A new chapter

New York-style eatery folds as upscale taqueria moves into troubled East Austin space

Tacos will soon replace sandwiches at Gotham's East Austin address.

First the bad news: Gotham, a New York City-themed restaurant, closed on October 16 after a brief run. But its 1700 E. Second St. space won’t stay empty for long. A new upscale taqueria is moving into the troubled East Austin property.

Owner Nick Goulding announced the closure via a post on Gotham’s Facebook page. “We had a good run for eighteen months,” Goulding wrote, “but we fell short of the foot traffic we needed to keep the wolf from the door.”

Goulding and wife Jessica opened Gotham in July 2018, taking over the space vacated by Italian eatery Al Fico. The latter restaurant buckled in May 2016 after a brief six-month run, citing a rent dispute.

Gotham was inspired by the energy of the Goulding's favorite Big Apple restaurants and bars and served a hodgepodge of dishes ranging from chicken and waffles to pizza. In January, Gotham introduced an assortment of bistro fare to take advantage of newly hired chef Patrick Wickett's classic French training.

In the post, Goulding candidly attributed the closure to a lack of business. A request for further comment was not returned.

A new upscale taqueria, however, is hoping to change that. Reunión 19, specializing in classic Mexican fare and handcrafted designer cocktails, will be helmed by chefs Christopher Haydostian and Esdras Ochoa.

Ochoa's name will undoubtedly be familiar to foodies. As the founder of Mexicali Taco & Co and partner at Salazar, he is among Los Angeles’ most talked about chefs. His appearance on Netflix’s much-hyped 2018 series The Final Table further raised his profile.

Reunión 19 will debut in early 2020, but the team tells CultureMap that the menu is still in development.

"It'll still be fresh ingredients, authentic recipes, and killer handcrafted beverages to match," says a restaurant rep. "We will definitely have tacos."

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Peak Plates

7 Austin restaurants make OpenTable's top 100 for 2024

Jeffrey's Restaurant/Instagram

Jeffrey's Restaurant is a great example of the type of fancy, well-established restaurant that made the list.

Restaurant reservation website OpenTable has issued its new list of the top 100 restaurants in America for 2024, and seven Austin restaurants have made the list. That's already impressive at a glance — 7 percent of the entire national list in just one city — but compared to other Texas cities, it's huge. Austin is the only Texas city to have more than one restaurant on the list.

The "2024's Top 100 Restaurants" list is a compilation of the most sought-after and top-ranked restaurants in the U.S. based on 14 million verified reviews on OpenTable from October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2024. Restaurants are not ranked, but arranged in alphabetical order by state.

Austin's seven restaurants (including several repeats from OpenTable's 2023 list) are:

Aba: Known for its laid-back, yet fancy patio and being a popular spot for visiting celebrities
J Carver's: Known for a commitment to the classic steakhouse experience and legitimately fancy dining
Jeffrey's Restaurant: Known for fine dining, a connection to Austin before its boom, and a fantastic wine program
Red Ash Italia: Known for approachable, yet high-quality Italian food with rustic touches
Sammie's Italian: Known for its romantic take on the archetype of an East Coast Italian joint
Uchi: Known for bringing Austin into the national sushi conversation and defining the scene
Uchiko: Known for a cool atmosphere and getting creative with sushi and other small plates

Austinites will probably not be surprised by this list, which names some very well-established restaurants that are all upscale. These qualities tend to appeal to similar lists, regardless of who's curating them.

It is interesting, given that the list was democratically based on user ratings, that there were not more beloved food trailers or casual spots. However, other factors that led to high rankings included alerts set and reservations made ahead — things that don't really apply to even the most awesome taco truck.

Mediterranean food was a trend among the Austin picks. Red Ash Italia and Sammie's Italian are, as the names would imply, completely dedicated to Italian food, while Aba covers a wider swath of the Mediterranean. There were also two steakhouses: J Carver's and Jeffrey's Restaurant.

As list-perusers may have guessed, Uchi and Uchiko are in the same family of restaurants, with Uchi being the more formal and Uchiko being a bit more accessible for drop-in meals and cocktails. But are two more incognito duos of sibling restaurants on the list: J Carver's and Red Ash, and Jeffrey's Restaurant and Sammie's Italian.

That could be a coincidence. It could also be a reflection of the utility of money and experience in opening a good restaurant, or a lesson about the effects of good (and expensive) marketing. Whatever it is, it doesn't sound like hospitality groups had any direct sway on how OpenTable made its choices.

This list was different from the inaugural list of OpenTable Icons, which launched in 2024. The "Icons" list chose restaurants that are getting a lot of buzz, which ended up being more subjective. It also seemed to let in — as a side effect of the process, rather than a hard eligibility rule — more new and Mexican restaurants. Two restaurants are on both lists: Red Ash and Jeffrey's.

Restaurants outside of Austin that made the Top 100 list, organized alphabetically, are:

Hudson House — Dallas
Steak 48 — Houston
Signature — San Antonio

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