Food-o-File

So Long, SoCo

When I moved into a rundown, slightly shabby Bouldin Creek-area neighborhood in near South Austin during Christmas 1992, it bore little resemblance to the chic and trendy scene thriving there today. Back then, the two historic motels along the avenue were little more than flophouses haunted by the drug dealers and streetwalkers, the old feedstore building was long abandoned, and I had a nodding acquaintance with the transvestite prostitute who worked out of her doorway. And, there was a very active crack house two doors down at the corner of Eva and Elizabeth. I wasn't worried, however, because I've always been good at choosing neighborhoods on the upswing, just as they begin to appreciate. In no time at all, things started changing in that inner-city area, and many of the changes were directly or indirectly related to food.

When I first moved down South, there were already established eateries in the immediate area such as the Magnolia Cafe South and Dan's Hamburgers on South Congress, the legendary Green Pastures on Live Oak, Güero's and Texicalli over on Oltorf, and a handful of reliable Mexican cafes on South First. By the mid-Nineties, however, the entire neighborhood was getting a face-lift, and things happened so fast, it's hard to remember the exact chronology. Eddie Wilson took over the old Marimont Cafeteria at Riverside and Barton Springs Road to create Threadgill's World Headquarters, a restaurant and music venue just a stone's throw from the site of his original music joint. Opera singer Dottye Dean returned to her native Austin to refurbish the Austin Motel that her family had owned on South Congress since before World War II. Soon, a group of enterprising Latinas opened El Sol y la Luna in the motel's coffee shop. After a polite squabble before the historical commission, Rob and Cathy Lippincott moved their popular taco joint Güero's into the old feedstore, breathing new life into that historic edifice and attracting an entire new generation of potential customers to the dusty junk and antique shops along the avenue. Attorney Liz Lambert bought the threadbare San José Motel and re-imagined it as the Hotel San José, a hip hostelry that paid homage to Austin's music scene. Before long, the friendly, open-air Jo's Coffee Shop appeared in the San José parking lot, with Liz's brother, chef Lou Lambert, at the helm. The former Pig Stand on College Avenue off Congress was transformed into the Treehouse Italian Grill, offering good Italian-American food on Austin's loveliest tree-shaded patio. Over on South First, Polvo's began serving tasty versions of Interior Mexican specialties, and the clear, sweet tenor voice of local yodeler Don Walser could be heard wafting from Jovita's every week, without fail.

Hot on the heels of all that development, chef Alan Lazarus and his partners debuted their Italian eatery Vespaio and saw it skyrocket to success immediately, even without a sign. Chef Lou Lambert's Liberty Pie Company became Liberty Catering and finally developed into Lambert's Bar & Grill, a cozy little neighborhood bistro that attracts folks from all over town. Just this year, Adam Weisberg's hip Japanese fast food outfit, Zen, opened on Congress offering low-fat fare near a much-needed Amy's Ice Cream scoop shop. What was once a sleepy, shabby little inner-city eyesore has become a jewel, a decidedly funky and definitely South Austin retail and culinary mecca. I hate having to leave it. So long, SoCo.