Food + Fun Pairings with Kids in Austin
Picture this: you plan a fun adventure for your family. A splash pad, a park, a hike, etc. Inevitably, someone will start to get hungry. Now you have to frantically search for a kid-friendly place to eat nearby. This is me EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. That’s why I came up with a list of fun places with kid-friendly restaurants (or just good places to eat) that are close by (under 10 minutes drive). Here’s a list of some great food + fun pairings with kids in Austin. Now you can spend more time just having FUN and less time worrying about where to go or packing a ton of snacks. Just don’t forget the sunscreen!
Also, don’t forget that Austin Fun For Kids has the most extensive and comprehensive list of over 80 restaurants with playgrounds in Austin — check it out!
Food + Fun Pairings with Kids in Austin
- Alliance Children’s Garden/Liza Carpenter Fountain/Barton Springs/Zilker Park/Peter Pan Mini Golf + Casa De Luz or Sno-Beach
There’s so much to do in the area! Play at one of our favorite parks, splash in the fountains, swim at Barton Springs, ride the Zilker Eagle (coming soon!) or play at Zilker, mini golf at Peter Pan. Phew- now I’m hungry! Try Casa De Luz for vegan food with a playground or grab a cold sweet treat from Sno-Beach.
Ramsey is one of our favorite local playgrounds and the Home Slice North location has a play area for kids plus they will give your kids dough to play with!
Spend a relaxing day indoors painting pottery at Art Garage, then hop next door for some pizza with a playground.
The Campbell’s Hole entrance to the Barton Creek Greenbelt is conveniently located right across the street from a Tacodeli. And now I’ve just described my perfect Sunday morning.
One of the best combos out there is a good hike followed by a cold beer. Throw in some food trucks and a playground and you’ve got yourself a nice adventure for the day. McKinney Falls is gorgeous year-round, but bring swimsuits in the summer to float in the falls (you can swim in the upper or lower falls). Meanwhile is a short drive away and totally worth it.
Food + Fun Pairings with Kids in Austin
Spend some time in the AC shopping at BookPeople, then grab lunch at Whole Foods North Lamar and eat it on the rooftop next to the playground.
- The Capitol or Bullock Museum or 9th St Dirt Jumps or Austin Nature & Science Center + El Mercado
Wander through the State Capitol or the Bullock Museum, then grab some chips and queso out on the back patio at El Mercado next to the playground. If you remember to bring your bikes, you can also check out the BMX park on 9th Street.
These are 3 of our favorite Austin places. Visit the peacocks at Mayfield and go on a short and easy hike. Or you can climb the step up to the top of Mt Bonnell and check out the views over Lake Austin. Littlefields is a close by treasure with tacos, coffee, and snow cones, plus a playground!
They just opened Ski Shores back up, and it’s one of our favorite Austin spots! You can enter by boat or by car, there’s lake-side dining, they have a playground, and it’s dog-friendly!
Food + Fun Pairings with Kids in Austin
One of our favorite hikes is River Place (go on a weekday when it’s free!), and it’s just a short drive over to Oz Taphouse for some food, beer, and a playground.
Bull Creek has a natural waterslide that the kids will love. Grab some food at Waterloo Ice House.
Food + Fun Pairings with Kids in Austin
St Edwards Park has beautiful trails, a waterfall, and even a rope swing! Just be sure to take all valuables with you or you could risk getting your windows smashed (it happens here all the time). Do yourself a favor and stop by our favorite cupcake shop, Cupprimo, on your way home!
Great Hills Trail is a lovely spot to hike with kids. There’s a playground at one end if their legs can carry them that far. Stop by Pour House, the neighborhood pizza and beer joint after your hike. There’s no playground here, but they are kid-friendly and have good pizza!
