Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2008 > November > 26
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Saturday night the last for Paradox
After 15 years of serving disco, retro ’80s, techno and hip-hop to the masses, Paradox is closing. The East Fifth Street magnet for the 18-and-up crowd will shut its doors with finality on Saturday. The owners still run the Sky Lounge in the Warehouse District/Middle Fifth Street. Don’t know what this means. Hope the few purveyors of dance music stick around.
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Your A-List, Best Place for a Blind Date
Blind dates are trouble. Face it, they hardly ever work. The anticipation is so pressing, the actual date can hardly bear the stress.
The more conventional fun of Hula Hut came in second with 15 percent. The even more sedate Shady Grove made third place with 11 percent, and the extra-laid-back Dart Bowl took fourth with 9 percent, right ahead of the perennial — and slightly camp — favorite Peter Pan Mini-Golf.
Dave and Buster’s, especially lakeside, is an ancient Austin date tradition and earned 8 percent. The B Scene at the Blanton Museum of Art, only a couple years old, offers at classy option with 4 percent. Attracting 3 percent or less were Halcyon, Austin Java, Adult skate night at Playland, Little City and 300 Austin.
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Your A-List, Best Sale
Merrily, two of the biggest sales are on their way. I don’t mean the Black Friday madness, but rather two retail/cultural traditions cherished by Austinites.
The Blue Genie Christmas Bazaar and Armadillo Christmas Bazaar came within one vote of tying for the A-List Best Sale contest — the Genie getting the upper hand. One event is thrown by scruffy artists on the East Side, the other by scruffy — well, more cleaned up these days — artists on the West Side. Each obtained 17 percent of the vote.
The City-Wide Garage Sale, a similar group effort without the holiday requirement, came in third with 15 percent of the tally, while Four Hands warehouse sale cleaned up 10 percent. Le Garage Sale got 8 percent and A Christmas Affair, the tony Junior League fundraiser raised 7 percent.
The Buffalo Exchange sidewalk sale pulled in a respectable 6 percent, just ahead of the Literacy Austin Bookfest. A very targeted retail event, the Service Menswear 50 percent-off sale, earned 4 percent while the Austin Record Convention and Strut’s first-of-the-month sale tied at just over 3 percent. Taking less than that were the Flipnotics sidewalk sale and Austin Books and Comics anniversary sale.
Can you tell what Austin collects?
Write-in: Settlement Home Garage Sale
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Your A-List, Best Radio Station
Despite the onslaught of Internet and satellite radio, locality still matters. People want to hear what Central Texas sounds like. And faux regional identity does not ring true over the terrestrial radio waves.
Also striking a local note is KGSR 107.1. Staying somewhat near the mellower singer/songwriter end of the spectrum, the resonantly Austin station caught 19 percent of the tally.
Write-in 89.9 FM KTSW, Texas State University’s radio station, was third with 14 percent, while 96.7 KISS-FM, with the insurgent Bobby Bones, was fourth with 9 percent. In fifth was Mix 94.7, starring recently profiled J.B. & Sandy, with 8 percent. Slickly trimmed to the local market, 103.5 BOB-FM, reached sixth place with 7 percent.
KVET 98.1 and its country coeval, KASE 100.7, each took close to 5 percent, followed closely by that peregrinating collective, KOOP 91.7.
Taking 3 percent or less were 101X, KLBJ 93.7, KLBJ 590 AM, Hot 93.3, Jammin’ 105.9, ESPN Radio 1260/1530, 102.3 The River, SportsRadio 1300, Majic 95.5, KAZI 88.7, KMFA 89.5, KVRX 91.7, Talk Radio 1370, La Ley 98.9, Digital 92.5, 107.7 Hitz and La Que Buena 104.3.
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Your A-List, Best Buffet
The A-List winner for best buffet this year goes to a relative newcomer, Cannoli Joe’s on U.S. 290 West, which picked up 20 percent of the vote. The aptly named Buffet Palace virtually tied for second place with the Clay Pit and Mr. Gatti’s, each sweeping up approximately 13 percent of the tally.
Two other eateries tied for fifth, Double Dave’s and Mongolian BBQ, each snatching 7 percent. China Star scooped up 5 percent and Taj Palace 4 percent. Taking 3 percent or less were Thai Passion, Alborz, Star of India, Bombay Bistro, Sarovar, Thomas Super Buffet and Madras Pavilion.
Never quite figured out whey Asian restaurants tend to the buffet option.
Write-ins: Sirloin Buffet, Wok-A-Holic
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Coffee-table books ‘The Complete Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II’
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Coffee-table books: ‘Wisdom’
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Coffee-table books: The Vanity Fair Portraits
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Open-Source Reporting: Club Micro-Hoods: 360
Why open-source reporting? Because you can contribute to our knowledge of which bars and clubs have opened or closed in the last year. We depend on you. Note: Restaurants are included if their bars attract a separate social scene.
This is our newest club micro-hood: 360 Tower. Separated by windy two blocks each from the Warehouse, West Second and West Sixth districts, the retail cluster at the base of the residential high-rise operates, for now, like a welcome oasis. And with the delay of planned nearby condos, it might remain a separate destination for some time.
Austin Music Hall. 208 Nueces St. 495-9962
Backstage Bar. 612 W. Fourth St. 263-4146/236-0125
Blu. 360 Nueces St. Phone?
Mulberry. 360 Nueces St. 320-0297
La Zona Rosa. 612 W. Fourth St. 263-4146/236-0125
