ACL Eats Day One: Grilled cheese, frozen bananas offer festival-goers unique tastes

Austin City Limits music festival at Zilker Park gives attendees the opportunity to try local cuisine from more than 33 different vendors. Kaitlyn DeHaven | Design Editor

By Kaitlyn DeHaven | Design Editor

Your favorite artists and dance parties aren’t the only things that you might find at Austin City Limits at Zilker Park on Oct. 6-8 and Oct. 13-15; this music festival caters a wide variety of local Austin cuisine for guests from all over to try as well.

As a local Austenite, I mentally-prepared myself for the onslaught of delicious food that I knew was about to come my way when I went to the “ACL Eats” section of the festival. Let me just say, I was not disappointed.

Burro Cheese Kitchen

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Kaitlyn DeHaven | Design Editor

The first thing that I ate was from Burro Cheese Kitchen, which is a restaurant that specializes, yes, specializes, in the crafting of mouth-watering grilled-cheese. I ordered the Burning Mac, a culinary composition of sourdough bread stuffed with cheddar and jack cheese, mac and cheese and their special yellowbird sauce.

When I first saw the sandwich, my stomach rumbled and I couldn’t help myself, I took an enourmous bite. I was pleasantly overwhelmed by the savory flavors of cheese and sourdough intermingling, as well as a small spicy kick, which gave the sandwich a certain pizzazz I had never tasted before in a grilled cheese.

Needless to say, I finished it in in less than a minute.

Bananarchy

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Bailey Brammer | Editor-in-Chief

Later, after dancing and jamming to Foster the People, I decided it was time for a sweet, tasty dessert. I happened upon Bananarchy, an organization that takes bananas and turns them into unhealthy, but irresistible, fruity snacks.

This time, I decided to try two different flavors, just to ensure I was getting the entire Bananarchy experience. I ended up getting one half chocolate and toffee, and the other half peanut butter and Oreo crumbles.

When I first bit into the banana, the sweet, delectable taste of chocolate and toffee mixed with the more natural flavors of the banana so nicely, I almost cried with joy. The fruit on the inside was cold while the chocolate on the outside was crunchy but warmer and the contrast in the dessert was perfectly complimentary.

The second half of the banana was delicious as well, although I liked the first half better. The peanut butter on the banana took me back to my childhood, where I used to eat peanut butter and banana sandwiches, and added a flavorful twist with the Oreo. It was a savory, slightly more salty treat that I would definitely recommend to ACL-goers.

ACL offers festival-goers a wide range of flavors, serving everything from frozen bananas to authentic South African skewers. I thought the food was one of the best parts of my first day at ACL, and I cannot wait to see what other tastes the weekend brings.