Walnut Creek Metropolitan Park is a popular place for people to bring their dogs off-leash and mountain bikers to practice. We still love to bring our kids here to hike. Start at the impressive newly redone playground and then hike down to the water. Just be sure to keep the kids out of the way of the bikers. If you bring your dog, check out Santorini Cafe right next door. It’s dog-friendly and they have yard games for kids.
Food + Fun Pairings with Kids in Austin
We love to play at Balcones. They just got a playground upgrade, and the hike there is great for kids. After some heavy rains, the creek will be flowing and it’s a fun spot to splash and play in. Aviator Pizza is close by and has a great playground (and good pizza).
Wild Basin is a special place. You have to reserve your spot and pay to hike there on weekends (weekdays are free!), so plan accordingly. Hat Creek West Lake hills is super close and makes a perfect stop before your hike or after (they serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner and have a playground!)
Food + Fun Pairings with Kids in Austin
Mary Moore Searight is a lovely park. We spent all our time here with our nets catching tiny baby frogs. The Thicket Food Park has a playground (check each individual food truck for hours as they’re all different!). Southpark Meadows is also a great spot with a playground and lots of different restaurant choices all surrounding the play area.
Food + Fun Pairings with Kids in Austin
Check our Instagram channel to see my reel on how to get to Secret Beach. We like to park at Montopolis Youth Sports Complex and go from there. If you prefer an indoor activity in this area, check out Austin Bouldering Project. Both are close to the fun OMGSquee for some unique dessert.
Food + Fun Pairings with Kids in Austin
A fun, free indoor activity is visiting the animals at Zookeeper Exotics. They have so many cool critter (even a sloth!) and are close to The Boat (which has seafood and a playground).
Brentwood is so lucky to have these two gems! We love this park and this cafe, which has both an indoor place for kids to play and an outside playground.
Round Rock
- Joanne Land Playground or Rock’N River at Old Settlers or Kalahari+ Salt Lick or Hat Creek Round Rock
There is just so much right in this little area! If you’re out exploring Old Settlers Park, there’s a couple good playground (Joanne Land and Virg Rabb) and a waterpark (Rock’N River). These are all right next to Salt Lick BBQ which also has a playground. Kalahari is right across the street, and if you’d like to get out and eat your meals elsewhere, try Salt Lick or Round Rock Hat Creek.
- Play For All + Kerbey Lane (playground and kids eat free on Tuesdays!)
Play For All Abilities is one of the best playgrounds of all time. Bring your scooters and bikes and head out on the race track, play in the sand or the zipline swings! Kerbery Lane Cafe in Round Rock is close by, has a playground, a covered patio, and kids eat free here on Tuesdays!
Cedar Park
Splash Shack is a small indoor water park and is close to the Good Lot, and outdoor beer garden with food trucks and a playground.
- Veterans Memorial Pool + Whitestone Brewery (serves pizza and has a climbing dome) or Jeremiah’s Italian Ice
We love Veterans Pool! It’s like a cheaper, mini version of a water park. Get there early if you want to snag some shade! Stop by Lucy’s for some fried chicken with a playground or grab a cold treat from Jeremiah’s!
Georgetown
Blue Hole is free and a great swimming hole in Austin. We like to park at Hat Creek and order food to bring down to eat, picnic-style. There’s a little path that will get you down to the water.
Wimberley
We love Wimberley and try to go to Blue Hole every summer. Here’s what we did over an entire weekend in Wimberley! And Community Pizza is downtown and has a playground.
Dripping Springs
We went to Hamilton Pool back when you could still swim there. You can still hike there, or you can pay to swim/hike at Reimers Ranch (bring cash!!). Family Business Beer Co is right around the corner from these two must-see spots (and they have a playground!)
Liberty Hill
You can access the San Gabriel River from Tejas Camp (and you can camp there for pretty cheap too!) It’s free to park and hike here (you only pay if you want to camp). There’s little shade but usually enough water to wade and maybe even swim if you hike out far enough. Both Dahlia Cafe and Main Street Social have playgrounds.
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