Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 26th-largest metropolitan area in the United States, the 11th-most populous city in the United States, the fifth-most populous city in the state after Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, and Fort Worth, and the second-most populous state capital city after Phoenix, the capital of Arizona. It has been one of the fastest growing large cities in the United States since 2010. Downtown Austin and Downtown San Antonio are approximately 80 miles (129 km) apart, and both fall along the Interstate 35 corridor. This combined metropolitan region of San Antonio–Austin has approximately 5 million people. Austin is the southernmost state capital in the contiguous United States and is considered a Gamma + level global city as categorized by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.
Burger King Corporation is an American multinational chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based restaurant chain. After Insta-Burger King ran into financial difficulties, its two Miami-based franchisees David Edgerton (1927–2018) and James McLamore (1926–1996) purchased the company in 1959. Over the next half-century, the company changed hands four times and its third set of owners, a partnership between TPG Capital, Bain Capital, and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, took it public in 2002. In late 2010, 3G Capital of Brazil acquired a majority stake in the company in a deal valued at US$3.26 billion. The new owners promptly initiated a restructuring of the company to reverse its fortunes. 3G, along with its partner Berkshire Hathaway, eventually merged the company with the Canadian-based doughnut chain Tim Hortons under the auspices of a new Canadian-based parent company named Restaurant Brands International.
Whataburger is an American regional fast food restaurant chain, headquartered and based in San Antonio, Texas, that specializes in hamburgers. Founded by Harmon Dobson and Paul Burton, it opened its first restaurant in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1950. Family-owned by the Dobsons until 2019, the chain is now managed by the private equity firm BDT & MSD Partners; the Dobson family still holds a small stake.
In-N-Out Burgers, doing business as In-N-Out Burger, is an American regional chain of fast food restaurants with locations primarily in California and to a lesser extent the Southwest from Oregon to Texas. It was founded in Baldwin Park, California, in 1948 by Harry (1913–1976) and Esther Snyder (1920–2006). The chain is headquartered in Irvine, California, and has expanded outside Southern California into the rest of California, as well as into Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Colorado, and Idaho, and is planning expansions into New Mexico and Tennessee. The current owner is Lynsi Snyder, the Snyders' only grandchild.
Chili's Grill & Bar is an American casual dining restaurant chain founded by Larry Lavine in Texas in 1975 and is currently owned and operated by Brinker International.
Casa Bonita is a Mexican restaurant in Lakewood, Colorado, located within the Lamar Station Plaza. It first opened in 1974, and was originally part of a chain of Mexican entertainment restaurants that started in Oklahoma City. The restaurant attracted a cult following among Coloradans since its opening, and is considered by many to be an iconic establishment of Lakewood and the greater Denver metropolitan area.
Albert Leslie Cochran was an American homeless man, peace activist, cross-dresser, urban outdoorsman, and outspoken critic of police treatment of the homeless. Cochran was known in Austin as Leslie.
KEYE-TV is a television station in Austin, Texas, United States, affiliated with CBS and Telemundo. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station maintains studios on Metric Boulevard in North Austin and a transmitter on Waymaker Way on the city's west side.
KVUE is a television station in Austin, Texas, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Tegna Inc. The station's studios are located on Steck Avenue just east of Loop 1 in northwest Austin, and its transmitter is located on the West Austin Antenna Farm northwest of downtown.
Fuddruckers is an American fast casual, franchised restaurant chain that specializes in hamburgers. The Fuddruckers concept is to offer large hamburgers in which the meat is ground on-site and buns are baked on the premises. As of 2019, Fuddruckers had 49 company-operated restaurants and 107 franchises across the United States and around the world. The company headquarters is in Houston, Texas. On September 8, 2020, Fuddruckers owner Luby's, Inc. announced that they planned to liquidate existing assets, including Fuddruckers' assets, distributing the proceeds to investors after the proposed sale of the chains. On June 21, 2021, Black Titan Franchise Systems announced a deal to acquire Fuddruckers for $18.5 million.
Blake's Lotaburger is a fast food restaurant chain, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with 75 locations in the Southwestern United States, mostly located in New Mexico, as well as Tucson, Arizona, and El Paso, Texas. Their menu focuses on New Mexico green chile topped hamburgers and french fries, as well as New Mexican foods such as breakfast burritos.
The Oasis on Lake Travis is a restaurant on the western edge of Austin, Texas, United States. Established in 1982, the restaurant promotes itself as the "Sunset Capital of Texas" with its terraced views looking west over Lake Travis. It is one of the largest restaurants in the world and serves American and Tex-Mex cuisine.
Elevation Burger is an American fast casual restaurant chain that specializes in organic hamburgers. The company originated in Falls Church, Virginia, within the Washington Metropolitan Area. They have over 40 locations operating in the United States, Bahrain, Kuwait & Qatar.
KTBC is a television station in Austin, Texas, United States, serving as the market's Fox network outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division, and maintains studios on East 10th Street near the Texas State Capitol in downtown Austin; its transmitter is based at the West Austin Antenna Farm on Mount Larson.
Aaron LaRae Jones is an American professional football running back for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UTEP Miners and was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL draft. In seven seasons with the Packers, Jones led the league in rushing touchdowns in 2019, made the Pro Bowl in 2020, and ranks third in the team's all-time rushing yards list.
Austin Bold FC (ABFC) was an American professional soccer team located in Austin, Texas. Founded in 2017, the team made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019. In 2021, Austin Bold FC announced it would be moving to Fort Worth, Texas leaving Circuit of the Americas at the end of the season but may have to wait until 2023, depending on the construction of their stadium. As of August 2024, the team remains inactive.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Texas is a part of the ongoing viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The state of Texas confirmed its first case on February 13, 2020, among U.S. nationals evacuated from China to Joint Base San Antonio–Lackland beginning in early February; however, retrospective analyses have suggested a much earlier origin than previously thought. The first documented case of COVID-19 in Texas outside of evacuees at Lackland was confirmed on March 4 in Fort Bend County, and many of the state's largest cities recorded their first cases throughout March. The state recorded its first death associated with the disease on March 17 in Matagorda County.
Gregorio Eduardo Casar is an American politician who is the member for Texas's 35th congressional district in the United States Congress since 2023. He served as a member of the Austin City Council from the 4th district from 2015 to 2022. Casar is a member of the Democratic Party and was endorsed by the Working Families Party in his run for Congress. Casar was unendorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America and is no longer affiliated with them. He was first elected to the Austin City Council in 2014, representing District 4. He was reelected in 2016 and 2020. He was elected to Congress in 2022.
Austin, Texas, reportedly confirmed its first cases on March 13, 2020, with the related onset of symptoms occurring as early as March 2, 2020. However, the disease may have reached the Austin area earlier. In an unconfirmed case, a 67 year old man in Bastrop, TX, traveled to Clovis, NM on December 21. He was hospitalized in Clovis on December 23, 2019, then transported via ambulance to Lubbock where he was placed on a ventilator. He declined rapidly and died on January 2, 2020. Though there was no testing available at the time, he exhibited classic symptoms of COVID-19. The first fatality associated with the disease was reported on March 27, 2020. As of January 21, 2021, the City of Austin has reported over 50,000 cases of COVID-19, with 573 deaths associated with the disease.
El Borracho is a chain of Mexican restaurants in the U.S. state of Washington. The business operates at Pike Place Market in Central Waterfront, Seattle, and in Tacoma. Previously, El Borracho operated in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood.
