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Lauded Southern restaurant Olamaie pivoted to temporary biscuit sandwich pop-up Little Ola’s Biscuits during the COVID-19 pandemic. And now, Little Ola’s will have a permanent restaurant home in Wells Branch. Little Ola’s Biscuits opens on 14735 Bratton Lane (in the former Garbo’s space) on Friday, July 16.
The permanent north location of Little Ola’s Biscuits will serve a menu similar to its current one, making use of Olamaie’s stellar off-menu biscuits. There will be biscuit sandwiches (like a country ham and cheese biscuit), seasonal salads, and rotating desserts from executive pastry chef Jules Stoddard. Once its liquor license is approved, Little Ola’s will have a drink menu with beer and bottled cocktails from beverage director Erin Ashford.
Little Ola’s final services in the Olamaie space on 1610 San Antonio Street took place Thursday, March 11 through Sunday, March 14 for curbside pickups only. Olamaie is aiming to reopen for dine-in service later this year.
Olamaie, from James Beard Award-nominated chef Michael Fojtasek, closed its dining room due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March. Though Fojtasek had been considering opening a fast-casual biscuit shop for years, restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the development of Little Ola’s, which opened in July 2020 in the space of the downtown restaurant. Little Ola’s quickly sold out of biscuits its first weekend, and had to ramp up production and streamline order fulfillment processes. It had a strictly contactless pickup system to protect staff, and the restaurant pays the full cost of healthcare for employees.
“It’s a restaurant that safely and conveniently delivers food to its community by professionals whose physical, emotional, and financial well-being are protected,” says general manager Yvette Benhamou. “While very different from what we were doing at Olamaie, it’s still made by hand, sourced locally, and, we believe, undeniably craveable.”
Little Ola’s in Wells Branch will be open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.
Update, Friday, July 16, 9:43 a.m.: This article, originally published on January 14, has been updated to include Little Ola’s opening date in Wells Branch and the expected reopening timeline for Olamaie, as well as the last days of Little Ola’s service in downtown Austin.
- All Coverage of Olamaie [EATX]
- All Coverage of Little Ola’s Biscuits [EATX]
