Texans Will Be Able to Buy Beer and Wine Before Noon on Sundays Starting September 1

New Booze Law
Soon Texans will be able to buy beer and wine before noon on Sundays, thanks to a long-awaited law this week. The bill passed on June 18 and goes into effect Wednesday, September 1. Before, stores weren’t allowed to start selling beer and wine on Sundays until noon, a longtime law set in response to the repealing of Prohibition. A similar bill stalled in the Texas Legislature in 2019, the same year that beer-to-go was legalized.

There is another currently pending bill that would allow liquor sales in Texas on Sundays — because of the same laws from the post-Prohibition era — but it doesn’t seem as though that will become legalized. Earlier this summer, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott legalized to-go cocktails permanently.

Space Station Bartender
Newer Texas resident Elon Musk’s private space company SpaceX is looking for a “spaceport mixologist,” who would prepare drinks for the staff in Brownsville, Texas.

Austin’s Black Food Week
Austin’s Black Food Week starts this week, where a different Black-owned restaurant is highlighted each day. Participating businesses include Bird Bird Biscuit, Aster’s Ethiopian Food, Emmer & Rye, Sam’s BBQ, ​​Sassy’s Vegetarian Soul Food, R&B’s Steak & Fries, Hoover’s Cooking, and many more. It begins on Monday, August 30, and runs through Sunday, September, September 19. There are three phases, two weeks dedicated to restaurants and a week to food trucks. It’s organized by nonprofit Austin Justice Coalition.

Rollingwood City Doesn’t Want Park Bakery
Houston import Tiny Boxwoods wanted to open a physical location of its bakery and coffee shop Milk & Cookies in Rollingwood Park in Rollingwood City, but the city council nixed the idea, as reported by Statesman. The publication shared that ​​citizens who were against the idea “do not like the idea of a permanent retail establishment on park land,” and “worr[ied] about increased traffic to the area.”

Feeding Teachers
Austin takeout/delivery restaurant Tso Chinese Delivery is aiming to give $25,000 worth of meals to teachers and other school employees in the greater Austin area through its charitable branch Tso Giving. The restaurant will give out $25 gift cards to 1,000 school staffers. Applications are being accepted online currently.

Wine Recognition
Bufalina wine director Rania Zayyat was named a “40 Under 40 Tastemaker” by publication Wine Enthusiast this month. The magazine highlighted her endeavors as the founder and president of wine nonprofit Lift Collective, as well as her work curating Bufalina’s natural wine-heavy wine list and launching the accompanying webstore and wine club.

Ghost Kitchen Opening
Austin Italian restaurant Juliet opened a new ghost kitchen restaurant as part of its newly formed company Veneto Hospitality. Benvolio’s serves up an Italian menu with Greek and Texas inflections, leading to salads, sandwiches, and pizzas available for takeout and delivery orders through third-party companies Uber Eats, Grubhub, and DoorDash.

Pop-Up Shutter
London-born doughnut popup 1235Donuts halted its services over the weekend.

Downtown Expansion Opening Alert
Fanciful salad chain Sweetgreen opened its third Austin location in the downtown area. The new restaurant is found on 200 West Second Street as of August 24.

Coming San Antonio Attraction
San Antonio food truck Naco Mexican Eatery is opening a physical restaurant in the fall. It’ll be found on 2015 Northeast I-410 Loop in the Los Patios development. Couple Francisco Estrada and Lizzeth Martinez opened the truck in 2018, serving a Mexican menu of tacos, tortas, chilaquiles, and other dishes.

Rosh Hashanah Dinner
Chicago import South Congress Mediterranean restaurant Aba is putting together a to-go meal for Rosh Hashanah next week. Dishes include matzo ball soup, latkes, za’atar roasted chicken, and honey pie. Orders have to be placed by noon on Sunday, September 5 for pickups on Monday and Tuesday, September 6 and 7 from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The reheatable meals are $59.95 per serving.

More Whataburger Clothing
Texas-founded chain Whataburger created a bunch of apparel with Academy Sports, including shirts, shorts, and hats, now available through the sports chain’s website and physical stores.