Dearly beloved...





We are gathered here today to mourn the loss of our beloved restaurants, bars, venues, and establishments that bravely served the Austin community. Some of these places were beloved Austin staples, others were barely visited and hardly loved. Regardless, we pay tribute to them here. Pour one out for the all the places we lost in 2017 below.





By Kristen Balderas













Photo credit: Open Table





Kuneho

1600 E 6th St





Top Chef winner Paul Qui has had quite a journey since the winning of his title in 2012. His latest opening, and well closing, happened in 2017. Kuneho opened in January and closed its doors permanently in November.





El Sapo

900 W 10th St





With no plans to re-open or change locations, El Chile Group Tex-Mex burger cantina El Sapo closed its doors for reasons beyond the control of the El Chile Group.





Dog & Duck Pub

2400 Webberville Rd





Locked doors, a deactivated Facebook page and an unanswered phone was the farewell of Dog & Duck Pub, oh and a notice of non-payment totaling over $30,000. The pub relocated to East Austin in 2015, but as of November of this year is no longer open.





Z'Tejas

10525 W Parmer Ln





This Southwestern Grill may have been born in Austin, but this October Z’Tejas closed its West Palmer Lane location along with some of its Arizona locations to focus on their strongest locations.





Bribery Bakery

1900 Simond Ave





Bribery Bakery on Muller was baking goods in the back and pouring booze behind the bar. Unfortunately, the weight of this second location became too much for owner Jodi Elliot. The original Wells Branch location may not have booze, but will execute plans Elliot put on hold as a result of the second location.





House Pizzeria

5111 Airport Blvd





House Pizzeria served up pies on Airport for 8 1/2 years, but permanently closed its doors in September for unknown reasons.





Twisted Root Burger Co.

7211 Burnet Rd





Twisted Root Burger Co. attempted to open an Austin location for the second time, but failed. In August, Burnet Road said goodbye to build-your-own burgers and a nine hole mini-golf course. There are currently no plans for a third attempt at an Austin location.





Gino's Pizza

214 E 6th St





Gino's East announced a temporary close in July with hopes to open back up in late August after renovations. The Chicago Deep Dish pizza place did not reopen and is now operating as chicken tender restaurant and bar Happy Chicks.





Porfirio's Tacos

1512 Holly St B





Porfirio's spent 32 years in East Austin serving "taco heads" breakfast and lunch tacos alongside spicy sauces. A Facebook post from the restaurant gave no reason other than "The time has finally come..." and informed that the closure came with no plans to relocate.





Porter Ale House and Gastropub

3715 S 1st St





Porter Ale House Gatropub announced the closing of their facilities in July. While no reason was disclosed, the owners teased at future projects in the works.





Metier's Cook Supply and Cookbook Shop

1807 S 1st St





Co-owners Jessica Maher and Todd Duplechan decided to take a step back from curating and selling cooking supply and cookbooks at Metier's to give more time to their restaurant, Lenoir, in April.





Daito

2716 1/2 Guadalupe St





This Japanese restaurant was crammed into the chaos of West Campus in 2015. After running for two years, rising rent costs and limited parking caused this Daito to close its doors for good.









Hudson's on the Bend

3509 Ranch Rd 620 N





In operations for almost 32 years and newly renovated, Hudson's closed permanently in February. A press release noting "challenges that could not be overcome" caused the restaurant to close.





Pizzeria Vetri

2421 San Antonio St.





This year campus has said goodbye to another pizza place. Pizzeria Vertri is in Space 24 Twenty, and Austin, no more. Urban Outfitters wanted to change the use of the space, but if you really want Verti you can still get it in Philly or D.C.





Symon's Burger Joint

2416 Guadalupe St





One more burger joint by campus has gone up and closed down. We can’t say for certain if In-N-Out or Whataburger being located up the street has anything to do with the farewell of campus burger spots, but we can say the doors to Symon’s are closed for good.





Delicious

1100 S Lamar Blvd





One of the many places that left Lamar Union this year is restaurant, deli and market Delicious. The spot closed at the end of July with no details explaining the closure.





El Burro

1105 S Lamar Blvd Unit B





After seven months serving Tex-Mex in Lamar Union, El Burro permanently closed without providing any details on why the restaurant closed or what the future holds.





Cantine

1100 S Lamar Blvd #2115





Lamar Union lost its Italian cafe Cantine this May. We're unsure why they closed, but they went out with a half-off on ll wines special.





Apothecary

4800 Burnet Rd #450





Burnet Road lost Apothecary Wine Bar this May when the spaces was sold, and the new owner intended to turn it into a new restaurant.





