Location
Create Your Austin Experience!
Whether you have an hour between sessions or a full evening to explore, these curated recommendations from local USSD members will help you make the most of your time in Austin.
🍴 Food
BBQ Downtown
Coopers — walkable from conference
Terry Blacks (1003 Barton Springs Rd, Austin, TX 78704)
Iron Works (100 Red River St, Austin, TX 78701)
Stubbs (801 Red River St, Austin, TX 78701)
Fancy Boots
Dress a notch nicer — elevated casual.
J. Carver’s
Aris
Wu Chow
Peche
Fixe Southern House
Flip Flops
Relaxed, casual Austin style.
Lichas
Ramen Tatsu-Ya
🌙 Live Music, Comedy, Nightlife
Music & Dancing
Antone’s
Continental Club
Elephant Room
Donn’s Depot
Broken Spoke
Sagebrush
Red River Culture District (Stubbs, Waterloo Amphitheater)
Comedy
Esther’s Follies
Comedy Mothership
ColdTowne Theater
Hideout Theater
Speakeasies
Milonga Room
Firehouse
Midnight Cowboy
Here Nor There
Floppy Disk Repair Co
Drinks
Roosevelt Room
Haunted Driskell Hotel
Whistlers with Mezcaleria Tobala upstairs
Pour Choices
Garage
Zanzibar
Geraldine’s
Central District Brewing
Zilker Brewing Company
Lazarus Brewing East Sixth
Blue Owl
Hold Out Brewing
Austin Beer Garden Brewery (ABGB)
Meanwhile Brewing
Independence Brewing
St Elmos
Texas Sake Company
🌿 Outdoors & Water
Town Lake
East: Longhorn Dam viewed upstream from Boardwalk
Central: Bats on Congress Bridge, Auditorium Shores, Stevie Ray Vaughan Statue, Downtown Library
West: Zilker Park, Barton Springs, Zilker Botanical Garden
Paddle
Rowing Dock (2418 Stratford Dr, Austin, TX 78746)
Texas Rowing Center (1541 W Cesar Chavez St, Austin, TX 78703)
Zilker Park Boat Rental (2101 Andrew Zilker Rd, Austin, TX 78746)
Austin Rowing Club and Retro Boat Rentals ATX (74 Trinity St, Austin, TX 78701)
Downtown Trails
Integrated into flood management infrastructure!
Waller Creek to Waterloo Park
Shoal Creek Trail to Pease Park
Greenbelt/Violet Crown Trail starting from Barton Springs/Town Lake Trail
Lake Austin
Coffee at Mozart's or dinner at Hula Hut on Lake Austin (peek at Tom Miller Dam)
Mt Bonnell Overlook
Pennybacker Bridge Overlook
History Around Town
Butler Pitch and Putt
Texas State Cemetery (find the graves of an astronaut and other famous Texans)
Treaty Oak Park
Cathedral of Junk
Further Afield
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Wine tasting in the Hill Country
LCRA upper lakes Lake Travis, Lake LBJ, Lake Marble Falls, Inks Lake
Canyon Lake and Canyon Lake Gorge
Gruene Hall
San Marcos Springs – Glass Bottom Boat Tour
Inner Space Cavern
Natural Bridge Cavern
🏛️ Indoors
History, Arts, Culture
Tour of Capitol
Bob Bullock Museum
Blanton Museum
Harry Ransom Center
Neill-Cochran House Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
The Paramount Theater
Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar
Sports & Activities
Holey Moley Golf Club Austin
Pins Mechanical
Cidercade Austin
UT baseball game (vs. UTSA May 5)
Chicken Sh*t Bingo @ C Boys on Sundays
Lodging
Hilton Austin
500 E 4th St, Austin, TX 78701
IMPORTANT REMINDERS
Hotel contracts require USSD to be financially liable for unused sleeping rooms. The sleeping room rate covers the cost of meeting space and the labor to set up each meeting room. Staying at the conference hotel also provides you with the benefit of after-hours networking and easy accessibility to meetings and sessions. Please help USSD avoid unnecessary penalties and keep registration fees low by booking your sleeping room at the Hilton Austin.
AVOID HOUSING PIRATES! Only official USSD webpages and communications provide the correct booking link for the attendee room block. If someone other than the official USSD 2026 team contacts you via email, phone or mail, do NOT provide them with any of your personal details or payment information. Thank you.