Austin, TX - Record store recommendations?

[radiatorhums]

I'll echo the End of an Ear recommendations.  The new shop is nice too!  The exterior doesn't quite have the charm of the old one, but it's bigger.  Waterloo is overpriced, I don't even bother going there when I'm in town now.

[hickey]

14 hours ago, wbhendrix said:

Friends of Sound Records is located on south congress and tucked away in a cool back alley. Super local store since many people in Austin don't even know it's there. Waterloo is always great but if you want a unique place that not everyone checks out, Friends of Sound Records is the place to go. They also have a special bin you can ask for that will have rare bootleg vinyl. I've gotten lucky there a few times with rare items you would have a hard time finding anywhere else!

Friends of Sound! I always forget what that place is called. Neat little store. I've found some really cool gems in there over the years, but it's very hit or miss. If you want to dig through used records- it's great. The people there are friendly too.

[stl_ben]

Via 313 has  the best pizza I have had in Austin 

[texan4life]

52 minutes ago, stl_ben said:

Via 313 has  the best pizza I have had in Austin 

So good; I think it was voted as one of the best in the country!

[radiatorhums]

10 hours ago, stl_ben said:

Via 313 has  the best pizza I have had in Austin 

I think it's the best pizza I've ever had.  Got to visit the brick & mortar last time I was in town, seemed like a cool place.  Busy as hell though.

[stl_ben]

Yeah when I was in town for mondo con we walked from the gallery to the restraunt. Will probably make it an annual tradition. 

[6heart6breaker6]

On 12/9/2016 at 0:08 PM, richardsurf said:

I'm taking a work trip to Austin in January and have one free afternoon/evening to pack in all my record shopping. I'm staying right on the Colorado river it looks like, so any recommendations for shops near there would be much appreciated! Thanks, friendly VC'ers.

Please learn to use the  S E A R C H    F U N C T I O N.  It is quite lovely 

 

[AdamJNovak]

I went to Waterloo when I was in town for South By a few years ago. Pretty cool place.  Grabbed St. Vincent self-titled (after seeing her at the NPR showcase the night before and not having her new album on wax yet). Beck's Guero and this awesome third man records slipmat that's still on my TT.  Wasn't able to check out any shops when I was in town, but I'll hopefully be back for SX this year so I'll definitely be hitting up the other shops while in town.  http://s2.photobucket.com/user/XbigcX187/media/photo_zpsb8e91124.jpg.html

[Oblivions]

On December 9, 2016 at 10:26 AM, hickey said:

Can you be a little more specific? The river cuts through a decent part of town.

 

End of an Ear and Waterloo have the best selections. Waterloo is at Lamar and 6th. End of an Ear just opened a new spot just off Ben White, but I haven't been to the new location  yet. I hear it's awesome though. Waterloo is a bit overpriced, but solid selection.

 

On December 9, 2016 at 10:27 AM, sethdavid said:

Waterloo is the big record store in Austin.

Aside from that the only store I know of with a large selection of new records is End of An Ear which I actually prefer because it's closer to my apartment and less crowded (parking at Waterloo can be a bitch sometimes).

 

On December 9, 2016 at 10:30 AM, sethdavid said:

There's also Encore Records (which I've never gotten around to going to) and Antone's which is mostly used rock/blues/country but also had a couple of more recent and hard to find records when I was there

 

On December 9, 2016 at 10:51 AM, batman said:

Waterloo and End of an Ear for records

Jack Allen's Kitchen for dinner 

 

On December 9, 2016 at 11:16 AM, alllexm said:

Yeah end of an ear is my favorite and their new location is awesome. As for food... Trudys stuffed avocado or mighty cone !!

 

On December 9, 2016 at 11:34 AM, texan4life said:

Breakaway records,  Antones, End of an Ear.

