A bite at Prélude. | Jessica Attie Chef Mathew Peters is opening his new cocktail bar Prélude in May and tasting menu restaurant Maven in late 2025 in downtown Austin A notable fine dining chef is opening a bar and restaurant promising high-caliber meals and service in Austin this year. Chef Mathew Peters’s new cocktail bar Prélude — opening on Thursday, May 2 — and tasting menu dining restaurant Maven — opening in late 2025 — will be found in the West End neighborhood of downtown Austin at 707 West 10th Street. Prélude will work as a reservations-only cocktail bar and lounge, where Peters wil ..read more

The cheeseburger sliders and waffle fries at Smalls Sliders. | Smalls Sliders Smalls Sliders — backed by former NFL player Drew Brees — wants to open at least six locations in the Texas city A fast-casual restaurant chain known for its cheeseburger sliders is going to be opening several restaurants in Austin. Smalls Sliders will be opening at least five known locations, with the first opening sometime in early 2025. Smalls Sliders’ menu is simple: beef patty-based cheeseburger sliders, with options to add a second patty, more cheese, bacon, and/or pickles and sauce. There’s also a small grille ..read more

Chefs Kévin D’Andrea and Michelle Wallace presenting their dishes to the judges. | David Moir/Bravo Olamaie’s Amanda Turner nerds out on Matty Matheson and ‘Pokémon,’ while Kévin D’Andrea of Foliepops goes nuclear Top Chef’s season 21 airs Wednesday nights on Bravo, and Eater Austin is recapping the home team’s progress in Wisconsin. Last week, the contestants hosted an old-school Wisconsin supper club. Amanda Turner of Southern restaurant Olamaie shined with her chicken katsu. Kévin D’Andrea of French bakery Foliepops stumbled with undercooked beef tenderloin. Luckily, his team won the overal ..read more

Dishes at Yellow Ranger. | YiMay Yang Yellow Ranger and new bar Golden Horn are opening in North Loop A new casual American Chinese restaurant is opening in an also-new neighborhood bar from the team behind beloved dives like Barfly, Bender Bar, and Violet Crown. Restaurant Yellow Ranger and bar the Golden Horn can be found underneath Barfly’s at 5420 Airport Boulevard in North Loop starting on Thursday, April 25. Through Yellow Ranger, chef Jeremy Young and the team are distilling what American Chinese food in the country truly is right now. It’s a casual counter-service restaurant within the ..read more

Dishes from Justine’s Brasserie. | Justine Gilcrease Justine’s Brasserie is opening something new in the Blanton Museum of Art A very lively East Austin French restaurant is expanding into the campus area with a new art museum cafe. The to-be-named restaurant — its placeholder name is Justine’s x Blanton — will be found within the the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin at 200 East Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard sometime in the spring of 2025. The new Justine’s museum cafe serve food, wines, and cocktails (presumably French). Plans also include a bakery counter, daytim ..read more

Foxtrot’s downtown Austin location. | Foxtrot The Chicago-based company filed for bankruptcy, thus shuttering its stores in Texas, Illinois, Washington, D.C., and Virginia Chicago-based trendy convenience store chain Foxtrot has closed all of its locations, which includes four Austin stores, per Eater Chicago. Parent company Outfox Hospitality filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and all shops have closed on Tuesday, April 23, as reported by snacks newsletter Snaxshot. The bankruptcy filing was announced during a conference call on the morning of April 23, noting that all stores — Illinois, Texas, a ..read more

Fife & Farro. | Pullman Market Pullman Market has a dessert bar, a Mexican spot focusing on Sonoran cuisine, a butcher shop, and much more Emmer & Rye Hospitality Group, the company behind some of Austin’s best restaurants, is opening a new market with several restaurants in San Antonio. Pullman Market will open at 221 Newell Avenue in the Pearl development starting on Tuesday, April 23. The new giant market — a total of 40,000 square feet — will include four new restaurants, two of which will open at the same time. Those include: Fife & Farro: a casual no-reservations-required, f ..read more

Dumplings from Ugly Dumpling. | Ugly Dumpling Dumpling World and Ugly Dumpling will be found in the Arboretum and the Triangle respectively Austin’s getting two whole restaurants dedicated to dumplings this year. First, there’s Sugar Land-based Dumpling World, which opened in the Triangle neighborhood at 4616 Triangle Avenue, Suite 203 as of Saturday, April 20. And then there’s New Jersey-based chain restaurant Ugly Dumpling opening its first Texas location in the Arboretum at 10000 Research Boulevard in fall 2024. Dumpling World’s casual Chinese menu includes all sorts of dumplings: steamed ..read more

The rib-eye skewers at Lao’d Bar. | Sara Lauren Hinojosa Lao’d Bar’s smash burgers are made with pork sausage patties and the bar will serve negroni takes on mango sticky rice A highly anticipated modern Laotian American restaurant is gearing up to open very soon. Lao’d Bar will be opening at 9909 Farm-to-Market Road 969, Building 4 in the far east Austin neighborhood starting on Wednesday, April 24. Through the counter-service restaurant, owner and chef Bob Somsith highlights his own Laotian American background. The chef, who grew up in Dallas, opened his first food truck in Austin in 2018, w ..read more

An array of cocktails from the Long Goodbye. | Richard Casteel The Long Goodbye works as an all-day space with daytime coffee and barbacoa dishes and then early-into-late evening cocktails A new multiple-space venue with a two-part bar is opening in Austin this spring. The Long Goodbye will open at 2808 Manor Road in the Cherrywood neighborhood starting on Friday, April 26. The Long Goodbye will consist of two bars, the indoor lounge and the outdoor patio. Already on the grounds are two food trucks, La Santa Barbacha and Fleet Coffee, both of which have been operating already since June 2023 a ..read more