Hi friends, it is the stretch of July where the heat stops being a talking point and starts running your schedule, so two of this week’s picks are about beating it: a cool new dinner room on the east side, and a free show that does not start until the sun is down. The third is a money move worth making if your lease is up this summer.
Three things, as always. One place to eat, one thing to do, and one thing to know. Here is your weekend.
Eat, this week
East Austin · $$ · dinner Tuesday through Saturday
The most interesting new opening in Austin right now is a small Italian room on East MLK. Emily Rayburn opened Howdy’s Pizza and Pasta a few weeks ago, and the reason to go this month specifically is the produce. The menu is built on Central Texas summer at its peak, so right now that means tomato-and-peach agnolotti, a corn-and-basil lasagna, and a pizza with hot peppers, peach, and burrata. Texas tomatoes and peaches are as good as they get in July and gone by fall, so this is a go-now menu, not an evergreen one. It is a small counter spot with the AC on, the kind of low-key dinner that works when it is 100 degrees out. One thing to note: it does dinner only, five to nine, and it is closed Sunday and Monday, so make it a Friday or Saturday night. If you go, the tomato-and-peach agnolotti and the peach-and-burrata pizza are the two I would point you to first.
Do, this weekend
Zilker Hillside Theater · opens Friday · free, no tickets
The Zilker Summer Musical opens tomorrow night, and it is the best free thing on the calendar. Singin’ in the Rain runs Thursday through Sunday on the Hillside in Zilker Park, no tickets, no reservations, just a blanket on the grass and a show under the stars. It is a 65-year Austin tradition, and it is the best heat move of the week too, because an 8:15 curtain means you are watching after the sun is down instead of baking through a matinee. Get there around dusk to claim a flat spot near the front, bring water, and skip the plastic tarps, they are not allowed. One wink, since the show is literally called Singin’ in the Rain: glance at the Zilker Theatre Productions page before you head out, because an outdoor show can be called for weather.
Know, this week
If your lease is up this summer, do not just re-sign. Austin is the most renter-friendly it has been in a decade. A wave of new apartments pushed vacancy up near 14 percent, asking rents are down about 6 to 7 percent from a year ago, and roughly half the buildings in town are dangling move-in deals right now, a month or two of free rent, waived fees, sometimes a gift card. Landlords are competing for renters, which almost never happens here, so use it. If you are renewing, ask your building to match the deals they give new tenants, or counter the increase. If you are hunting, an apartment locator is free to you, since the landlord pays their fee. The one thing to push on is the monthly rate, not just the move-in freebie, because a one-time concession can quietly vanish at renewal. And it is worth doing now, because far fewer new apartments open in 2026, which will thin this leverage out over the next year.
Worth bookmarking
The new Austin openings I’m keeping an eye on.
Tell me one thing
What is the best new Austin opening you have tried this year? I am always chasing the next one. Reply and tell me. I read every one.
See you next Thursday. If someone you know keeps asking where to go this weekend, forward this to them.
P.S. The fastest way to get more of these is to forward one. When a friend signs up from your link, I send you the one-page Austin cheat-sheet, the kind of thing you can text. Your link: {{ rp_refer_url }}