 

On December 9, 2016 at 11:42 AM, youspinmeround said:

Everytime I have been to waterloo, its all new stuff that you can get anywhere. As is that hipster restaurant next door to it that seems to have people waiting forever to eat nothing special

I judge a record store on their used stacks. I have never been disappointed with End of an Ear. Breakway was decent the one time I went there

 

On December 9, 2016 at 11:47 AM, hickey said:

For cheap Tex-Mex, I'm all Polvo's.

I'm also Torchy's over TacoDeli. However, Maria's has the best breakfast tacos, in my opinion.

Whoever mentioned Mighty Cone: YES! Mighty Cone is awesome.

Waterloo is much smaller than Amoeba in Hollywood, and not as much used stuff. It depends on what kind of shopping you're looking to do, but Waterloo is good for new, End of an Ear is better for used. Encore is a great, small shop; decent selection with lots of metal. I've never been to Breakaway. 

 

On December 9, 2016 at 11:54 AM, sethdavid said:

I've only been there once and unfortunately it was really bad Got a shrimp burrito and they used canned tiny shrimp in it. Bleck. Also they give you chips before your meal and then say "the salsa is inside, it's self serve" and then you go inside and there's a sign next to it that says "Salsa $2.99"
WHO DOES THAT?! Hahaha.

 

On December 17, 2016 at 6:33 PM, AdamJNovak said:

I went to Waterloo when I was in town for South By a few years ago. Pretty cool place.  Grabbed St. Vincent self-titled (after seeing her at the NPR showcase the night before and not having her new album on wax yet). Beck's Guero and this awesome third man records slipmat that's still on my TT.  Wasn't able to check out any shops when I was in town, but I'll hopefully be back for SX this year so I'll definitely be hitting up the other shops while in town.  http://s2.photobucket.com/user/XbigcX187/media/photo_zpsb8e91124.jpg.html

Thanks all who offered suggestions. That was a huge help.

I ended up in Austin for 3 days but most of that was work, so I only had brief pockets of time to do fun stuff. I visited 3 different record stores and I also got to hang out at Austin City Limits and eat free food, watch live music, and browse their photo gallery upstairs.

 

The first place I went was Waterloo Records!

 

 

I loved this shop. It was right in the heart of the action in town, big, well organized, and there were a lot of sale bins and used new arrivals. I picked up a shirt and two records here: 

 

 

Defiance, Ohio - Great Depression LP used for $8

Busman's Holiday - A Long Goodbye LP (VIP version) only $10 brand new

 

I didn't notice the inflated prices like mentioned earlier but I was mostly looking in their used and sale sections. I did notice that there were a ton of teen kids there looking for records and it was pretty packed in general.

 

I also went to End of an Ear.

 

 

It's in a less busy part of town by the highway. I loved this shop too. Lots of records and many good prices. If I lived in Austin, this would be my go to place. Less busy than Waterloo. I got two shirts and two records:

 

 

Damien Jurado - Maraqopa LP new, it was only $13 so I grabbed it

Talking Heads - Little Creatures LP used for $8, not my favorite record by them but I dig it and have been meaning to pick up a cheap used copy

 

I also went to Encore Records but, to be honest, I didn't like it very much. It was located in a sketchy abandoned part of town (this was around 8-9pm at night on a Saturday). I didn't find anything I would want to pick up. A lot of the used records were shredded dollar bin style LPs (mixed in there was better used stock). Some of the prices I saw were average to high. If I dropped the ball on Encore, let me know and I'd be glad to check it out again if I find myself back in Austin.

 

Great trip overall. Food wise, we went to Lamberts one night for dinner. Their short rib was awesome. We went to Juan in a Million for breakfast and it was alright. I think I'm already spoiled with Mexican food as a half-Mexican person who lives in Los Angeles. The capitol building was fun to walk around. Cool city.

[rogeoa8]

10 minutes ago, richardsurf said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks all who offered suggestions. That was a huge help.

