Local Development

New green H-E-B opens in growing Mueller development

The Mueller H-E-B opened on Friday morning.

Courtesy of KVUE News

KVUE -- Just five years ago, Austin's Mueller neighborhood was nothing more than an abandoned airport. Today, it's a thriving area of the city, and it's marking a milestone Friday.

This brand new H-E-B grocery store opened at 6 a.m. Friday to the excitement of neighbors. It's part of a booming retail and residential district that has plenty of room to grow.

The Mueller neighborhood makes up about 700 acres in Central East Austin, and developer Catellus estimates it's only one-third finished. About 3,500 people live in the neighborhood, and by the time it's completely developed, about 13,000 will likely live there.

The homes started going up in the shadow of Austin's old airport. In 2007, Catellus had a lottery to offer those who want to live here first dibs on their lots. Today, there are 5,700 single-family homes, apartments and condos at Mueller. They all pay special attention to preserving the future of the neighborhood.

Developers believe Mueller has the highest concentration of rooftop solar panels in the country. All of the homes have to earn at least three stars out of five in Austin Energy¹s Green Building Program.

This H-E-B is an environmental test store and represents the company's greenest effort. The goal is to reduce energy use by 50 percent over a regular grocery store. They recycle everything from cardboard to pharmacy stock bottles, to used cooking oil and meat trimmings.

Read the full story on KVUE.com.

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NYT loves AUS

Homey Austin bakery Comadre makes New York Times Best Bakeries list

Comadre Panadería/Instagram

Comadre Panadería is known for nostalgic Mexican bakes with feminine flair.

The New York Times has once again shined its spotlight on Austin’s culinary scene. It included Comadre Panadería, an Austin bakery focusing on Mexican treats, on its new list of the 22 of the Best Bakeries Across the U.S. Right Now.

Interim food critic Priya Krishna praises pastry chef Mariela Camacho’s pastries that include conchas and her signature pink cake. “Despite their saccharine appearances, not one of the desserts is overly cloying, and even the coffee drinks (Texas pecan horchata! Cranberry vanilla agua fresca!) strike the playful tone of the pastries,” she writes.

Comadre Panadería has been widely recognized, including by this publication; she won Pastry Chef of the Year in the 2023 CultureMap Austin Tastemaker Awards. She also earned a 2024 James Beard Award semifinalist nomination for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker.

Camacho and Comadre as a whole are both invested in using baked goods to make a more equitable world, from the bakery's early days as a fundraiser for disaster relief, to a current insistence on charging enough to support ethical and organic foods, and paying staff enough to keep up with rising costs in Austin.

Mariela Camacho of Comadre Panaderia in Austin Mariela Camacho, Comadre Panaderia. Courtesy photo

The Times also recognized Houston's Koffeteria. Krishna hails the bakery for pastry chef-owner Vanarin Kuch’s creative fare that includes dishes such as beef pho kolaches, Chinese sausage breakfast tacos, and butter mochi.

“Some of Mr. Kuch’s offerings are rooted in his Cambodian American identity — he makes cornbread with the coconutty, scallion-forward flavors of Cambodian street corn — while others are odes to Houston’s multicultural makeup. But most of the fun of Koffeteria is having no idea what Mr. Kuch will do next, and eagerly awaiting his next innovation,” Krishna writes.

Open since 2019, Koffeteria has been riding high this year. It earned a James Beard Award semifinalist nomination for Outstanding Bakery and a CultureMap Houston Tastemaker Award for Pastry Chef of the Year.

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Comadre Panadería and Koffeteria are the only Texas establishments to make the Times’ list. Only California and New York City, which each have three representatives, earn more recognition.

lists media desserts koffeteria new york times