Presto change-o

P. Terry's drive-thru burger stand cooks up new UT Austin campus location

The first campus location of P. Terry's will open in spring 2020.

Rendering by Michael Hsu Office of Architecture

First the bad news: After little more than one year in business, the Taco Ranch at 517 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. wrapped up service on December 20. Still, owners Terry Enterprises haven’t given up on the address. The building will soon be transformed into a P. Terry’s Burger Stand.

After a long-running campus Taco Cabana shuttered in July 2017, Terry Enterprises snagged the building to turn it into the second location of new restaurant Taco Ranch in October 2018. In a release, the company explained the change fit the current goals of the company.

“As much as we love Taco Ranch, as a company with all eyes on expanding P. Terry’s, it just made sense to have a presence at the University of Texas,” said P. Terry’s and Taco Ranch co-founder Patrick Terry via release.

Like the other locations of P. Terry’s, the building is being renovated by Michael Hsu Office of Architecture. Though not a carbon copy of the other locations, it will have the same retro-modern aesthetic using the signature red and aqua color scheme.

The familiar menu of burgers, fries, shakes, and breakfast sandwiches can be ordered inside to be enjoyed in the dining room or through two drive-thru lanes. The eatery will also feature a shaded patio for al fresco dining.

All of the Taco Ranch employees were offered jobs at other P. Terry’s locations or the original Taco Ranch location, which opened at 5033 W. Hwy. 290 in January 2018. While that outlet will remain open, it seems like the Taco Ranch brand will remain a solo venture for the immediate future.

"We are excited to give the UT campus and its neighboring businesses a P. Terry’s of their own. Our anticipated spring opening is one of several new locations slated for 2020 as we continue our expansion in Austin and beyond,” teased Coerver in the release.

P. Terry’s, indeed, is on a growth spurt. In 2019, the chain opened its first restaurants outside of the Austin city limits and the growth promises to accelerate in 2020 under the helm of new CEO Todd Coerver, a former Whataburger VP who assumed the position in March 2019 after Terry stepped aside.

openings burgers closings tacos

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.