Brandon Watson, Austin Chronicle

Brandon Watson

Austin Chronicle

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Recent:
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Past:
  • Austin Chronicle

Past articles by Brandon:

Restaurant Review: Holy Roller

The personal is edible at Callie Speer's new hot spot → Read More

Austin's Top Chefs Come Together for Harvey Relief

Austin’s hospitality community has always pitched in to help folks in need, so it should come as no surprise that an all-star roster of chefs has banded together to provide relief for the victims of Hurricane Harvey. “Seeing the devastation that our friends, families, and neighbors have experienced, we all wanted to find a way to make a meaningful contribution,” says Launderette partner Laura… → Read More

Review: Native Bar & Kitchen

I knew Native Hostel wasn't exactly my kind of place when I was confronted with a wall of Bonobos short-sleeved shirts and floppy felt hats. This was a place to Boomerang the clinking of decorated coupes, framing the shot just enough to subtly capture the top of the feather tattoo got after last summer's bad breakup – not necessarily the domain of aging ex-hipsters who aren't looking at, say,… → Read More

Restaurant Review: DK Maria’s Legendary Tex-Mex

Spend too much time staring at the same thing, and you are likely to develop myopia. That's especially the case with food writers – myself included – who devote so much time to wallowing in the surface gloss of a restaurant that we forget to look for nicks. They're not necessarily where one would think to look for them. If the restaurant existed in a bubble, I probably would have skipped… → Read More

Food Fight: Pickles

Ah, pickles. The sidekick to sandwiches, the buddy to burgers, the accomplice to, well – you get the point. We say it's time they had their own day. Luckily, Austin has two superlative purveyors that make other makers green with envy. But which local company is the biggest dill? Things might go sour in our Austin Chronicle Food Fight. Have an idea for a food fight? Email food@austinchronicle.com. → Read More

Restaurant Review: Kinda Tropical

At least for those of us who spend more time engaging with Instagram than we do with reality, it seems inevitable that Austin would get a bar named Kinda Tropical. Every other shot is backdropped by Blanche Devereaux fronds, every Wayfarer-wearing bro has a few scattered bananas on their shirt, and every respectable cocktail bar has at least one tiki drink on the menu. Austin is a city of… → Read More

25 Bars That Define Austin

Dives, lounges, and saloons that are raising the bar → Read More

Restaurant Review: Citizen Eatery

For a long time in Austin, vegetarian cooking, or at least the type found in restaurants, erred on the side of caution. This town may have been fertile breeding ground for the counterculture, but it was still largely fueled by chili con carne and thick slabs of brisket. Most folks imagined meatless plates as a thicket of sprouts and a few squares of tofu, certainly not something that could be… → Read More

Three Food Tours That Will Leave You Hungry for More

Everything from food trucks to famed Austin restaurants → Read More

Restaurant Review: Mattie’s

This may expose me as not being a "true" Austinite, but I never understood what all the fuss was about in regard to Green Pastures. I'll admit I was late to the party. Having never posed with a wandering peacock for wedding photos or attempted to get Mom tipsy on bourbon milk punch, I had no benefit of personal history. By the time I was able to make my first dinner visit some five years ago,… → Read More

Rainey Street Bar in Hot Water Over Social Posts

Unbarlievable accused of making misogynistic and racist posts → Read More

Fonda San Miguel Co-Founder Miguel Ravago Dies at 72

The Austin culinary community lost one of its most influential figures this weekend with the death of chef Miguel Ravago, the co-founder (along with Tom Gilliland) of Fonda San Miguel. He was 72. Although Ravago grew up helping his grandmother Guadalupe Velasquez in the kitchen, his culinary career began in Austin. Ravago met Gilliland in Austin when they both worked at the Texas House of… → Read More

Restaurant Review: J.T. Youngblood’s

Some restaurants seem like riddles. When it was announced almost three years ago that chef Todd Duplechan of Lenoir, Jeffrey's co-founder Jeffrey Weinberger, and former TRIO GM Jeff Haber were rolling back the stone of the beloved J.T. Youngblood's Fried Chicken chain, the concept seemed like a sure bet, even as Austin hospitality was starting to bloat. The brand still held a special place in… → Read More

Restaurant Review: Bonhomie

Cultural prognosticators may not look to them as fervently as they observe hemlines, but restaurants tell us just as much about the zeitgeist as fashion houses. The self-conscious fusion of the Eighties gave way to the craft beer earnestness of the Nineties and later the focus on "woke" cuisine during most of the Obama years. Dining trends reflect how we live, documenting our aspirations and –… → Read More

Restaurant Review: El Burro

At this point in Austin's hospitality timeline, the most important question for restaurateurs is: Why? A few undiscovered concepts still wait in the wings, but in 2017 it's not really about filling in the gaps in cuisine. Nor with most corridors crowded, is it usually about filling in the neighborhood gaps. So why open a restaurant this particular year when so many places are struggling to fill… → Read More

A Guide to Finding Beer Outside of Austin’s City Limits

With a booming urban brewery scene, easy access to a wide variety of local cans, and a full hat rack of logo snapbacks, we Austinites tend to be a little myopic in what we consider local. Sure, we have brewers excelling in a wide variety of styles from pale ales to funky farmhouse saisons, but when it comes to beer, less isn't more. Drive a few miles in any direction and you'll discover what… → Read More

Restaurant Review: EastSide Tavern

It was never something my parents allowed me to notice much, but there were periods of time where we must not have had much money. My mom made most of the meals, so my only experience with eating out was the occasional drive to visit some relative or other. More often than not, "eating out" meant Allsup's. My jam was a fried burrito, served in a paper sleeve with a side of thin, vinegary hot… → Read More

Restaurant Review: Kemuri Tatsu-ya

As Austin's once red-hot restaurant scene enters the second year of the Great Bummer, it would be well-served by keeping one of our nation's greatest history lessons in mind. It only took a few years to get from Nirvana to Candlebox. Just because you can come up with a couple of good riffs doesn't mean you can make a great album. When Austin hospitality sizzled, a handful of talented chefs… → Read More

Hot Luck Announces Musical Talent, More Chefs

Aaron Franklin's inaugural fest keeps getting bigger → Read More

Restaurant Review: Restaurant Review: Vigilante

If we are gauging what makes a restaurant successful, I will always assert that the total experience matters much more than the food. If 30-odd locally sourced New American kitchens all put out a competent version of some roasted brassica or another, the details of presentation, ambience, cocktail program, and restrooms separate first and second tier. That's especially true in a smaller scene… → Read More