Austin Motel’s Fine Foods and Jo’s Burger Box Are Closed

Austin Motel’s recent South Congress bar and burger trailer, Fine Foods and Jo’s Burger Box, are now closed. However, Larry McGuire revealed that his company, McGuire Moorman Hospitality, is working with the motel managing company Bunkhouse on a new diner for the property, to Texas Monthly.

All that is known about the new motel restaurant is the name, Joann’s Fine Foods. It appears that it will open sometime in spring 2018, according to Jo’s Coffee’s website. Reps for both Austin Motel and McGuire Moorman Hospitality didn't offer any further details though.

Joann’s Fine Foods takes over the space that used to house Snack Bar, Austin Motel’s longtime restaurant. That shuttered in September 2016 because owners Bethany Andrée and Karl Gilkey thought the Austin dining scene was too "tumultuous."

Snack Bar’s patio was turned into easy-drinking bar Fine Foods, and the parking lot became home to Jo’s Burger Box, Bunkhouse’s burger trailer. Both opened in April, which coincided with Austin Motel’s renovations with a bright poppy look. The renovations came about with the motel’s new owners, Greenfield Partners. Bunkhouse operates as the property’s manager.

McGuire also disclosed some more details about the company’s other new project, the dining options of future downtown high-rise hotel and residence building Austin Proper. It will include two different restaurants, cocktail bar, coffee shop, as well as room service.

McGuire Moorman, known for its stylish restaurants, has been keeping busy elsewhere as well. It just unveiled a tiki bar and burger trailer in West Austin with Deep Eddy Cabaret, Pool Burger. The company is also working on expanding Clark’s Oyster Bar in Aspen, Colorado by June 2018.

• Larry McGuire, Pioneer of the New Brand of Austin Cool [Texas Monthly]
• All Coverage of McGuire Moorman Hospitality [EATX]