Austin Pop-Up Opens New Restaurant and Wine Bar on South Lamar This July

Austin pop-up Elementary is opening two new spots this week. There’s its new namesake restaurant Elementary at 2026 South Lamar Boulevard and then there is its new wine bar Hopscotch at 2032 South Lamar Boulevard. The Zilker restaurant and bar are opening on Friday, July 28.

The Elementary restaurant is a sit-down, table-service, reservations space with a New Texan menu drawing from international techniques and flavors. This means dishes like its birria soup dumplings; banh mi eclairs (halved-eclairs used for banh mi sandwiches essentially); al pastor tortellini; a half chicken served with saffron honey, chorizo, potatoes, and pickled fennels; and pappardelle with a kale sauce alongside short ribs.

Elementary’s cocktail list plays along the same lines as the food. There’s the Kool-Aid Cosmo, a take on the cosmopolitan with what it describes as “fermented Kool-Aid.”; Leggo Mi Eggo, a version of the ever-popular espresso martini made with Eggo waffles-steeped cereal milk; and the Smoking Paper Plane, made with a smoky bourbon and served aflame.

Chad Wadsworth

And then, Hopscotch is meant to serve as a more casual counterpart to Elementary, with walk-in bar seats. Wine and cocktails are at the forefront of the menu. While the wine list isn’t available right now, bottles will be available for retail purchasing. The compared-to-Elementary smaller cocktail list includes small cocktails dubbed Lil Sips; the Rhubarb Snaquiri made with a rabarbaro amaro liqueur; and the Bee Stang, a Suntory Toki whisky cocktail with Asian pears, shio koji, allspice, and Topo Chico.

Food-wise at Hopscotch there are smaller plates and appetizers, where the dishes will make sure of ingredients and food parts not used over at Elementary, allowing the business to be as nearly zero-waste as possible.

Chad Wadsworth

Behind Elementary and Hopstotch are co-owners chef Colter Peck (alum of Portland’s Le Pigeon), Chris Arial (Paperboy, Golden Hour), and Allan Bautista (Seattle’s RN74, Fukumoto, Tumble 22, Red Ash). The three met while working at the Austin location of New York-based Australian cafe Two Hands and launched their pop-up in 2021. And actually, the trio renovated and decorated their restaurant and wine bar spaces themselves.

Elementary’s space used to be Brooklyn Pizza Shop and before that, wine and cheese shop Henri’s. The Hopscotch’s space had been a location of Tiny Pies and, before that, Lick Honest Ice Creams.

Elementary’s hours are from 5 to 10 p.m. daily with reservations available online. Hopscotch’s hours are from 4 to 11 p.m. daily for walk-ins.

Chad Wadsworth