Day Trip to South South Austin: 🏎️ Fast Cars, Fried Chicken, and Steak Night (FULL EPISODE) S17 E1

South Austin (2026) North Austin and South Austin have been arguing over who is the "real" Austin since before the city even had bridges wide enough to settle it with a tug of war, and this episode heads straight into the neighborhood that answers the question with its own kind of weird. Six trips into Austin and this is the strangest and tastiest one yet. The day starts at full throttle at Circuit of the Americas, the only permanent Formula 1 track in the country, where co-founder and chairman Bobby Epstein explains how a piece of land near the airport turned into a 400,000 person weekend and the reason 65 percent of race fans fly in from outside Texas. A hot lap around Big Red with a pro driver settles any question about what 5 G's of braking feels like, and a round of go karts settles who actually deserved the trophy. From there it is straight to the St. Elmo Arts District for a plate of Asian style fried chicken and smashburgers from Spicy Boys and Patty Palace, the two food trucks built by co-owner Teddy Bricker and chef Dillon Misonznick out of the bones of their original truck, Soursop. Double fried chicken enrobed in sweet chili honey sits right next to a smashburger with crispy edged patties, proof that a food truck park can double as one giant dining room under the Texas sky. Just down the road, Still Austin Whiskey Co. is putting Kentucky on notice with a grain to glass bourbon made on the tallest column still west of the Mississippi, a project father and son Cleveland and Chris Seals started in 2012 when most people said Texas bourbon could not be done right. South Austin's weird side gets fully unleashed at Curia Arcanum's House of Curiosities, co-owner Francis's cabinet of wonders packed with a Fiji mermaid, a shrunken head, a real monkey's paw, and a locked case of cursed items customers dropped off and never wanted to see again. A short drive later, McKinney Falls State Park offers the quieter kind of weird, 750 acres along Onion Creek that sit on the historic El Camino Real, home to a 500 year old bald cypress and a limestone shelf that feels older than Texas itself. A jump into the falls is the only responsible way to cool off before dinner. The day ends at LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue, the only Michelin starred steakhouse on earth where jorts and Crocs are appropriate dinner attire. Pit boss Evan LeRoy and co-owner Sawyer Lewis walk through Steak Night, a reservation booked months out that ends with a dry aged, post oak smoked ribeye finished with a blessing of beef tallow and enough sauces to make a purist nervous. If weird just means different, South Austin has plenty of it left, and every bit of it is worth the trip. Thanks for subscribing - http://bit.ly/3TL61AO FOLLOW MY ADVENTURES. http://www.thedaytripper.com Instagram :   / chettripper   TikTok:   / chettripper   Facebook :   / thedaytrippertv   Twitter :   / chettripper   Check out our Texas-sized collection of day trip gear at The Daytripper Online Store: https://store.thedaytripper.com/ And be sure to visit the Daytripper World Headquarters store in Downtown Georgetown, TX! Get directions here: https://thedaytripper.com/daytripper-...