Oakwood Public Market had barely gone dark when Dallas and Sarah Miller stepped up to give the gathering space a second life, with a goal of reopening by September.
Part modern-day general store, part town square, Oakwood Public Market is a collection of small spaces linked by concrete walkways beneath a broad metal roof, with a patio and playground out back. But after less than a year of fits and starts, the concept sputtered out July 3. In announcing the shutdown, Oakwood Public Market cited staffing constraints, leadership turnover, rising costs and other pressures, concluding that the operation was “not sustainable.”
The Millers, both hospitality veterans, moved to Dripping Springs three years ago and began looking for the right restaurant opportunity closer to home. Oakwood Public Market is located in their own Headwaters neighborhood, and as regulars, they took the closure as a sign.
“It kind of was like the universes aligned,” Dallas Miller says, sitting in the coffee bar, soon set to reopen.
The couple brings complementary experience to the Oakwood project. Dallas Miller is director of operations for Flyrite Chicken, while Sarah Miller spent 15 years in marketing and events for Black Sheep Lodge and Haymaker. She now runs a bar-concessions company; if you've bought a drink at Austin's Trail of Lights, her company is behind the operation.
Flyrite's brick-and-mortar locations struggled in the post-pandemic years and eventually closed on East Seventh Street and Burnet Road, although its Austin-Bergstrom International Airport location remains open. On East Seventh Street, Miller says, gentrification and rising property values changed the economics until the Flyrite concept no longer made sense there.
The Millers have taken over the lease at Oakwood Public Market from developer Oryx Development, which remains the landlord. The name will stay. The business, at 2500 Beverly Dr., will reopen in stages, with the coffee shop expected to reopen within a week and the rest following about a week later.
The various phases under the Oakwood Public Market roof.Photo by Kimberly Reeves
The refreshed Oakwood Public Market will keep its mix of food, drinks, shopping and gathering spaces. The former event room will become an arcade, giving kids somewhere to play while parents grab pizza or a drink nearby. The play area has been upgraded, and the patio will get more shade. TVs will be added for football season, and the former Over Yonder retail shop will become coffee seating, workspace, and event space.
The Millers are already working with local groups on school fundraisers and other community events.
“It's a community table that everybody can sit at,” Miller says. “And that's what we want this to be.”
The once-upscale market at Oakwood will become more of a neighborhood convenience stop, with basics like milk, cereal, paper plates and ice. The food offerings will expand under a chef brought over from Black Sheep Lodge. Pizza will return alongside subs and Italian sandwiches, while the larger menu will add Tex-Mex, pasta and other Italian dishes to its American fare.
Longer term, the coffee shop will become the Jackalope Room on Friday and Saturday nights, a 21-and-up speakeasy with cocktails and small bites. Miller says he has been in the restaurant business all his life, growing up around The County Line, run by his uncle Don “Skeeter” Miller. “Restaurants are in my blood,” he says.
