Something's brewing

Popular local pizza chain delivers pizza-less brewpub to South Austin

The new Pinthouse Pizza location will be sans pizza.

What’s Pinthouse Pizza without its pub-style pies? Austinites will soon find out when the locally owned mini-chain opens a new concept at 2201 E. Ben White Blvd. The company hopes to debut the new concept by the end of 2020.

Since opening its first Burnet Road restaurant in 2012, Pinthouse has expanded to two additional locations across the Austin area. As the company grew, so too did the popularity of its beers, which are now found at restaurants and bars throughout Austin.

According to co-owner and marketing director Nic Van Biene, the South Austin Pinthouse will serve primarily as a beer production facility but will also be open to the public. Van Biene says the new Pinthouse will include an indoor tasting room and a covered patio. The team will also be offering behind-the-scenes tours.

Pizza, however, will not be on the table. The restaurant plans to create a new menu that will include shared plates, appetizers, and salads. For now, the company is keeping the details mum but promises to share more in the upcoming months.

Van Biene also says Pinthouse has a “few more surprises in store.” What those may be is anyone’s guess, but feel free to wildly speculate on massive indoor ski slopes and beer-themed spa services.

Although Pinthouse does have 2020 as its opening goal, it has not begun construction yet, and the team cautions that the project may be delayed.

“Honestly it is tough to predict with the vagaries of the permitting and construction process,” says Van Biene.

openings pizza craft-beer

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.