Hyde Park's New Openings All Moved Into Rooms That Were Already There

For three years, Brian Knowles served coffee from a small stand at the Baker Center on Avenue B. He started in a trailer and then moved into a boiler room he converted into a coffee window. From behind the register he could see the old school's former band room, a low brick building with wide windows. "I stared at it for three years thinking how cool it would be as a wine bar," he told Austin Monthly. On September 18, Terrible Love Wine Bar opened in that room.

Every food and drink opening in Hyde Park this year followed the same pattern. New tenants moved into rooms the neighborhood already had, and in two cases the person behind the new place had been working in or looking at that same space for years. The fall calendar follows suit. Its largest event checks in on the grounds of a museum that won't reopen until 2027.

Four Addresses, Four Previous Uses

Here's how the 2026 changes break down by address:

At Panciuto, the owner didn't change. Mo Pittle co-owned Umarell before he turned the space into his own Italian-American restaurant, which Austin Monthly reports is his sixth. He kept the room and changed the menu: a bolognese, a 14-layer vegetarian lasagna, sausage and mushroom cavatelli, chicken parm alla vodka, and focaccia pizza squares. The art on the walls is Italian-style pictures from AO5 gallery, and the neon signs are by Todd Sanders of Relic Roadhouse. A full bar is in the works. For now, the restaurant serves a curated list of beer and wine.

Gati Scoops took over the old Gelatoro space in the building it shares with JuiceLand and Poke Poke, so one scoop shop replaced another. Community Impact describes it as the second location for Gati, the Holly Street business. Where Holly serves breakfast and lunch, Hyde Park gets the dessert side: coconut-milk ice cream, dairy-free and gluten-free options, seasonal flavors, and Gati's baked goods. Gati's own site lists hours of noon to 10 p.m.

The Infatuation's October 6 roundup of new Austin openings still listed both Panciuto and Terrible Love Wine.

The Baker Center Is Filling Its Own Rooms

The Baker Center explains the pattern better than any other address on the list. The former school belongs to Alamo Drafthouse co-founders Tim and Karrie League, who bought it from the Austin Independent School District to turn into a creative community space. Knowles told Austin Monthly that the boiler-room coffee window was originally Tim League's idea.

In December 2025, Karrie League told KUT that the plan for the building included a coffee shop, a wine bar and a community garden out front. Nine months later, the wine bar opened in a converted band room. We haven't found a dated update on the garden.

The tenants inside have changed too. The Austin Chronicle reported in January 2026 that Alamo Drafthouse moved its headquarters out completely in 2025. At that point the building held about 30 tenants, including architects, medical providers, game developers, PR firms, photo studios and film archivists. The Chronicle also reported that the restoration kept historic details in mind, down to replacement windows modeled on the originals. The one new-construction idea tied to the property didn't happen. Affordable housing planned for the Baker Field was shelved after the city chose that land for a detention pond.

The Chronicle has also profiled several tenants that are open to visitors:

• The Rosette, an 85-seat performance venue run by Austin Classical Guitar, which started its ATX Music Series in fall 2025 alongside concerts, comedy and theater, per the Chronicle
• The Press Room, where visitors can make their own letterpress prints and guests at events in the adjoining cafetorium can take one home, as the Chronicle's Press Room profile describes
• The American Genre Film Archive and the Texas Archive of the Moving Image, which share archive space in the building, according to the Chronicle's archives story
• Good Friend Studio, a photo studio that offers rentals, memberships and workshops, per the Chronicle

KUT reported that the Press Room hosted the Hyde Park Holiday Market, the center's third market of 2025 and its largest that year.

On Duval, the Same Address Changes Hands

Uncle Nicky's served its last meal at 4222 Duval St. on April 26, according to Community Impact, which reported that the South Lamar location stays open. The Statesman's April roundup noted that the Hyde Park café had been open for eight years.

The Austin American-Statesman reported on September 24 that brothers Ryan and Wade McElroy will open Kōbō sushi bar there this fall with chef Moto Seto. Wade also opened Kinsho on Rainey Street this year and co-owns Rocco's Italian on Airport Boulevard. Ryan is a co-owner of Bird Bird Biscuit. Seto spent the past eight years at Soto. His menu will focus on nigiri, sashimi, temaki and maki, plus a few prepared dishes.

In the Statesman's account, the team also put the building first:

"We'd been wanting to work with Moto for a while and wanted to do something that both honored and fit the unique space."

Seto told the paper he studied architecture before becoming a chef. As of the September report, Kōbō had no opening date, only "this fall." Until the restaurant confirms a date, treat it as coming soon.

A few blocks east, Tiny Grocer at 4300 Speedway, Suite 101, made a similar change without moving. The Statesman reported in April that it had switched to an all-day café format with longer daytime hours and a new menu.

The Fall Calendar Meets at a Closed Museum

The Elisabet Ney Museum is the clearest example of Hyde Park keeping a building instead of replacing it. The city's restoration project includes the original exterior wood doors and windows, a new HVAC system, new exhibit and general lighting, and repairs to the roof, masonry, plumbing and interior finishes. Outside, the work replaces the pedestrian bridge over Waller Creek, adds accessible paths, and stabilizes about 20,000 square feet of creek bank.

Construction began in winter 2025. The city's project schedule targets completion in winter 2027 and reopening in spring 2027, and notes that all dates may change. The Statesman reported the same spring 2027 target in May.

The grounds are still in use while the building is closed. The Hyde Park Neighborhood Association holds its 47th annual Historic Hyde Park Homes Tour on Sunday, November 8, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Seven houses on the lettered avenues will be open. Tickets cost $20 in advance or $25 on the day at the Ney, and children under 12 get in free. This year's theme is "Preservation & Progress," and HPNA says every home on the tour keeps the neighborhood's history while adapting to contemporary needs. Neighbors have run the tour since 1975.

Here are the dates between now and the tour:

1. Through Oct. 24. Hyde Park Theatre runs The Making of a Great Moment, with 8 p.m. shows Thursday through Saturday and pay-what-you-can Thursdays.
2. Oct. 18, 3 to 7 p.m. The Hyde Park Fall Festival at Shipe Park, with a basketball challenge and games, plus help from Quack's and Farm to Table.
3. Oct. 24, 9 to 11 a.m. A Girl Scout landscape volunteer session at the Ney. The city lists registration as full.
4. Oct. 25, 3 to 5 p.m. HPNA's Fire Station Festival at Austin Fire Station 9, 4301 Speedway.
5. Nov. 7, 9 a.m. to noon. "Naturalists at the Ney: It's My Park Day," a volunteer work session on the museum grounds.
6. Nov. 8, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Historic Hyde Park Homes Tour, with check-in at the Ney.

Shipe Pool already closed for the year. Friends of Shipe Park listed August 16 as the last day of the 2026 season and said the early close was due to lifeguard availability.

For more on the streets around these addresses, visit our Hyde Park neighborhood page. For the stretch of Guadalupe just south of Panciuto, see our piece on The Drag's storefront turnover.

This year's Homes Tour theme also describes how Lesley Taylor works with owners of older Hyde Park homes. We help adapt a historic house for its next chapter through staging, design coordination and presentation that shows off the original architecture. If you're deciding what your Hyde Park home should become next, let's connect.