news you can eat
New Asian fusion restaurants by local faves spin off Austin restaurant news
The Peached Tortilla is opening a new location in Cedar Park.
This week, expansions are the name of the game in Austin restaurant news. Some local favorites are increasing their footprint, and some are celebrating influential chefs in the area.
Openings and closings
The team behind Zoé Tong, which opened in 2023 and has since become one of Austin's best new restaurants according to CultureMap's Tastemaker Awards judges, is opening a new barbecue truck called Sí Baby-Q. There is some continuity with the pan-Chinese predecessor; This new barbecue joint will have some Asian influence, especially in its choice of spices. The team also newly includes Pitmaster Jonathan Lagos, who formerly worked at Terry Black's Barbecue. This new venture will be located on the Zoé Tong patio at 1530 Barton Springs Rd. Hours and an opening date have yet to be announced.
More Asian fusion is on the menu as the Peached Tortilla expands into Cedar Park starting March 26. The new location at 1915 East Whitestone Blvd. joins a roster of slightly varying sibling concepts: It is the second full-size location to bear the Peached Tortilla name, but it is also preceded by an airport counter, a bar-focused restaurant, and an event space. The menu at the nearly 5,000-square-foot indoor and outdoor space will be a hybrid of hits from the Peached Tortilla and Bar Peached, with new additions like wok-fried garlic eggplant with a black bean sauce, or Nashville hot chicken buns. Operating hours are Tuesdays through Thursdays from 4-9 pm, Fridays and Saturdays from 4-10 pm, and Sundays 4-9 pm. A brunch service is planned soon.
To many Austinites, Redbud Ice House represents a return — albeit an altered one — of beloved local restaurant Contigo. A local culinary supergroup has assembled, lead by Chef Michael Fojtasek and joined by Contigo's original founders, Andrew Wiseheart and Ben Edgerton, plus Batch Craft Beer & Kolaches owners Noah and Laura Lit. Together, they've put together a burger-focused new project that lets Contigo's famous patio live on. It's now open at 2027 Anchor Ln. from 11 am to 10 pm daily.
ICYMI: While we're talking about new restaurants, we're also holding a bracketed, fan-voted competition for the best new restaurants of 2024. Like we mentioned above, these were selected by our judges — mostly last year's Tastemaker Awards winners — from a pool containing every new restaurant since we started compiling the 2023 nominees. Vote for your favorites here.
Other news and notes
A new nonprofit using an Austin address just launched with national aspirations. The American Chefs Association aims to help "cooks, line chefs, and sous chefs" eventually become head chefs, according to a release. Led by an all-women team, the nonprofit will offer financial aid, education, and training resources. Hopefully exposure does put food on the table, because these efforts will also include a new culinary TV show for showcasing beneficiaries.
With an upcoming eclipse on everyone's minds, this film screening at Vista Brewing is super topical, and hopefully good for Texas' night skies. The Driftwood brewery is showing The Stars at Night, a documentary about combatting light pollution so that we can still see the stars. This film and the screening are in partnership with DarkSky International, a nonprofit organization working on the same goal. Vista will be offering a special "dark skies brew" to fit the theme.
