Jump to content

Threadgills WHQ downtown gonna go adios

Brisketexan

By Brisketexan
in Food and Travel

 Share

Recommended Posts

Brisketexan

Brisketexan 106629

Posted
Posted

https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/music/2018-09-12/threadgills-whq-will-close-after-thanksgiving/

 

Quote

Now, the veteran businessman that helped catalyze Austin’s vaunted music culture as owner of the Armadillo World Headquarters (1970-1980) confirms that Threadgill’s Riverside location will close after Thanksgiving. His staff, some of whom have worked there for decades, have been notified of the closure. The original Threadgill’s, “Ol’ No. 1” on North Lamar, will remain in business.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

Posted
Posted

Really crappy to hear.  Probably spent a half dozen Thanksgivings there over the years before we had children because it our families were too far away.  Plus so many great live music shows and just a great place to stop by on the way home for some cold beer and corn bread.  Truly a loss to all of Austin. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Brisketexan

Brisketexan 106629

Posted
  • Author
Posted
8 minutes ago, Steel Shank said:

Saw Leon Russell there a couple years ago. It really sucks Austin is losing it's cool identity. Wonder what's closing next?

Probably one of our real institutions -- someplace that's "cocktail-forward," and uses the word "infused" at least 27 times on the menu.  Man, that will be a heartbreaker.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
next2naus

next2naus 439

Posted
Posted

let's not get our knickers in a twist, it's not like it's the original which has been gone for decades. If the business isn't sustainable, then it closes. If the rent is too damn high and the landlord is taking development money, well that sucks but what are you gonna do? The idea of being in business is to make money. tastes change. restaurant change. The second one up on Lamar is still open so patronize that one. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Brisketexan

Brisketexan 106629

Posted
  • Author
Posted
9 minutes ago, next2naus said:

If the rent is too damn high and the landlord is taking development money, well that sucks but what are you gonna do? 

That's kinda the core problem that folks are talking about.

If rents go up so that the only places that can afford it are million dollar restaurants....then all you have is million dollar restaurants.  I love a $395 per person tasting menu as much as the next guy....but I also like some fried chicken livers for $12 every now and then, too.

Threadgills isn't closing because tastes change or nobody eats there.  It's closing because rents have become insane, and if you aren't a million dollar restaurant, you can't afford it.  that changes the character of a place rather significantly, and when it becomes the rule, that's not a good thing.

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Brisketexan

Brisketexan 106629

Posted
  • Author
Posted
17 minutes ago, Jack Straw said:

less fried okra in austin = no bueno

 

Well, yes and no. You know what pisses me off?  Places used to freshly bread and fry their own okra.  It had that perfect light flour batter crispness.  It looked kinda like this:

IMG_5188.jpg

Now, they ALL (I mean it, all of 'em) use the frozen, pre-breaded shit like this, that's covered in thick batter:

98377_PS_Farms_Southern_Classics_12_oz._

 

I would pay extra for a bowl of REAL house-made fried okra.  But I can't find any, anywhere.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jack Straw

Jack Straw 2955

Posted
Posted
29 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Well, yes and no. You know what pisses me off?  Places used to freshly bread and fry their own okra.  It had that perfect light flour batter crispness.  It looked kinda like this:

IMG_5188.jpg

Now, they ALL (I mean it, all of 'em) use the frozen, pre-breaded shit like this, that's covered in thick batter:

98377_PS_Farms_Southern_Classics_12_oz._

 

I would pay extra for a bowl of REAL house-made fried okra.  But I can't find any, anywhere.

When I get real rich, the first thing I am going to buy myself is a commercial oven that has a dedicated warming drawer that will be stocked with fresh, homemade fried okra, 24/7/365.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31992

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

That's kinda the core problem that folks are talking about.

If rents go up so that the only places that can afford it are million dollar restaurants....then all you have is million dollar restaurants.  I love a $395 per person tasting menu as much as the next guy....but I also like some fried chicken livers for $12 every now and then, too.

