Pretty Downtown Asian Restaurant She’s Not Here Closes Suddenly

She’s Not Here, the winner of Eater Austin’s most beautiful restaurant award in 2018, is now closed. Its last day on 440 West 2nd Street was on Sunday, February 9, as confirmed by a rep for the Asian restaurant.

The reason behind She’s Not Here’s shutter has not been expressed. Eater has reached out for more information and this article will be updated accordingly.

She’s Not Here actually recently had been in the middle of revamping its menu under new chef Laura Bayer, who had run the popular Vietnamese restaurant Lulu B’s. As of closing, the restaurant’s more limited menu got rid of sushi and added Vietnamese dishes such as vermicelli bowls and shaking beef with rice.

While chef Page Pressley (formerly of Swedish Hill and Emmer & Rye) was supposed to join She’s Not Here as an advisor, that ended up not happening.

The restaurant opened with that more general Pacific-Asian focus in August 2018 from co-owners Ben Cachila and Christian Romero, both formerly of Uchi. The menu served up nigiri, hand rolls, adobo pork, and soft shell crab, along with tropical cocktails. The stunning design took its cues from the 1920s tropical hotel lobbies, from the wood details to the vibrant murals. Previous She’s Not Here chefs included John Gocong (formerly of Uchi/Uchiko and Lucky Robot) and former Vino Vino executive chef Ben Schwartz

Cachila is also behind East Austin Chinese-American restaurant Old Thousand, which is still planning on expanding onto Burnet Road this spring. Old Thousand actually took over the She’s Not Here space for a temporary holiday pop-up last December.

February 14, 11:12 a.m.: This article has been updated to clarify Pressley’s role at She’s Not Here.

• All Coverage of She’s Not Here [EATX]