Tough Sledding Around Austin for Many High End Restaurants
Restaurants come and go with some rapidity in Austin. Everyone acknowledges that it’s a tough business. But no place is it tougher than in the higher end of fine dining restaurants.
The recent closing of Kenichi got me to thinking about how many great places we’ve lost around Austin in the past couple of years. Consider Kenichi: it was smoking hot when it first opened in 2000. You couldn’t get a table. Then, inexorably, poor financial planning (including too many celebrity “investors”), the tragic suicide of co-founder Billy Rieger and a host of other openings on Colorado (Imperia, Cantina Laredo, Maria Maria, and more) slowed them down. Finally, Kenichi was sold to a new group. But even with Shane Stark in the kitchen, the place had lost its gravitas. But at least they had a decent run for some time.
Remember Will Packwood’s Cibo at 10th and Congress? Great food, but a real clash between the front and back of the house amounted to a very short run.
Rivals’s Steakhouse on East 5th barely lasted six months. And how about Taste on Cesar Chavez (now home to the Bonneville). Two young couples had a great idea, great food, a unique wine tasting system, and they made it less than two years.
Speaking of Maria Maria (named after the sister of Carlos Santana) down from Kenichi this concept, like its counterpart Joe DiMaggio’s at the Domaine, was very short lived. Brian Malarkey’s Searsucker which took over in that spot should get an award for already lasting 2 years.
Many more casualties have caused pain for fans downtown. The closing of the excellent Aquarelle left Austin without a high end French place until the recent opening of LaV. We still get letters from foodies who miss the historic Paggi House, and the incomparable Louie’s 106 and Gumbo’s at 8th and Colorado. Different reasons for all three closings closings: nonetheless, they are all gone.
Another regret of mine is the disappearance of McCormick and Schmick’s a few years ago at 4th and Colorado. Rich Everett ran that restaurant like it was his own. Then alas, Landry’s bought out the M&S chain and replaced the 4th St. location with their high end Willie G’s concept. Willie G’s closed earlier this year! Sad to see that vacant space.
And former Jeffrey’s legend David Garrido was forced to close his fine Mexican restaurant on 3rd less than a year ago.
Then there was the saga of the high end deli that never was. Mastman’s was to have opened at the end of last year next to Ruth’s Chris on West 6th. Touted as a highly specialized glatt kosher deli, the owner was apparently characterized by many as an alleged con artist, supposedly defrauding investors and vendors along the way. Very sad.
The territories had some high end casualties as well. Cool River on Parmer called it quits last year. Always enjoyed that place, but profitably utilizing the 28,000 square feet of space and the opening of the Domain down the road caused problems.
A favorite of mine on 620, Sobani, also closed recently. Care to guess the ethnic slant of its replacement? And further west on 620, Japanese styled Mizu closed about 21 months ago. Best non-water view in Austin. But as luck would have it, Reed Clemmons was there to do another version of his successful Westlake restaurant (no that is not an oxymoron) The Grove. So far so good.
Another casualty was Soleil adjacent to the Oasis. Although a lot of big names (Robert del Grande) were associated with this, it never really got off the ground. The decor was lovely, the view incredible, but their margins were just too low.
At the Shops at the Galleria, The Riviera (a gluten-free gem) folded and was replaced by Apatite Cafe (named after a gemstone). The chef, David Burton Sanchez closed Apatite after he received an offer from Soleil that he didn’t feel he could refuse. Too bad. He now knocks them out of the park in Colorado.
And I still mourn the loss of the best restaurant Pflugerville has had or may well ever have: The European Bistro. Run by two Hungarian sisters, the fare ranged from Russian to Eastern European, and it was excellent. They never really connected with the tastes of the community though. They should have opened downtown.
I could go on but you get the idea. For each new spectacular place like Qui, Congress, LaV, Barlatta, and others, remember there are some other great spots that don’t fare as well and have crashed and burned: usually taking the finances of the owners down with them. It is tough out there. And we should all be thankful for the great ones we do have.