Threadgills isn't closing because tastes change or nobody eats there.  It's closing because rents have become insane, and if you aren't a million dollar restaurant, you can't afford it.  that changes the character of a place rather significantly, and when it becomes the rule, that's not a good thing.

$12 chicken livers sounds like a problem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
bluto

bluto 4980

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Jack Straw said:

When I get real rich, the first thing I am going to buy myself is a commercial oven that has a dedicated warming drawer that will be stocked with fresh, homemade fried okra, 24/7/365.

Great idea in theory... but you soon realize okra 'slime' is a natural laxative after a binge. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
next2naus

next2naus 439

Posted
Posted
13 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

That's kinda the core problem that folks are talking about.

If rents go up so that the only places that can afford it are million dollar restaurants....then all you have is million dollar restaurants.  I love a $395 per person tasting menu as much as the next guy....but I also like some fried chicken livers for $12 every now and then, too.

Threadgills isn't closing because tastes change or nobody eats there.  It's closing because rents have become insane, and if you aren't a million dollar restaurant, you can't afford it.  that changes the character of a place rather significantly, and when it becomes the rule, that's not a good thing.

I hears you, based on the article this seems like the rent is high due to property tax pass through more than markets and greedy landlords. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Doc Holliday

Doc Holliday 199

Posted
Posted

Loved that location on Sunday's.  Sad to see it go and 40k/month doesn't leave much room for an already small margin. 

CSB/ when I was 19-20 dated a girl who's family was involved with all the threadgills gospel brunch.  it's how I came to know about likes of malford milligan, jimmy lafave, and other local artists. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
High Plains Drifter

High Plains Drifter 11162

Posted
Posted
On 9/12/2018 at 7:09 PM, Brisketexan said:

Well, yes and no. You know what pisses me off?  Places used to freshly bread and fry their own okra.  It had that perfect light flour batter crispness.  It looked kinda like this:

IMG_5188.jpg

Now, they ALL (I mean it, all of 'em) use the frozen, pre-breaded shit like this, that's covered in thick batter:

98377_PS_Farms_Southern_Classics_12_oz._

 

I would pay extra for a bowl of REAL house-made fried okra.  But I can't find any, anywhere.

You can find it twice weekly in my house during the summer and early fall-- right out of the garden, into the kitchen, and into my belly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wood

wood 11747

Posted
Posted
On 9/12/2018 at 6:42 PM, Brisketexan said:

That's kinda the core problem that folks are talking about.

If rents go up so that the only places that can afford it are million dollar restaurants....then all you have is million dollar restaurants.  I love a $395 per person tasting menu as much as the next guy....but I also like some fried chicken livers for $12 every now and then, too.

Threadgills isn't closing because tastes change or nobody eats there.  It's closing because rents have become insane, and if you aren't a million dollar restaurant, you can't afford it.  that changes the character of a place rather significantly, and when it becomes the rule, that's not a good thing.

Yeah I always hear the newcomers talking about having moved here because Austin is so laid-back and cool, having no idea how cool it really was not long ago, and that so many people coming here is making it less and less laid-back and cool every day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
relapse98

relapse98 634

Posted
Posted

Did some searching. WHQ is sitting on TCAD property ids 188623 & 188624. They are appraised at a little north of 10 million, combined.
Looks like the monthly property tax on them is around 18k.

That's some damn valuable land he's using. And 40k/month straight off the top at a restaurant, ouch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 46980

Posted
Posted

Was the $40K per month the deal-killer, or was it an increase above that?

Seems like landowners must be faced with some pretty serious tradeoffs.  If Eddie would have been able to keep paying $40K for monthly rent, then that's $22K per month above tax for the landlord.  We don't know if there's a note on the property, so how much of that falls to the bottom line is unknown.  But, if they choose not to sell but rather develop (say a mixed-use condo development for God knows how much), then that monthly tax nut is gonna skyrocket.

