Pommes Frites Guide to Midtown - North Loop

Amazing vintage finds at Room Service

The North Loop area of Midtown is hands down one of the reasons I moved to Austin three years ago. All I have to say is this: vintage, glorious vintage. You'd be doing yourself a disservice if you did not stop into one of our famous North Loop vintage stores. Room Service has tons of kitschy, classic housewares and clothing. Across the street, Hog Wild's got mid-century furniture on lock down, and the owners/shop employees are nice as pie, always revealing the history of their hand-picked vintage items.

New to the hood is Ermine Vintage - but it's already developed a reputation as a great place to score sweet vintage duds for gals and guys alike. And by the way - it originally started as an etsy shop! How cool is that? Blackbird, also new to the neighborhood, is a cute little boutique that offers clothing and home decor.

Breakaway Records

Down the street, Blue Velvet is literally jam packed with vintage clothing and accessories. Next door to Blue Velvet is Breakaway Records - the stylish store has a pristine selection of lightly used vinyl. Fuel up with coffee from Epoch while you're in the complex. It can sometimes be crowded with college students (and all their books and computers), so take your coffee to go as you shop.

Across from this complex is the The Tigress - North Loop's first bar. The Tigress is open from 5-11 pm, so it's perfect for happy hour drinks, boasting fancy cocktails at a reasonable price. My favorite is the Moscow Mule.

Foreign & Domestic

Follow North Loop to Avenue G and you'll find Foreign & Domestic - North Loop's own fine dining spot. F&D is housed in what used to be a gas station turned (you guessed it!) vintage store. Prime seating at the bar gives you a front row view as your meal is cooked - the owners wanted to create a space that mimics the way it feels when cooking for friends. (PS - you can see my full review of F&D over on the PF blog)

Outside of the North Loop neighborhood, but still within Midtown, I'd also recommend checking out The Peddler - a great neighborhood bike ship - and House Pizzeria, which makes lovely Neopolitan style pizza.

Hope you enjoy the 'hood!
-Kristen

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