When Epoch is full to bursting, Bennu is a great alternative, despite being on the wrong side of the freeway. Lots of seating and plenty of pull-down extension cords for plugging in your laptop.

I've finally found a 24/7 coffee house that suites my needs! This venue is comfortable and just eclectic enough to remain unassuming. The spooled extension cables hanging from the ceiling immediately let the visitor know that this is where people come to get, and stay, connected...

When inquiring as to the official cultural term for a sushi chef (ninja,maybe?) I was informed by one of them at Zen that she was a Sushi Seductress.

I never understood the difference between good Thai food and bad Thai food until I ate here. This place has got to have the best Thai food I've ever eaten. Until I ate here, I hated Thai food... but I'm willing to try anything twice. Mon Thai has a beautiful venue and a very relaxed, casual atmosphere. A perfect spot for a business lunch, especially if you have a client to impress. I've found that a Thai iced coffee (condensed milk and espresso? wild!) with some mildly spicy chicken pad thai is the best way to take your mind off work for an hour. This place is great.

If, like me, you like to buy groceries that are interesting enough to eat, Whole Foods is the place to go. This is one big damn organic grocery store. They have the biggest stock of ginger beer I've ever witnessed (although it's still not always enough to keep me from cleaning them out!). They've got anything organic you could possibly imagine, and quite a few things you never would have, believe me. Pick up a loaf of seed-o-licious bread and some exotic fruit spread and equally exotic nut butter. Try a smoothie or juice combination from the juice bar to mellow your mood enough to tolerate the drive home when you try to leave. They have this cool escalator that matches up with their carts so that it has no steps but the carts don't just roll down. Best of all, for you ladies, is the chocolatier they have over by the pastries; I recommend the sea salt covered toffees.

Having grown bored with the traditional offerings found in most sushi restaurants, I was happy to stumble across Uchi. There is very little on the menu that you will likely recognize, and all of it is magnificent. The atmosphere is that perfect blend of ambient lounge and cocktail party that is ideal for entertaining clients at or for taking a cute girl to show her that you have taste. Be warned that the wait is horrible unless you have reservations, and they only offer those between certain hours. It's a VERY popular spot and therefore another solid location to see and be seen.

Sometimes, when I've been up all night coding (or gaming), I'll stay awake a few extra hours more just so that I can go to Bouldin when it opens at 7am. This place has a very South Austin feel to it, sporting an eclectic kitsch collage of design. The outside area is dog-friendly, and even provides water bowls. I love to just chill at the bar with good book whilst I savor my Ovencake Breakfast, a tasty plate of cornbread baked with blueberries and scrambled eggs covered in cheese. Of course, no stop at Bouldin is complete without a latte, but I recommend avoiding the chai tea; something about the taste of the brand they use for it.

solid wifi here. plus, the austin nite life is on prominent display if you are lucky enough to score a window table. the waitstaff ranges from very personable to my flavor of nut. try a potato knish!

I didn't even know that there was such a thing as Salvadorian cuisine, but this place sure puts it on the map! The salsa is excellent, a hallmark of good ethnic food here in south Texas, and if you don't know what a "pupusa" is, you've got to try some. I prefer the cheese pupusas, myself, but there are enough great entres to satisfy your craving for something a little bit different, but not too far from home...

For those who participate in the goth/industrial scene, club Atomix has grown into a respectable venue. The same building has played host over the years to a number of different nightclubs, but Atomix has managed to stick around for quite some time now. The current incarnation of the venue began with several friends who were fed up with the politics and drama typically found at San Antonio's other goth club, several blocks over. The crowd here is much more well behaved, probably due to the fact that Atomix doesn't cater as much to the live band scene. In addition, Atomix is also the preferred venue for several of some of my favorite local DJs.

Martha's makes the best mexican chicken and rice soup EVAR, and some of the best bean and cheese taco, as well. Every other mexican restaurant makes their soup with half a chicken and half a cabbage tossed whole into some broth. This is food you can taste instead of just another plate of beans/rice/meat with the flavor of salted cardboard. For those in the medical center area, there IS no better mexican cafe in San Antonio. Even the simple fare that I tend to order is superior. I still stop by here whenever I pass through town, if only to pick up something for the road.

If you have never smoked a shisha, you should. The first time that I ever smoked out of a hookah was at Shisha Cafe. Of course, they fill it with a selection of flavored tobacco instead of exotic herbs, but the experience is unique. The cafe opens out onto the lawn beside it, populated with tables each hosting a large hookah smoking away beside it. They offer both single and double stemmed hookahs, in case you bring a few friends. They also serve some indian food and various coffees as refreshments. Even if you are already familiar with the hookah experience, do yourself a favor and go try a cappucino flavored hookah with a milk fill (instead of the usual water): the resulting flavor can only be described as smoking a bowl of cocoa puffs.

