Adored Shuttered Tex-Mex Restaurant El Patio Is Coming Back

After closing in August after 65 years, the beloved Tex-Mex restaurant El Patio is coming back, as reported by Austin 360. The 2938 Guadalupe Street restaurant is reopening on Friday, September 30.

El Patio’s return is still staying within the family. El Patio 2.0’s new team includes C3 Presents co-founder Charles Attal (the Austin-based event production company oversees Austin City Limits Music Festival and Austin Food & Wine Festival, among others); Kristyn Ciani (his cousin and granddaughter of El Patio founders Paul and Mary Joseph); Attal’s sister Jennifer Attal-Allen; her son Sled Allen; and Jesse Herman (who had been a partner of Austin hospitality group New Waterloo).

Mostly nothing will change when El Patio reopens this fall. Expect the same menu served by the same staff, though there will be new drinks offered by the bar, according to Austin 360.

The Lebanese couple opened the restaurant in 1954, and their children, David, Renee, and Roseann, took over the restaurant after Paul died in 1995. They wanted to close the restaurant so that they could retire. Its last day had been in August.

This El Patio revitalization is similar to what happened with East Sixth Tex-Mex restaurant Cisco’s. The 76-year-old institution underwent new ownership with Matt Cisneros (who is the grandson of the original restaurant Rudy Cisneros), along with Will Bridges, Rick McMinn, and Bryan Schneider in 2017.

• El Patio is coming back, just weeks after closing [Austin 360]
• All Coverage of El Patio [EATX]