The ultimate question: What are your favorite vanished Austin cafés, bars and clubs?

Michael Barnes, Austin American-Statesman
Updated ·2 min read
Behind the scenes at 2-J Hamburgers at Lamar Boulevard and West 40th, taken by Neal Douglass in 1960.
Behind the scenes at 2-J Hamburgers at Lamar Boulevard and West 40th, taken by Neal Douglass in 1960.

Reader Bart Ewald stumbled on our paused podcast, "Austin Found," which included a good deal of chat between radio personality J.B. Hager and me on the subject of "lost Austin." Ewald's welcome message prompted the following Austin Answered question that you've probably anticipated since we revived the column last year.

What are your favorite vanished Austin cafés, bars and clubs?

"I was in and out of Austin from around 1966 until about 2000," Ewald writes. "My dad had season tickets for University of Texas games for probably 15 years, and I enrolled in school there in 1976. Some of my first memories are of the Battle for the Waller Oaks v. Belmont, the Villa Capri, El Matt, El Gallo and the Terrace. We seldom stayed in a hotel, but when we did it was usually one of those two (Villa Capri or the Terrace).

The dining room in the Villa Capri was one of the cool Austin places to meet during the 1960s and '70s, as reader Bart Ewald remembers. Dewey G. Mears.
The dining room in the Villa Capri was one of the cool Austin places to meet during the 1960s and '70s, as reader Bart Ewald remembers. Dewey G. Mears.

"I lived all over Austin when in school, and partied way too much, and never finished my degree at UT, but did later at another institution," Ewald continues. "I was young and from a small town and foolish and full of insecurity. I think back to how much I could have done and missed, but still the regrets are few."

Spots that Ewald wanted to hear more about, some of which are still with us: Vikashmo's on East Sixth Street, GM Steakhouse on the Drag, Original Hoffbrau Steakhouse on West Sixth Street, Taco Flats on Burnet Road, Mrs. Johnson's Bakery on Airport Boulevard and 2-J Hamburgers "and those amazing Manske rolls."

"Bruce's Fried Pies down off of Airport around Pleasant Valley?" he adds. "Could go in and buy a bag full of broken pies right out of their fryers for like a quarter."

Ewald also writes with fondness about music at Gruene Hall, the renovated UT Student Union and old-school Texas politicians.

The late Gus Vayas and his family owned several locations of GM Steakhouse, including ones on Guadalupe Street and another on North Lamar Boulevard.
The late Gus Vayas and his family owned several locations of GM Steakhouse, including ones on Guadalupe Street and another on North Lamar Boulevard.

"Your podcast obviously has made me think a lot about those days and encouraged me to write down some of the more interesting points. I appreciate that."

Exterior view of the former Terrace Motor Hotel on South Congress, photographed in 1952 by Dewy Mears.
Exterior view of the former Terrace Motor Hotel on South Congress, photographed in 1952 by Dewy Mears.

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Send your questions — or answers — about Central Texas past and present to "Austin Answered" at mbarnes@statesman.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Podcast prompts quest: 'favorite vanished Austin cafés, bars. clubs?'

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