Nubian Queen Lola's

1815 Rosewood Ave





In April, Queen Lola's castle was emptied. The Cajun restaurant that not only made good food, but did good of the Austin community has unfortunately closed its doors permanently this year. There was talk of a relocation to Taylor, Texas, and a name change in April.





Isla

208 W 4th St





Isla helped give Austin a taste of Peruvian food on West 4th Street, but even after their best efforts, the owners found themselves closing their doors for good.





El Gallo

2910 S Congress Ave





After 60 years of serving up Tex-Mex in Austin, the family-owned restaurant El Gallo closed doors this year. The family owns the property and did not experience rising rent prices, but other rising costs pushed them to the decision of closing.





Strange Brew Coffee

5326 Manchaca Rd





Strange Brew Coffee closed their doors in mid-January, and it was, you guessed it, pretty strange. The coffee shop closed quickly and unexpectedly after a missed rent payment and promised to re-open the following day. They did not re-open and then lease was picked up by Quack’s.





Photo Credit: BlackBird Bakery Facebook

BlackBird Bakery

2300 Lohmans Spur #163





The closing of Blackbird Bakery means this is no longer a spot to pick up gluten-free baked goods, but don’t worry. The bakery is closing to focus on their gluten-free flour blend which means you can still have Blackbird gluten-free baked goods in your kitchen, as long as you don't mind baking them yourself.

Carmelo's

504 E 5th St





Rising property taxes caused Carmelo’s Italian Restaurant to stop serving up pasta and close its doors after 32 years. Restaurant owner Carmelo Mauro blames the local government and condos for the closure.





Rebel Pizza Bar

7858 Shoal Creek Blvd





Rebel Pizza Bar sat above Suzi’s China Grill & Sushi Bar and closed its doors to make way for a brick and mortar Filipino Kitchen and Bar Be More Pacific.





Cafe Ruckus Bar

409 W 2nd St





This July we said goodbye to Cafe Ruckus and their long-standing Sunday High Tea service, The Austin Tea Room. Neighboring toy store, Toy Joy, took over the cafe building space. There is still no word on the replacement of The Austin Tea Room.





Austin Java

1206 Parkway St





In the process of opening four new locations, Austin Java permanently closed the doors of their North Lamar location this October. But don’t worry, the existence of other locations ensures you can still get your fix.





Photo Credit: Austin Culture Map

Steampunk Saloon

700 W 6th St





The 1880’s/punk bar Steampunk Saloon turned of their industrial glowing blue sign for good this year. In an effort to rebrand and shed their establishment of the internet’s negative feedback, it has been renamed to Buford’s Beer Garden.





Mighty Bird

2900 W Anderson Ln #14





The Mighty Bird has flown the coop. This May the restaurant announced the closing of their last brick and mortar in Austin. One Taco will replace The Anderson locations just as it replaces the location near 183.





Silo

1300 E 7th St





In 2012, Silo on 7th began a two-year journey of replacing East Austin’s historic Tony’s Tortillas. In 2017, Silo on 7th is met with the same fate.





No Va

87 Rainey





This year No Va (Spanish for “doesn’t go”) se fue (Spanish for “has went”). No word on why the establishment closed, but Rainey Street said adios to the modernist-inspired hangout this June.





Sister Coffee

913 E Cesar Chaves St





Sister Coffee shifted their focus from coffee to ceramics. The cafe known for it’s Bay Area-based Blue Bottle Coffee, is now Sister, an online ceramics shop hoping to collaborate with local artists.





Kesos

4329 S Congress Ave





Kesos was not able to get a lease extension on their South Congress location this year. Their original locations closed in March. In a statement, Chief Executive Officer Jhonatan Aldana announced the addition of beer and liquor at their MLK locations and encouraged customers to join them to Keep Tacos Weird.





Big Bite

415 W 24th St





Long-standing late-night campus sandwich shop has stopped serving its loyal customers of drunk and stoned college students for good. West Campus Apartment realty giant American Campus declined to re-lease the location to the restaurant.





My Fit Foods

All locations





The healthy meals and snacks of My Fit Foods are no more. The health food grocery store closed all locations nationwide and parted without addressing the reason for their closer in their statement but gave a sincere apology for their departure.





Photo Credit: Michi Ramen Facebook

Michi Ramen

2513 San Antonio St





After moving into close to campus dive bar, Hole in the Wall, and replacing East Side King, Michi’s third location shut it’s doors premaritally just like the tenant before. They closed the doors to this location quietly and continue to serve at all their remaining locations.









Sputnik

1300 E 6th St





After over 5 years of business on E 6th, Sputnik will no longer be serving burgers, dogs, and beers. The closure was announced with a “for now”, but there are no developments on the new establishment.







