Bye-bye, Baby
Tex-Mex restaurant Baby Acapulco closes famous Barton Springs location
According to signs on the doors at Baby Acapulco's Barton Springs restaurant, that anchor location of the Tex-Mex chain is now closed. The signs — repeated three times — send customers instead to the outposts at Riverside and Stonelake.
Known colloquially as Baby A's, the restaurant has been at 1628 Barton Springs Rd. since 1981. Another sign shows how quickly the restaurant shuttered: "Please be advised that this location will close today at 4pm. We apologize for any inconvenience."
The closing note.Photo by Brianna Caleri
It is best known for its Purple Margarita, which bears only a passing resemblance if any at all to a regular margarita. The restaurant does not share any of the ingredients on the menu, but public consensus is that it contains tequila, Everclear, or both, resulting in a drink that's so strong, it has a limit of two per customer.
Beyond that, the menu is pretty standard, and was not as much a topic of conversation as the get-drunk-fast margs or the ideal location near popular swimming spots. The restaurant's other best known item was tortilla soup. Happy hour was a popular time to go, when customers could get $1 off some drinks, plus $5 staples like nachos, wings, and tacos.
The recognizable sign on the drive to Barton Springs.Photo by Brianna Caleri
Baby A's opened the year before Chuy's, the other iconic Tex-Mex chain at Barton Springs. That restaurant is still open, but the entire chain was sold to Darden Restaurants, Inc., a group based in Florida that also owns restaurant chains like Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, and Yard House.
The remaining Baby Acapulco locations are at 1705 S. Lakeshore Blvd. and 9505-B Stonelake Blvd., which are in Riverside and North Austin, respectively. More information about the restaurants is available at babyacapulco.com.