Closing time
Iconic Southwestern restaurant says adios to longtime Austin location
Citing “insurmountable obstacles,” Z’Tejas Southwestern Grill is shutting down its Arboretum location July 2. In Austin, the closure will leave Z’Tejas with its original restaurant on West Sixth Street and a soon-to-open restaurant at Northwest Austin’s Avery Ranch.
Representatives of Z’Tejas weren’t immediately available to explain the “insurmountable obstacles.”
News of the shutdown comes just five months after the Arboretum location, a longtime fixture at 9400-A Arboretum Blvd. in Northwest Austin, opened a 1,100-square-foot outdoor dining area and private-event space dubbed the Z’ecret Garden.
Aside from announcing June 17 that the Arboretum location is closing, Austin-based Z’Tejas confirmed that it’s opening a restaurant this fall at 14900 Avery Ranch Blvd. CultureMap reported about the Avery Ranch location in April.
“We are excited to return to the Avery Ranch neighborhood and unveil this beautiful restaurant to the community,” Robby Nethercut, chief operations officer of Z’Tejas, says in a news release. “We hope to dazzle our longtime fans and surprise our new guests with our incredible food, indulgent service and entertaining new space.”
In 2017, the former owner of Z’Tejas closed its Avery Ranch location, at 10525 W. Parmer Lane, along with three locations in Arizona. Those closures came amid the chain’s second of two bankruptcy cases.
Three years ago, a new ownership group bought four Z’Tejas restaurants out of bankruptcy, including the Austin locations on West Sixth and in the Arboretum. The group’s two other Z’Tejas restaurants are in Arizona.
