A New Ghost Kitchen Dedicated to Chicken Salad Opens in Crestview

New Chicken Salad Restaurant
A new ghost kitchen restaurant focused on chicken salad opened in Crestview over the summer. Chicken Salad Shoppe’s menu includes the namesake item, as well sandwiches, wraps, big cookies, and sides. Co-owners Ivan and Molly Mills also run local catering company Vanilla Orchid, and Molly had been a chef at Hudson’s on the Bend. Originally, they wanted to open Chicken Salad Shoppe as a physical restaurant, but had to change their plans because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. It’s found on 7433 Burnet Road for pickup and takeout services placed online from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Austin Restaurants Temporarily Closing Because of COVID-19

• On Sunday, November 8, a staffer of Rainey Street restaurant and beer garden Banger’s found out they tested positive for COVID-19. The person wasn’t working that day. The restaurant closed early that day. The staff is being tested and will stay home. If the results are negative, there are plans to deep-clean the restaurant today in order to reopen tomorrow, Thursday, November 12.
• A customer of Sunset Valley coffee shop Stouthaus notified the business that they tested positive for the virus. The cafe temporarily closed as of Monday, November 9 so that the space can be deep-cleaned and its staff get tested.
• A staffer of MLK restaurant Contigo tested positive on Tuesday, November 10. The restaurant closed that day and will remain closed today as its staff gets tested. The person had been working on Sunday during the Vivian’s Boulangerie collaborative brunch, but not as a server.

Spicy Biscuit Sandwich Collaboration
This week, downtown Austin shop Little Ola’s BIscuits is teaming up with Asian cocktail pop-up Daijoubu on some specials. This includes a biscuit sandwich made with fried chicken and a peanut chili oil, and a bourbon cocktail made with sweet potato shochu, grapefruit, yuzu, star fruit, and teas. The sandwich and drink will be available for pickup online orders from Thursday through Sunday, November 12 to 15.

Farm Organization Fundraiser
Youth organization Urban Roots launched its second virtual video series and fundraiser, Let’s Get Cooking, yesterday. People can order meal kits (with dishes created by Roots Chicken Shak’s Tiffany Derry, El Alma’s Alma Alcocer, and Lenoir’s Jessica Maher and Todd Duplechan) and produce from the Urban Roots farm. Then they’ll check into videos on Instagram TV and Urban Roots website to learn how to cook said-meals with videos featuring kids from Urbans as well as the chefs. The next pickup dates and videos take place on Wednesday, November 18, and Wednesday, November 25, with pickups and deliveries available.

Austin Restaurant Group Has Big Plans
Austin-based restaurant group Hai Hospitality is planning on expanding and opening its restaurants in new cities across the country through an investment by private equity firm KSL Capital Partners. Currently, Hai has locations of its first restaurant, the Japanese fine dining spot Uchi, in Austin, Houston, Dallas, and Denver, with a Miami one to come. The company also runs Uchi’s spinoff restaurants Uchiko in Austin and Uchiba in Dallas, plus Asian smokehouse Loro (with pitmaster Aaron Franklin) in Austin and a forthcoming Dallas one. Partner and executive chef Tyson Cole was awarded the James Beard Award for Best Chef Southwest in a tie in 2011. The amount and terms weren’t shared, but a statement described it as “substantial.”