Groceries Are Here

Austin is first to get Whole Foods Market delivery via Amazon Prime

Knock knock, your groceries are here.

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Amazon has introduced delivery of groceries from Whole Foods Market in four cities across the United States — including Austin — with plans to expand across the entire country in 2018.

The four cities where it has launched the service are Austin, Dallas, Cincinnati, and Virginia Beach. In most but not all neighborhoods of those cities, customers can get delivery of Whole Foods' produce, meat, seafood, everyday staples, and select alcohol products.

The service is available to Amazon Prime members and can be accessed via Amazon's www.primenow.com site, or by using the Prime Now app available on Android and iOS devices.

Whole Foods joins a number of supermarkets who've already formed similar delivery partnerships with Amazon, including Walmart, Sprouts Farmers Market, and Kroger. Companies such as Uber, Google Express, Instacart, Shipt, and Austin-based Favor also offer grocery delivery.

But Whole Foods is the only market that's owned by Amazon.

"We're happy to bring our customers the convenience of free two-hour delivery through Prime Now and access to thousands of natural and organic groceries and locally sourced favorites," says Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey in a release. "Together, we have already lowered prices on many items, and this offering makes Prime customers' lives even easier."

Amazon acquired Whole Foods Market in 2017, then made a splashy announcement that they'd be lowering prices. Whole Foods' private-label products — including 365 Everyday Value, Whole Foods Market, Whole Paws, and Whole Catch — are already sold through Amazon.com, AmazonFresh, Prime Pantry, and Prime Now.

Prime members receive two-hour delivery for free, or ultra-fast delivery — within one hour — for $7.99 on orders of $35 or more.

Once an order is placed, personnel who are not necessarily store employees will collect the items from Whole Foods. The orders will then be given to Amazon drivers who make the delivery.

Delivery from Whole Foods Market through Prime Now is available 8 am-10 pm. Customers must enter their ZIP code to see if they are in the delivery area.

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Basil And...

Pflugerville chef brings Vietnamese eats to Hutto with new concept

Broth & Basil/Instagram

Basil & Bites, a new concept by the owner of Broth & Basil, is opening in Hutto in spring 2025.

A Pflugerville chef is circling Austin and opening a second, new concept in Hutto. Basil & Bites, which fuses Vietnamese cuisine with Texas influences, will open in fall 2025 at the junction of TX 79 and CR 119, according to a press release.

The new restaurant by the chef behind Broth & Basil is part of the Townwest Commons development, owned by NewQuest Properties. The same company also promised this summer to bring a new Chuy's to the same development by early 2025. It says in the Basil & Bites release that Chuy's is on track to open in January.

Basil & Bites has claimed half a building, totaling 5,500 square feet of space. It's across from the EVO Entertainment — a movie theater, bowling alley, arcade, bar and restaurant, and more — that the developer has been using as an anchor in promoting the new business park. It also maintains its "original anchors" Lowe's and the YMCA.

Phen T. Diep owns Broth & Basil, and was already familiar with in NewQuest because the restaurant is located in another one of its properties, Stone Hill Town Center in Pflugerville.

The release offered few details about the restaurant itself, including what would be on the menu. At Broth & Basil, as the name suggests, pho is a main offering. And like Basil & Bites, the existing restaurant also takes pride in its Texas heritage, offering Texas Wagyu Beef from Ranger Cattle, which is based in Austin.

Other menu offerings include a variety of meats served over vermicelli or rice, and a few specials like Wagyu bo luc lac (shaking beef) cooked on the hot plate it's served on.

According to the Broth and Basil website, Diep started out as a home chef. He's committed to traditional Vietnamese dishes, even though he's added some Texan elements, and the bone broth simmers for 10 hours so no additives are needed.

"We recruited him because of the yearslong success of his first restaurant, which was the first one in Austin to feature Pho Wagyu," said NewQuest leasing director and senior vice president Josh Friedlander in the release. "It's now one of the most popular dishes on the menu."

openings asian cuisine hutto pflugerville