Get the daily email that brings 100% Austin news, info, and entertainment direct to your inbox
(Claire Partain/Austonia)
Just a month after opening its doors, Boisjoly's wishes have come true. Sold out crowds continue to pack 20,500 Verde seats as they celebrate Austin's first major league team with pride and a party spirit.
Before home team Austin FC ever stepped foot on the pitch to play, Q2 Stadium was christened by the world champion U.S. Women's National Team as they played Nigeria in front of a sold-out crowd on June 16. Thousands of fans decked out in red, white and blue flocked to the stadium, proudly sang the national anthem and threw up a "tifo," or gigantic banner, to commemorate the match.
They did much of the same at Austin FC's first home match on June 19 in a celebration that was clearly about more than the team. With Minister of Culture Matthew McConaughey banding a conga drum, a massive art piece depicting iconic Austin figures, and Austin musician Jackie Venson giving a prematch performance, the game was clearly a tribute to city of Austin itself.
Q2 Stadium's first sold-out crowd combined Austin FC fans with Team USA supporters as they cheered on the USWNT. (Claire Partain/Austonia)
Rigo Rodriguez, a leader in fan club Los Verdes who helped create the tifo, said it all adds up to create an unforgettable experience at Q2.
"It's not just about the tifo, it's not just about the music, it comes all together... (and) becomes the heartbeat of Austin," Rodriguez said. "Every little bit helps to create something special for the city."
The matchday experience has become an all-day affair. As early as 11 a.m., a Verde army flocks to dozens of local bars and breweries, including nearby fan club headquarters Hopsquad and Circle Brewing, to get the party started. Sometimes, thousands can be seen marching on the stadium with the fan band La Murga, and supporters wearing anything from kilts to bright green wrestling masks lead chants outside Q2 before the stadium opens.
Once inside, fans can choose from dozens of local vendors, meet the mascot of the week—a rescue dog from Austin Pets Alive!—and hang out at Q2's giant Beer Hall, which features dozens of local beers on draft. Nearly every match, fan club members prepare a special presentation—from Pride art to Austin-centric chants—just before the national anthem is sung by a well-known local artist.
The supporters' section becomes nearly as entertaining as the match itself as they keep chants going all match long, release Verde smoke and toss their beers high into the air. Around the stadium, diehard fans and first-timers mingle as the club plays down below.
There's a reason that Austin FC's fan base has attracted both supporters with no prior soccer knowledge as and futbol fanatics. Many had been fighting to bring a team to Austin for years, and supporters recognize the importance of the club every single matchday.
Jay Torres, a "capo," or band leader for La Murga, was one of the first to get his "home"—the Austin FC crest—tattooed on his arm. Torres was part of the movement to bring a team to Austin as far back as 2018.
"It pulls the city together... it's beautiful," Torres said. "Lake Travis, Del Valle, and everything in between, we're all hanging out and pulling in the same direction. It brings people together."
Even when Austin FC was scoreless for the first three matches within their home fortress, Austin fans continued to sing for their team as they kept a steady drum beat with glow-in-the-dark bass drums. Three weeks later, when Austin broke the floodgates with four goals in a match, the already-loud crowd was deafening. Lights were dimmed to a deep Verde as over 20,000 cheered in Austin.
At the Austin FC friendly match vs. all-star Mexican team Tigres UANL on Tuesday, Della W., who was decked out head to toe with the club's Verde colors, said the match was more about Austin than anything else.
"It's about supporting Austin and the city and showing people our culture... what we're about," Della said.
Della W., pictured left, said Austin FC matches are about more than just soccer- they're also an exhibition of Austin pride. (Claire Partain/Austonia)
All things Austin—from tacos to live music to a diverse soccer-loving community—are always on full display at Q2 Stadium, Austin's biggest party.
