Hi friends, the back-to-school displays are up, which in Austin is less a season than a warning that the truly relentless part of summer has arrived. So this week leans cold and a little nostalgic: a sushi bar built for hiding from the sun, a downtown show that will make anyone who was a teenager in the 2000s sing every word, and the numbers that say your landlord needs you more than you need them right now.
Three things, as always. One place to eat, one thing to do, and one thing to know. Here is your weekend.
Eat, this week
South Lamar · $$$ · lunch and dinner daily
When it is too hot to want anything warm, the answer is a handroll bar, and Kitsu Nori is the best new one in town. It is a Paul Qui concept on South Lamar, a small, ikebana-inspired room where the cold crudo and the vegetable and fruit plates somehow outshine the rolls. Everything is precise, clean, and served in air conditioning, which in August is its own kind of luxury. There are omakase-style tiers if you would rather hand over the decisions, and a seat at the counter is the move. The Infatuation put it on its list of the best new restaurants in Austin, and it earns the spot. Go early on a weeknight for a walk-in shot, or book ahead for the weekend.
Do, this weekend
Moody Amphitheater · Friday, August 7 · ticketed
If you were ever a teenager with a studded belt, this one is for you. Simple Plan, Bowling For Soup, and 3OH!3 play Moody Amphitheater downtown on Friday, doors at 6 and the show at 7. It is a pure sing-every-word nostalgia night, catnip for the 30s-and-40s crowd and an ironic good time for everyone younger. It is outdoors, so it will be warm, but the sun will be down by the time the choruses land. Grab tickets before Friday, because a downtown amphitheater on a summer Friday does not stay wide open.
Know, this week
If your lease renews any time soon, you are holding better cards than you think. Austin built so many apartments over the last few years that buildings are now competing for tenants: 73 percent of units across the metro are offering some kind of concession, free weeks, move-in specials, or discounted floor plans, per June data from the Austin Apartment Association. The average asking rent has slid from a 2022 peak of $1,622 to about $1,366, and occupancy is running 3 to 4 points below the national average, which is exactly the gap that makes a leasing office negotiable. So negotiate. Ask for a lower renewal rate or free weeks before you sign, and mention the specials down the street, because your building would rather deal than turn the unit. And a callback to June: under the city’s new fee rule, larger landlords soon have to hand you an itemized list of every fee before you sign, so make them put the whole number on paper. The economists’ caveat is that this window closes as construction slows, so it is leverage worth using this year, not someday.
If your renewal lands in the next few months, price two or three comparable buildings’ specials first, then ask yours to match with free weeks or a lower rate. The worst they can say is no.
Worth bookmarking
For when the handroll craving outlasts one dinner.
Dish of the week
Eldorado Cafe · Dart Bowl Enchiladas
This week’s dish is the Dart Bowl Enchiladas at Eldorado Cafe, sent in by the place that makes them. When the Dart Bowl closed, Eldorado built this plate as a tribute, and they call it their cover song to the bowling alley’s famous enchiladas. Reply and tell me the dish I should feature next.
See you next Thursday. If a friend is deep in the back-to-school scramble, forward this to them.
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