Here’s a look back at Austin restaurants that closed in 2020, most (though not all) due to lockdowns from the Wuhan coronavirus. These are restaurants the SDC visited in the past, wanted to visit, or noticed the passing of (so it won’t include every Austin restaurant that closed), along with very brief notes.
Austin Java (three of four locations).
Be More Pacific. We never ate there, but that spot is sort of a Restaurant Site of the Damned.
Black Walnut Cafe (two Austin locations). Made a tasty burger and had the mad scientist coke machine.
Blue Baker: Another Arboretum closure. More bakery with a sidelight in sandwiches. I really hated the design of their space.
Blue Dahlia Bistro. Another Austin restaurant we never managed to get out to.
Brick Oven: Longtime Austin pizza restaurant at Braker and 183 is closing because that center’s HEB wants to expand into the space. I never liked their crust.
BRIO Tuscan Grille: Pricey Italian chain location in the Arboretum. Good food, but I only ate there on the very occasional Sunday (when Reale’s is closed).
Bombay Bistro North: Same center as Brick Oven, possibly closed for the same reason. Pretty decent Indian food.
Cafe Joise. A great place, back in the day.
Counter Cafe Diner at 6th and North Lamar. Pretty decent burgers, and a late night breakfast choice.
Dart Bowl Cafe. Never made it out there.
Easy Tiger on Sixth Street, which we really liked. The location at The Linc is still open, but really pissed us off.
Full English, a breakfast place Dwight used to frequent upon occasion.
Luby’s Cafeteria on Brodie Lane. Dwight was not a fan…
Holy Roller. Punk rock burger place we meant to try.
Lucy’s on the Lake. Never visited that location, but I did like the fried chicken at the south location.
North By Northwest. They did pretty good upscale pub grub, but they were all but empty for a 2019 lunch visit, so it appears business had been in decline for a while.
Shady Grove. A fine place for chicken fried steak and hamburgers.
Third Base Northwest: Sports bar on 183 that served pub grub; seems to have closed sometime in 2020.
Threadgil’s. In addition to the chicken fried steak, I was also fond of their ham steak with Jezebel sauce.
Yuyo. Peruvian restaurant we never managed to get out to.
