01A good morning
Mercado Sin Nombre
408 N. Pleasant Valley Rd.
Mexican specialty coffee and heirloom-corn baking. Look for a masa biscuit or a pastry from the day’s selection, with coffee sourced from Mexico.
A field guide to Holly
The Austin
at your doorstep.
Places we would send a friend. A table worth booking, a little art along the water, and the pleasure of a day close to home.
Keep the field guide01 / Get your bearings
The lake one way.
Dinner the other.
Ladybird Lake House is in Holly, East Austin, near Lady Bird Lake. Explore the waterfront at Holly Shores, take in the views from Wishbone Bridge, and find a favorite table along East Cesar Chavez.
For walks west, take the neighborhood streets or join the lake trail. Start with a wander through Holly, then let the shoreline lead you into the city.
See the neighborhood02 / The field guide
Good things,
close by.
A few places to build a day around, beginning with Holly and the Cesar Chavez corridor. Start with these six, then follow your appetite. Walk the neighborhood streets between stops; the three farther outings have their own section.
02Lunch on Holly
Launderette
2115 Holly St.
A neighborhood address for lunch, weekend brunch or a dinner that turns into a long conversation.
03Make lunch the plan
la Barbecue
2401 E. Cesar Chavez St.
Brisket, sausage and the full Texas barbecue occasion. Leave time for a queue and check the current ordering options.
04A dinner to book
Intero
2612 E. Cesar Chavez St.
Seasonal Italian cooking, pasta and handmade chocolates. A good reason to put one reservation on the calendar.
05Pizza & a bottle
Bufalina
2215 E. Cesar Chavez St.
Neapolitan pizza and natural wine. Small parties are primarily walk-in; bring a little flexibility about timing.
06A record & a nightcap
Drinks Lounge
2001 E. Cesar Chavez St.
A neighborhood bar with a record shop inside. Browse vinyl, get a burger and let the evening find its pace.
Also in the neighborhood
A hearty Mexican breakfast at a neighborhood fixture dating to 1980. Start with the Don Juan if you arrive hungry.
A seafood change of pace along the same restaurant corridor. Make an evening of oysters and a martini; check reservations.
A small tasting room with specialty sours, other beer styles and nonalcoholic choices. Ask what is pouring today.
Velvet seating, cocktails and a generous patio. A playful nearby stop when dinner is done but the evening is not.
Local roasting, espresso and beans to bring home. Take the neighborhood streets over and make the walk part of the morning.
Check today’s hours and menus before heading out. Juniper, at 2400 E. Cesar Chavez, is another nearby Italian dinner to consider. Book ahead when the evening matters.
03 / The water & the neighborhood
Make room
for outside.
A run along the lake. An afternoon at the splash pad. A game on the neighborhood court. There is a whole day outside in Holly, with Rainey, downtown and Zilker farther along the trail.
Metz Park:
play & water
A splash pad for getting thoroughly soaked, a newly replaced playground with more shade, and room to make an afternoon of it. Metz is an easy neighborhood stop with children; pair it with a walk over to Launderette.
Metz Park · 2407 Canterbury St.
Splash pad: free · May–October; check current status.
Shoot hoops.
Bring a glove.
Metz has a covered basketball court. The Roy Velasquez ballfields beside Camacho include a full-size baseball diamond; across the lake, Krieg Athletic Complex has softball fields. There is plenty here for a day built around play.
Contact Austin Athletics to confirm availability before planning a game or reserving a field.
Fields & availabilityRoy Velasquez ballfields · Riverview St., beside Camacho
Krieg · 515 S. Pleasant Valley Rd., across the lake
A lake run
before breakfast
Join the Ann and Roy Butler Trail for a morning beside the water. Take in the views from Wishbone, or explore Holly Shores and Festival Beach on a longer run toward downtown. Choose your distance, then come home for coffee.
Plan your runThe trail continues through I-35 toward the city.
Holly Shores
& Wishbone
Use the signed public approach at Holly Shores. Walk out for lake views, continue across to the south shore, or make it the start of a longer trail outing.
Bridge & accessHolly Shores · 2711 Canterbury St.
The shoreline
& the city
Begin at the Holly Fishing Pier, south of Camacho Activity Center. Pause for the sculptures, then follow the lake trail west to Festival Beach’s lawns.
Keep going along the north shore for Rainey Street, downtown and Congress Avenue. For Zilker, cross at Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge and continue west along the south shore. Make a day of it, or turn back whenever you like.
Pier access · 35 Robert T. Martinez Jr. St.
A morning
on the water
EpicSUP rents kayaks and paddleboards from the south shore. Walk across Wishbone and continue along the trail, or take a ride and save your energy for paddling.
Rental informationEpicSUP · 2200 S. Lakeshore Blvd.
A longer walk; check the route first.
Art,
at walking pace.
At Holly Fishing Pier, TJ Lemanski’s Cenotaphs makes concrete memorials from fallen local branches. Nearby at Holly Overlook, J.C. King’s Ghost Harps brings wind-played sound to the shoreline. Give yourself time to stop and look.
Both are part of the temporary 2026 TEMPO exhibition. Follow the current art map for more discoveries along the trail.
Fly fishing,
just downriver.
Just downstream of Longhorn Dam, fly fishers cast for bass in the Colorado River. The stretch beside Roy G. Guerrero Park is another side of Austin, right beyond the lake.
Check river conditions, public access and Texas fishing requirements before casting.
Before you head out
Into the city: the north-shore trail continues through I-35 toward Rainey Street and downtown. Follow the signed route through the construction area. See the latest trail updates.
Swimming is prohibited in Lady Bird Lake. Check the city’s water and algae notices before paddling or bringing a dog near the water. For water play at Metz, the splash pad and swimming pool have separate seasonal schedules.
04 / Worth leaving the corner for
A little
farther out.
Three reasons to widen your radius: a small object for home, something from the pastry case, and a dance floor.
12For the eye
take heart
1211 E. 11th St., Suite 100
Ceramics, home objects and things chosen with care, including Japanese makers. The kind of shop where one small object can be the souvenir.
East 11th · a separate outing northwest
13For the pastry case
Sour Duck Market
1814 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Go for a croissant or smoked-mushroom Danish; stay for a sandwich in the yard. A useful bakery-and-lunch destination when you head farther north.
East MLK · take a bike or short ride
14For a little two-step
The White Horse
500 Comal St.
An East Austin honky-tonk for a night of music and dancing. Check the live calendar for bands, lessons and cover; admission is 21+.
Near East Sixth · plan your ride home
05 / No need to fit it all in
Three ways
to spend a day.
The stay-close day
Mercado Sin Nombre for coffee. Choose a lake run or a morning of playgrounds and splash-pad play at Metz. Time back at the house, then a neighborhood stroll to Launderette.
The small-discoveries day
Start with the sculptures along the Holly shoreline, then head to take heart on East 11th. Come back to Holly for a quiet afternoon and Bufalina when you’re ready.
The Austin night
Make la Barbecue an early meal on an open day, browse the vinyl at Drinks Lounge, then head to The White Horse for the band you picked from the calendar.
A neighborhood
to be a guest in.
Holly is a living neighborhood with deep Mexican American roots. Its homes, parks and gathering places matter to the people who live here. Keep voices low on residential blocks, respect front yards and leave the lakefront as you found it.
Download the field guideA pocket companion for your stay. Recommendations researched September 2026; opening hours, menus and trail access can change.