Until this year, the stretch of South Congress Avenue just south of Monroe Street was where Travis Heights went out to dinner. Vespaio had served Italian food at the corner since 1998. Across the street, the South Congress Hotel ran Otoko, Maie Day and Café No Sé. All of those kitchens have now closed. Food is coming back to the block in a specific order. First comes a café that opens for breakfast and lunch. Three western-wear flagships fill the old Vespaio building next, and the hotel's full restaurant and bar program waits until 2027.
The order matters for anyone who walks to this block. For the next several months, most new activity on the 1600 block will happen in daylight or behind a cash register.
Two Closures That Emptied the Evening
Vespaio's owners announced its closing in early January, the Austin American-Statesman reported. The restaurant had been on South Congress since 1998. Co-owners Daniel Brooks and Ryan Samson, who bought it from founders Alan Lazarus, Scott Bolin and Claude Benayoun in 2018, told the paper that the timing felt right as South Congress changed. The closing came at the same time as the property's sale and redevelopment. Their sister restaurant, Vespa Rossa, opened in Dripping Springs in summer 2025.
The hotel closure took more out of the block. Hyatt Hotels Corporation bought the 83-room South Congress Hotel in December and is converting it to a Standard. Every restaurant and retailer inside was expected to close except Mañana, the coffee shop, according to the Statesman's April report. The departures included two kitchens whose chefs had been named Food & Wine Best New Chefs. Michael Fojtasek, honored in 2015 for Olamaie, opened Maie Day at the hotel in 2022. Yoshi Okai received the same honor in 2017 for Otoko, the 12-seat counter.
That left a block once known for its dinner reservations with very few of them.
First Back: An All-Day Café at 1600
The first new kitchen on the block is The Butcher's Daughter, slated to open Sunday, Nov. 15, at 1600 South Congress Ave., Austin Monthly reported. The brand started in New York in 2012. The Austin restaurant will be its first in Texas and its largest location so far. It shares the property with Only the Wild Ones, the listening bar from the same team, and this is the first time the two concepts have operated together.
At first, The Butcher's Daughter will open daily from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. for breakfast and lunch at first, with dinner service planned shortly after. Co-founders Heather Tierney and Sarah Meyer Simon have planned a menu of grain bowls, breakfast burritos, stone-oven pizzas, salads and cold-pressed juices. The espresso program uses a Mod Bar system and beans from Proud Mary, and the bar pours natural wines, cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks. According to Austin Monthly, the founders sourced nearly all of the decor from within 100 miles of Austin.
The first kitchen to reopen near South Congress and Monroe will start each day with espresso and breakfast burritos.
Next: Boot Walls Where the Dining Room Was
Vespaio's former building at 1612 South Congress is being rebuilt as retail. Its owners, Denver-based Quannah Partners and Austin-based Fortum Ventures, said in July that Phase I was fully leased. Their announcement lists about 6,800 square feet split among four tenants.
| Tenant | Approx. square feet | What it means for the block |
|---|---|---|
| Alberta Boot Company | 4,002 | First U.S. store and U.S. flagship for the Canadian bootmaker |
| Wrangler | 1,625 | U.S. flagship for the denim and western brand |
| Cody & Sioux | Not specified | Alberta Boot's sister label for ready-to-wear western clothing, also a first U.S. store |
| Astrid & Miyu | 1,200 | The U.K. jeweler's first Texas boutique and fifth U.S. location |
The owners expected all four stores to open by the end of 2026. The Statesman's October tracker of Congress Avenue projects lists the 1612 project at $8.7 million, with work starting in August 2026 and project completion in April 2027.
The building will be recognizable to anyone who ate there. The release says the redevelopment keeps the existing buildings and elements of the historic facade, and the footprint grows by about 900 square feet. "Each of these brands has a strong identity and an authentic story, and together they reflect the quality, craftsmanship and originality that define South Congress," Quannah Partners CEO Doug Wiley said in the announcement.
The site has more to come. A second phase along the Milton Street side is planned to begin construction in early 2027. It will add just under 4,000 square feet of retail for one or two more tenants, and the owners say that space is being marketed now.
The Western-Wear Row Reaches Milton Street
Three western retailers at 1612 add to a cluster that has been growing for years. In July, a Statesman column said the avenue had gone "from having a couple of dedicated cowboy boot stores to feeling like one giant Western wear showroom."
The arrivals came in this order:
- Allens Boots, 1522 S. Congress, at the corner of Monroe Street since 1977.
- Heritage Boot Co., two blocks away, opened in 2005.
- Tecovas, which opened in 2019 and moved to its current flagship at 1500 S. Congress around 2022.
- King Ranch Saddle Shop, 1333 S. Congress, and Lucchese, 1508 S. Congress, which opened in 2024.
- Yellow Rose by Kendra Scott, 1700 S. Congress, which held its grand opening on Nov. 15, 2024.
- Ariat, 1323 S. Congress, open by late April 2026, KXAN reported.
With 1612 added, almost every block from Tecovas at 1500 to Yellow Rose at 1700 has a western-wear storefront. Ashley Beall, director of sales and events at Allens Boots, told the Statesman in October that "our sales have actually gone up over the years, even though more cowboy boot stores are on the street."
Independent shops are staying put as well. Emily Hoover opened Feathers in 2005, and in the same Statesman article she said she had just signed a new lease. "I'm going nowhere," she said. Her shop is being renovated, and sales are running out of the green building next door while electrical and plumbing work is completed.
Last Back: The Hotel's Restaurants, at The Standard
The block's largest dining program comes back when the hotel reopens. Hyatt plans to turn the property into The Standard, Austin, with renovated guest rooms and public spaces, new restaurants and bars, social-wellness programming and a rooftop pool. Hyatt gives spring 2027 as the opening. The Statesman's tracker puts the renovation at $9 million, starting August 2026 and finishing March 2027. Michael Hsu, who designed the original hotel, is helping with the redesign. It will be the Standard brand's first new U.S. property in 10 years.
Hotel leadership has described the coming food and drink lineup as blending global influences with Texas-sourced ingredients, built around a Texas-based chef, the Statesman reported. The owners of 1612 are counting on the reopened hotel, with The Butcher's Daughter, to bring more foot traffic to their end of the block.
The Block, Season by Season
| Window | What is expected on the 1600 block |
|---|---|
| Mid-November 2026 | The Butcher's Daughter is slated to open at 1600 S. Congress for breakfast and lunch, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., with dinner planned shortly after |
| End of 2026 | Wrangler, Alberta Boot Company, Cody & Sioux and Astrid & Miyu are expected to open at 1612 |
| Early 2027 | Phase II construction starts on the Milton Street frontage of 1612 |
| Spring 2027 | The Standard, Austin reopens across the street with new restaurants, bars and a rooftop pool |
| April 2027 | Listed completion date for the 1612 redevelopment project |
Mañana, the coffee shop at the hotel, was the one tenant expected to stay through the conversion.
The new owners of the corner have committed to retail. At Drew & Co., we follow projects like 1612 South Congress the way a developer would, from the lease-up announcement to the construction schedule to the opening. If you would like to talk about how the changes along South Congress relate to your own plans in Travis Heights, contact us.
