Austin’s Best Pasta Maker Patrizi’s Will Open a Cajun Restaurant on Manor

The owners of Eater 38 pasta truck Patrizi’s are opening a new restaurant in the former Unit-D Pizzeria spot, named Vic and Al’s, which will likely have a Cajun menu. The restaurant will debut into 2406 Manor Road, opening in October at the earliest.

Owners Matt and Nic Patrizi (who are cousins) previously opened a short-lived Cajun food truck of the same name at the Historic Scoot Inn back in 2016. Working with Patrizi’s chef Patrick Shaw, the new version of Vic & Al’s will focus more on bar food, though it will likely still have Cajun and Creole influences. That could mean some items from the previous menu like boudin and gumbo. Nic shared with Eater that, similar to Patrizi’s, the restaurant will make things from scratch and have a lean menu that celebrates lesser-known dishes.

The name Vic and Al’s recalls the first restaurant that the Patrizis’ family friend, whom they called Grandpa Vic, opened in Beaumont in 1948 with his brother Al. The connection to Cajun food comes from Vic’s godmother’s restaurant Mosca’s in Louisiana, a famed Italian restaurant that melded with local Cajun and Creole cuisine. The Patrizi’s food truck opened at Butterfly Bar in 2013.

Unit D Pizzeria opened in 2015 but closed this May, because owner Shalou Barth is focusing on a different unannounced project. She opted to give the space to the the Patrizis.

Update, 11:28 a.m. - This article has been updated to elaborate on the Cajun influences behind Vic and Al’s.

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