How Many Steakhouses Can the Downtown Area Absorb?

This is an intriguing question. Every time a new steakhouse opens, the pessimists say that this has got to be it. When III Forks opened, they said there was no way the downtown area could absorb another high-end steak joint. Well III Forks is thriving. So are Fleming’s, Sullivan’s, Austin Land and Cattle, Eddie’s V’s, Fogo de Chao, and The Roaring Fork, just to name a few. Then along comes the gigantic Perry’s from Houston into the mix. Taking up almost an entire block at 7th and Colorado, the place is huge and upscale: and from early reports, pretty tasty. And Trio at the Four Seasons has also ramped up its emphasis on steak. So far, so good.

The key question as to the overall health of all these steakhouses will come, however, when the legislature wraps up its business in June. All that lobbyist money that gets thrown around with so much impunity dries up overnight and good old Joe consumer will have to take over.

But based on past history, Austin seems to have an unending love affair with good prime beef along with Tex Mex and BBQ. If there is a point of maximum absorption for upscale steak houses, it doesn’t appear that downtown has reached it yet.