Two Austin Food Truck Favorites Will Open a New Multi-Restaurant Garden Space in Sunset Valley

Two of Austin’s best food trucks — Mexican food truck and restaurant mini-chain Veracruz All Natural and Thai food truck Dee Dee — are finally opening their long-awaited joint multi-restaurant-slash-garden park space next year. Leona Botanical Cafe & Bar will open at 6405 Brodie Lane in Sunset Valley in early 2025.

Veracruz co-owners and sisters Reyna Vazquez and Maritza Vazquez and Dee Dee co-owners and couple chef Lakana Sopajan-Trubiana and Justin Trubiana had been working on this project since early 2022. The five-acre space will include counter-service physical locations of Dee Dee (its first ever) and Veracruz (this will be its second full-on standalone restaurant), and then a third unknown-at-this-time restaurant. Then there’s a separate cafe and bar, which will serve up cocktails that meld Mexican and Thai influences and ingredients.

Elsewhere on the Leona property will be a pavilion and shared outdoor seating. There are very intense plans when it comes to the greenery and garden — which tracks with Sopajan-Trubiana’s green thumb. The current treescape and stream will be maintained. Then more trees and plants will be added, especially plants that can be used for foods and drinks.

The Vazquezes and Trubianas had operated their respective food trucks nearby on East Cesar Chavez in 2018, which is when they became friends and started loosely talking about opening something together. They put together the proposal for the project in late 2023, and had to put it in front of Sunset Valley officials because they had to approve of a zoning change.

Leona Botanical Cafe & Bar

Working on building and revamping the grounds are architecture firm Clayton Korte, landscape architecture firm Campbell, engineering firm MIGL, general contractor G Creek, and landscape contractor X Scrapes Environmental

The Brodie Lane property was owned by to Betty Grubbs, an Austinite who is also a World War II vet who advocated for the University of Texas at Austin’s women’s sports teams. She died at the age of 100 in 2018. To honor her, the team plans on hosting a fundraiser every year benefitting her scholarship to UT’s women’s athletics department.

Veracruz started as a food truck in 2008, and now there are several food trucks and restaurants across the city. Dee Dee started as a food truck in 2016, which is now found at Radio Coffee on South Lamar (along with a Veracruz truck). When Leona opens, Dee Dee’s food truck will close permanently.