The Austin dining scene is never boring, but 2025 will be especially exciting, as long-standing favorites expand. Barbecue is a big theme: There’s a new Cajun-Texan trailer from the manager of a Michelin-starred joint, a new establishment from a longtime Driftwood favorite, and sausages and sandwiches from a favorite neighborhood bar. A celeb-adored French restaurant is also opening a chic Parisian café in an art museum. Two of Austin’s best food trucks are collaborating on a gorgeous garden space, and an institution for interior Mexican is opening a cafe for breakfast and lunch with a lauded pastry chef at the helm. Displaced New Yorkers are also awaiting an expansion of a favorite Nolita bar.
Here are the most exciting restaurant openings of early 2025.
Parish Barbecue
Location: 3220 Manor Road
Key player: Holden Fulco
Projected opening date: January 2025
The general manager of Michelin-starred barbecue spot Interstellar BBQ is opening a barbecue truck at Batch Craft Beer & Kolaches. Parish will take a Cajun approach to Texas barbecue, offering dishes like smoked brisket po’ boys, pulled duck, smoked boudin, and the Texas trinity of brisket, pork ribs, and sausages.
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Tzintzuntzan
Location: 2330 West North Loop Boulevard
Key player: Natalie Gazaui
Projected opening date: March 2025
Landmark interior Mexican restaurant Fonda San Miguel is only open for dinner, but it’s opening a second restaurant on its Allandale property for breakfast and lunch. Tzintzuntzan, which translates to “place of hummingbirds” in the Purépecha language, will serve Mexican baked goods, ice cream, and regional dishes from Merida, Yucatan, and Mexico City. Uruguayan pastry chef Natalie Gazaui, currently the executive pastry chef at Fonda San Miguel, will take the reins as executive chef.
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Justine’s x Blanton
Location: 200 East Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard
Key players: Justine Gilcrease and Pierre Pelegrin
Projected opening date: Spring 2025
Whimsical East Side French restaurant Justine’s is expanding into a new cafe at the Blanton Museum of Art. Co-owner Justine Gilcrease told Eater the all-day restaurant will be in the style of a Parisian café, serving breakfast and lunch, with dinner hours on Saturdays. It will also have picnic boxes for diners on the go and a nifty bakery counter. The restaurant plans to serve themed dishes related to the museum’s seasonal collections and art pieces.
Leona Botanical Cafe & Bar
Location: 6405 Brodie Lane
Key players: Lakana Sopajan-Trubiana, Justin Trubiana, Reyna Vazquez, and Maritza Vazquez
Projected opening date: Early 2025
Two of Austin’s best food trucks — taco truck Veracruz All Natural and Thai truck Dee Dee — are joining forces at a new garden space. Dee Dee will close the current food truck at Radio to open its first counter-service restaurant, serving spicy Thai dishes. Veracruz will also host a counter-service restaurant with popular dishes like migas tacos. A third restaurant and a cafe serving coffee and cocktails with Thai and Mexican influences will also join Veracruz and Dee Dee. Dee Dee co-owner Lakana Sopajan-Trubiana is known for her expert gardening skills, so expect this space to be beautiful and functional.
Mother’s Ruin
Location: 1401 East Sixth Street, Building A, Suite 204
Key players: Richard Knapp and TJ Lynch
Projected opening date: Early 2025
New York City dive bar Mother’s Ruin is opening an Austin location early this year that will join outposts in Nashville and Chicago. The Austin locale will sling drinks like frozen bourbon slushies alongside bar food like waffle fries, burgers, and wings. For the morning after, Mother’s Ruin plans to host daily brunch, with casual and hearty dishes like breakfast burritos and French toast sticks.
High Road Delicatexan
Location: 915 West Mary Street
Key players: Cavalier co-owners Fox and Chadwick Leger
Projected opening date: February 2025
The fun and casual East Austin hangout Cavalier is expanding south to the Bouldin neighborhood with a new restaurant and bar. Previously named the Second Rodeo, the new restaurant has become High Road Delicatexan, a shop specializing in sandwiches and sausages.
Roxie’s
Location: 308 Main Street
Key player: Scott Roberts
Projected opening date: Early spring 2025
The owner of the iconic Driftwood barbecue spot Salt Lick is opening a new restaurant in Buda. Taking inspiration from owner Scott Roberts’ grandmother, who made his favorite fried chicken, Roxie’s will serve hearty family-style meals like chicken-fried steaks, fried chicken, and smoked meats alongside unlimited sides like mashed potatoes, creamed corn, and green beans. Lunch will be the only time diners can score individual plates like chopped beef sandwiches. The restaurant will also offer fun treats like homemade pies and frozen peach Bellinis at its full bar, an ode to the fresh Hill Country peaches Roxie once put in her cobblers.
Update: Monday, January 13, 2025, 1:55 p.m.: This article has been updated to remove Bad Larry, which now plans to open its standalone restaurant mid-2025.