Hi friends, this is the last honest stretch of summer, the part before the calendars fill with school-year logistics and everyone pretends the heat is nearly over. It is not. So this week is about using it well: a long Mediterranean dinner with a cold drink, a plan built entirely around getting in the water, and the one weekend a year Texas lets you skip the sales tax, which happens to be next weekend.
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 Congress · $$$ · brunch weekends, dinner nightly
When it is this hot, the food you actually want is bright, cold, and meant to be shared, and Aba does that as well as anywhere on South Congress. The menu is sun-soaked Mediterranean: whipped hummus, wood-grilled kebabs, crudo, a lot of citrus, and a rosé-heavy list built for a patio. It works two ways, a slow weekend brunch or a golden-hour dinner, with a breezy terrace when you want the evening air and an air-conditioned room when you do not. OpenTable put it on its Top 100 Brunch in America list for 2026, one of only four Austin names on it. Book ahead on OpenTable, or take a bar seat and a glass of something cold and let the afternoon go slow.
Do, this weekend
Around Austin · all weekend · a few dollars to about $11
This is forecast to be the first triple-digit weekend of the year, with Saturday around 102, and the one honest answer to that is to get in the water. So this week the plan is a swimming hole. Barton Springs is the classic, a constant 68 to 70 degrees, $5 for residents and $9 for everyone else, open early to late (it closes Thursday mornings to clean, so it is a weekend pick anyway). Deep Eddy is the calmer, shallower cousin, same price, closed Tuesdays. If you want the drive, Krause Springs out in Spicewood is private, shaded, and about $11, with cypress trees and a swimming hole that feels like a secret even though it is not. One caution worth heeding: Hamilton Pool always requires a reservation booked in advance, and it periodically closes to swimming when bacteria levels run high, so check its status the morning you go rather than driving out on faith.
Know, this week
If you have been putting off buying sneakers, jeans, or anything on the school list, hold out one more week. Texas runs its annual sales tax holiday next weekend, Friday, August 7 through midnight Sunday, August 9, and it covers most clothing, footwear, school supplies, and backpacks priced under $100. In Austin that is 8.25 percent off without a coupon, and it applies per item, so a cart full of $60 things all qualifies. Two details people get wrong. It is not just for parents: work clothes, running shoes, and plain old jeans count whether or not anyone in your house is going back to school. And online orders count too, as long as you pay during the window, even if the box ships weeks later. The fine print is simple. Anything $100 or over is taxed as usual, and accessories like jewelry, handbags, and watches never qualify.
Push any clothing or shoe purchases one week, then buy August 7 to 9, in store or online.
Worth bookmarking
For the mornings you want someone else to make brunch.
Dish of the week
Sawyer & Co · chicken and pancakes
This week’s dish of the week is the chicken and pancakes at Sawyer & Co, sent in by the place that makes it: a short stack, a fried chicken breast, sweet chili maple syrup, and vanilla honey butter. If the brunch guide above has you planning a weekend morning anyway, consider this your opening argument. Reply and tell me the dish I should feature next.
See you next Thursday. If someone you know is always asking where to cool off, forward this to them.
P.S. The directory behind these picks, more than two thousand Austin restaurants you can sort by neighborhood, price, and cuisine, is right here. Forward it to whoever always asks you where to eat.