Despite the mentions on variouswebsites, the darkened space and even the restaurant’s own website labeling the restaurant as closed, Gino’s East owner Doug Guller says the Austin branch of the Chicago pizza chain is only temporarily closed. In an email to the Statesman, Guller said the restaurant is shuttered while undergoing renovations.
ATX Brands owner Doug Guller at the Scoot Inn. (Kelly West/AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
P.Terry’s founders Patrick and Kathy Terry hope to do for the taco stand what they did for the fast-food burger when they opened their first drive-thru 12 years ago. The couple plans to open Taco Ranch in Southwest Austin later this year in a former Burger King at MoPac Boulevard and U.S. 290 (5033 U.S. 290 W.).
While they are still finalizing a menu, Patrick Terry said Taco Ranch will rely on the same elements that have made P.Terry’s such a success: quality (humanely raised meats, organic eggs, etc.), value and convenience. Everything in the restaurant will be made from scratch, including both flour and corn tortillas, salsas, guacamole and queso.
“I’m astounded when I go to a taco stand and pay $3.50-$4 for a taco and I know the tortilla came out of a package,” Terry said. “Clearly there are a lot of people doing it very successfully, so I don’t question that, and I give them all the credit in the world. But we’re going to make it as hard on ourselves as possible, as we always do.”
Patrick Terry and his wife, Kathy, hope to do for tacos what they did for hamburgers. (Ricardo B. Brazziell AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
Terry and his wife have been testing recipes in their kitchen and turning to many of their 500 P. Terry’s employees for ideas. The hope, as with P. Terry’s, is to deliver restaurant-quality food at a low price point that makes it accessible to pretty much everyone.
“It will be reminiscent of taco stands, again, from the early ’60s. A very simple menu. It’s not going to be hard to figure out, and I’m hoping that everyone will be surprised by the quality, the taste and the price,” Terry said.
The restaurant, which will be designed by Michael Hsu Office of Architecture, will feature a dining room, patio and drive-thru, and with Hsu involved, don’t expect it to look anything like a Burger King. Taco Ranch will serve breakfast, lunch, dinner and late-night. As for future expansion, Terry says that they are currently only focused on one location.
“The smartest thing we ever did was that we never looked beyond the first one,” Terry said of the process he followed in opening his original burger drive-thru on South Lamar Boulevard.
An afternoon and evening bagel pop-up at a cocktail bar? Why not? Chef Alex Manley, formerly of Bufalina and the McGuire Moorman Hospitality empire continues her bagel pop-up series Sunday at the intimate cocktail bar Small Victory.
Manley will serve a variety of her boiled and wood-fired bagels, including a whole wheat bagel made from grains milled at Barton Springs Mill, along with housemade schmears and cured and smoked fish from Joseph Galindo of Lambert’s. Making this pop-up a little different will be the drink program. Small Victory wizard Josh Loving will pair the creations with a slew of drink options, including vodka & aquavit, Trader Vic Rum punch and Bloody Marys. The bar will also serve sparkling wine & rosé at happy hour prices.
The pop-up runs from 3 to 9 p.m. at the bar tucked into the parking garage (old schoolers will remember it as the old Mike’s Pub) at 108 E. Seventh St.
How do you break up the monotony of NFL training camp? If you’re Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints, you put a little something on the line and get competitive. The Westlake High School graduate and Super Bowl MVP is featured in a new video on the Saints website in which he and the rest of the QB depth chart (and some coaches) compete for Salt Lick BBQ. Each participant gets to pick a target at which to throw. Each target represents different meats. The pork ribs get a lot of attention from the native Austinite, as well as University of Missouri graduate and fellow Texan Chase Daniel. Check out the video and see who walked away with which meats. I’ll give you a hint: one of them is a future Hall of Famer for a reason.
Porter Ale House, known for its burgers, beer and slick bar snacks, has closed at 3715 S. First Street after about three-and-a-half years in business, according to its Facebook page. Located underneath the Tree Condominiums, Porter was opened in January 2014 by Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort veterans Joe Bixel, Neil Joiner and Trevor Lane.
Maggie Nemser (left), Porter co-owner Trevor Lane (center) and Jeffrey Zurofsky (right) on Bravo TV’s “Best New Restaurant.” (Credit: Rick Kern / Bravo)
“Special thanks to all of the great people who have worked so hard to help us realize our dream,” the Facebook post read in part. “We are very sad to have to close our doors. We will be seeing you again soon as we have other projects in the works.”
