Secretary of State Antony Blinken Dined at Austin Restaurant Nixta Taqueria

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Austin last week and stopped by Mexican restaurant Nixta Taqueria for lunch on Tuesday, October 3. Because the official is pescatarian, he and the team ate some seafood items, including tuna tostadas, hamachi tostadas, and crispy snapper tacos. For dessert, they had paletas; Blinken tried the coconut, blueberry-ricotta, and cucumber-Persian lime ones. Blinken talked to co-owners chef Edgar Rico and Sara Maradanbigi about the restaurant and their history so far. Because the restaurant is still undergoing permitting issues, Blinken and the team ate at the garden patio.

Food truck plea for business

Austin food truck Brooklyn Breakfast Shop put out a plea for more business this week. Co-owners chef Ryan Rosen and Jessica Rosen posted on Instagram on October 11 that the 7800 South First Street truck is “in danger of closing permanently,” and to help stop that from happening, they’re asking for people to order food on weekdays or donate to its GoFundMe campaign which is seeking $10,000. The truck quickly sold out of food on Thursday, October 12.

New dog park restaurant

A new restaurant took over what had been Peached Tortilla’s slider space Fat City Stacks at Allendale dog park and bar Yard Bar. Camp Out serves a general American menu with dishes like hatch green chile mac and cheese, burgers, nachos, and salads. There are food items for dogs too, including sliders, waffle cones with Greek yogurt and peanut butter, and sweet potato hash browns. Yard Bar opened in 2015, and Fat City Stacks took over its in-house restaurant in 2021 and closed in late 2022.

Austin corn dog truck shutter

Food truck the Corn Dog ATX closed its original Austin location in the Thicket food truck park in early October. Its second location at the South Austin Beef Garden is now its sole Austin location.

Owner switcharoo

Local sandwich shop Austin Daily Press has a new owner, as reported by Austin Business Journal. Hal Williams bought the business, adding it to his Chicon Street Hospitality company. He had seen the restaurants for sale on BizBuySell. Originally co-owners Co-owners Dustin Knef and Chase Rushing started the sandwich shop as a food trailer in 2011, and turned it into the physical location on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in 2013.

Tracking Austin food events

South Lamar seafood restaurant TLC is hosting its annual oyster festival this weekend. There will be East and Gulf Coast oysters; seafood raw, grilled, and fried; both oyster eating and chucking competitions; and more. It takes place on Saturday, October 14 from noon to 6 p.m. RSVPs are free for a la carte food and drinks.

French restaurant Westlake Wine Bar is celebrating its second anniversary with a five-course dinner this weekend. Dishes will include lobster and lemon butter, beef medallions with a bordelaise sauce, and desserts, with wine pairings. It’s $125 and takes place on Saturday, October 14 with only email reservations available via pierre@westlakewinebar.com.

The next batch of dinners by chef Deepa Shridhar are taking place next week at the Training Kitchen. The series, now named the Tamilian Texan Kitchen, will focus on a meshing of Caribbean and South Indian cuisines. Tickets are $115 per person and the meals are taking place from Thursday, October 19 through Saturday, October 21.

Austin chef Amirah Islam is hosting a dinner focused on Bangladeshi cuisine later this month. The three-course meal will include fuchka, tehari, and carrot halwa. The event is co-hosted with community urban garden organization UrbGarden, and will include a discussion about Bangladeshi agriculture and seeds so that people can grow their own herbs and vegetables. The $60 or $80 tickets will be used to create meals for the ATX Free Fridge program. It takes place at 618 Dittmar Road in the Beacon Ridge neighborhood on Sunday, October 22 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Tracking grocery store openings

Supermarket chain Sprouts Farmers Market is opening its newest Austin location in Mueller this week, as reported by CultureMap Austin. It’ll be found at 1201 Barbara Jordan Boulevard starting on Friday, October 13. This is its sixth overall Austin-area location.