The 6 Most Anticipated Restaurants in Austin, Winter 2019

2018 is almost over and now that winter is right around the corner, it’s time to take a look at the upcoming slate of Austin restaurant openings for the winter season.

The winter season will bring about a bunch of new projects from already established Austin names. There’s perhaps the biggest opening of the year with already-essential Texas restaurant Emmer & Rye’s next spot, the live-fire-obsessed Hestia. Then there’s the Italian restaurant Uncle Nicky’s from the powerhouse team of Juniper, Via 313, and Nickel City, bar/restaurant from Peached Tortilla, and a new bar from Wright Bros. Brew & Brew. Then there is San Antonio chef Jason Dady’s first-ever Austin restaurant too, Chispas.

Because this is Austin, and restaurants tend to not open on time, there are some leftovers from the fall, like long-awaited dumplings from East Side Chinese restaurant Sweet Chive, coming oh so soon.

See an impending restaurant opening missing below? Send it through the tipline. This guide will be updated throughout the season as details change and places open.

Hestia

Rendering: Baldridge Architects

Location: 208 Nueces Street, Downtown
Key Players: Kevin Fink, Page Pressley, Tavel Bristol-Joseph
Projected Opening: Early 2019

The Emmer & Rye team is turning its attention towards live-fire cooking for its next restaurant, with its usual eye towards local and seasonal ingredients and grilled Texas meats like beef, lamb, and seafood, all made using the 20-foot grill. The name is inspired by the Greek goddess of the hearth.

Sweet Chive

Nadia Chaudhury/EATX

Location: 2515 East Cesar Chavez Street, Holly
Key Players: Heather Pai Yu, Phoenix
Projected Opening: Mid-December 2019
Status: Open

Finally, the highly anticipated Taiwanese-Chinese restaurant is opening very, very soon. Owner Heather turned to her own family recipes after running various Chinese restaurants throughout the Austin area for the new restaurant, which means tons of dumplings and comforting noodle dishes, along with an emphasis on vegan fare.

Bar Peached

Bar Peached [Official]

Location: 1315 West 6th Street, Clarksville
Key Players: Eric Silverstein, Kevin Kok
Projected Opening: January 2019
Status: Open

The team behind Southern-Asian fusion restaurant Peached Tortilla is bringing its expertise over to Clarksville with a new bar/restaurant in the former Winflo space. Cocktails come first, with both draft, frozen, and house drinks, with an emphasis on clear spirits (think tequilas and vodkas). As for food, Bar Peached will stick with what it does best: Southern-Asian comfort foods like build-your-own tacos, pork buns, pork shoulders, Korean chicken wings, and Korean-style shaved ice. While Winflo’s original deck is gone, Bar Peached will feature a great patio space too.

Uncle Nicky’s

Julia Keim

Location: 4222 Duval Street, Hyde Park
Key Players: Nicholas Yanes, Travis Tober, Brandon Hunt, Zane Hunt
Projected Opening: January 2019
Status: Open

The masterminds behind some of Austin’s best restaurants and bars (Italian restaurant Juniper, Detroit pizza phenomenon Via 313, everybody’s favorite bar Nickel City) took over longtime gelato shop Dolce Vita for an Italian cafe. The menu will emphasize sandwiches, pastas, and salads from the northern region of the European country.

Little Brother Bar

Location: 89 Rainey Street, Downtown
Key Players: Matthew Bolic, Matt Wright, Grady Wright, Cody Haltom
Projected Opening: January 2019
Status: Open

The Wright Bros. Brew & Brew and Better Half crews are turning their attentions to a tiny bar right in the heart of Rainey Street for their next project. The small bar will feature neat pours, canned beer, wine, an espresso bar, and some food with early morning and late night hours. There will be just four seats and a patio (this is Austin, after all).

Chispas

Eddy Chen/Food Network

Location: 214 West 4th Street, Downtown
Key Players: Jason Dady
Projected Opening: Winter 2019
Status: Open

The San Antonio chef is opening his first-ever Austin restaurant, focusing on very casual tacos, a salsa bar, and lots of margaritas. The restaurant is taking over the former Irish pub Fado’s, the downstairs of which is now whiskey bar DuMont’s Down Low, which opened.

