Austin Drought Restrictions Impact Local Restaurants and Bars

Austin is in the middle of an ongoing drought due to consistently high temperatures and a lack of rain. Currently, the city is now in stage two of its drought contingency plan in an effort to conserve the water supply starting on Tuesday, August 15. And there are two specific water restrictions that impact Austin restaurants and bars.

Austin dining and drinking establishments can only serve water if people request said-water. And then restaurants and bars with patio misters can only run the cooling devices from 4 p.m. to midnight. And semi-relatedly, places can’t run their water fountains during this time.

Giant Texas beer festival’s back in the fall

The annual Texas Craft Brewers Festival is happening in Austin again this fall. It’ll take place on Saturday, September 30 at Fiesta Gardens in East Austin. The event features beer samples from over 200 Texas breweries, including a whole bunch of Austin ones. While VIP tickets with early entry are sold out already, there are still general admission tickets with 2 p.m. entry available at the early pricing of $45, which comes with 10 sample beer tickets (additional tickets are available a la carte). After August 15, entry tickets become $50. It runs from 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. (VIP entry is at noon).

Downtown hotel restaurant pop-up and break

Downtown hotel the Austin Proper converted its former Mockingbird Café space on the ground floor into a temporary grab-and-go spot for its poolside fancier Tex-Mex restaurant La Piscina. The takeout dishes include Gulf snapper with aji amarillo aguachile, lobster tostada crudo, rotisserie chicken tinga, and an espresso flan. The pop-up runs from Monday, August 14 through Wednesday, August 23 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. The La Piscina proper is taking a summer break during this time too.