8 Austin Restaurant Closings to Know About This Winter

Eater will keep track of every single restaurant and food truck closing during the year right here.

February 2020

— Gorgeous Asian restaurant She’s Not Here closed in February, despite recently hiring a new chef. It opened downtown in August 2018.

— Mum Foods is no longer offering its famous pastrami at a storefront. Its temporary space in the former home of East Side Cafe is now closed, though it will continue to be a presence at farmers’ markets around town.

— Micklethwait Market and Grocery in Smithville is now closed. However, the trailer on East Rosewood and the new taco truck at Batch are still open.

— The original Veracruz All Natural truck on East Cesar Chavez will close after South by Southwest while it relocates to Webberville Road.

— The Fuzzy’s Taco Shop in Austin is now closed, leaving one location of the taco chain in Round Rock.

— The Burleson Road location of Mexican restaurant El Meson has closed. The South Lamar location is still open.

— Side Spot Suprette, the coffee shop extension of East Side Pies in Central East Austin, closed as of February 2. It was only open a few months.

— Winner’s Barbecue in Pfleugerville, an expansion from Dallas, closed in January.

January 2020

— The Bonneville has the unfortunate honor of being the first restaurant to close in 2020 after seven years in downtown Austin. A restaurant from a restaurant group is taking its place.

— Teo Gelato, the gelateria in Rosedale, is closing this week after 17 years due to rising rents. The gelato will still be available in grocery stores.

— The Grove in the Domain closed after less than a year. There are still four other locations in Austin.

— Campus restaurant Thai, How Are You?, which featured the famous mural by local artist Daniel Johnston, closed. Originally called Thai Spice, the owners originally intended to take a holiday break but decided not to reopen.

— Grand Lux Cafe at the Domain closed.

— North Austin’s Third Base Sports Bar closed, although its locations in Round Rock and South Austin are still open.

December 2019

— Liquid nitrogen ice cream shop Spun closed on East Seventh, as sisters Ashley and Christina Cheng did not want to renew their lease. It will live on in a trailer at Whole Foods in the Domain and catering.

— Zax on Barton Springs Road closed at the end of the year. A developer bought the land of Zax and Aussie’s next door.

— Beach Hut Deli in Avery Ranch closed on Christmas Eve.

November 2019

— Two Mexican restaurants — North Austin’s Cielo Bistro and campus’s Chango’s Taqueria — closed. The owner of Chango’s reportedly wants to focus on making packaged foods.

— 42-year-old north campus pizzeria Milto’s Pizza closed in November. The building that housed the restaurant had been up for sale and was under contract as of October 2019.

— The Thai Kun truck at Whisler’s closed to make way for burger truck Golden Tiger.

— Stella Public House in Mueller closed so its owners could focus on their other restaurant, Halcyon. The San Antonio location is still open.

— The Doc’s Motorworks in Rosedale closed. The location on Brodie Lane is still open, and owner is reportedly working on a new restaurant in Cedar Park.

— Unicorn Magical Dessert Bar closed after a mere two months in its location on Dirty Sixth. The Instagram-friendly shop, which did not bake its goods, still has a location in Houston.

— Hard Luck Lounge in Govalle closed, as its owners were not able to secure a long-term lease and didn’t want to sell $10 cocktails.

— Alabama-based frozen dessert chain Steel City Pops closed its location on the Drag (the Domain location closed earlier this year).

— The location of chicken tender chain PDQ on Lakeline Boulevard closed.

— Parmer Lane’s Silver Cafe and Grill, which opened in 2010, closed.

October 2019

— Oaxacan restaurant El Naranjo’s first location on Rainey Street closed after the restaurant moved to South Lamar.

— Barton Springs brewery and restaurant Uncle Billy’s closed suddenly this month ahead of a move to Dripping Springs, where it will continue to make spirits, canned cocktails, and barbecue, but no more beer.

— New York-styled tavern Gotham closed up off East Cesar Chavez this month, to make way for a new Mexican restaurant from Los Angeles chef Esdras Ochoa.

— Decades-old Austin icon Hut’s Hamburgers closed its doors on West 6th Street, with co-owner Mike Hutchinson stating that the owners were “ready to move in a different direction”. Its location at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport remains open.

— Crescent falafel-and-more specialist Fresko Eats appears to be closed: a community Facebook group reported the news, and the phone at its Airport Boulevard location has been disconnected.

— Chinese hot pot chain Little Sheep culled its only location in Austin, citing low profits.

— There’s one less chicken dinner in town as rotisserie Winner Winner announced plans to close its restaurant, located in a disused railroad car, at the end of October.

— Austin comfort food chain Red’s Porch is no longer, as its final location (also its original restaurant) closed on South Lamar after failing to pay rent.

— Taco chain Torchy’s also announced the closure of its original location on South 1st, noted for having been visited by Barack Obama. Don’t worry: There are still 14 other locations around Austin.

— Also according to Community Impact is the news that Dream Bakery closed its Anderson Mill location. Dream, which specializes in gluten-free and vegan options, still has a cafe on Wells Branch Parkway.

— Mellow Mushroom closed its Round Rock location.

— South Austin mixed-use development Lamar Union lost yet another business as juice shop Juice Society closed its flagship store to focus more on retail operations.

September 2019

— Taco truck Vaquero Taquero is no longer, however, its relatively new North Campus restaurant remains open.

— The Brentwood brick and mortar location for solid sandwich truck Noble Sandwich Co closed down, as did a location of liquid nitrogen ice creamery Spun on the same Burnet Road premises. Noble Sandwich Co. says it’s planning to find another location somewhere in the Austin burbs.

— Italian supper club Sophia’s is closed after three years in the biz; a new project from Nova Hospitality and Chicago’s BDG Hospitality will takes its place on West 6th Street.

— Austin pizza chainlet East Side Pies closed down its Crestview restaurant (on West Anderson Lane), explaining that it was due to the company having another restaurant not far away on Airport Boulevard.

— North University pizzeria Salvation Pizza quietly closed at some point in the summer, reported Austin 360.

— The Hightower, on East 7th Street in East Austin, served its final plates. However, its co-owners have held onto the space for a new bar/record shop/burrito restaurant.

— Portland burger import Little Big Burger shut down its only Austin restaurant after little more than a year in business.

— South Austin tapas restaurant El Chipiron closed down, and was rapidly flipped into Oaxacan restaurant El Naranjo.

— Pflugerville Chinese restaurant Kung Fu Buffet is officially closed.

— Java Noodles on Oltorf has closed for remodeling, and should return to business in early 2020.

• All Closings [EATX]