No matter where you end up living in south Texas, you eventually find a favorite local tex-mex restaurant; that's just the way it is. There is a Jalisco's on every third corner of San Antonio, but Molina Rojo was always my eastside favorite. Every strand of hispanic culture seems to have it's own way of making chilaquiles, but Molina Rojo has some of the best, using a spicy red sauce to cover the dish. I also discovered that the secret to their great coffee is that they use columbian supremo instead of some cheap blended roast.

This is a fine bar with a casual atmosphere and INCREDIBLY robust beer menu (over 200 different ones to choose from), if that's your taste and times being what they are. However, do not be deceived: everyone goes here because the waitresses have to wear catholic school girl outfits as their uniform. The outside patio is where everyone ends up congregating since there are always a few smokers in the group. The Saucer even features a UFO Club who's BeerKnurd members get magnetic cards to swipe at the bar to receive printouts of their two selected beers for the day. After consuming 200 through this process (takes about 4 months, if you go EVERY DAY) you get your name added to a wall plaque and enough of a free tab at the bar to treat all of your friends to a round or two in celebration.

If you have to go to the hospital in Austin, or the ER, I highly recommend St.David's. They have several locations, friendly staff, and what is now called "comfort orders". When you have to stay in the hospital for a day or three, they have a dedicated nurse that just goes around with a huge cart full of pills and asks you if you need anything. What does she mean by "anything"? Do you have a headache? Stuffy nose? Congestion? Constipation? Depression? Insomnia? Anxiety? Tourettes? Just bored and need to take the edge off your stay? I'm pretty sure she had some mescaline and peyote stashed in there somewhere, but I didn't have the temerity to ask for it. Once they dose you with a morphine derivative, do you really need anything else? I go stir crazy in hospitals after a short period, so on my last visit I learned that Ambien can be your best friend.

Everyone should treat themselves to a massage at least once. I believe in treating myself to one as often as possible. To that end, it is necessary to have one's own favorite massage studio or masseuse. Well, I'm still working on which masseuse I prefer, but Myo has everything I'm looking for. In addition to a broad offering of different types of massage, they offer heated stone therapy, which I can't wait to try out. One time, I told the masseuse about having jaw muscle tension and TMJ, and she popped on a rubber glove and proceeded to massage my jaw muscles from inside my mouth; said it was more effective that way and encouraged me to follow suite.

If you live in south Texas, you have to have a favorite mexican restaurant. Here, for me, it's Olmecas. I had been getting my breakfast tacos from 1st Street for over a year before I discovered Olmecas. This place is great if you are not cheap. Traditionally, the "favorite mexican restaurant" costs less than a fast food meal and includes coffee, but tastes like mexican food deliciously bastardized by Texans. Tex-mex is a south Texas cuisine that suffices as "comfort food" for those of us fated to have grown up here. Olmecas may not be as cheap as most similar establishments, but it tastes better than just about anywhere else I've been so far...

Honestly, I've stopped going to any movie theaters except the Alamo Drafthouse. After spending months in anticipation of films in the past, only to have the actual experience of watching them be ruined by people talking, I've had enough of traditional theaters. The food sucks, the drinks suck and the loud patrons suck, but most of all the children suck. At the Drafthouse, they don't put up with that shit. Children are not allowed in the theator, even accompanied by an adult (unless it's Tuesday). They serve REAL food, including pizzas, sammiches and a variety of salads. They serve alcohol. ALCOHOL. Like, a beer, in a GLASS glass, ya know? You can order a latte or a cappucino or an italian cream soda. The menu is fantastic, and you can order throughout the show. You put your order on the bar in front of you and the staff just zip by and snag it during the show. Then they zip back and drop off your bucket-of-beer and whatever food. The tab shows up, disappears and returns the same way. I fuckin love this place!

While the various Planet K locations provide the mainstay of Austin headshops, South Oats has grown to become the new defacto headshop for South Austin. The selection of glass pipes and other merch isn't as kitschy as what Planet K offers. Whether you just need some screens or a new 3' glass piece, South Oats is great. Stock up on cloves or try out a new travel dugout to pack your stash on the road...

On the last Saturday of every April (the Saturday after 4/20), thousands of hippies, rastas, street kids, college students and other assorted freaks go to Pease Park and celebrate Eeyore's Birthday Party. That's the event, anyway. The reality is more along the lines of any available excuse to congregate in large numbers and consume copious amounts of cannabis. There are live bands and drum circles and hack circles enough to satiate even the most bohemian tastes. Other events occur here throughout the year, but Eeyore's Birthday Party is the main gig.