International pop star Dua Lipa stopped by Austin barbecue restaurant La Barbecue before the singer’s headlining set at Austin City Limits Music Festival this weekend in October 2024.
The “Houdini” singer and her group visited the Holly neighborhood barbecue restaurant on Friday. Owner Ali Clem tells Eater that everyone was “very nice,” and that they ordered everything family-style. That includes brisket, porks ribs, sausages, and sides. “Picking sides were big for them,” Clem writes over text message. “The shells and cheese did not stand a chance.” She shared that the group stayed for almost two hours and they went to see the on-site smokers.
Dua Lipa generally has great taste when it comes to dining and drinking (also reading), so the choice of La Barbecue makes perfect sense for her. If Eater had to guess where else she’d go during this presumable week in Austin, we’d guess cool wine bar Lolo in East Austin, as well as one of Eater Austin’s Eater 38 restaurants.
Dua Lipa’s two ACL dates are a big deal for fans of her latest album Radical Optimism and the current tour because it is two of the only technically three dates in America this year, which includes the last-minute-added iHeartRadio Music Festival show in Las Vegas this past September.
La Barbecue isn’t new to celebrity diners. Earlier this year, Prince Harry and Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle stopped by the restaurant for some brisket and sausages during South by Southwest. Likewise, Jay-Z ordered smoked meats from La Barbecue during both of his ACL Fest headlining sets in 2017.
