Grey Fades to Black

Award-winning chef Mashama Bailey closing both Austin restaurants

Diner Bar and the Grey Market are both closing on July 15.

Photo courtesy of the Thompson Austin

UPDATE: Diner Bar and the Grey Market have both closed early. Closing statements were posted on both websites by July 13 or earlier.

The revolving door of restaurants at the Thompson Austin hotel keeps swinging as its two anchor concepts by James Beard Award-winning chef Mashama Bailey prepare to shut down. The last day of service for both Diner Bar and the Grey Market is July 15.

Bailey's two James Beard Awards cemented her first as the best chef of the Southeast in 2019, and then as an outstanding chef in 2022, a national category. Known for combining authentic, homey southern cooking with French technique, Bailey achieved a tricky balance: exalting the cuisine of her childhood in Georgia without implying the source material was lacking its own sophistication.

“We are thankful for our collaboration with Chef Mashama Bailey and The Grey Group for our restaurant and bar concepts Diner Bar and The Grey Market,” said managing director of Thompson Austin Nate Hardesty in a statement shared via email. “We are grateful for the Austin community and guests who have supported these culinary concepts, and we look forward to sharing more details on our new restaurant and bar concepts soon.”

Hardesty implied that it was a mutual decision, stating that "ownership and The Grey Group have decided to part ways."

Diner Bar, a Restaurant of the Year nominee in CultureMap's 2024 Tastemaker Awards, calls itself a "seafood bistro," and despite its moody hotel atmosphere, serves dishes in a wide range of casual and upscale styles, from shrimp toast to seafood towers. The Grey Market is much airier and more casual, serving diner food and hearty breakfasts as well as some grab-and-go bites. It also functioned as a "community gathering place" and was closed semi-regularly for private events.

It is not clear when the decision was made, but Bailey and her team attended the Hot Luck food and music festival in late May. It could be that Bailey was promoting the restaurants with the intent that they would stick around, or it could just be that the chef's connection with the Austin scene (and her "buddy," Aaron Franklin) transcends which restaurants she has here.

Eater Austin reports that the Thompson is "internalizing" its food and beverage operations, and that the Grey team is focusing on opening a new restaurant in Paris.

This makes for a total identity refresh for the Thompson's dining landscape. Previously the home of the popular rooftop bar and Mediterranean restaurant Way Myrtle's, the Thompson flipped the space to an upscale Mexican restaurant in about two months. Called Arriba Abajo, the new restaurant offers some earthy but flavorful dishes and great cocktails, and is less party-driven (goodbye, emails about huge poolside drinks in silly sharing containers).

Judging by Diner Bar's strong online reviews and always-busy dining room, Austinites will be ready to stream into any new restaurant Bailey decides to open, should she return to the Texas capital. Until then, they're in good hands with Chef Amanda Turner, who is not affiliated with either restaurant, but has similarly dedicated herself to meticulously crafted southern food at Austin's Olamaie.

Home chefs might also find solace in some recipes from Bailey's book with her business partner, John O. Morisano, called Black, White, and The Grey: The Story of an Unexpected Friendship and a Beloved Restaurant.

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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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