On a Sunday afternoon in late September, Taqueria Chapala held a last-call celebration from 5 to 7 p.m. at 2101 E. Cesar Chavez St., the Austin American-Statesman reported. Manuel Lopez and his brother opened the taqueria on July 1, 1997, and it had served barbacoa and breakfast tacos on that block ever since.
Two weeks earlier and five blocks east, a new restaurant had opened in a restored 1920s bungalow. That was this fall on East Cesar Chavez. Restaurants arrived and one left, and whether each could stay came down to who held the building.
The lease that ran out at 2101
Taqueria Chapala closed its East Cesar Chavez location on Sunday, Sept. 27, after its lease was not renewed, Community Impact reported.
The menu continues at a new address, 2448 S. First St., under Manuel Lopez, with the tacos and fajitas, the menudo and the Chapala Especial, a Jalisco-style barbacoa plate, according to Community Impact's October dining roundup. For anyone in the neighborhood who made it a weekend habit, the drive now crosses the river.
Another tenant is expected at the old address, according to Community Impact. As of late September the space was being marketed for lease as a second-generation restaurant, meaning a space already built out for a restaurant. The kitchen stays with the building.
The family that bought instead
Two blocks east, at 2300 E. Cesar Chavez St., Juan in a Million has been open since 1980. School teachers Juan and Myrna Meza opened it in July of that year, according to the restaurant's own history. It's still a family business. Juan Jr. runs day-to-day operations and daughter Christina handles media relations.
In a June history of Austin Tex-Mex, the Statesman asked Juan Meza how the restaurant has lasted. He answered in terms of property, not food:
"We would have closed down years ago if we were leasing. You want to have control over what is going on around you. That was the initial intent. We kept investing, and now we have a real estate company and a restaurant."
He has also passed on opening more locations. "It's hard to be in multiple places at the same time," he told the Statesman. "We don't want to dilute it." So the Don Juan El Taco Grande, a heaping tortilla of bacon, potatoes, eggs and cheese, is still served at the same counter. Some say one can feed a family of four.
Two family taquerias with long runs sat two blocks apart, and the one that controls its building is still on East Cesar Chavez this fall.
The older places still on the street
The Statesman's own Chapala story said few restaurants have stayed on East Cesar Chavez through decades of change. It named Mr. Natural, Juan in a Million and Taqueria Chapala as reminders of a different era. As of this November, two of those three are still operating on the corridor. A short walk north on East Sixth, two more long-running Tex-Mex rooms keep regular hours.
| Business | Where | Since | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cisco's | 1511 E. Sixth St. | 1945 | Among Austin's oldest active Tex-Mex restaurants, per the Statesman |
| Tamale House East | 1707 E. Sixth St. | Tamale House name dates to 1958 | The only Tamale House location still open |
| Juan in a Million | 2300 E. Cesar Chavez St. | 1980 | Family-run, in a building the family owns |
| Mr. Natural | Chicon St. at E. Cesar Chavez St. | 1988 | Still at Chicon; its South Lamar branch closed in 2023 |
| Taqueria Chapala | Was at 2101 E. Cesar Chavez St. | 1997 | New address at 2448 S. First St. |
Mr. Natural shows another way to adjust. In 2023 it closed its second location on South Lamar and kept the one at Chicon and East Cesar Chavez, which has been open since 1988, the Statesman reported. A CBS Austin segment in March showed the business still turning out plant-based baked goods and running its juice bar.
The newcomers moved into buildings already standing
Every opening this fall took over a building the neighborhood already had.
Ben & Lynn's, 2600 E. Cesar Chavez St. Joshua Weissman, the Austin cooking YouTuber behind "But Better," opened his first restaurant here on Sept. 12. He named it for his parents, Ben and Lynn. The menu is Texas-style fried chicken served in a restored 1920s bungalow at the corner of San Saba Street. Expect a fried chicken sandwich with house-made dill pickles, a $1.95 dunk in the sweet-and-spicy YamYum sauce, extra-crispy sea salt fries and seasonal soft serve, Community Impact reported. It's open 11:30 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday and until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. That makes it the latest kitchen on this stretch of the street.
Big Slick, 1017 E. Sixth St. Chefs Phillip Frankland Lee and Margarita Kallas-Lee opened this 22-seat steakhouse and bar on Aug. 29. Lee described it as classic dining with "the freedom and personality of an à la carte restaurant," per Community Impact.
Hermanas, 1100 E. Sixth St. Chef Silvino Sanchez opened here on Sept. 2. He cooks his Mexican heritage with Southeast Asian technique, a menu he described to Community Impact as reflecting how those cultures "actually live in me."
Bohème, 400 Comal St. This 20-room boutique hotel is in a former apartment building near downtown. After inspection delays, it set late October for its first overnight guests, Community Impact reported. Two bars matter to neighbors. The plan was for Sacred Souls, the ground-floor cocktail lounge, to open with the hotel and keep daily hours. Higher Spirits, the rooftop bar, had a grand opening scheduled for Nov. 5, and the hotel lists its hours as Thursday through Saturday, 5 p.m. to midnight. Owner and founder Walker L. Molinare told Community Impact that one of the six suites, The Den, is a nod to the green rooms of Austin's music venues.
A bungalow, a former apartment building, two East Sixth storefronts. And soon, 2101 E. Cesar Chavez will be a ready-made restaurant space waiting for its next tenant. The buildings mostly stay. Who holds the building decides who gets to stay in them.
Getting to the lake while I-35 is under construction
The neighborhood's other daily routine runs south to Lady Bird Lake, and this fall that walk takes some planning. Here's what The Trail Conservancy's detour page, updated Oct. 26, shows for the east end of the loop:
- East-side I-35 crossing: closed since the week of Feb. 9, 2026, for about a year. To get between the north and south shores, use the South Congress crossing or the Wishbone Bridge at Pleasant Valley.
- South-shore boardwalk at I-35: fully closed Oct. 12 through 18. Access along part of the boardwalk stays limited through early 2027.
- North-shore detour: runs along the south side of East Avenue for the length of the I-35 project, which is expected to last through 2033.
The parkland on the neighborhood's own shoreline is next in line. The City of Austin's schedule for the Eastside Family Garden and Lakefront Trail project lists fundraising and permitting as in progress, with construction slated for 2027. Under the Holly Shores, Edward Rendon Sr. Park and Festival Beach vision plan, the city's schedule has construction on the Camacho floating dock starting in spring 2027. Those projects are on public land, on a public schedule. Their timeline depends on permits and funding, not a landlord's decision about a lease.
For now the Wishbone Bridge is the crossing, and a Juan in a Million breakfast still comes from the same family that opened it in 1980.
Juan Meza's point about having control over what goes on around you holds for any property on a street that keeps changing. If you own on East Cesar Chavez or are thinking about it, Bridget Ramey is glad to walk through it with you. Schedule a private consultation and we'll talk through your street, your building and what you want it to do for you.