2022 in Stories

Austin's 10 hottest restaurant stories of 2022 sizzle with exciting expansions and national acclaim

Hopdoddy gobbled up Grub Burger Bar in early 2022.

Hopdoddy/Facebook

Editor’s note: As 2022 comes to a close, we're looking back at the stories that defined Austin this year, now turning our attention to Austin’s unstoppable food scene. This year, we saw major acquisitions, intrepid expansions, and recognition from trusted publications (including CultureMap’s own Tastemakers!). Here are the 10 hottest restaurant and bar headlines of 2022.

1. Austin-based Hopdoddy beefs up with acquisition of popular Texas burger brand. In early 2022, Austin-based Hopdoddy Burger Bar acquired Bryan-based Grub Burger Bar to form a new company that unites two of Texas’ most prominent better-burger joints. Now known as HiBar Hospitality Group, the new company is led by Hopdoddy CEO Jeff Chandler, with Grub founder and CEO Jimmy Loup taking a seat on the board of directors.

2. Austin-born barbecue chain fires up big plans for growth with new owners. In January, Smokey Mo’s Texas BBQ, the neighborhood barbecue brand launched in 2000 in Cedar Park by pitmaster Morris Melchor and his wife, Lisa, has just been purchased by Austin-based private equity firm Switchback Capital. It planned to expand Smokey Mo’s from its then 16 locations to more corporate and franchised locations across Texas communities.

3. Austin bakery rises onto Food & Wine’s list of the best bread in Texas. One of the biggest pandemic foodie trends was the surge in the popularity of bread, and national food magazine Food & Wine exploited that trend with a new best-of list. Called “The Best Bread in Every State,” the article is a list of bread makers in each of the 50 states, including Texas. With Texas being so large, the blurb highlights bakeries in three cities: Austin's ThoroughBread, Dallas' Kuluntu Bakery, and Houston's Magnol French Baking.

ThoroughBread's baked goods — from sourdough to gigantic stuffed cookies — are heavenly. Thoroughbread/Instagram

4. Iconic Austin burger joint cruises into buzzy suburb's hottest development. Negotiations continue as 2023 draws near, but Hutto should be alright, alright, alright, thanks to a new outpost of Top Notch Burgers. This will be its second-ever location, spanning 3,500 square feet, with both interior and exterior seating. It will be located at the new Hutto Co-Op District on Highway 79.

5. Guatemalan couple’s Austin bakery becomes overnight success with 5 million cookies sold. A retweet by actress Busy Philipps in California brought Wunderkeks attention as a heartwarming small business in need, and catapulted online sales from roughly three online orders a month to 800 — in two hours.

6. H-E-B unveils merchandise for brand super fans, available exclusively at one store. Kerrville, the birthplace of H-E-B, was chosen to launch the company's new line of H-E-B-branded merchandise, in celebration of its 117th anniversary. The merch will roll out to other Texas stores in 2023.

H-E-B brand store Super fans snag T-shirts at the new H-E-B Brand Shop. Photo courtesy of H-E-B

7. Famous fried chicken and biscuit chain hatches 5 Austin-area locations. Bojangles, the North Carolina-based fried-chicken-and-biscuits chain with a die-hard following, plans to enter the Austin market over the next several years with five locations. Bojangles is targeting Cedar Park, Georgetown, Leander, Pflugerville, and Round Rock for its first restaurants in the Austin metro area.

8. Acclaimed Hill Country winery pours onto list of the world's 100 best for 2022. The World’s Best Vineyards organization revealed this year’s top wine destinations for 2022. Texas' own William Chris Vineyards came in at No. 56, the only Texas vineyard on the list and one of only seven wineries from the U.S.

9. Popular South Austin neighborhood wine bar suddenly closes for good. According to a Facebook post on Tuesday, January 11, Winebelly, located at 519 W. Oltorf St., closed permanently. “Winebelly is closed,” the post reads. “We are so very grateful for all of the love and support we have been shown by this community, and yet our hearts ache that we didn’t get to tell you in person how much you meant. Thank you for so many good times. Stay tuned for wine sale info.”

10. These 10 beloved Austin neighborhood restaurants are as unique as the city itself. With admiration for their perseverance and a hearty appreciation for their evolving accomplishments, we celebrated these go-to neighborhood eateries at our annual CultureMap Tastemaker Awards.

