South First Swapped Its Oldest Tables for Second Locations in 2026

At 1302 S. First St., the building is the same one where the Villegas family served customers from 1985 until December 17, 2025. Since February the room has been De Nada Cantina, with reservations, takeout ordering and a menu that comes from a hospitality group with more than one restaurant to its name. If you walk south toward Oltorf, almost every new sign on the street tells a similar story.

In 2026, South First's newcomers were mostly not first-time restaurateurs. They were second rooms, fourth locations, spinoffs and next-door expansions from operators who already had a business running somewhere else in Austin. The street's two longest-running family restaurants closed a little over ten weeks apart. The places that replaced them, and the places that opened around them, arrived with a track record elsewhere.

Two Family Restaurants, Seventy-Plus Years Between Them

El Mercado's closing, as the Austin American-Statesman reported it, ended a run of about 40 years at 1302 S. First under Tony Villegas and his family, with the last public service on December 17, 2025.

A little over two months later, Little Mexico closed at 2304 S. First. Rosa Martinez opened the restaurant at that address in 1994, and its last day was February 28, 2026, according to the Statesman's report on the closing.

Each closing ended differently. At 1302, a new operator took over the room and reopened it quickly. At 2304, Martinez kept the property and leased it to Bob Lozano's F&P Group, which operates Dairy Queen, Schlotzsky's and Cinnabon franchises, in partnership with two Austin partners. That puts an experienced multi-unit franchise operator behind the next chapter of that address.

Every New Room Came With Another Address Behind It

Here is how the year's changes on and just off South First line up, from the river side heading south:

De Nada Cantina was the fastest turnaround on the list. The Statesman reported its opening date as February 22, 2026, about nine weeks after El Mercado's last service. A group that already runs restaurants can move into a vacant room on that kind of schedule.

Lenoir Grew Into the Bungalow Next Door

The clearest expansion on the street sits two doors from where it started. Todd Duplechan and Jessica Maher, who own Lenoir at 1807 S. First, opened Boni's Bar Next Door at 1805 S. First, a Spain-inspired neighborhood bar in a house the Statesman describes as a 1934 bungalow. The Statesman's March 4 story said it would open that Friday, which was March 6. The same story reports that the couple bought the space along with the Lenoir property in 2024, so the expansion happened on land they already owned. The bar's own site takes event bookings.

Inside the neighborhood, a block off the main strip, The Well opened at 409 W. Monroe St. on June 15. Community Impact reported that it is the fourth Austin location for co-owners Nicole and Rich Pfromm. Its website lists daily hours of 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and weekend brunch from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The café menu covers functional smoothies plus a standard espresso lineup of cold brew, Americano, cappuccino and latte.

Further south, Alice Poulain Café opened at 2214 S. First in May. Julian Buscicchio and Sebastian Menard founded it, and Community Impact's opening story describes pastries, quiches, sandwiches and a salade niçoise. It keeps morning hours. It's closed Monday, open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and open 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Its block sits right next to the former Little Mexico at 2304.

Craft Omakase Opened a Casual Sushi Bar South of Oltorf

The most recent opening is just past Bouldin Creek, on the stretch of South First below Oltorf. Craft Nori opened at 3715 S. First St., in the former Pho MPH space. The Statesman reported on November 2 that it would open that Tuesday, November 3. On November 5, CultureMap Austin described it as a much more casual sushi bar from an Austin omakase team.

The team is Craft Omakase co-founders Charlie Wang, Nguyen Nguyen and Tim Boyer. Shannon Kennedy leads the sushi side and Ryan Coates runs the kitchen, with Julianna Fry as partner and manager, according to the Statesman's June preview of the concept. This follows the same pattern as the rest of the year. A team with an established Austin restaurant opened a lower-key version of what it already does, on a street where storefronts are changing hands.

The Building Purchase That Is Still Waiting to Open

Half Price Books bought its South First building this year. On January 15, 2026, the company announced that it had purchased 2607 S. First St. and would move its South Lamar store there. A groundbreaking was held January 13, and the plan called for construction to start in January and the store to open later in the spring. In the company's announcement, president Kathy Doyle Thomas explained the purchase this way:

"With the ever-changing real estate market, we felt it was important to make this building purchase so we knew we'd have a permanent presence in this important, growing city."

The spring opening came and went. The store at 2929 S. Lamar Blvd. closed on March 15. By August 25, the Statesman reported that construction delays had pushed the South First store to an undisclosed later date. In the meantime, Half Price Books opened a scaled-down temporary shop at 3005 S. Lamar Blvd., Ste. D-113, in the former Tribe Comics and Games space behind Koko's Beer Hall and Kerby Lane Cafe. The company's store locator lists that location as open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

The difference in pace makes sense. Taking over a working restaurant room means swapping the sign and the menu, which is how De Nada opened about nine weeks after El Mercado closed. Buying a building and building it out for a long stay takes much longer. Half Price Books has been in Austin since 1975, when its first store opened at 1514 Lavaca St. Its purchase is the year's largest bet on staying on South First, and it is also the arrival whose opening date has slipped.

The same pattern also runs the other way. When Little Mexico closed, the founder kept the property at 2304 and leased it out instead of selling. The Lenoir owners expanded onto property they had bought in 2024. On South First this year, owning the land meant keeping a long-term stake in the street, whether you were leaving or arriving.

Before the Year Runs Out

One more expansion is scheduled just east of the neighborhood. Austin Monthly reported that The Butcher's Daughter was slated to open November 15 at 1600 S. Congress Ave., its first Texas location. The initial plan was breakfast and lunch from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, with dinner expected shortly afterward. For more on what has been happening on that side of the neighborhood, see our South Congress field notes.

The Bouldin Creek Neighborhood Association's calendar has two December meetings:

• Steering Committee, Tuesday, December 1, at Jesus Deaf Church, 1307 Newton St.
• General Association meeting, Tuesday, December 8, at the Texas School for the Deaf Administrative and Welcome Center, 1120 S. Congress Ave.

Earlier this year, the association also said it opposed a proposed housing development at 1207 S. First St., on the creek's east side, where city staff had outstanding concerns. Its zoning page tracks that case. If you're comparing this part of 78704 with the streets across Congress, our guide to Travis Heights and Bouldin Creek and the Bouldin Creek neighborhood page have more of the background.

If you own a home or building near South First and are wondering what this year's turnover means for your own address, Lesley Taylor follows these blocks one storefront at a time and is glad to walk through it with you. Let's Connect.