Garbo’s Second Brick-and-Mortar Opens; JNL Barbecue’s First Brick-and-Mortar Opens; Flo’s Wine Bar & Bottle Shop Is Born; Oseyo Hires Laura Sawicki; Vixen’s Wedding’s New Menu Is *Chef’s Kiss*; and More

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.

Yeeeeee-haw, Garbo's gets a second brick-and-mortar!

Yes, citizen, it’s your “Food News Buffet” for the first week of March in the year (omg, how?) 2023.

Garbo’s Fresh Maine Lobster’s second brick and mortar in town – Garbo’s On Lamar (626 N. Lamar) – is open for onsite dining and to-go orders, complete with ten bar stools inside, bench-style seats outside under a covered awning for shade, and a small outdoor standing bar you can devour bites before hitting the road. Expect an intimate dining experience at this location and a limited menu of Garbo’s classics and fan favorites: lobster rolls, fried fish rolls, lobster grilled cheese, signature caviar, smoked mahi-mahi fish dip, crab cakes, shrimp cocktail, salads, and desserts – alongside beer, wine, and array of nonalcoholic beverages. BONUS: Garbo’s also has a new food trailer at the corner of Congress and E. Ninth, serving up the ocean-borne yumminess, Monday-Friday, 11am-2pm …

Yeah, and what else has opened not too far away from that Clarksville Garbo’s? Flo’s Wine Bar & Bottle Shop (3111 W. 35th), is what – offering a comforting space to relax in while drinking wine or grabbing bottles to go. (You want to hear the local angle with a bit of awwww factor to it? Flo Clemons and Adair Belisle – childhood best friends, who met at age eight and grew up together in the neighborhood – are the 31-year-old partners/owners in this project. Clemons has worked in wine most of her career and has an Accelerated Wine and Beverage Certificate from the Culinary Institute of America.) The place is well stocked with more than 190 bottles of wines from every major growing region in the world, and they’ve partnered with Allday Pizza to serve Neo-New York style pizza by the slice,16-inch full pies, salad, meatballs, soft serve ice cream, and more for lunch and dinner …

Meanwhile, to the north a little ways, Cedar Park is getting its own Ramen Tatsu-ya, with the celebrated local minichain set to open its newest outpost there (in the Lakeline Market Shopping Center) on Monday, March 13 …

JNL gets a place of their own, as well, and – yeah, our carnivore mouths are a-waterin', babe …

Also, see how we’ve got a listing for the grand opening of JNL Barbecue’s first brick-and-mortar operation? And we know those smokin’ ’cuemongers started out in the back lot of the Buzz Mill Coffee HQ on Town Creek Drive. But, look: One of the things you can still find, in that Buzz Mill lot at 1505 Town Creek, is a little operation known to the food-savvy as Bully Bagels, serving up a tasty variety of doughy toroids – with or without shmears, of course – and bagel sammiches and more (they’ve even got bagels for your favorite canine frens) from 7am-1pm daily …

And on the west side of town, at Hotel Viata (320 S. Capital of Texas Hwy) on the edge of the Texas Hill Country, chef Tommy Suddeth is preparing to offer the beautiful venue’s first Long Table Dinner of 2023, accompanying his delicious, family-style fare with pairings of cocktails from the talented whiskey wizards of Treaty Oak Distilling. That’s on Thursday, March 23, at 6pm – and you can snag yourself some tickets right here …

It’s not even springtime yet – we’re gaining on it, tho – and already the city’s best places are switching up their outlays of savories and sweets to entice a hungry populace into their dens of yum. Vixen’s Wedding, that Goan and Portuguese-inspired restaurant based at the ARRIVE Hotel (1813 E. Sixth), is set to unveil a new dinner menu and launch weekend brunch service this week – featuring traditional dishes reimagined with Texas ingredients (e.g., pork ribs vindaloo, with coconut salad and pickled garlic), created by managing chef Todd Duplechan and newly appointed chef de cuisine Dan Kennedy … and Oseyo, that gorgeous Korean-American restaurant in East Austin (1628 E. Cesar Chavez ), has just added the acclaimed Laura Sawicki as culinary director – which means that the new menu is a collaboration between her and owner Lynn Miller and executive chef Mike Diaz, which further means that it’ll showcase dessert treats like misugaru panna cotta with a seven-year fermented soy, a dark chocolate and doenjang fudgsicle, roasted barley and honey ice cream, and more … and the all-plant-sourced powerhouse of Next Level Burgers (525 N. Lamar) has updated its own menu, revamping favorites like their Chik’n burgers and other bunned burgery goodnesses, and adding a chocolate chip cookie dough chake and the spicy southwest salad …

In sadder news, Henbit and TLV, those excellent kitchens from the Emmer & Rye group, will be leaving Downtown’s Fareground (111 Congress) – they’ll be gone by March 20 – as the team focuses on their latest concept, the Israeli-inflected eatery of Ezov, which is slated to open this spring in East Austin. Note: Henbit and TLV might re-open in a different location, but ain’t nobody telling us jack about that yet …

And, back to joy: Longtime Mexican restaurant Joe’s Bakery & Coffee Shop (2305 E. Seventh), open since 1962, has won a James Beard award this year – for being one of “America’s Classics.” ’Course, old-school Austinites, ever craving delicious tacos and menudo and traditional baked goods on the Eastside, have been awarding the Avila family’s fine establishment steady patronage for much longer …

Let’s see – what else, what else? The Armadillo Den wants you to party at their second anniversary party on Thursday … The good folks of Garrison Bothers out in Hye are honoring Texas Independence Day with a music-charged, bourbon-fueled, meal-rockin’ shindig on Saturday … there’s a Diana Kennedy Centennial Celebration at Fonda San Miguel on Sunday … Rae Wilson’s Wine for the People (we recently noted the woman and her oenophilic work) is releasing the ninth vintage of their Dandy Rosé with a bit of fun and more fun … Chad Swiatecki reveals what’s happening to Austin’s vanishing farmlands … our A. Richmond looks into the Vietnamese homestyle cooking at South Austin's Bisous … Food editor Melanie Haupt reviews the Gallic culinary stylings of Bouldin Creek’s 1417 French Bistro …

Jo's Birthday Cake Latte

WUXTRY! The Jo’s Coffee Downtown (242 W. Second) is celebrating their 17th anniversary with a caffeinated take on everyone’s favorite cake – the Birthday Cake Latte – and this yummy cup of java will be available the entire month of March only at that location. But: There’ll be new drinks launched at all of Jo’s popular locations on March 6: peanut butter cup cold brew, honey lavender latte, blueberry matcha, pistachio latte, and rose lemonade …

Now eat as well as you can, tip like it’s going out of style, and omg brace yourself, dear citizen: SXSW is coming.