Bill's Oyster team to debut new Southwestern bar and grill in Austin

Teddy's Texas Red Chili with Bone Marrow

Photo courtesy of Teddy's

Teddy's will bring Southwestern flavors to Tarrytown, like this Texas Red Chili with Bone marrow.

From the team who brought us Bill's Oyster comes a new restaurant called Teddy's Restaurant & Bar. This Southwestern-inspired bar and grill is set to open in east Tarrytown in November. Both its design and menu will celebrate the Southwest; inside, this 80-seat restaurant will be a mix of dark woods and copper, and outside will be an enclosed, temperature-controlled patio for year-round use.

Dishes will blend the unique flavors of Texas and Mexico, with a heavy dash of the Southwest. Some menu items that already have mouths watering include filet mignon with chile relleno, Parker House rolls with cinnamon ancho butter, and blue crab tostadas.Of course, there will also be a full bar for regular happy hours, serving up craft cocktails, martinis, a curated wine list, and frozen drinks.

"The inspiration for doing a Southwestern menu came from my love of Texas and its melting pot of cultures and cuisines," says Teddy's owner Daniel Berg. "When I first moved to Houston from New York City in 2017, I was naive to all that Texas' food scene had to offer beyond Tex-Mex or BBQ. My first real exposure to Southwestern cuisine was in Houston where I worked alongside James Beard award-winning Chef Robert Del Grande, who is considered one of the godfathers of Southwestern cooking."

Berg is referring to a project between Del Grande and Berg's brother Ben Berg, who worked together to spruce up and reopen Houston's Annie Cafe & Bar. Daniel Berg worked with Del Grande on establishing the new menu, exposing the relative Texas newcomer to a much deeper pool of knowledge about the region's cuisine. He says Teddy's will focus on Mexican, German, and Czech traditions' influences on Texas cooking.

A crab tostada and Lone Starr Martini at Teddy's.Photo courtesy of Teddy's

Operating partner Dylan Salisbury adds he's "excited" for the opening, because "while Austin has an abundance of incredible Mexican cuisine, the bold and unique flavors of Southwestern food are somewhat underrepresented."

"I believe this concept will not only bring something fresh and exciting to the city but also challenge our team to do the food justice," he says.

The entire team behind this Southwestern style restaurant are veritable A-listers in the restaurant world. Before teaming up here in Austin, both Berg and Salisbury ran a slew of successful restaurants. Berg (a talented chef, himself) started out in New York, working under James Beard Award-winning chef Andrew Carmellini. He opened several restaurants with Carmellini, and eventually opened his own restaurants in both New York and Houston before coming to Austin.

Salisbury has helped to open over 20 restaurants over the years, from Texas to New Orleans, including Austin's beloved Tiki Tatsu-Ya.

In 2023, Daniel Berg and Dylan Salisbury teamed up to create Bill's Oyster on Third Street; CultureMap has included it in multiple lists since then, including the best seafood snacks in town and the fan-voted Best New Restaurants category of the 2024 Tastemaker Awards, which also had to make it past a panel of past winners.

Aside from the delicious seafood (especially the raw bar), Bill's Oyster includes a beautifully designed interior. Austinites can only imagine that these two will deliver once again on that front.

"I worked with local architecture and design firm Steinbomer," says Berg. "My task for them was to create a small bar [and] restaurant that guests would dream of wandering into in the Hill Country. Think 'Fredericksburg': nothing pretentious but warm dark woods, patinaed brass, and maybe even some longhorns. ... It’s the kind of place you can bring your kids early and not worry about them running around, but also perfect for date night and casual enough to sit at the brass inlay bar and watch a game."

Let's not forget the man behind the menu. Teddy's executive chef is Rene Garza, formerly of local heavyweights Uptown Sports Club, Este, and Suerte. Garza started his cooking career early, working in various hotels and restaurants in the San Antonio area. In 2015, he moved to Austin and landed a job at Uchiko; since then, he has helped open James Beard Award-nominated Suerte and worked his way up to chef de cuisine.

In 2021, he helped open Suerte's sister restaurant, Este, and in 2023, he opened New Orleans-inspired restaurant and bar Uptown Sports Club. At Teddy's, his dishes will "celebrate the unique flavors of Texas, blending the bold and rich influences of Mexican cuisine with a modern Southwestern twist," according to a press release.

Teddy's is located at 1601 W. 38th St., Suite 1. It will be open daily for dinner only, to start, with breakfast, lunch, and weekend brunches on the way. More information is available at teddysaustin.com.

openings seafood dinner