North Central Austin Edition | August 2023

IMPACTS

Businesses that have recently opened or are coming soon, relocating or expanding

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MOPAC

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Hopscotch

COURTESY HOPSCOTCH

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Austin Motel

COURTESY AUSTIN MOTEL

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5 Popeye’s Chicken will open Oct. 1 in the upper level food court of Barton Creek Square at 2901 S. Capital of Texas Hwy., Austin. Popeye’s is a fast-food restaurant that offers fried chicken, biscuits, chicken fingers and french fries. www.popeyes.com 6 A new Chinese restaurant called Zoé Tong will open in the Zilker neighborhood at 1530 Barton Springs Road, Austin, this fall. The restaurant will serve modern Chinese food and cocktails, including noodle bowls, pan-seared dumplings, crispy duck and scallion tortillas. www.zoetong.com RENOVATIONS 7 The Alamo Drafthouse location at 1120 S. Lamar Blvd., Austin, is getting a “major facelift,” representatives announced in July. Theaters 5-9 are receiving new luxury reclining chairs and two-person sofas that have small tables attached, and theater 5 has also received a new surround sound system. Upgrades to the remaining theaters will be rolled

Peck, Chris Arial and Allan Bautista, three best friends who met working at Austra- lian-inspired restaurant Two Hands. 3 Sandwich shop Coast 2 Coast Subs opened at 2700 S. Lamar Blvd., Aus- tin, in early August. The shop serves a variety of cheesesteaks, including several vegan versions, as well as salads, hoagies and dessert. The shop is located at The Tailor Shop food hall, which also houses Pizzeria Grata and Taqueria 1836. www.coast2coastsubs.com COMING SOON 4 Man Outfitters is expected to open in Barton Creek Square at 2901 S. Capital of Texas Hwy., Austin, mid-October, directly across from the Apple Store on the lower level Dillard’s wing of the mall, according to a spokesperson with the store. Man Outfitters is an Austin-based company that launched in 2015 online, offering active and outdoor apparel from different brands including The North Face, Billabong and Quicksilver. www.manoutfitters.com

out over the next several months. www.drafthouse.com/austin ANNIVERSARIES 8 Austin Motel , located at 1220 S. Congress Ave., Austin, celebrates its 85th anniversary this year. The motel opened in 1938, with its landmark neon sign, and has been in continuous operation since. Austin hotelier Liz Lambert’s hospitality company Bunkhouse, which also operates nearby Hotel San Jose and Hotel Saint Cecilia, took over the motel in 2016 and reopened it the following year. 512-441-1157. www.austinmotel.com IN THE NEWS Thirsty Planet Brewing Co. , the brewery behind the Thirsty Goat Ale, closed its taproom and is suspending distribution, owner Brian Smittle confirmed Aug. 14. The taproom was located at 8201 Con- gress Ave., Austin. Thirsty Planet Brewing Co. began in South Austin in 2010. Smit- tle did not provide a timeline for shutting down distribution.

1 A “playful” new restaurant called Elementary opened at 2026 S. Lamar Blvd., Austin, on July 28. Elementary’s menu is casual fine dining and features cuisines from around the world, such as birria soup dumplings; banh mi eclairs; and al pastor tortellini. The restaurant’s interior follows the childlike theme with walls and furniture painted in primary colors, menus typed on notebook paper and a handmade set of monkey bars that hovers above the bar. Instagram: elementaryatx 2 A 15-seat natural wine bar called Hopscotch opened at 2032 S. Lamar Blvd., Austin, on July 28. Hopscotch serves natural wines, classic cocktails, tinned fish and light bites. The bar also utilizes food scraps from its sister-restau- rant next door, Elementary, to create new dishes and prevent food waste. The two establishments are owned by chef Colter

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