Another One Bites the Dust

Popular Tex-Mex chain suddenly closes downtown Austin outpost

Austin's Cantina Laredo closed its doors on July 21.

Photo courtesy of Cantina Laredo

Here we go again: Another restaurant has closed. On Thursday, downtown Tex-Mex restaurant Cantina Laredo announced its immediate closure.

Cantina Laredo was scheduled to close Saturday, but a miscommunication with a health inspector led to a somewhat dramatic shutter during lunch service.

"I wanted to close down the restaurant in a dignified manner," says proprietor Al LoCascio in a press release. "It's a difficult day to end 11 years of hard work and success under unfortunate circumstances."

Known for its table-side guacamole and drink specials, Cantina Laredo is a Dallas-based restaurant chain with locations across the U.S. LoCascio, a graduate of the University of Texas, opened the Austin outpost in 2003. Since then, Cantina Laredo has become a staple of the 2nd Street District restaurant and bar scene.

"Due to the amount of competitors that saturated the area and high overhead costs, Consolidated Restaurant Operations decided to close the restaurant," says the release.

"At some point you have to be realistic with the things you have accomplished and what makes sense with the bottom line," said LoCascio. "We had decided to pass the torch on and allow a new concept to enrich the experience of the 2nd Street District."

Consolidated Restaurant Operations also owns III Forks, as well as a handful of other small chains in the U.S. There's no word yet regarding what will take over the space.

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.