News You Can Eat

5 things to know in Austin food: Sushi restaurant reopens dining room after 2 years

Komé is set to reopen its dining room on Airport Boulevard.

Editor’s note: We get it. It can be difficult to keep up with the fast pace of Austin’s restaurant and bar scene. We have you covered with our regular roundup of essential food news.

Openings

One of Austin’s top Japanese restaurants has had a busy few months. Komé revived its airport concept Sushi A Go-Go in May, and now the Airport Boulevard restaurant is switching back from pandemic-era takeout to a full dining experience. The restaurant, which transitioned to takeout-only in March 2020, has been teasing an reopening date of sometime the week of July 11 on social media. More information is (likely) coming soon on Instagram.

Other news and notes

Jester King Brewery is releasing a twelfth batch of its Atrial Rubicite, which recently won gold in the Belgian Fruit Beer category in the 2022 World Beer Cup. To mark the occasion, the brewery is throwing a release party July 15, from 12 pm to 9 pm. The raspberry beer and snacks will be available for purchase, along with live music, tattooing by No Good Tattoo, a scavenger hunt, a tour with founder Jeffrey Stuffings. A full, long list of details can be found at jesterkingbrewery.com.

Speaking of fruit beers, Blue Owl Brewing is inviting Austinites to get away from the heat and enjoy beer floats, hold the root. Professor Black is a sour cherry stout that’s usually only available in fall and winter, and Tangerina is a vanilla and tangerine flavored milkshake sour IPA. Blue Owl already uses milk sugar (lactose) to smooth out its brews, so a scoop of ice cream isn’t too far fetched. Follow the July 17 event on Facebook, or just show up.

Whether you’ve mastered yoga and need a new challenge, or you need a literal kick in the pants to get started, Trudy’s Del Mar has generously hired some baby goats to get things going on July 17. Tickets include two house margaritas, beers, or wines ($35), and a yoga mat to take home if you need one ($45). Might be a good idea not to subject your Lululemon to this experience, anyway. There’s only one session from 9 am to 10 am, so get there early and stick around for Tex-Mex snacks later. Tickets are available at goatshenanigans.com.

One of Austin’s most theatrical bars, Tiki Tatsu-ya, is hosting a luau with the help of local outdoor apparel company Howler. Unsurprisingly, this event sounds like no-holds-barred camp, with a luau-style buffet, signature cocktails, customer collaborative merch, tiki glassware to take home. Consider reserving early for the two-day event on July 23 and 24. This bar is very buzzy, and fills up fast. Tickets (starting at $160) and more information are available on Resy.

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Iced Out

Rainey Street bar Icenhauer's closes after ongoing sales losses

Photo courtesy of KVUE

Icenhauer's has closed.

Austinites spent Sunday celebrating one last time at a Rainey Street staple: Icenhauer's.

The bar's owner, Michael Icenhauer, said all of the construction in the area is taking a toll on the bar's sales.

"We've been losing money since April 2023, and it's just not something we want to deal with anymore," Icenhauer said. "Our best year, our best month was ... we were down 20 percent. Our worst month, we were down 70 percent. So the last year and a half has been brutal for us."

Other Rainey Street bars like Reina, Container Bar, Bungalow, and Stagger Lee have all closed since 2022.

With this latest closure, longtime Central Texan Shelby Campbell said this is just another example of how the story of Rainey Street keeps changing.

"I remember being down here when it was all just little houses and tiny bars and everybody was just like that kind of a quaint feeling when you wanted to escape the crazy Sixth Street," Campbell said. "And now, to see so many high-rises, it's honestly wild."

Campbell has been living in Central Texas over the past 10 years and still hopes a part of the "old" Austin she knows can be preserved.

"I think it's a booming city and I don't think it has any signs of slowing down, which again, there's a lot of positives in that," Campbell said. [...]

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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