Joiner posted a comment in addendum to the original post requesting Porter fans visit him at his German-style food truck, The Black Forest, at Live Oak Brewing Company.
Eater critic Bill Addison travels the country all year looking for the best the nation’s restaurants have to offer. His annual assessment of the best new restaurants in America this year includes a unique Austin restaurant that hybridizes Japanese and Central Texas traditions. When he first looked at the menu at the izakaya-smokehouse Kemuri Tatsu-Ya, Addison thought, “Welcome to Gimmick Town.”
If you were hoping to stand in a long line (or, maybe take advantage of the hot weather and summer evacuation of the city to find a shorter-than-normal line) at Franklin Barbecue, you’ll need this information: After business on Sunday, the restaurant operated by James Beard Award-winner Aaron Franklin will close for its annual summer vacation. Franklin Barbecue will be closed from August 1-10. It is one of the few times each year the East 11th Street restaurant closes, the other three centering around the Texas Monthly Barbecue Festival, Thanksgiving and Halloween.
Aaron Franklin opened Franklin’s Barbecue in East Austin with his wife in March 2011. (RESHMA KIRPALANI / AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
Update: Slow your roll, people. Apparently Austinites were really jonesing for some bao, because Bao’d Up ran out of food today and had to turn guests away. They will wait until 5 p.m. to open Wesnesday while they tighten their processes
Bao’d Up, a fast-casual restaurant focused on Chinese steamed buns, opens today at 11 a.m. at 1911 Aldrich, Suite 1A in the Mueller development. The restaurant is operated by chef Ting Li, who also owns Xian Noodles.
Baos from Bao’d Up. (Credit: Facebook.com/atxbaodup)
The menu serves steamed buns; savory meat and veggie-filled buns; sweet fried bao, bubble tea and more. As part of its opening celebration, Bao’d Up is giving each customer who spends $10 or more a free bao.
Brandon and Zane Hunt, the Detroit natives responsible for Via 313 pizza, opened Nickel City, a bar at 1133 E. 11th St. in the old Longbranch Inn. The bar, which features a strong whiskey selection, cocktails, frozen riffs on classics and ample beer, features a food truck outside. Delray Cafe, named after a neighborhood in South Detroit, serves a menu of no-fuss bar fare like sliders, hot dogs and chicken wings. Delray Cafe opens at 5 p.m. daily and stays open late.
Update: Officials from the city of Austin have confirmed that a slew of food vendors will join the concession group at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
As a sign posted online this week hinted the other day, the vendors will include Peached Tortilla, Hat Creek Burger Company, Mandola’s Italian Kitchen, Flyrite Chicken and Tacodeli.
Joining that group are Hut’s Hamburgers, Mad Greens, Departure Lounge, Berry Austin Frozen Yogurt, and JuiceLand.
The changes will start with the renovation of the east food court, across from Gates 7-8 later in 2017. The Peached Tortilla, Mad Greens, Departure Lounge, Berry Austin Frozen Yogurt, and JuiceLand are some of the new concepts for the east food court.
Will air travelers be lining up for Tacodeli at ABIA? (Ralph Barrera AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
There’s a lot of change coming to the growing Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. We know there’s a Second Bar & Kitchen opening an outpost there, along with Italian cafe and market I Vini and a Tyler’s sports. But a post today on Instagram from Peached Tortilla owner Eric Silverstein hinted that there may be a lot more coming, as well.
The owner of the Southern-Asian fusion restaurant posted a photo with the logo of Delaware North, one of the airport’s concessionaires, with a “Coming Soon” section featuring the logos of Peached Tortilla, Jo’s coffee, Tacodeli, Flyrite chicken and others.
Not exactly. A representative for ABIA said that while Second, I Vini, Tyler’s and a new Salt Lick twice the size of the original airport location were all slated, he did not recognize some of the other names as future tenants and said that some of the names on the flyer might not end up in the airport.
“The airport did not put that sign up,” the rep said.
Adding to the intrigue, the airport’s official Twitter page Tweeted that Tacodeli would be at Gate 9 in the Barbara Jordan terminal. (Linked inside the Tweet below). Something doesn’t add up. When you have a concessionaire, city government and multiple independent owners all working together, it isn’t terribly unusual for the timing of an announcement like this to go a little sideways. Once all of the contracts are signed, the airport will put out an official release announcing the new vendors.
