Restaurant Shuffle

Hip Austin development suffers 2 shutters — local favorites move in

Pizza and burgers are out, hot dogs and coffee are in at Urban Outfitters' Space 24 Twenty.

The culinary landscape of The Drag is changing again. Space 24 Twenty, the multi-purpose development operated by Urban Outfitters, is undergoing a big restaurant switch-up. Pizzeria Vetri and Symon's Burger Joint are out — and two local concepts are moving in.

Urban Outfitters on Guadalupe Street acquired its neighboring buildings and debuted Space 24 Twenty in 2015 with an expansive shared patio, Philadelphia chef Marc Vetri's pizza concept, and celebrity chef Michael Symon's burger joint. Despite the weight behind the two concepts, Pizzeria Vetri shuttered in February 2017, and Symon's Burger Joint has followed suit.

But when one door closes, another opens. Lucky Lab Coffee will graduate from a food truck to a brick-and-mortar space, CultureMap confirmed with Urban Outfitters. While Lucky Lab Coffee has been operating at Space 24 Twenty for over a year, the local coffee purveyor will transition to a more permanent space in September.

Later this year, Frank, Austin's premier hot dog and craft beer restaurant, will debut on the drag. This will be the second outpost within city limits; Frank opened in San Antonio last year.

"Frank on The Drag will be offering price-approachable and fast options," Frank co-owner Daniel Northcutt tells CultureMap. "The menu will be curated to the UT crowd and feature occasional specials themed in line with what is going on around campus. A tighter menu will allow us to offer delivery to the surrounding area, or you can head down to the ample Space 24 Twenty patio and enjoy your dog and fries with a cold Texas beer, wine, or sangria."

Space 24 Twenty also has a regularly rotating lineup of food trucks. The most recent visitors include Four Brothers and Austin Açaí Company.

Back to the Plow

Homey Austin jam and bake shop closing and returning to farmers market

Confituras/Instagram

Confituras Little Kitchen is closing its brick-and-mortar store, but feeling optimistic about the future.

A famers market find is returning to its natural environment after six years in a brick-and-mortar location. Confituras Little Kitchen, which specializes in locally sourced preserves, is closing its jam and biscuit shop after service on Sunday, December 22. However, it will continue selling goods at the Barton Creek Farmers Market and via retailers.

Confituras announced the change in a newsletter to its customers in December. The letter called the news "bittersweet."

"Although the brick and mortar will no longer be, the good news is that this will be a fresh new start for us – we are bursting with energy and creativity at the thought of being back out in the community where it all started for confituras," it said.

The kitchen is closing because the lease is up, and the team has decided to "give up the chase." The newsletter emphasized the ups-and-downs of business over the past several years — ones that were chaotic for just about any business, let alone a small, fairly niche food operation.

"So much has happened since we decided to open a brick + mortar – a wonderful kickstarter fundraiser, THE PANDEMIC, the AFTER-EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC, and an ever growing city," the letter says. "We tried so very hard but never really got our footing. We know we are not alone, many small business are in the same boat. We renewed our lease during the pandemic because we were hopeful we could make it work - the changing times had other ideas."

Finally, it shared how customers could keep enjoying Confituras creations:

The Barton Creek Farmers Market is open at 2901 S. Capital of Texas Hwy. every Saturday from 9 am to 1 pm.
A list on confituras.net compiles retailers including Royal Blue Grocery, Farmhouse Delivery, and Antonelli's Cheese Shop.
Jam share and Table22 subscription customers will have more instructions coming soon about picking up their goods in January at the same space, 2129 Goodrich Ave.
Customers may also reach out to inquire about continuing to order meals directly.

The kitchen also hosted frequent events and workshops, but the letter did not address this aspect of the business.

A shorter message shared on Instagram has inspired 63 comments so far, five days later. Customers eulogized the shop for its community feel and providing a sense of regularity during the height of the pandemic thanks to weekend pick-ups.