New American Restaurant Oasthouse Opens in South Austin

Co-owners and brothers chef Amir Hajimaleki and Ali Hajimaleki opened the second location of their New American restaurant Oasthouse Kitchen + Bar in South Austin on Wednesday, December 15, at 5701 West Slaughter Lane. It shares a space with Hajimaleki’s other new restaurant, the seafood-focused Keepers Coastal Kitchen, which opened in July. On deck’s the same menu as the original far northwest restaurant, which means steaks, pasta, salads, and sausages (though there is no brunch at this time). The dual-restaurants took over the former North by Northwest brewery space. Hours are from 3 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday, and then from 3 to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday; takeout orders are available.

Also under the Hajimalekis brothers umbrella is New American restaurant District Kitchen (with two locations) and pizzeria/sandwich shop Shortie’s. Next up is the Persian restaurant Roya, which doesn’t have a set address yet.

Downtown club temporarily closes out of COVID-19 precaution

As a precaution due to COVID-19 and the omicron variant, downtown bar and club Cheer Up Charlie’s has decided to temporarily close up for 14 days starting on Thursday, December 16. According to the Instagram post, co-owners Tamara Hoover and Maggie Lea decided to temporarily close and avoid operating a crowded bar so that they could keep their customers safe and be able to reopen with a new air filtration system to help mitigate the spread of the virus.

They canceled concerts and events, but are still paying each performer and will rebook everything at a later date. To help support the staff during the temporary closure, the bar shared its Venmo account so that people could send over donations for the team. The plan is to reopen after Sunday, December 26 to celebrate New Year’s Eve. Travis County’s COVID numbers don’t indicate a surge right now.

Austin nonprofit announces culinary grant winners

Austin Food & Wine Alliance’s annual grant program’s awardees were announced recently. The eight winners are sauce company Connie’s Jo’s All Purposes Sauces to help development, label design, and website (owner Connie Jo Kirk received two grants); nonprofit Multicultural Refugee Coalition; fermented food and avocado oil company the Cultured Carrot; Dripping Springs bakery Abby Jane Bakeshop; juice company Jeany’s Caribbean Elixirs; gardening and cooking organization Partners for Education, Agriculture, and Sustainability; farmers market stand Ninja Pig; and educational farm Barking Dog Farm. The nonprofit gave out a total of $37,000 in grant money. This year’s honorable mention was fruit and vegetable delivery nonprofit the Good Apple.

Impossible Foods opens delivery restaurant in Austin

Plant-based foods company Impossible Foods opened several new delivery restaurants in Texas, including two in Austin, as of early December. The Impossible Shop menu features the brand’s burgers, sandwiches, sausages, nuggets, and breakfast burritos. Everything is available through third-party delivery services DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, and Postmates. All food will actually be made at locations of California-based restaurant chain Dog Haus. There are two locations in Austin: one on 8023 Burnet Road in Wooten, and the other on 5610 North I-35 in North Loop. Other Texas cities include San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas.