Hi friends, Taqueria Chapala has been on its corner of East Cesar Chavez since 1997, and the lease is up. I will tell you below what I could confirm about when, and what I could not, because the two reports do not agree and it matters if you want to go. There is also a Sunday coming when more than thirty museums in this city open their doors for nothing.
In between, a place to eat: an izakaya in East Austin that smokes its own brisket and has been on Michelin’s value list since the day Texas got one.
Three things, as always. One place to eat, one thing to do, and one thing to know. Here is your weekend.
Eat, this week
East Austin · dinner nightly · opens at 5, earlier Friday through Sunday
Kemuri Tatsu-ya is a Japanese izakaya running a Texas smokehouse out of the back of it, and it has held a Michelin Bib Gourmand since the Texas guide began in 2024. The Bib is the value award rather than the star, which is the useful thing to know here, because most of the menu sits in the teens. It opened in 2017 in the room that used to be Live Oak Barbecue, and Bon Appétit put it eighth on its list of the best new restaurants in America that same year.
Order the brisket dipping ramen, which explains the whole idea in one bowl. The chili cheese takoyaki is the other thing people come back for, and the smoked fish dip is the one to start with if there are more than two of you. It is dinner only and it is open seven nights, from five on weeknights and four Friday through Sunday, so an early table is the move if you want to hear each other.
Do, this weekend
Citywide · Sunday, September 20 · free
On Sunday more than thirty museums across the Austin area drop admission entirely. This is the twenty-ninth year of Austin Museum Day, and the spread is the point: the Blanton, the Bullock, and the LBJ Library, but also the Neill-Cochran House, the Umlauf sculpture garden, and the Texas Science and Natural History Museum.
Two things make it easier than it sounds. CapMetro is handing out free bus passes for the day through the UMO app with the code CM-26KB-HRWF, and downtown street parking is free on Sundays anyway. Hours are different at every single site, so pick two or three and check each one first. The Contemporary recommends reserving ahead for Laguna Gloria and the Jones Center.
Know, this week
Taqueria Chapala has been at 2101 East Cesar Chavez since 1997, and it is closing. The lease was not renewed. Co-owner Manuel Lopez laid the whole thing out on Facebook in July: the landlord came by on May 1 to pick up rent and deferred taxes and handed over a document to sign, and the line saying the lease would not be renewed was in it. He says he signed it without reading it. On June 15 the landlord said it out loud.
Here is the part I want to be straight with you about. Lopez told CultureMap the final day is September 20, which is this Sunday. The Statesman reported that the restaurant has to be out by September 30. The restaurant’s own site still lists ordinary hours and says nothing about closing at all. If you want to eat there before it goes, this weekend is the safe answer, and it is worth calling first at 512-320-0308.
The other three Taqueria Chapalas are not affected. Ben White, US 290, and Round Rock all stay open. It is the original corner that is going.
Awesome Austinites
Two people who make something here, in their own words.
Photos by Nick Berard.
Yuliya Lanina, artist. She makes paintings, animations, sculptures, and performances, and the clearest way to see how they fit together right now is Dress Rehearsal, her show at grayDUCK Gallery, up through September 26. Her steel flowers, each one with an eye at its center, are a permanent City of Austin commission out on West Slaughter Lane. She teaches in the Department of Arts and Entertainment Technologies at UT.
Asked for one opinion about Austin that most people here would argue with, she said this: “I don’t really agree that Austin is weird. After living in New York, Austin seems pretty tame to me, to be honest.”
@GoodnightGracie
Quentin, musician. KUTX’s July artist of the month, and the maker of TOMGIRL, their debut album and the thing they say is the best work they have ever done. They came to Austin on a whim in 2017 and stayed for the family and the community they built here.
Asked where they actually eat and drink, the answer was a list and nothing else: Vegan Nom, Tyson’s Tacos, Amy’s Ice Creams, Home Slice Pizza, and Neighborhood Sushi.
Locals say
I have been emailing people who run businesses around Austin one question each, and telling them their answer would run with their name on it. Dozens answered. The words below are theirs, cut only where a sentence had to go, and every business is linked.
“I moved to east Austin in 2004 and I’d say the biggest change is most of the empty lots and abandoned buildings are now bars, restaurants and apartments. So there’s a lot more businesses and foot traffic. My biggest gripe though is the cost of eating out or going out for drinks.”
Nathan Lipson, owner of Metrocycle Pedicabs, on East Austin.
“De Nada for not your usual tacos & margaritas: blue corn tortillas, fillings that are interesting in a good way, plus strong tasty margaritas. Very casual. Justine’s for a perfect dinner: good French food, great atmosphere. Vibes galore.”
Randy Franklin, Yard Dog Art, on Govalle.
Dish of the week
Sí Baby-Q · Pork ribs
This week’s dish is the pork ribs at Sí Baby-Q, sent in by the restaurant. Six hours of smoke and an agave nectar glaze on them. Sí Baby-Q is a barbecue truck rather than a dining room, which is worth knowing before you go looking for a front door.
One more thing.
Tuesday is HAAM Day, which is the one day a year this city turns itself into a single venue. More than 600 local musicians play upward of 250 sets at more than 140 places, from Stubb’s to the steps of the Capitol to the H-E-B where you buy your groceries. Admission is free everywhere, and the money raised goes to health care for working musicians.
If you want somewhere to start, the Latinpalooza bill at Radio/East has Quentin and The Animeros on it, both of whom you have met in this newsletter. Doors at 4:30, music at 5.
If someone you know keeps asking where to go in Austin, forward this. One forward, and the Austin cheat-sheet is yours.
See you next Thursday.
P.S. Two people who run businesses around Austin answered a question about their own neighborhood this week. If one of those neighborhoods is a part of town you have never spent time in, there is a guide to all of them here.