Sometimes I just admire the small business guys who stay small and take the income.  Far less $ to lose in a downturn.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
utee94

utee94 16069

Posted
Posted
20 hours ago, wood said:

Yeah I always hear the newcomers talking about having moved here because Austin is so laid-back and cool, having no idea how cool it really was not long ago, and that so many people coming here is making it less and less laid-back and cool every day.

In the 90s folks lamented that is was no longer than Austin of the 80s.  In the 80s folks lamented it was no longer the Austin of the 70s.  In the 70s folks lamented it was no longer the Austin of the 60s.

And so it goes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wood

wood 11747

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, utee94 said:

In the 90s folks lamented that is was no longer than Austin of the 80s.  In the 80s folks lamented it was no longer the Austin of the 70s.  In the 70s folks lamented it was no longer the Austin of the 60s.

And so it goes.

Sure, and that's normal. But the difference between Austin from the 70s to the 80s or from the 80s to the 90s was minuscule compared to the differences from the following decades to the next. It's not even close.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
wood

wood 11747

Posted
Posted
33 minutes ago, wood said:

Sure, and that's normal. But the difference between Austin from the 70s to the 80s or from the 80s to the 90s was minuscule compared to the differences from the following decades to the next. It's not even close.

That sucks, but do they still have the location on 38th? If not, that really sucks. That place had amazing gelato.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wood

wood 11747

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, chitwood said:

I've been here since 1991, and I have to say I always found the food at Threadgill's to be mediocre at best.  I get the nostalgia and the music, but the food was pretty shitty.

I've had some pretty good meals there over the years, some mediocre ones too. Nothing in a long time though. I did stop by to get some banana pudding for a party once a couple years ago when I didn't have time to make any. I was told theirs was badass, so why not? It was pretty awful. It was basically some runny vanilla pudding with a few 'Nilla wafers tossed in. Not a banana in sight. It was like they forgot about the order (I called it in the day before) and tried to whip something up at the last minute.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Horn21

Horn21 175

Posted
Posted
I've been here since 1991, and I have to say I always found the food at Threadgill's to be mediocre at best.  I get the nostalgia and the music, but the food was pretty shitty.


Austin folks are unmatched in their ability to elevate places from their past into lofty positions of reverence based on nostalgia alone.

They’d have you believe our city is crumbling before our eyes.

Same as it ever was.
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
crash_davis

crash_davis 23465

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, happyfunball said:

23-Year-Old Gelato Shop Is Closing in Hyde Park
https://austin.eater.com/2018/9/17/17869800/dolce-vita-gelato-closed-hyde-park

i haven't been in years but there was a blonde waitress/counter person who had gigantic fake titties.  she was already 6 feet tall but the ginormous titties were out of this world.  i'll miss her.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Horn21

Horn21 175

Posted
Posted
Heh. I wish...


I’m speaking more to the idea that austinites always have to complain about the city losing its cool. That is “same as it ever was.”

It’s not as long as many here, but I’ve lived here for 20 years. My parents met at UT and I spent my falls as a kid going to Texas games and spending weekends in Austin. I’ve got nostalgia for threadgills as I do with many places in Austin. In fact, my wife and I had our rehearsal dinner at threadgills 12 years ago. That’s a great memory.

That doesn’t change the fact that if we kept the doors open for every place that gave us fond memories from our past, this city would be full of mediocre establishments.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing


Football ... Basketball ... Baseball ... Other Sports ... Futbol ... 🤫995🤫 ... Gambling ... Movies & TV ... Music ... Hobbies ... Lulz ... Food & Travel ... Daily Texan ... Business and Markets ... Cloak Room ... Help ... For Sale ... Board Discussion ... Subscribe!... Donate!... Advertise... COOKIE MONSTER!

×
×
  • Create New...