- Austin's Latino's feels "close to home" with Austin FC - austonia ›
- Austin FC fan Brad Tillery gets Verde Keeper kit from Stuver - austonia ›
- 12 Austin FC fans get inked up in tattoo marathon - austonia ›
- US vs. MEX? A how-to guide on the CONCACAF Gold Cup in Austin ... ›
- Guide to Austin FC home game at Q2 Stadium this Saturday - austonia ›
- Austin FC and Tigres fans are one and the same as the clubs come ... ›
- Austin FC fans' loyalties collide as Tigres head to Q2 - austonia ›
- Austin FC seeks to beat No. 1 Seattle at home this week - austonia ›
- LIVE UPDATES: After two weeks off, Austin FC takes on No. 1 Seattle - austonia ›
- LIVE UPDATES: After two weeks off, Austin FC takes on No. 1 Seattle - austonia ›
- LIVE BLOG: Austin FC looks to take down Colorado once again on home turf - austonia ›
- Start high, finish low: Austin can't right a sinking ship in 1-0 loss vs. Colorado - austonia ›
- Buffalo Bills eye Austin for NFL team relocation - austonia ›
- LIVE: Austin FC tries for second Texas Derby win with Driussi in tow at FC Dallas - austonia ›
- LIVE: Austin FC tries for second Texas Derby win with Driussi in tow at FC Dallas - austonia ›
- All eyes on Austin FC as they shuffle their lineup for Real Salt Lake road match - austonia ›
- "Wolff Out?" Why so many Austin FC fans are losing faith with head coach Josh Wolff - austonia ›
- Austin FC player Julio Cascante's red car rescinded by MLS - austonia ›
- Deja vu at Q2! Austin FC defeats Portland Timbers 3-1 - austonia ›
- Austin FC and Texas football fans face moral dillema - austonia ›
- Where to watch: Austin FC, Texas football highlight Labor Day weekend - austonia ›
- Austin FC opens downtown Verde Store on Congress - austonia ›
- Austin FC ticket prices take a hit after onslaught of obstacles - austonia ›
- Austin FC wins 2-1 over Real Salt Lake - austonia ›
- LIVE: Austin FC takes on Minnesota United after two-week break - austonia ›
- LIVE: Austin FC takes on Minnesota United after two-week break - austonia ›
- After two-week hiatus, Austin FC loses 1-0 to Minnesota at Q2 Stadium - austonia ›
- Austin FC beats Houston Dynamo 2-1 - austonia ›
- Austin Bold FC to relocate to Fort Worth, citing Austin FC's success - austonia ›
- Where to watch: Football and futbol watch parties as Longhorns, Austin FC hit the road Saturday - austonia ›
- Austin's Q2 Stadium to host Mexican Men's National Team for friendly match vs. Chile - austonia ›
- Austin's Q2 Stadium to host Mexican Men's National Team for friendly match vs. Chile - austonia ›
- Austin FC wins! Triumphant 3-1 Verde victory over No.2 Sporting KC for final home match - austonia ›
- Austin FC to open second season against last-place FC Cincinnati on Feb. 26 - austonia ›
Popular
Best overall drinks: Half Step, 75 1/2 Rainey Street
Half Step's old fashioned cocktail is celebrated among visitors. (Half Step/Instagram)
This tiny bar has a huge patio to sprawl out on and it is serving up high-quality cocktails that are made with love. Choose from elevated classics like the draft Paloma and old-fashioned or a tantalizing take on yacht club punch made with absinthe. There will probably be live music playing when you get there and you can get a snack at Little Lucy's Mini Donuts, parked right nearby.
Most elaborate drinks: The Tipsy Alchemist, 70 Rainey Street
The Strawberry Tea Fizz is made with lemon, strawberry reduction, gin and topped with a rose. (Tipsy Alchemist/Instagram)
This elevated cocktail bar makes drinks with science while you observe Rainey Street from above. With an upscale yet wacky atmosphere, The Tipsy Alchemist serves different drinks that push the boundaries of physics, travel through a tube across the entire bar, are made with liquid nitrogen and come in a coconut.
Most "Austin" atmosphere: Javelina, 69 Rainey Street
Javelina was started by four Austinites who wanted to create an ice house, dance hall and beer joint. (Javelina)
This bar's unique fare is something the four local founders call "Hill Country Soul," so suffice to say the menu is savory and hearty. Just about anyone would feel more like a local after dining on some green chile pork fries or a cornflake-crusted chicken sandwich paired with a Hill Country lemonade. You can also get a meal until 1:30 a.m. here, later than any other kitchen on the street. Keep an eye out for the live music, drag queen brunches and burger specials that keep this bar weird.
