Austin Boil Water Notice Affects Local Restaurants

Austin residents will have to boil their water for consumption and related uses because of the recent floods, which will affect local restaurants as well.

The October rains brought more levels of debris into Central Texas’ water supply reservoirs than its filtration systems are used to handling. The city decided to still pump out the water at “treatment levels not typical of the utility’s high standards of consumption,” in order to provide water to people.

While the City of Austin’s site isn’t currently loading (most likely because of increased traffic and overloaded servers), all tap water meant for drinking must be boiled for three minutes. When it comes to restaurants (cooking, washing produce, ice, etc.), only boiled or bottled water is recommended. Austin restaurants have been notified specifically about the boil water notice. People have been cleaning out supermarket and grocery stores’ water bottle shelves already.

Black Star Co-op is letting people fill up on boiled water at the brewery, and St. Elmo Brewing is offering to do the same for local businesses.

Here are how Austin restaurants, cafes, etc. are dealing with the water boil notice (many restaurants are using boiled/bottled water to prep food and drinks):

• Downtown bakery and beer garden Easy Tiger noted that certain items and dishes won’t be available.
• Someone on Reddit noted that the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport isn’t serving any cooked/prepared food because of the boil notice, and it also shut off its public water fountains.
• After originally announcing that all locations of Houndstooth Coffee would serve limited menus today, the coffee shop closed its North Lamar and downtown locations on Monday, October 22, but the Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard cafe is open with beer, wine, and liquor, with boilermaker specials all day. All cafes are now open on Tuesday, October 22.
• Downtown restaurant Holy Roller is closed on Monday, October 22, and is reopen on Tuesday, October 23.
• All locations of Jack Allen’s Kitchen will close for lunch on Monday, October 22, and reopened for full service.
• All P. Terry’s and Taco Ranch locations won’t serve soft drinks on Monday, October 22
• Asian smokehouse Loro will serve canned sodas in addition to its usual beverage lineup on Monday, October 22.
• South Austin restaurant Thai Fresh is only making stir fry dishes for dine-in and to-go orders for lunch and dinner on Monday, October 22.
• North Loop bar Drink.Well will open on Monday, October 22 with a limited food menu and neat pours of spirits.
• East Sixth Italian restaurant Il Brutto will serve a limited drinks menu when it opens at night on Monday, October 22.
• South Austin coffee shop Spokesman is serving a limited menu with cold-brew, food, and discounted Topo Chicos on Monday, October 22. The cafe is now serving its full menu on Tuesday, October 23.
• Likewise, South Congress cafe Manana is serving a limited coffee menu, but will close at 1 p.m. on Monday, October 22
• Texas chain Hat Creek Burger Company closed its Dripping Springs, Rock Rose, Burnet, Westlake, and Lakeway during daytime hours. It’s looking to reopen by 5 p.m. on Monday, October 22.
• West Fifth Tex-Mex restaurant El Arroyo is closed for the day on Monday, October 22.
• Downtown coffee shop Merit is also closed for the day on Monday, October 22.
• All locations of Via 313 will offer bottled water and canned sodas on Monday, October 22.
• The Lake Austin Boulevard location of all-hours diner Magnolia Cafe is closed the day on Monday, October 22.
• All locations of movie theater-restaurant Alamo Drafthouse are serving limited menus for the day on Monday, October 22.
• East Austin bar Whisler’s won’t open on Monday, October 22, but is reopening on Tuesday, October 23.
• Wine restaurant Winebelly will open Monday, October 22, but some dishes might not be available for dinner.
• All FBR Management bars will open on Monday, October 22, though only serving with beer and wine. This means Gibson Street Bar, all locations of Lavaca Street Bar, Lala’s, Mean Eyed Cat, Star Bar, Stonehouse Coffee, and the Wheel.
• French restaurant Justine’s Brasserie will open on Monday, October 22, but it won’t serve ice or mixed drinks that use ice.
• Both Tex-Mex restaurant Mi Madre’s and neighborhood bar School House Pub aren’t serving ice or fountain sodas on Monday, October 22
• While all locations of Caffe Medici aren’t serving coffee, but are offering tacos and pastries on Monday, October 22. All Caffe Medicis are reopened on Tuesday, October 23 with its full menu.
• Shoal Creek Saloon closed at 2 p.m. on Monday, October 22, and will update its social media channels and website when it plans on reopening.
• Central East Austin restaurant Hillside Farmacy is also closed on Monday, October 22.
• All locations of Soup Peddler are closed on Monday, October 22 too. It’s planning on reopening tomorrow at 10 a.m. to serve only soups, salads, and sandwiches (no juices).
• South Lamar Vietnamese/Thai restaurant Mandala Kitchen and Bar is only serving beer, wine, and liquor as beverages on Monday, October 22.
• Mexican comfort food restaurant Eldorado Cafe is closed on Monday, October 22, but is is reopening at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, October 23 with a limited menu.
• Downtown bar Small Victory is closed on Monday, October 22.
• Sunset Valley pizzeria Cane Rosso will open on Monday, October 22, but offer limited beverages.
• East Sixth Street bar Last Straw will open on Monday, October 22 since it is using bottled water and ice from San Antonio.
• While all locations of Tacodeli are open on Tuesday, October 23, it won’t serve any fountain drinks, coffee, iced tea, agua frescas, or ice.
• South Lamar coffee shop Patika opened on Tuesday, October 23 with a limited menu, but it had to close at 2:30 p.m. It’s reopening on Wednesday, October 24.
• Greater Goods Coffee’s Bee Caves and East 5th Street cafes are open with a limited menu with espresso drinks available starting at noon on Tuesday, October 23.
• Korean restaurant College Roadhouse is closed on Tuesday, October 23.
• Both Jo’s Coffee locations will serve limited menus on Tuesday, October 23.
• Brentwood barbecue restaurant Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew is open on Tuesday, October 23, but it isn’t serving soda, tea, or coffee. It will offer single bottles of water to people, as well as have canned sodas available for purchase.
• Downtown Italian restaurant La Volpe is closed on Tuesday, October 23.
• While both District Kitchen + Cocktails and Oasthouse Kitchen + Bar are both open, neither restaurant will make ice on Tuesday, October 23, and both will serve bottled water and packaged sodas.
• South Lamar restaurant Odd Duck is closing for lunch on Wednesday and Thursday, October 24 and 25, to help conserve water. It will still open for dinner on those days.
• Downtown restaurant Boiler Nine is open, but its bar is only serving beer and wine through Wednesday evening, October 24.
• Cherrywood restaurant Dai Due is open, but serving a limited drink menu with no ice.

This article will be updated to include how Austin restaurants are dealing with the water boil notice throughout the day.