Austin is everything to everyone and its dining scene is no different. Austin is the "Live Music Capital of the World." It's only merely the restaurant capital of Texas, or, at least, it has more restaurants per capita than anywhere else in the state, but that's a college town for you. The food comes in every genre, from American to Mexican to Asian to French to steak and barbecue. That Austin has as many Mexican restaurants as it does is worth note as is its experimental approach to American and Southwestern cooking. Southwestern cooking can intermingle easily with French cooking (or Asian cooking or you name it) for bizarre and tasty hybrids, and you might find rattlesnake served up with pride as a stylish delicacy instead of a backwoods eccentricity. (For Austin is anything but backwoods.)
The surrounding Hill Country is less bizarre and experimental, but little less diverse. In these hills, barbeque, down-home cooking, and Tex-Mex are king, and the dude ranch-restaurant is certainly more common than in Texas's capital. Fredericksburg, however, is a special exception, serving primarily German cuisine. You'll find sauerkraut for sure, but also the less familiar Bavarian dishes that you may have to look up before ordering. New Braunfels also has a German restaurant or two, if not in the same quantity.
