Eater Austin's Top Posts of 2015

Despite all of the shutters and openings, it’s soothing to see that Austin still retains its charm with this guide to the city's time-honored restaurants, from Night Hawk to Matt’s El Rancho.

Image credit: Top Notch/Facebook

One of the biggest barbecue story of the year happened when Franklin Barbecue banned all professional line holders as to keep the integrity and community of the epic line in tact. This included the boy genius sensation behind BBQ Fast Pass and Favor.

Do you remember the awful time when barbecue was actually in danger of drastically changing? Back in spring, a city council member proposed a code change that would have greatly limited barbecue smoke in residential areas. Aaron Franklin told Eater if it went through, "It would destroy Austin barbecue." Thankfully, it didn’t.

Image credit: Robert J. Lerma/EATX

13-year-old entrepreneur Desmond Roldan made the headlines when he decided to get into the line business at Franklin Barbecue, just so he could raise money for a car and donate to Austin Dog Rescue. Though, now, because of the line holder ban, he widened his net to include any Austin business with lines, like La Barbecue.

Image credit: Nadia Chaudhury/EATX

A man took responsibility for placing stickers claiming that East Austin restaurants were "Exclusively for White People" during March, including Sugar Mama’s and El Chile. He said it was his critique of the area’s gentrification.

Image credit: Brianna Smith/Facebook

Before Franklin Barbecue banned all professional line holders, the barbecue joint tried to calm things down by prohibiting all individuals waiting for groups.

Image credit: Franklin BBQ Line/Twitter

Everyone loves hidden gems, especially when the list includes Freedmen’s Bar, Texas French Bread, and Enoteca Vespaio.

Image credit: Spencer Selvidge/EATX

Food trucks are plentiful in Austin, and this map highlights the most important meals on wheels everyone should try, from barbecue, tacos, to even sushi.

Image credit: Robert Strickland/EN

Fall was a heavy restaurant opening season for Austin. There was the long anticipated Wu Chow from the Swift’s Attic Team, Blue Cat Cafe’s Kickstarter-backed launch, Emmer & Rye’s focused farm and ranch to table menu, Shawn Cirkiel’s latest project Bullfight, and many others.

Image credit: Parkside Projects/Official

Everyone has opinions on the city’s best morning/brunch/hangover meal, and Eater mapped out the city’s best breakfast tacos, with help from readers, of course.

Image credit: Bill Addison/EN