Surge of New Local Restaurant Openings: Do They Know Something Everyone Else Doesn’t?
The national economy is in the doldrums. That’s a given. The stock market is like an out-of-control roller coaster, careening wildly up and down from day to day. Doesn’t seem like the kind of environment that would make people want to risk a substantial amount of money on one of the riskiest propositions of all: a new restaurant.
Yet that is just what’s been happening in central Texas. We are awash in a sea of new openings. And many of these openings are not little taco joints: they are fine dining emporia with big-ticket build outs.
In just the past month, we’ve seen the opening of the gorgeously redone Paggi House on Riverside at N. Lamar. They spared no expense to make this one of the most elegant dining experiences in the city. And with Shane Stark at the helm, the Paggi is going to shine. Likewise the opening of the Steiner Ranch Steakhouse off Highway 620 east of Lakeway is another huge and expensive project. The steakhouse promises to be a great dining experience. And hats off to the owners for rolling the dice in these tricky times. Yet another new opening is Cover 3, the elegant sports-themed restaurant on Anderson where Los Flores used to be. This is not your average sports bar: it’s much more than that. A fine-dining menu and an elegant theme characterize the appeal of this place. And it’s drawing a significant share of female customers as well. And the iconic Castle Hill Café has reopened as Corazon at Castle Hill at 5th and Baylor. The food is amazing and the ambiance is delightful.
At E. Oltorf and S IH 35, Mesa Ranch has opened a second and very elegant location behind the Clarion Inn. On Colorado next door to Kenichi, the new Maria Maria boasts a connection to rock legend Carlos Santana (Maria is his sister) and they have spent lavishly on the executive chef and the build out. And up the street on Colorado, the gigantic Perry’s Steakhouse (from Houston) seats over 400 in a very upscale-comfortable environment. They also opened at the end of October. And Fujian Asian buffet (formerly the Old San Francisco Steakhouse) opened at the Rundberg exit off N IH 35, just north of the KLBJ studios. This is a very nice and obviously costly building: and unlike most buffet operations, they took their time building this one. That shows in the final product.
And there are smaller but no less costly ventures opening as well. Cabo Bob’s, a competitor to Freebirds and Chipotle, has gotten off to a promising start on Ben White just east of S. Congress. And Mama Fu’s, a local chain, has opened up a new store on Cesar Chavez, next to Taste Select Wines. This is sorely needed as downtown Austin has almost no Chinese at this moment. And if that’s not enough, Finn and Porter at the Hilton has temporarily closed for a $600,000 remodel (open end of December)!
And north of campus, 5 Guys Burgers, an east-coast chain, has opened at 3208 Guadalupe. And in Liberty Hill, the Italian-themed Cousins has just opened for business.
And all of this has just been in the past four-five weeks! All of these entrepreneurs are taking the classic line from Mad’s Alfred E. Neman: “What, me worry?” And I say good for them! And by all means, good for us as well.
