Friday, August 26, 2011

DWITT Dailys: Technology Don't Fail Me Now!

David Witt is awesome and so's this ink of a hot dog chuggin a beer he drew for us. This is taken from his Daily Drawing blog. You should keep up with him.


DWITT Dailys: Technology Don't Fail Me Now!: My friend Geoff owns a restaurant in Austin, TX called Frank. I have yet to go and dine there, but I consistently drool at their tweets ( @hotdogscoldbeer ) about their food. This morning they mentioned their waffle and chicken sandwiches. I asked them if they would deliver to Saint Paul, MN. Geoff replied they'd fax the food right up if I drew a hot dog chugging a cold beer. I said gimme 10 minutes, but it took more like 20....





Rules!

It's Friday!



Which means Frank Nac is officially open this evening! It's been a ton of work in a very short time frame but it came together mighty fine. Here are some more pics taken along the way. See you folks this evening!


This is the original drive in face all Frankified.



First dogs off the line!



More front.



The wine rack made out of hog wire! Apropos dontcha think?



This just may be the urinal about to be installed.



Booths arrive.



Most important, the beer delivery.



Must get shut eye now...

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

And the beat goes on...

We had a fun weekend drinking beers and slinging paint around the new Frank. There's still plenty of signage being worked on, but how about some pics to hold you over until the grand opening?

Come And Take It mural getting started by Yancy and Daniel.





Close to finished.



Pork!



Emily and Yancy about 1AM:



The next morning. This is what you will see entering Frank.



Stage construction in the beer garden:



Parking lot side construction:



This is the North St. side. That white in the center is the original drive in with Frank built around it. Beer garden on the left interior seating on the right.



More to come!

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Frank Nac!

Hot Dog and Cold Beer fans of East Texas, rejoice: Frank is heading your way soon! We are super-excited to announce that our second Frank location will open in historic Nacogdoches, Texas later this month. The Hot Dogs Cold Beer gang is currently working day and night to make it happen.

Our Nac partner Aaron Montes felt the city needed a unique restaurant, and visited Austin on a mission to bring the best eats in town back east with him. When he found Frank he knew it was a perfect fit. After a few dogs and coldies with Aaron and his wife Emily, we agreed.

Literally constructed AROUND the oldest existing restaurant in Nacogdoches, Frank is located on the corner of North and Hayter, just four blocks from Stephen F. Austin University. SFA Lumberjacks, get ready for some awesome grub.

Here's a little insight from the Daily Sentinel:Purveyors of Artisan Sausage

Here are a few pics showing the build out::

The original restaurant structure opened circa 1950:



The existing drive through menu:



Construction has started and we are utilizing salvaged barn tin and cedar:






Stay tuned for more details and pics y'all!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Yay Cassie!

ZU Vodka Cocktail Competition from digital-dinG Productions on Vimeo.

Congrats to Frank's own Cassie Stewart for pulling down 2nd in the Zu cocktail competiton. There was some serious competition! Congrats to Peché and East Side Showroom too!

Here's the full story from Austin Lifestyle Magazine.


You’ve been to the bars, you’ve seen the flaming glasses and flying bottles. We’ve even featured some of the more creative bartenders in the pages of Austin Lifestyle. But that’s a bit of flash and glamour, adding performance to presentation and often distracting from a product that’s too sweet or unbalanced. So, in the interest of taste alone, ZU Vodka and ALM hosted a more objective look at the cocktail in Austin. We took over Frank downtown and turned it into half cocktail party, half blind taste test. A panel of three judges evaluated nine contestants from the best that Austin’s bars have to offer, holding out an all-expense paid trip to compete in “Tales Of The Cocktail” in New Orleans as reward for the best concoction and its maker.

By fortunate happenstance (and ZU Vodka’s kindness), I happened to be one of the judges. And, while it sounds prestigious, looking back, it’s quite the marathon. Even in sample size servings, nine tests is quite a lot, and it’s difficult to separate a vast variety of tastes beyond a certain point. Luckily, the party guests were encouraged to provide their own opinions and supplement the panel of judges. Now, while we never lost objectivity and didn’t once descend into basic or banal evaluations (“This one: good. That one: bad” never appeared on any of our judging sheets), it certainly was a challenge to decide what drink stood above the rest.

