The Grove @ Southpark Meadows

My son David told me about The Grove at South Park Meadows. It is 6 minutes from their home, so we went to see a live concert of The Eggmen that played all Beatles music, local from Austin. They didn’t imitate them, they played their music so well, the sound system could have been better but, they sang really well. Next week is Tribune to Michael Jackson. It is a small stage outdoor, place to bring your family and dogs. They are restaurants, shopping stores, around too. I will be back for sure.

Thank you, Southpark Meadows!
Every time my family and I stop by to shop for a few items we need and then make our way over to the Grove for a bite to eat and let the kids run around on the huge playscape while we relax and watch them play.
Everyone has a good time and it’s a relaxing spot with plenty of parking and family-​friendly restaurants and that is not always an easy trick these days.
You can take care of a few chores and then relax a bit outdoors and have a fun bite to eat.
Adam R.

When I first moved to Austin, I loved shopping and dining at Southpark Meadows. There were a lot of choices and it all seemed really well maintained. Not anymore…
A little while ago, I went to 3^rd Base for dinner with some friends. When I walked out I could not find my truck. I asked the security guards if they towed from there and they said no. My truck had been stolen from the front row of parking right under a big light. Apparently it happens ALL THE TIME!
I called the cops and filled out a report but was again told it happens all the time. I was told by three different officers that my truck was headed straight to Mexico. If this is a common problem around there, why has nothing been done? There are still no cameras or patrolling officers in the parking lot?
No thank you. I prefer to take my business to places that care about the safety of their patrons. If you drive a truck or SUV, use caution in that place…

I used to like this place, but lately it’s just getting run down and trashy. Where there used to be grass, its just rocks and mud. The sidewalks are covered in food and trash, the trashcans don’t appear to have been emptied for several days. The mulch on the playground is covered with trash, food and the remains of the felt weed barriers that were once covered with mulch. The water feature that the kids used to play in, seems to have been permanently turned off, the last few times it worked, only 3 or 4 of the 15 or so nozzles actually worked.
Sad to see this place degrade so quickly. We’ll be going elsewhere for kid friendly dining from now on.

Just one question to the owner; what were you thinking? Great idea to have a few restaurants and a play-​scape, but it’s a really bad idea to incorporate live music into that.
I am not that anal retentive that I have a problem with noise when I am trying to listen to a band, but this is ridiculous! Kids are noisy on the play-​scape, you can also expect noise from the patios of the restaurants. Lot’s of kids running around all over the place, a random Frisbee may even hit you in the back of the head. There must also be some sort of sound restrictions, because you would think that with all the noise they would have figured out to turn things up.
So if you are going to The Grove to specifically go see a band, don’t expect to hear them very clearly, and don’t expect to be able to just sit and enjoy things without a random kid screaming as they pass you by chasing another kid.
:)

Before my daughter, I avoided South Park Meadows at all costs. It was full of chains, over crowded, too close the 35, blah blah blah.
Except now I have a kid. Who wants to play. And I still want to have a margarita. This place meets those needs, and places like this are few and far between.
The playground is still kinda far for my kid to play on while I’m on one of the nearby restaurant patios, since she’s a youngin’. My favorite restaurant in SPM is Serrano’s which is up the hill a bit anyways. So we usually go play, then get Mommy a drink when she’s nice and tuckered out.
I always go back to this: the playground is shaded. Hallelujah. We will be back, often, this summer.

The kids played and got tired really quickly. That made them fall asleep in the car ride home. That made me happy. Amy’s ice cream is right there. That made me happy. They have lights and tons of fun and engaged parents, that made me happy. I’m happy. Will go get happy lots more times.

Lots to do at this shopping center! Plenty of shops like Best Buy and Sports Authority for the guys and tons more for the ladies like Bed Bath and Beyond and Hobby Lobby.
There are also plenty of places to eat, I have not tried everything yet but so far Serrano’s is my favorite!
There is a neat little park in the middle of the center with some smaller shops and a water fountain in the middle thy is fun for little kids. There are always Kids playing in the water there.
In my short time in Austin this has been my go to spot for shopping and killing time on the weekend.

Took little Rooster over to try out the Grove. Not as nostalgic as most reviewers as I never saw a show at the original meadows. We were over here in the area yesterday shopping and surveying the place so we went back today.
Little Rooster would be giving it 5 stars. He ran and ran and ran and ran (and ran) thru the water sprinklers. Got enough footage for Youtube and 30 photos. Then we scooted on over to the playscape that is just steps away. Slide city! More running, laughing, smiling, and sliding. After about an hour with the clouds getting chased away by the sun we headed towards the car for the clothing change and to find some lunch.
Thats where I have to subtract a star. There is nothing exciting foodwise over here @ the meadow. The places I won’t visit
Chili’s — The enemy or at least thats what Tony told me
Johnny Carino’s — How do you say not good in Italian?
TGI Fridays — You seriously thought I would?
Serrano’s — Not a fan
Chi Chinese Buffet — Vowed to never return
Cartwrights Famous BBQ — food sucks at all un original locations
Waterloo Icehouse — Boring
I haven’t been to Jason’s Deli in years; maybe Haiku has something besides sushi? Nope. Third base, maybe but then I’m pretty sure the menu is close to a carbon copy of Waterloo. Gattitown, I just did kid stuff for an hour and a half!
I want serious food over here folks. Then, its 5 stars all the way.

