This one is a little tricky, so it should be interesting.

By the time you’re reading this, it’ll probably officially be fall. As I write, we still have a week until autumn, but the cooler weather is here, and some nice rain too! This has been a long cruel summer, and when you live in a tiny apartment downtown, it feels good to get out and be able to take walks or sit outside and enjoy the weather.

This morning, after the rain cleared out and the blue skies took over, I sat outside in the bright sunshine, and it was such a pleasure.

When my wife and I first started coming downtown (before we moved here,) I would need to take her to work or pick her up. We lived out north of Santa Anna, so I wasn’t going to be driving back and forth, so sometimes I had an hour or so to waste. I’d find a good porch or patio at some business in town, order a coffee or a beer, then read a book or fiddle around on my phone while I waited. So, in order to make it more fun, and since I’m an over-sharer, I’d post pictures of me on a porch somewhere and I created the mostly fictional “Porch Society” of which I became President. I’m a big outdoor porch guy and I always have been.

Now, sadly, for a town with such a dynamic and fantastic revitalization going on, great outdoor seating areas are not something we have a lot of. There are some, and I’m going to talk about them, but (especially downtown) we don’t have enough. A few spots have a bistro table or two, and those places are great, but we do have a shortage of fantastic outdoor seating areas in our restaurants and bars. Great, revitalized downtowns make use of non-traditional areas… alleys, spaces between buildings, sidewalks, etc., with exceptional help from the cities, to make more outdoor seating available. Outdoor seating and patios increase the walkability and desirability of urban life.

Anyway, I’m gonna mention 5 because that’s the name of this feature, but I’m also probably going to cheat and name some extra, other great places to sit outside and have a drink or a meal when the weather is great.

Shaw’s Marketplace / Fuzzy’s Tacos

You might remember that I mentioned Shaw’s in my last 5 Things! (about coffee,) and I mentioned Fuzzy’s when I did 5 Downtown Lunches. Well, what you may not know is that both Shaw’s and Fuzzy’s have great patios! We visit both patios quite often because we love our patios when the weather is nice. Whether it is a margarita on the rocks out on the Fuzzy’s patio, or a nice cup of coffee in the cool air out back of Shaw’s, you can probably spend a day outside at Shaw’s/Fuzzy’s because they’re all part of the same complex at 508 N. Center Avenue. Actually, I’ve been meaning to mention that if you are from out of town and you are visiting Brownwood because you’ve heard about the awesome revitalization of historic downtown, or for any other reason, there is no place better to “center” your visit than Shaw’s. Make it your home base. Start your downtown excursion there with shopping and then coffee (that you can take out on the back patio,) and later in the day you can get lunch, a beer, or a cocktail out on Fuzzy’s patio. Grab yourself a downtown map at the front counter of Shaw’s and visit all of the walkable places in Historic Downtown Brownwood!

Wild Duck Marina

There’s nothing like sitting out by the lake when the weather turns nice. We didn’t get to visit the Wild Duck as much as we like to this summer because it was too danged hot. But now that the weather has turned around, we’re looking forward to beers and fried pickles on the Wild Duck’s great patio this fall. Wild Duck, located at 320 High Top St. out at Lake Brownwood, is a great place to watch football this fall (inside,) but you can take a break during halftime and go cool down while you look out over beautiful Lake Brownwood. They have live music now and then too, so follow them on Facebook and check up on their live venue schedule.

The Turtle Restaurant

As I mentioned in a previous 5 Things! column, we don’t get over to the Turtle as much as we’d like to. We’re going to try harder. But we have very fond memories of dinners out on the Turtle patio out back. Located at 514 Center Avenue, this is one of the coolest “hidden gems” in downtown Brownwood, because unless you know the patio is back there, you may miss it completely. What a fantastic spot it is, with awesome bistro seating and the over-arching grape vine that shades the place. It’s like a little piece of Fredericksburg or Italy right here downtown! Plenty of seating out back, and if you can catch them on a night when they are doing the live jazz music, it’s a can’t miss kind of thing. As always, the food and the wine list are top notch, the cocktails are great, and the atmosphere is cozy and cool.

Pioneer Taphouse

I almost didn’t include Pioneer for a couple of reasons. I already mentioned them in the 5 Great Places to Get a Drink is one. Another reason is that their front porch isn’t that big and they only have 3 or 4 little bistro tables out there. Still, on any given Wednesday through Saturday when the weather is good during their open hours, you’ll see plenty of people sitting and standing out front of 112 E. Baker Street. This past Wednesday night we hung out on the front porch having a beer or two until it was time for closing! The front porch at Pioneer is a great place to soak in the downtown life, and everyone who is walking downtown is inevitably going to pass by. Don’t forget that Pioneer has awesome pizza, salads, and other delicious treats. Get a beer and sit outside and there is a good possibility you’ll see me at some point!

Wingstop

I don’t generally include corporate franchises in this column unless I know the local owner or manager. AND unless I know they support local things. In this case, I wanted to include Wingstop for several reasons. Now, this place is truly a “hidden gem” in Brownwood, and by that I mean that most people don’t even know it exists. Located at 432 E. Commerce, they are kind of tucked away behind McAlisters so you might not see them unless you are looking. You can’t miss them if you are heading out to Riverside Park.

As for me, I had never been to Wingstop before six months ago, and I just figured it was a chicken wing fast food joint. I didn’t know that they have beer there (tap beers too!), a bar, and a cool outdoor seating patio! They have big screen TVs where you can watch sports, and this… this is the biggest thing… Wingstop has the best fries and ranch dressing of any “chain” franchise anywhere. Their fries are made from real potatoes, and they cut them fresh every morning. Their ranch dressing is made from scratch every morning too!

Frankly, Wingstop has the best and freshest food of any chain I’ve visited in Brownwood, and I almost never eat “fast” food at all. So, I didn’t know I could go there and get an affordable meal deal, with fresh ingredients, a nice cold beer, AND sit in the bar area and watch a game. My friend Buddy Allison is currently the manager there, and he’s a good guy who works hard to make customers happy. He keeps the place clean and welcoming, so stop by and sit out on their little porch and (like me) wonder why there aren’t a ton more people there!

I said I’d mention some others, so go out and visit these porches too…

Tres Leches Bakery

10 Mile Wine Tasting Room

Tacos El Compa

Jerry’s Burgers and Fries

La Botana Mexican Food

Remember! 1. These aren’t popularity contests or a “best of” list. 2. Great businesses fall into a bunch of categories so I might include or not include someone based on whether I’ve mentioned them recently in another category, or if I have a plan to mention them in another column soon. 3. This is just me, chatting, telling visitors or locals about the places or things my wife and I like to visit or do, in no particular order. 4. I don’t know all of the cool places to see, do, or experience in Brown County, so I rely on you all to help me. Feel free to email me: [email protected] and invite me out to your business. We’re mainly focused on entertainment, dining, shopping, drinks, etc., but let me know in any case. I can’t promise anything, but I do like to be better informed.

Also, remember that these 5 Things! articles are archived on the Brownwood News website in the Area Guide tab, so if you have friends or family coming to Brownwood, send them the link and let them read about great things to see, do, eat, and drink in Brown County!