Two Austin Chefs Are Whipping Up Smoked Oxtail and Chicken Biryanis for a Pop-Up

Harry Styles’s Pleasing Saloon Austin pop-up drinks

Harry Styles fans will be excited to know that the pop star’s beauty and apparel company Pleasing is in the middle of an Austin pop-up right now. And for Eater purposes, there are drinks involved. The pop-up — named the Pleasing Saloon with a whole Western theme — is happening at the South Congress Hotel at 1603 South Congress Avenue, Suite F from April 27 through Sunday, May 19, with Austin-themed clothing, nail polishes, lip balms, and more. And then, the hotel’s lobby bar and on-site bakery Mañana are serving themed drinks. The bar has two cocktails, the namesake Pleasing Saloon made with blanco tequila, ginger beer, lime, and cassis; and the Pleasing, Texas with reposado tequila, agave, grapefruit, orange, and lime. And then the bakery is serving up the nonalcoholic Peachy Cheeks Pleasing Lemonade, made with a white peach-fennel seed syrup.

Recent Austin restaurant shutters

There are a bunch of semi-recent restaurant closures to know about in Austin, including:

• Very long-time East Austin Mexican restaurant Los Comales, which opened back in 1985 on 2136 East Seventh Street in the Blackshear-Prospect Hill neighborhood. It seemingly shuttered sometime earlier this month, per Google and its Facebook page.
• East Austin casual New American restaurant Drop Kick, which opened in February 2020 on 1630 East Sixth Street, taking over what had been previously the only Austin location of Portland burger chain Little Big Burger. The restaurant seemed to have closed sometime in early 2024.
• French bistro Blue Dahlia Cafe is closing its Westlake location on Tuesday, April 30, because the owners are declining to renew its lease. Its San Marcos restaurant is the only remaining Blue Dahlia around, since the original in Central East Austin closed in 2020.
• The physical cafe location of Madrone Coffee Co. in Oak Hill has closed this month. Its last day at 6266 West Highway 290 was on April 18. The business will continue to roast and sell coffee beans through its website and wholesale.
• Korean barbecue restaurant Charm Korean BBQ, which opened in 2016, seemingly closed sometime in April at 1200 West Howard Lane. Now, a new Korean restaurant took over the space, Chodang Village.
• Presented without comment: Rainey Street bar Unbarlievable closed on Sunday, April 29. Its West Sixth location remains open.

Longtime Austin lakeside restaurant has new ownership

Lake Austin Tex-Mex-tiki bar and restaurant Hula Hu t has been under new ownership since January 2024, as reported by Community Impact. The 3825 Lake Austin Boulevard business is under the purview of Union Venture Group, which also oversees country bar Maverick Dance Hall with locations in Austin, Buda and forthcoming Dallas; rooftop bar 77 Degrees; nightclub the Rose Room; and Irish bar Jack and Ginger’s. Hula opened in 1993 by the co-founders of Chuy’s, the late Mike Young and John Zapp, with Duffy Oyster. The duo sold the business in 2009.

Tracking Austin restaurant events

South Austin Mexican restaurant El Naranjo is celebrating its anniversary by giving its diners a discount on their food. The 12-year-old restaurant will offer 25 percent meal discounts on Wednesday, May 1.

Central Texas food product awards

The winners of the annual Good Food Awards are here for 2024, and the list includes a bunch of Austin-area products and businesses. There’s the Meteor’s ¡El Meteoro! Pablo’s Smoky Rojo sauce; the Art of Pecan’s sea salt activated native Texas pecans; Two Hives Honey’ s comb honey and cardamom-infused raw honey, and Vista Brewing’s Dark Skies black pilsner.