Name, Cuisine Of Planned Austin Motel Eatery Revealed

SOUTH AUSTIN, TX — Austin Motel officials on Wednesday revealed the name and culinary fare for their planned restaurant on South Congress: Joann's and Tex-Mex, respectively, according to a published report.

Eater Austin reports the new eatery set to open on 1220 S. Congress Ave. is a collaboration of the hotel's managing company Bunkhouse Group and Austin restaurant developer McGuire Moorman Hospitality. The eatery — named is in honor of Bunkhouse owner Liz Lambert’s mother — is scheduled to open sometime in late summer, the website reported.

The site at the corner on South Congress and West James Street was originally home to Snack Bar, the motel’s longtime restaurant, which shuttered in the fall of 2016 by owners Bethany Andrée and Karl Gilkey, Eater Austin reported. Bunkhouse converted the patio of the vacated space into cocktail bar Fine Foods and added a food trailer, Jo’s Burger Box, in April 2017, coinciding with the motel’s renovations before both quickly closed in November 2017, as the website previously reported.

It's hardly a new venture for Bunkhouse. The company also operates the nearby Jo’s Coffee, Hotel San Jose, and Hotel Saint Cecilia, along with hotels in Marfa, San Antonio, Mexico, and San Francisco, Eater Austin noted in its report. The company is also opening Hotel Magdalena across the street along Academy Drive.

>>> Read the full story at Eater Austin

Photos of Austin Motel marquee by Tony Cantú/Patch staff