OK, my time here was awesome. The kids ran around, got soaking wet in the fountain jets, we all chilled to some bizarrely psychodelic instrumental band. I had some Jason’s Deli while I sat on the hillside and the sun faded. It looked like a scene from those old water colors of Barton Springs in it’s prime. Parents lining benches and grassy hills, children of all ages running around the playground and courtyard. I admit, the setting is manufactured, but the groove was there. We spent hours here and the kids weren’t ready to go. Neither was I, but it was really late. So why the missing star? I saw Smashing Pumpkins and Blind Melon here a long long time ago… It was a beautiful rolling meadow. Now it’s a strip mall. I’m not sure that will ever sit well with me. Couldn’t they have made this somewhere that involved tearing down old eyesores and building something new? In town? Like the Mueller complex or something. I had to see natural beauty torn down for shopping malls, with just this small park area left as a mockery. But hey, at least there was something left and last night it worked for me.

I just feel a little bad every time I come here, which has only been, like, twice. Once for sushi and once for a quick dinner pre-​movie (the only theater left in South Austin playing «Baby Momma.») Oh yes! And once, for the most bizarre display of Christmas cheer I’d ever seen – a synthesized rock band was playing and nasty fake snow was spewing everywhere all over this «Grove» thing. I don’t know.
I just can’t love and embrace a strip mall. Going there makes me feel a little guilty and dirty, like I need to frequent a local business ASAP. It’s a massive, sprawling, never-​ending spectacle of all things mundane and mediocre. It’s so big that when I asked the waitress at Mama Fu’s how exactly to find the move theater, she shrugged and told us to set out toward the general Southwest vicinity. Then she asked her coworkers, who were all perplexed, too. And it was seriously hard to find this place is so massive.
When I think of seeing Smashing Pumpkins here fourteen years ago in the field as an angsty teen, I get angsty all over again…

At the Grove at Southpark Meadows, you can sit with a cold beer and watch kids frolic in essentially the same spot that at one time hosted bands such as The Police, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Pearl Jam, Metallica, Phish, Rage Against the Machine, Aerosmith, Dave Matthews Band, Sonic Youth, and many more. Obviously, the former concert venue no longer exists… well, certainly not to the extent it once did.
Nope. Now it’s a playground surrounded by mostly chain restaurants. And while this does kind of sadden me in a bittersweet «what happened to the good ‘olé days?» sort of way, I can take solace in the fact that I’ll be frequenting this spot much more than I would have otherwise. Because, as I mentioned in the first line, you can sit with a cold beer and watch the kids frolic. Or, sit with a cold beer and read a book while you ignore the kids. Or, spread out a blanket and lie on the grassy slope while drinking a cold beer. I do recommend glancing up every 5 minutes or so, though, to make sure the kids haven’t been kidnapped. So, while I may have taken in two or three shows a year in the former incarnation, I’m likely to visit at least a couple times a month now.
Sandwiches, wings, burgers, Mexican, Asian, coffee, ice cream, smoothies and sushi can all be had here. The selection is wide. I’ve tried three or four of the places, and will probably eventually review them all, since I do and will be frequenting this spot often. And as long as they have edible food and beer, they’re all guaranteed a minimum of 3 stars. Cuz that’s the way I roll.
I gotta give props to the designers for keeping the music component alive, as there’s a stage area just across from the playground. They had a summer concert series there last year, Southpark Before Dark, and I’m sure they’ll do something similar this year. The playground itself is pretty large, and has plenty of fun diversions for the kids… but not quite the chaotic mess that is the playground at Barton Springs. Plenty of strategic spots from which you can keep an eye on the monkeys. They even pipe in decent (for the most part) music through speakers that surround the playground. And for the summertime, there are little water fountains around the stage area for kids to get wet and stay cool.
Bottom line — if you live south of the river — or anywhere in the vicinity, really — and have kids, you should check this place out, because there’s nothing comparable in BubbaLand.

Dear Southpark Meadows Playscape,
I am giving you five stars for allowing me to watch Jessica R. get three seconds of hangtime off one of the ends of your slides before crashing into the ground and histerically giggling.
I am also giving you five stars for watching Ryan come down the slides all slow but then watching a lightning bolt of static electricity shoot between the slide and his ass.
I am giving you five stars for making my night, Playscape. Also, thanks for not hurting my ass too much when I came off that slide.
xoxoxoxox
t