I ended up in Austin for 3 days but most of that was work, so I only had brief pockets of time to do fun stuff. I visited 3 different record stores and I also got to hang out at Austin City Limits and eat free food, watch live music, and browse their photo gallery upstairs.

 

The first place I went was Waterloo Records!

 

 

I loved this shop. It was right in the heart of the action in town, big, well organized, and there were a lot of sale bins and used new arrivals. I picked up a shirt and two records here: 

 

 

Defiance, Ohio - Great Depression LP used for $8

Busman's Holiday - A Long Goodbye LP (VIP version) only $10 brand new

 

I didn't notice the inflated prices like mentioned earlier but I was mostly looking in their used and sale sections. I did notice that there were a ton of teen kids there looking for records and it was pretty packed in general.

 

I also went to End of an Ear.

 

 

It's in a less busy part of town by the highway. I loved this shop too. Lots of records and many good prices. If I lived in Austin, this would be my go to place. Less busy than Waterloo. I got two shirts and two records:

 

 

Damien Jurado - Maraqopa LP new, it was only $13 so I grabbed it

Talking Heads - Little Creatures LP used for $8, not my favorite record by them but I dig it and have been meaning to pick up a cheap used copy

 

I also went to Encore Records but, to be honest, I didn't like it very much. It was located in a sketchy abandoned part of town (this was around 8-9pm at night on a Saturday). I didn't find anything I would want to pick up. A lot of the used records were shredded dollar bin style LPs (mixed in there was better used stock). Some of the prices I saw were average to high. If I dropped the ball on Encore, let me know and I'd be glad to check it out again if I find myself back in Austin.

 

Great trip overall. Food wise, we went to Lamberts one night for dinner. Their short rib was awesome. We went to Juan in a Million for breakfast and it was alright. I think I'm already spoiled with Mexican food as a half-Mexican person who lives in Los Angeles. The capitol building was fun to walk around. Cool city.

Defiance Ohio is great

[hickey]

I'm glad you had a good time here in Austin. I've lived a bunch of places, and Austin is easily my favorite. Great people, great food, great music.

 

[Tommy]

I'll be in Austin 2/18-2/22. Looking forward to hitting up all these places mentioned above

[Tommy]

Been here a few days now and I've eaten maybe 12 tacos so far. Hit up End of an Ear yesterday; was a great shop with fair prices. Ended up picking up the Frank Ocean Endless boot.

 

 

As far as food goes, its been amazing. We hit Pueblo Viejo for Pastor tacos after landing, went for a hike up the Green Belt and then ate Taco Deli for breakfast, Home Slice pizza for dinner, and then Veracruz for lunch today (Migas tacos were so good). Hitting up JuiceLand each morning has been solid too. Hoping to get in a few more restaurants before leaving tomorrow and maybe another 5-6 tacos

 

[hickey]

I like Daily Juice better than JuiceLand, but I think I'm in the minority.

Are you staying downtown?

[Tommy]

21 minutes ago, hickey said:

I like Daily Juice better than JuiceLand, but I think I'm in the minority.

Are you staying downtown?

Yup, east side 2nd street

[warhenrecords]

Love End of an Ear, have a pin from there on my bag.

Waterloo is okay, but I'll probably skip it when I'm in town again in April.

Just saw that the Austin location of Friends of Sound closed. Too bad, I never made it there.

Might have to try and hit Antones. Never been there either and it looks cool.

God I fucking love that city so much.

Edited February 21, 2017 by warhenrecords

[texan4life]

1 hour ago, warhenrecords said:

Loved End of an Ear, have a pin from there on my bag.

Waterloo is okay, but I'll probably skip it when I'm in town again in April.

Just saw that the Austin location of Friends of Sound closed. Too bad, I never made it there.

Might have to try and hit Antones. Never been there either and it looks cool.

God I fucking love that city so much.

If you get a chance, Breakaway Records is up near 51st street, there is a 24-hr coffee shop next door and they serve pizza from a local spot in town.  Can't go wrong.