Airport. If you go when it is not busy the owner/fishmonger will talk to you about the fish that they sell, and he will give you cooking tips or recipe ideas. It's just a fun little store anyway with a happening restaurant connected.

2. Right next to Magnolia's on Congress there is a shop called Prima Dora. For $4.95 they sell a packet of hibiscus tea that is the blend used at Magnolia's. They call it hippie tea. Many Austin restaurants sell iced hibiscus tea, and it is really refreshing. One packet will last you a while, depending on how often you drink iced hibiscus tea. If you plan on drinking a lot, just go ahead and buy all the ones they have out front. I let them know that I lived out of town, and they went in the back to get a stash they had there. Every now and again they are sold out both out front and back, so just know that is a possibility. It is a high quality blend, and I give them away as lagniappes to every present if I think the recipient is sufficiently hippy.

One last thing - and you'll thank me.

Panaderia Chuy - I just found out that the baker for Mandola's has his own bakery. It has been rumoured that you can buy lots of items for low dough. It's likely worth a trip.

KERBEY QUESO KERBEY QUESO!!
I went to Austin just for kerbey lane's queso/guac dip, and their migas when I was visiting my brother in Dallas last spring. I just couldnt justify an afternoon of amy's AND pancakes, but of course I regret it...
Thanksgiving will be a different story.
Also does anyone have good suggestions for the wineries over there?

avocado margarita at Curra's