Also tracking:

• McGuire Moorman Hospitality Group and Bunkhouse Group continues to grow its expanding empire with a new East Austin bodega. Lou’s Bodega will serve up coffee, pastries, rotisserie meats, soft serve, juices, wines, and beers within its brightly colored space with murals abound. While there is no specified opening date, it should be sometime soon. (1900 East Cesar Chavez Street, Holly) Status: Open
• The second of two new bakeries from Quack’s 43rd Street Bakery, the far south Captain Quackenbush’s Coffeehouse and Bakery should be opening sometime in early 2019. (5326 Manchaca Road, Far South Austin)
• The company behind Second Bar and Boiler Nine, La Corsha Hospitality Group, is finally opening that East Austin hotel (called, yes, East Austin Hotel) sometime in January 2019. On deck are two bars (one rooftop, one poolside and open to the public), and one restaurant with an emphasis on internationally influenced comfort foods, Sixth and Waller. (1108 East 6th Street, East Austin)
• While initially slated for a fall opening, the self-serve taproom Oz Tap House boasting of 40 taps accessible with RFID cards should be opening in the winter of 2019. (10601 Ranch Road 2222, North Austin)
• Kolache and beer shop Batch is opening a new brewery, Batch Brewery, with a wide-range of hoppy options from wild barrel-aged beers to hoppy IPAs to pale ales, opening sometime in March 2019. (3220 Manor Road, MLK)
• Will taco drive-thru chain El Tacorrido open its East Austin location (fifth overall) this season? (1701 East Riverside Drive, East Riverside-Oltorf)
• The Southern California seafood restaurant Ways & Means Oyster House is bringing oysters and more to the former Annie’s Cafe space in early 2019. Along with the oysters, king crab legs, lobster rolls, fish tacos, etc., there will be Austin-specific dishes yet to be determined. (319 Congress Avenue, Downtown)
• Vegetarian Indian restaurant Swad is expanding into Round Rock for its second location starting in January 2019. (1401 South IH 35, Round Rock)
• Austin breakfast staple Wholy Bagel is opening its second store up north in January 2019, with the same beloved menu of bagels, sandwiches, cream cheeses, black and white cookies, plus more prepackaged food items like smoked fish, whitefish salads, and yogurt parfaits. (3637 Far West Boulevard, Northwest Hills)
• Kerbey Lane is opening a standalone restaurant with a focus on healthy foods and vegan queso called High Note sometime in January or February 2019. (300 South Lamar Boulevard, Zilker)
• Out in San Marcos, former Blue Owl head brewer Davy Pasternak, along with Alex Pasternak, is opening a farmhouse-style brewery, Roughhouse Brewing, plus restaurant S Baker Kitchen, in January 2019. (612 Oakwood Loop, San Marcos)
• Cherrywood sports bar Haymaker is expanding with a location within the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport sometime in early 2019, with a similar pub menu of sandwiches, burgers, fries, and poutine. (3600 Presidential Boulevard)

Spring 2019: Bobo’s Snack Bar; Central Machine Works Brewery and Beer Hall; Counter Cafe [West Campus]; East Side Pies’ Market [Rosewood]; Epicerie [Laguna Gloria]; Gati; Hold Out Brewing; Intelligentsia Coffee; Julie Myrtille Bakery; P6; Swedish Hill Bakery & Cafe; Tacodeli [Downtown]; Yard Milkshake Bar

Rest of 2019: Alamo Drafthouse [Cedar Park]; Austin Proper; Carve American Grille; Family Business Brewing Co. [St. Elmo Public Market]; Hopdoddy Burger Bar [Plaza Saltillo]; Philip Speer’s unknown restaurant; Pinch Boil House; Ranch Hand; Punch Bowl Social [downtown]; Salt & Time [St. Elmo Public Market]; Tiki Tatsu-ya; Unknown Lick Honest Ice Creams restaurant [St. Elmo Public Market]; Velvet Taco [South Congress]; WineLair

2020: Gemelli Gelateria [South Congress]

Unknown: 24 Diner [Rock Rose, Austin airport]; Bee’s Knees; Burgerim; Cat’s Pajamas; Fat Ni BBQ; The Goodnight [downtown]; Hummus Republic; LeRoy & Lewis [brick-and-mortar]; Marinas; Mayfair; Nobibi; Parkside [Austin airport]; Peli Peli; Pinthouse Pizza [Round Rock]; Pokeworks; Roya; Schaller’s Stube Sausage Bar [brick-and-mortar]; TenTen; Unknown Parkside Projects Restaurant [Hyde Park]; Unknown Ranch 616 Bar; Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ [brick-and-mortar]