ZU Vodka was required for all cocktails, and the bisongrass spirit has a delicate and natural taste that can be overpowered and lost in standard mixers and thoughtless combinations. Of course, we were in the hands of very skilled bartenders from around the city, including Perla’s, Peche, Eastside Showroom, Paggi House, McCormick’s & Schmick’s – Downtown, Frank, and The Tavern. Each brought a unique twist and kept our tastebuds guessing. With no access to the craftsmen and women, we judges could go by taste alone and, for the most part, agreed with the voice of the crowd in attendance. The winners, featured in Austin Lifestyle, can be found around Austin and we encourage everyone to visit them in their native state and see if you agree or disagree with our results. Check out the video of that evening’s events below and connect with us on Facebook to track the winner, Justin, as he ventures to New Orleans to represent ZU Vodka, Austin Lifestyle, and our city’s great movement in cocktail couture.
Winners were: 1st place – Justin Elliott, Péché - The Pulaski Bridge Swizzle [ZU Vodka, homemade Jujube (green date) cordial, Prosecco, Hand-cracked ice, Swizzled with a candied bison bone] | 2nd place – Cassie Stewart, Frank - Summer Grass [ZU Vodka, cucumber, blood orange juice, fresh lemonade, soda water] | 3rd place – Chauncy James, East Side Show Room - Polish Pony [ZU Vodka, Galliano, Cocchi Americano, Aqua Vit, Campari, orange twist]

Monday, June 13, 2011

Frank on Google Places!

Sports Fans! Here's a mighty fine little film about Frank made by Agency Charlie for Google Places.

Google Places Austin - Frank Restaurant from Agency Charlie on Vimeo.



Click Here to Embiggen

You can see the whole series here and we suggest you do because they are real nice.

Agency Charlie Google Places

Thanks AC!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

West Texas Wildfire Relief Benefit

Hotel San Jose, Jo’s Coffee, Decoder Ring and Frank announce the West Texas Wildfire Relief Benefit to be held on May 6th in the Hotel San Jose/Jo’s parking lot from 6 to 10 pm.

The West Texas Wildfire Relief Benefit will feature live music performances by Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin, Erika Wennerstrom of Heartless Bastards, Amy Cook & David Garza, and Moonlight Towers. Food and beverage sponsors include Shiner, Lone Star, PBR, Pearl, Frank, The Woodland and Lambert’s Downtown Barbecue with more TBA. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Jeff Davis County Relief Fund, Marfa Public Radio, and the Marfa and Fort Davis Volunteer Fire Departments. The event is located at 1316 S. Congress Ave. Austin, TX 78704.

In addition to the music and food there will be a silent auction featuring amazing gifts form local Austin Businesses, Artists and Musicians and live on site T-shirt printing by Industry. So come ready to pick up some great stuff and help out a lot of folks who really need it.

The wildfires in Far West Texas, which have been burning since April 9 and are currently only 66% contained, have consumed over 275,000 acres, destroyed dozens of homes, killed livestock and wildlife, and jeopardized the livelihoods of countless ranchers and residents. Extremely dry conditions coupled with high winds continue to fuel the fires, which gained new momentum as recently as April 27, when the damaged area grew by 44,000 acres in a single day.

The Jeff Davis County Relief Fund has been established to help those affected by the Rock House Fire started in Marfa, TX. For more info on the Jeff Davis County Relief Fund, see jeffdaviscountyrelief.org.

Marfa Public Radio serves a critical role in the spread of emergency information in the Far West Texas Region and has acted as an invaluable resource during the wildfires to announce evacuations, coordinate local relief efforts and keep the community informed. For more information about Marfa Public Radio or to listen to live streaming coverage of the fires, visit marfapublicradio.org.

The Marfa and Fort Davis Volunteer Fire Departments consist of local area volunteers who were first responders to the wildfires and who have been working tirelessly in cooperation with the Texas Forest Service to get the fires contained even as they threaten their own homes and communities. For more information on these local heroes, please see marfavfd.org and fortdavisvfd.org, respectively.

List of silent auction donors

Will Johnson
Decoder Ring
Mellow Johnny's
Dean Frederick
Waterloo Records
DJ Stout/Pentagram
Botticelli's
Vespaio
Adam Voorhes
Matt Rainwaters
Bryan Schutmaat
Wilco
Barley Swine
La Condessa
Antonelli's
Transmission/mohawk
C3
Spoon
Spartan
Folk Wellness Co
Alamo Drafthouse
SXSW
Stag
Sound Screen Design
Dave Meade Photography
Domy Books
James Stevens/Moonlight Towers
Erika Wennerstrom/Heartless Bastards
White Stripes/Raconteurs/Third Man Records
P Terry's
Matt Genitempo
Dirk Fowler

Commemorative art for the event:
Mishka Westell www.mishkawestell.com


Noel Waggener www.subculturepress.com


Justin David Cox www.gotopublicschool.com