By Kalena Reynolds | Editor-in-Chief, Sophia Monson | Opinion Editor, Arden Berry | Arts & Life Editor
With its heavy baselines that bang around in your stomach, live music has a way of reminding you that you’re hungry. Fortunately, Austin City Limits brought many food vendors to feed festival-goers over the course of the three-day festival.
Cheeseburger, Veggie Burger and Fries
P. Terry’s Burger Stand, an Austin burger classic, did not disappoint. At the end of a walking-filled day, a mouthwatering bite was exactly what we needed. The burgers were delicious and had the perfect condiments and toppings that all came together.
The veggie burger featured a black bean patty and all the regular fixings of the standard cheeseburger. The patty was crisp on the edges and soft in the middle, topped with an old fashioned slice of American cheese. It was a perfect, filling meal that paired excellently with their tangy pickles.
The fries however were just subpar as they were both heavy on the grease and underwhelmingly un-crisp.
Vegan Dumplings
For my fellow vegetarians, it’s always a little nerve-wracking to see if events such as ACL will have good food options. Steamies Dumplings, however, delivered in every way.
Their vegan dumplings were filled with vegetables and had a strong savory taste. The outside of the dumpling was soft and chewy, and the inside almost seemed as if it were filled with broth. When I took a bite, the juice and seasoning of the filling was everything I was craving.
For a long day at the festival, having a warm meal that tasted good and kept me full was a definite success.
Pad Thai Chicken and Egg Rolls
This combo from Thai Fresh was a surprisingly-delicious meal at ACL. The pad thai chicken was delicious and drenched in a sweet and spicy sauce. The egg rolls were just as phenomenal and complimented the main dish perfectly.
Juicy Pork Bao
The pork bao from Bao’d Up was pretty tasty. Most of the bun was a nice texture, and the insides were nice and meaty.
However, when it came to taking the last few bites, it became evident that the bottom of the bun was stuck to the cardboard tray. The last bite I had was also weirdly hard, so I was worried I might have pulled up some cardboard when I was trying to scrape the bottom off the tray.
While it was a nice snack, I might be more wary next time of what I am putting in my mouth, which really should not be a requirement when you’re eating something you paid $7 for.
Rainbow Dessert Dumplings
We were pretty excited to try these multicolored treats, also from Bao’d Up. They came out looking very cute. The brown one is dark cocoa, the green, matcha green bean, the purple ube taro and the yellow golden egg cream.
Overall, we agreed the texture was off. As for taste, we agreed the matcha green bean dumpling tasted too much like a vegetable to qualify as a dessert and the ube taro one did not taste like much of anything. However, we were split on the other two. The golden egg cream dumpling was sweet, but also that texture was hard to get over, and the dark cocoa was like the bottom of the mug of hot chocolate, which is to say it tasted nice but was weirdly gritty.
The strawberry cream cheese was a nice touch, just not nice enough to make the less pleasing parts bearable.
Garlic Parmesan Fries
The garlic parmesan fries from Mama Fried were incredible. They were warm, thick, crunchy and flavorful in a way that may persist in our dreams.
Plus, the entree came with delicious ranch dip, which accentuated the taste of the fries in a wonderful way. Our only wish was that there was more ranch, as we ran out before we could finish our fries.
