Here's a look at new Austin eateries, drinking spots, hotels, conference areas, private rooms, and other spaces to open for events this summer. The new and renovated Austin venues are available for corporate parties, weddings, fund-raisers, outdoor functions, business dinners, teambuilding activities, conferences, meetings, and more.
The Hyatt Hotel’s latest restaurant is the Austin Taco Project, boasting of three private dining rooms. First, Big Ben can seat 40 people and offers a separate entrance, as well as television capabilities. The largest of the three options is the Great Wall, which can fit 75 guests, and then there’s the intimate Easter Island After Dark, found behind a speakeasy-like door. The rest of the restaurant, which focuses on new school, globally-inspired tacos, includes a bar and patio area. It opened in March.
Popular spin studio SoulCycle, with its signature high-energy cycling classes, expanded with a second Austin location in February (the first is up north in the Domain). The 54-bike SoulCycle DATX is available for buyouts. Amenities include men’s and women’s locker rooms, showers, and a boutique shop with the brand’s apparel.
East Austin welcomed a new experiential boutique hostel to its vicinity with the unveiling of the Native Hostel Austin in early May. There is a full-service bar, restaurant, and cafe lounge, all of which are open during daytime and late-night hours for now, with 24/7 service to come. Other event spaces include the Parlor Room with a reception capacity of 150 guests, the upstairs Romper Room (which also serves as a suite), and the dedicated venue area, which can fit more than 1,800 guests and features a parking lot.
White Lodging Services Corp. is opening two hotels in one building space in downtown Austin, the 278-room Aloft and 144-room Element Austin hotels, in July. The properties will share two eateries, the casual all-day cafe/bakery/restaurant Caroline and the al fresco second floor lounge Upstairs at Caroline with fire pits and lawn games. The site offers 3,000 square feet of event space in total. For meetings, the largest space is Element’s Tactic room, which seats 40 theater-style or 25 in a classroom-style set-up.
AFS Cinema is the upgraded art house movie theater from film director and Austinite Richard Linklater; it opened in late May. Two theaters are available for buyouts, equipped with Dolby Sound, DCP projections, and one with 35 mm capabilities. A separate event hall can fit 500 standing guests. The lobby is outfitted with a full bar serving substantial snacks such as sausages, toasts, gourmet popcorn, and candy.
The Austin suburb of Round Rock is now home to PS 35, a new pizzeria and beer garden. The industrial-inspired decor offers callbacks to New York City, starting with the name—a combination of the naming convention for public schools in that city and the number for the restaurant's location off of the interstate—and continuing with subway tiles, cement floors, and murals. Italian-American is the focus of the menu, offering up pizza, sandwiches, and more. For activities, there are vintage arcade games. The expansive 15,000-square-foot outdoor space includes a stage. It opened in late May.
The iconic Austin Motel on South Congress Avenue underwent renovations done by the Bunkhouse Group. The retro facelift includes 41 spruced-up rooms with updated red-and-white decor and funky details, upgraded pool with synchronized swimming shows, new cocktail bar Fine Foods, on-site trailer Jo’s Burger Box, and a new gift shop/bodega.
The elegant landmark Green Pastures unveiled major renovations in March. The property, home to the new restaurant Mattie’s as well as event space, upgraded the Victorian building that houses Mattie’s, with new operators La Corsha Hospitality Group. Event spaces within the property range from the intimate 12-seat Table Royal, with a private entrance, to the shaded Pavilion for al fresco parties of 80 seated guests or 100 for receptions. A hotel on the site is planned for 2018.
Outside of Austin is the historic restaurant and beer garden Krause’s Cafe, which opened earlier this year. The German/Texas menu is available throughout the indoor dining area and outdoor beer garden, which spans 10,054 square feet. The latter features two stages and mobile bars and offers access to rotisserie and barbecue/grilling set-ups. The covered, 1,900-square-foot Market Pavilion is available for private events of as many as 500 guests. A separate private dining area with bar is in the works.
Austin Winery is bringing wine right to the city with its tasting lounge. Regular tastings of wines from Texas, California, and Washington are hosted throughout the week at the South Austin venue. The 5,800-square-foot private mezzanine level is available for receptions of 35 people. The premises include a small prep kitchen, but there is room for catering set-ups and food trucks.
