Round Rock Edition | April 2022

DINING FEATURE

BY BROOKE SJOBERG

Amigo’s BBQ Grill is a family-owned and -operated restaurant.

Iris and Paul Liu opened Amigo’s BBQ Grill in 2003. (Photos by Brooke Sjoberg/Community Impact Newspaper)

The three-meat plate featuring brisket, chicken and sausage comes with two sides. ($15.99)

Amigo’s BBQGrill Family-owned eatery serves Pugerville for two decades A migo’s BBQ Grill, a well-loved Pugerville taco and barbecue spot, stands the test of time as the lone tenant remaining of the

Amigo’s is known for its breakfast tacos, including the bacon, egg and cheese taco. ($3.54)

BEST OF BOTHWORLDS

“The development is a lot less visible, and the neigh- borhood is getting older. But other than that, I think a lot of people also got displaced because of the rising value of the homes around here.” The restaurant primarily serves employees of nearby industrial parks and those working on the city’s project to widen Grand Avenue Parkway. Paul said he uses daily rotating specials as a means of trying newmenu items with his customers and has been working in more of a Mexican avor with recent additions. He also said he employs methods of Chinese cooking and drawing on his roots as a chef, such as with the restaurant’s potatoes. “We serve one called a spicy potato,” Paul said. “You don’t see that very often in some of the other Mexican restaurants. We use potatoes and stir fry with onions, jalapeno and tomatoes. We also try to use white pepper instead of black pepper.” The restaurant recently changed its hours of oper- ation due to increasing costs and a cancer diagnosis in the family, Paul said. In the future, he said Amigo’s will stay family-owned and -operated, with his niece Nicolette Segovia possibly taking over. “She’s young; she’s ambitious; and she liked the idea of raising her family in this environment, because she was raised in it,” Paul said. “She’s very comfortable with it.” Paul said Segovia is working to help strengthen the restaurant’s online and social media presence and bring in customers from dierent areas. “We have to keep up with the contemporary way of doing business,” Paul said.

original Park at Grand Avenue occupants. While the faces of retailers and restaurateurs in the shopping center have changed over the years, Amigo’s owners Paul and Iris Liu have held steady, serving a combination of Mexican and Southern comfort food to locals. Paul, whose background working in hotels and restaurants prepared him for owning and operating Amigo’s, said they opened the restaurant almost unintentionally. He and his wife moved to the Austin area fromMcAllen to manage apartment properties but found operating restaurants to be much more manageable. “We went to a few business seminars,” Paul said. “Ultimately, we decided [the] restaurant business wasn’t that bad.” To be close to family, they opened the taco and barbecue restaurant down the street from their niece’s elementary school in 2003. Paul said Amigo’s has so far survived economic chaos, including the 2008 downturn and COVID-19 restrictions in 2020-21. “As we thought we were succeeding, here comes economic downturn, so we had to struggle through that,” Paul said. “As we thought we were coming back, then it happens again.” However, as development in Pugerville moves eastward, so does some of his customer base. “I would call us the old side of town,” Paul said.

Amigo’s BBQ Grill oers both barbecue and Mexican dishes on its menu. Some of the options include:

MEXICAN

BARBECUE

Whole or half chicken Sliced or chopped brisket Sausage Pulled pork Hamburgers and cheeseburgers

Beef fajitas Migas rancheras Carne guisada Breakfast tacos Botanas

Amigo’s BBQGrill 1100 Grand Avenue Parkway, Ste. 108, Pugerville 512-989-0123 Facebook: Amigo’s BBQ Grill Hours: Mon.-Sat. 6 a.m.-3 p.m., closed Sun.

PICADILLY DR.

GRAND AVE. PKWY.

ROUND ROCK EDITION • APRIL 2022