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New San Antonio Chilaquiles Restaurant
San Antonio food hall the Bottling Department in the Pearl is adding a new restaurant to its lineup. Austin-born Mexican food truck Chilaquil will open as a physical restaurant sometime in October. Owners Orlando and Susana Aguirre started the food truck in Austin, and then moved to San Antonio in 2019. The menu focuses on chilaquiles, with options such as shredded chicken, polaitos, grilled steak, or marinated pork; plus other dishes such as tacos, tortas, and quesadillas. It’ll offer both takeout and dine-in services, the latter on the patio. When the restaurant does open (in the former SayTown Tacos space, which had opened in January), the food truck will close permanently. Other restaurants in the food hall include the Jerk Shack’s second restaurant Mi Roti, Tenko Ramen from former Hot Joy chef Quealy Watson, Fletcher’s Hamburgers, and Bud’s Southern Rotisserie.
Texas Government Official Is Upset Over City Order
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is mad that the City of Brownsville limited the dine-in capacity of restaurants to less than 25 percent, calling it an “unlawful order,” because it is less than the allowed percentage issued by the state (50 percent). Currently, the city’s county of Cameron is one of the Texas counties experiencing a larger number of COVID-19 cases in the state, and the number of deaths so far is nearly 800.
Food Truck Relocation & New Venue/Bar
Cajun truck Baton Creole moved from its longtime home at East Sixth bar Shangri-La into relatively new South Austin venue Sagebrush, as reported by Austin 360. It has been parked at 5500 South Congress Avenue since Tuesday, September 1. The venue, from several co-owners of the White Horse and the now-closed Hard Luck Lounge, had originally opened in June with a chicken-focused truck run by Baton owner Lynzy Moran, but closed due to state orders. The recent reopening was made possible because of its new food and beverage permitting thanks to the truck and new allowances by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. The venue and truck are open for dine-in services, as well as to-go food. It will also host live music performances on its outdoor stages.
Stats on 311 Complaints Regarding Novel Coronavirus Safety Measures
The City of Austin shared the number of COVID-19-related 311 calls made over the summer with KXAN. This includes 28 calls regarding bars that were open even they weren’t allowed to in July, and 70 calls regarding over-occupancy and lack of social distancing in bars in August.
New Netflix Barbecue Show
There’s a Texan on the forthcoming Netflix food competition show the American Barbecue Showdown. One of the judges, Kevin Bludso, helms from Corsicana, Texas. He was raised in the northern Texas city, and then used his smoked meat knowledge to open Los Angeles barbecue restaurant Bludso’s Bar & Que.The show features eight competing pitmasters and it premieres on Friday, September 18.
New Bar Management Team
Looks like the team behind Mexico City-style taco restaurant Taco Flats and East Austin bar La Holly is now managing West Sixth spot Key Bar, as indicated by a Poached listing for staffers.
New Austin Beer Cans
East Austin brewery Central Machine Works debuted new cans for its beers this week. This includes its lager, citrus pale ale, and kolsch. The brewery is open for dine-in and takeout services as of Thursday, September 10. Individual cans are available for purchase on-site, and there are six-packs of each beer available to-go, $12 for the lager and kolsch, and $15 for the citrus pale ale.
