Amazing Pizza and Wine Restaurant Bufalina Is Reopening in East Austin

Lauded Neapolitan pizzeria and wine restaurant Bufalina is reopening in East Austin this year. The restaurant, which closed its original location in 2021, will open at 2215 East Cesar Chavez Street in the Holly neighborhood starting on Monday, November 21.

Joining the Bufalina team is chef Grae Nonas, recently known for his Italian restaurant-turned-pop-up Le Cowboy. “I’ve long admired Grae’s cooking and feel that it’s very much in line with what we’ve always done at Bufalina,” says owner Steven Dilley. It’s fair to expect handmade pasta and bread.

Nonas started Le Cowboy as a temporary restaurant on the forthcoming Mexican seafood restaurant Este property (formerly Eastside Cafe) for seven months from 2020 into 2021. Since then, he’s operated as a pop-up.

Lastly, wine director Rania Zayyat is now a partner in Bufalina, but she will still oversee the restaurant’s superb wine program and wine club. In the meantime, Bufalina’s other location up in Brentwood, Bufalina Due, has stayed open during this time.

The returning new Bufalina’s hours will be from 4 to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday, and then from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The address on East Cesar Chavez had formerly been the laundromat Frank’s Coin Laundry, which closed sometime in 2018.

Dilley opened Bufalina on Cesar Chavez in 2013, followed by Bufalina Due on Burnet Road in 2016. He was also named an Eater Young Gun in 2014.

Update, November 14, 2:36 p.m.: This article, originally published on June 13, has been updated to reflect Bufalina’s new opening date and hours.