Austin Oyster Festival Is Shella Fierce, Progress Coffee Is Back in Black, Girl Scouts Are Out for Blood, La Condesa Is Gonna Try Hard, and Who’s Putting All That Queso on the Verde?

Here’s some of what's happening in Austin's culinary scene – as wrangled from numerous PR releases, words on the digital street, and even the occasional (verified) IRL eavesdroppings.

The Austin Oyster Festival brings a bounty of bodacious bivalves

Yes, citizen, it’s your “Food News Buffet” for the last week of February, right here in the Texas river city formerly known as Waterloo.

Okay, first up: JUMP ON THIS QUICK! Tickets are now available for the Texas Food & Wine Association’s annual Live Fire! food-a-palooza at Camp Mabry in April…

And the Austin Oyster Festival is this very weekend, shellfish lovers! That’s right, the annual celebration of those mouthwatering mollusks in all manner of culinary manifestations is taking place at Republic Square (422 Guadalupe) on Sat., Feb. 25, noon-6pm, and you can snag tickets right here and the price will benefit the Central Texas Food Bank and Hope Campaign…

And, whoa, what’s going on with what used to be Sala & Betty on Airport Boulevard? Wasn’t it supposed to be ATX Grill, a new barbecue joint from those folks formerly of Russian House? Yeah, we thought so, too. Turns out, we were mistaken. But, ah, WTF is this new … Rosé Gosé?

Progress is made: Progress Coffee returns!

Remember Progress Coffee, founded by that Josh Bingaman back in 2004? Remember how much we liked it, and then it went away and we cried big tears for the caffeinated hangout of days gone by? Well, after almost a decade of focusing on roasting and e-commerce, Progress returns (triumphantly, we’ll reckon) to a brick-and-mortar space at 3421 N. I-35 on Fri., Feb 24. The new joint’ll have a large back patio, full coffee bar, full cocktail bar, beer from Meanwhile and Zilker and more, and Rachel Smith is doing a huge mural on one outside wall, and – yeah, we’ll be there often, ’cause they’re open from 7am to 10pm every day…

La Condesa, that fine Contemporary Mexican restaurant at 400 W. Second, will celebrate 14 years of business (and its newest James Beard semifinalist nomination) during brunch this Saturday & Sunday, Feb. 25 & 26. And what better way to celebrate than an array of new dishes from chef Rick Lopez and a boozy (and non-boozy) beverage takeover from Try Hard Coffee’s Raechel Hurd (who used to rock her skills on La Condesa’s own pastry team) – a takeover where that Hurd will further supercharge the delicious noms with a live vinyl DJ party…

You know who doesn’t like Girl Scout Cookies? Fiends, probably. Eldritch, ichor-dripping, downright Lovecraftian fiends. For the rest of us, let’s note that Austin’s blood donation initiative, We Are Blood, is giving one box of Girl Scout Cookies to all donors through February. And no, they’re not going to give you just whatever box they want; you get to choose from Adventurefuls, Thin Mints, Caramel Delights, or Peanut Butter Patties…

Speaking of sweetness that we like, imagine Tiff’s Treats. Now imagine the Sprinkles bakery. Now combine the two – exactly the way they’ve briefly joined forces in real life – and what do you get? You get a limited-edition Snickerdoodle Cupcake, is what you get, and they’ll be available starting Mon., Feb. 27…

TXB, the Texas-born chain of convenience stores, is opening its newest brick-and-mortar in Bee Cave on Tue., Feb. 28, 11am, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a meet-and-greet with the city’s Mayor Kara King and city council members at 15701 Hwy. 71 W. And, hey, you know what this store’s got, besides the usual locally sourced goodness? A Subway drive-through and electric vehicle charging stations, FTW…

And, after a successful first year in Austin, the San Antonio-based Delicious Tamales (1931 E. Oltorf) is opening its second location here: 1700 W. Parmer. There’ll be a ribbon-cutting and grand opening celebration there, too, hosted by the Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce – at noon on Thu., March 2…

Just a li'l Gumbo Fest, ya-ya

Let’s see – what else, what else? Well, Kerbey Lane Cafe has joined Major League Soccer as the Official Queso Partner of Austin FC; the beloved local chain will bring their iconic queso to supporters at Q2 Stadium beginning in March… And all locations of Jack Allen’s Kitchen and Salt Traders Coastal Cooking have a Shrimp Festival going on right now – through March 12 – with JAK featuring a Buffalo Shrimp Salad during lunch, a Cajun Butter Shrimp Boil for dinner, and new shrimp-focused dishes that will change each week, and the Salty crew bringing back that popular Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Cocktail… And our man on the street Haris Qureshi reveals the story behind “Two Sisters, Two Food Trucks, and a Lot of Soul”… And what about the Cavalier’s Gumbo Fest on Saturday? And the Central Library’s Cooking Day? And Olamaie’s new Southern Exposure series?

WUXTRY! It’s not happening until the end of March (after South by Southwest, thankfully, right?), but we’re already stoked for this Asian World Night Market that’s hailed as “the largest showcase in Texas of Asian-inspired food, art, music, and entertainment.” Mind you, it’ll be up there in Hutto, where the general citizenry was a tetch freaked out by the deadmau5 concert that ba-BOOMED their, um, rather bucolic environs a couple years back; but we reckon everybody will be nothing but happily thrilled and culinarily stuffed by this amazing event…

Now eat as well as you can, tip like it’s going out of style, and don’t forget that love trumps hate every single goddamn time.