Food for Flood Relief

Burgers for relief (courtesy of Hopdoddy Burger Bar)

After flood waters rampaged through Central Texas over the Memorial Day weekend, area restaurants stepped up to help in the best way they know how – feeding people. Some eateries donated food for first responders, clean-up crews, and volunteers, while others are raising funds.

When the raging Blanco River flood brought devastation to the community of Wimberley, Leaning Pear restaurant owners Matt and Rachel Buchanan were grateful their business was spared. They fired up their kitchen and began cooking gumbo, pasta dishes, and casseroles in large quantities, sending food out to first responders who were rescuing survivors and volunteers who were looking for the missing. "We're not heroes, " Matt Buchanan told us, "We're just keeping the real heroes fed."

Bruce Collie and his large family at Brewster's Pizza on Ranch Road 12 sent stacks and stacks of pizzas to feed volunteers, and Country Line co-owner Skeeter Miller and one of his managers drove to Wimberley with over 500 links of sausage, beans, tortillas and barbecue sauce for sustenance another day. This past weekend, Deep Eddie Distillery donated 100% of their profits from their live music showcases to the efforts.

Not to be outdone, Austin restaurants are helping out too. Many of the participants in Negroni Week are donating their profits to aid in the cleanup. Chef Jack Gilmore of Jack Allen's Kitchen teamed up with Celtic Seafare at the Barton Creek Farmers Market over the weekend for a fundraiser as well.

And the owners of Austin's two Hopdoddy Burger Bars are pledging to donate all the proceeds from sales at both locations on Thursday, June 4. They've had success with this formula in the past, having raised over $13,000 in 2011 to benefit fire relief efforts in Bastop.

This week, they'd like to do better. "We are hoping to make an impactful donation to the relief efforts specifically in the Wimberley community through our friends at the Barnabas Connection and we encourage Austinites to come out to show their support," said Hopdoddy CEO Dan Mesches.