Mexican Restaurant El Alma Is Taking Over Hyde Park Bar & Grill’s Westgate Space

Bouldin Creek Mexican restaurant El Alma is expanding with a second location this year. The expansion will be found at the recently-former Hyde Park Bar & Grill space at 4521 West Gate Boulevard, Suite B in the Westgate neighborhood starting sometime in the fall.

As part of this new location, El Alma will add a new morning-time menu with coffee and breakfast dishes and pastries. Otherwise, the rest of the offerings will remain the same: lots of Mexican dishes including tacos, enchiladas, and rellenos. There will be its chuleta de puerco a la parilla (a bone-in pork chop with rice and cheese relleno, and sauces) and the codorniz con mole with grilled quail and a pasilla mole.

The bar will serve up cocktails, beer and wine. The physical space will be renovated to a similar design and aesthetic to the original El Alma, plus with indoor and outdoor spaces.

Under co-founder and executive chef Alma Alcocer-Thomas, El Alma opened in 2011, taking over the Barton Springs address that had been a location of parent company El Chile Group’s casual restaurant El Chile (the sole remaining location is on Manor Road). The restaurant group also oversees much-more-casual restaurant El Chilito, with two locations.

Classic Austin restaurant Hyde Park Bar & Grill shut down its Westgate location, which opened in 2006, earlier in September. No specific reason was given for the shutter. The original restaurant up in Hyde Park remains open.