A New Southwestern Restaurant Opens in Austin With Bone Marrow-Topped Chili and Martinis

Downtown Austin seafood restaurant Bill’s Oyster is expanding with a second restaurant this fall. Casual Southwestern grill restaurant and bar Teddy’s will open in the Rosedale neighborhood at 1601 West 38th Street, Suite 1 starting on Monday, November 18.

Teddy’s centers on Southwestern cuisine (which is a mixture of food styles seen in the Southwest region of the country rooted in Indigenous and Mexican approaches with American inflections, featuring lots of chiles, blue corn, beans, and squash) with Texan takes. From executive chef Rene Garza, expect dishes like Texas red chili with a giant bone marrow, Parker house rolls served with cinnamon-ancho chile butter; duck confit flautas with mole negro; stuffed quail; filet mignon with chile relleno; blue crab tostadas; and more. The bar will serve cocktails (i.e. the Valentina michelada), martinis (like the Lone Starr martini with peach vodka, vanilla liqueur, passion fruit, and a sidecar of Champagne), wines, and frozen cocktails.

Garza most recently was the chef de cuisine of New Orleans-ish East Austin restaurant Uptown Sports Club as part of the opening team. Before that, he worked at Mexican seafood restaurant Este and Mexican restaurant Suerte.

Teddy’s

Running Teddy’s are co-owners Daniel Berg and Dylan Salisbury, who opened Bill’s Oyster in May 2023. It’s named after Berg’s second son, whose nickname is Teddy. Physically, the restaurant — redesigned by architecture and design company Studio Steinbomer will have indoor seats and an enclosed patio, with lots of dark wood and a copper bar.

This isn’t Austin’s only new food/drink place with the name of Teddy’s. There’s also Teddy’s the cocktail bar opened in Cherrywood by the Love Supreme pizza restaurant team in October. Their name was chosen because it “felt warm and inviting,” per co-owner Paulina Cline.

Teddy’s the restaurant is taking over the space previously occupied by cheese and sandwich cafe Spread & Co. The restaurant closed earlier this May because co-owners Rosemary Ewald and Austin Ewald decided to not renew their lease. Instead, they relocated and reopened the business in Cherrywood in October.

Teddy’s hours will be from 4 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 4 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. It’ll start with dinner service only, adding lunch, breakfast, and weekend brunch later.

Update, November 15: This article, originally published on October 3, has been updated to include Teddy’s the restaurant’s opening date and details.