San Antonio Is Getting Much-Adored Filipino Chain Jollibee — Is Austin Next?

Austin Wants Jollibee
Much-loved international Filipino restaurant chain Jollibee is opening its first location in San Antonio, as reported by MySA. It’s set to make its debut before the end of the year. The chain is known for its chickenjoy (very crispy fried chicken), jolly spaghetti (where the pasta is topped with cheese and sauce), and various Filipino dishes. There are locations in other Texas cities — Houston and Dallas — would Austin be next? Eater has reached out to the company; watch the site for updates.

Austin Food Truck Shutters
Thai truck Thai Kun closed up its recently opened location at East Austin bar High Noon as of mid-November. The shutter is because of the “difficulties of operating in this climate,” as the Instagram post noted, but there are plans to eventually reopen somewhere else. This also means that Thai Kun’s food trucks are currently not operating, but the physical restaurant up in the Domain Northside is still open.

Vegan food truck Curcuma Kitchen is closing next month on Sunday, December 13. The truck still wasn’t making enough sales, despite an influx of business recently, so owner Rachel Musquiz decided to close. She’ll work on retail products and is still open to reopening the truck next year.

Texas Tacos
Texas Monthly’s regular taco issue (every five years) looks different this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Taking more of an encyclopedia-approach, the magazine, led by taco editor José R. Ralat, captures the state of tacos in Texas. Many Austin spots were highlighted, and there is a specific Austin taco trail, featuring restaurants and tacos such as Comedor, Discada, El Naranjo, and Sabor Tapatio, but, notably, Veracruz All Natural isn’t listed.

Thai Pop-Up
Nationally roaming Thai pop-up Pranom is making Austin its home for now. Chef Dream Kasestatad has been and will continue to cook at far south Austin spot Captain Quackenbush’s Coffeehouse and Bakery through November into December. This week, he’ll serve on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then switch to a Tuesday and Thursday schedule, starting at 4 p.m. through 9 p.m. or until everything is sold out.

Chef Shuffle
Ariana Quant, the pastry chef of Japanese restaurants Uchi and Uchiko, has been promoted to the position of executive pastry chef of all Uchi-related restaurants.