Waterloo’s Pop-Up Picnic Happens April 5 — But This Is Your Last Week to Order a Basket Before They're Gone

The Details:

What: Pop-Up Picnic @ Waterloo Greenway (12th annual fundraiser).

When & Where: April 5, 2025 | 6:00–10:00 PM | Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park

Tickets: Tickets $25 (here). Baller picnic baskets from ATX’s best chefs (here).

This Saturday, from 6 to 10 PM, you can roll out a blanket, unpack a picnic basket, and feast on the lawn in front of the Moody Amphitheater while DJ Hexum and The Bros Fresh take the stage.

It’s that time of year again. The weather’s warm, the grass is green, and Waterloo Greenway is back with its 12th Annual Pop-Up Picnic: “a fun-filled evening supporting Waterloo Greenway Conservancy’s mission to maintain, activate, and enhance the park as a vibrant public space for all.”

Here’s our recommendation: Leave your PB+J at home, and buy a basket from one of Austin’s best restaurants — two tickets already included. Of the 18 picnic basket options, here are our top three picks:

• The Ezov Picnic Basket ($250, includes two tickets).
  

• Ezov, the Michelin-recommended restaurant that Texas Monthly named one of the Best New Restaurants in Texas, is, in the words of The New York Times, “chef Berty Richter’s love letter to his home country of Israel… a thoughtful, creative, loving tribute to the varied culinary traditions in Israel.” (Melanie Haupt, Austin Chronicle)
  

• What’s inside: Whole Roasted Cauliflower with smoky tomato da’ga, green tahini, fermented mango; Pomegranate Tabbouleh; Fire-Roasted Eggplant; Classic Hummus + Marinated Chickpeas; Fresh Challah Rolls; Leek Tzatziki; Tunisian Tirshi Carrots; Curcumada (fresh turmeric lemonade).
  

• The Nixta Picnic Basket ($100, includes two tickets). Nixta Taqueria, the East Side staple led by James Beard Award and Michelin Bib Gourmand winner Edgar Rico, was named one of America’s 50 Best Restaurants by The New York Times and “one of the Best New Restaurants” by Food & Wine.
  

• What’s inside: Heirloom Chips + Salsa Morita; Duck Fat Refried Beans with Queso Fresco; Yellow Tuna Ceviche with avocado, citrus vinaigrette, salsa macha; Duck Carnitas Taco (GF); Sholeh Zard: arroz con leche meets Persian-style rice pudding.
  

• The Teddy’s Picnic Basket ($100, includes two tickets) Fresh off Eater Austin’s heatmap of the city’s hottest restaurants, Teddy’s “centers on Southwestern cuisine rooted in Indigenous and Mexican approaches with American inflections.”
  

• What’s inside: Parker House Rolls with cinnamon ancho butter; Whipped Love Dip (cheddar goat cheese, charred green salsa); Teddy’s Tortilla Soup (chicken, avocado, queso Oaxaca); and Lump Crab Tostadas with salsa adobo, jicama, avocado, cilantro.

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