Best overall atmosphere: G'Raj Mahal, 73 Rainey Street
G'Raj Mahal imports many of their furnishings directly from India. (G'Raj Mahal/Instagram)
This warm, colorful atmosphere will make you want to stay all night. Though the restaurant serves upscale Austin-inspired authentic Indian, and specifically Goan, food, Texas' signature Southern hospitality is not lost. Either outdoors or on the spacious patio, you can enjoy a traditional saag paneer or nutty korma made with free-range and grass-fed proteins while you people-watch or enjoy the full bar menu. As the restaurant says, they welcome you to "Sit and Namaste a While."
Best food truck: Little Lucy’s Mini Donuts, 75 1/2 Rainey St
Try the "Poodle," "Schnauzer" or " Maltese" flavors. (Little Lucy's/Instagram)
You've had donuts before, maybe even ones with creative names and fancy ingredients, but they don't compare to the donuts you get when you go to Little Lucy's. These mini donuts—just a little larger than a golf ball—are fried then doused in a luxuriously-flavored flavored sugar while still hot and fresh. We recommend the "Schnauzer," which are pistachio, lavender and vanilla flavored, or the "Maltese" Italian cream cake. I can already smell the donuts cooking 🤤
Best lunch and dinner: Emmer & Rye, 51 Rainey Street inside SkyHouse
The blackened grapefruit panna cotta is topped with beet bubbles and benne seed shoyu streusel. (Emmer & Rye/Instagram)
While this restaurant is some of the very best on Rainey Street, this is not the place to go to end your night. This menu changes with the season and the famer's harvest, meaning you're likely to try something new each time you visit. You have two options when you dine in at Emmer & Rye, stick to the menu or forget it and get the off the menu option, which comes out with a variety of dishes meant to be shared. You can also order specials off carts that travel around the dining room during the meal. Be prepared to shell out but enjoy it when you do!
Best tap beer selection: Banger's Sausage House and Beer Garden, 79 Rainey Street
Banger's has an ever-rotating selection of brews on tap. (Banger's Sausage House and Beer Garden)
You're going to be hard-pressed to find anything but beer at Banger's Sausage House but you will find more than 80 types on draft. In addition to the vast lineup of beers from all over the country, plus a few domestic choices, dozens of brews come straight from the capital of Texas. If that's not enough, the bar also has a pretty expansive food menu.
Best specials: Idle Hands, 85 Rainey Street
Idle Hands has tropical drinks on deck, plus a healthy selection of beer and wine. (Idle Hands)
In addition to the fruity cocktails, full menu and tropical atmosphere, Idle Hands offers a new special Monday-Thursday. Time your visit right and you can get $10 draft cocktails, 50% off a Cubano sandwich or a $4 slice of cheesecake while you relax on one of the bar's swinging wicker chairs. If those specials don't tickle you, keep an eye on the bar's Instagram, where it announces specials like Paella Night or free oysters for early guests.
Best brunch: Anthem, 91 Rainey Street
With Asian barbecue brisket and curry potatoes are the stars of the brisket breakfast tacos. (Anthem/Instagram)
If you're looking for a break from the classic eggs benedict and pancakes, Anthem has you covered with it's umami-filled brunch menu. Branch out with Thai doughnuts topped with yuzu icing, basil and black sesame seeds or a more traditional JFC biscuits & gravy with sriracha hot honey and shoyu gravy. The main menu is filled with plenty of Asian-inspired bites, so there's reason to visit anytime. You can still get your mimosa or Michelada but brunch is only served on Saturday & Sunday, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Best place to dance: Augustine, 86 Rainey Street
(Augustine)
With a spacious front patio, indoor space and plenty of room in the backyard, Augustine is "a little classy, a whole lot of groovy," with plenty of room to get down. With a colorful cocktail menu, great photo ops and a glowing green sign, it's impossible to miss this bar.
Where to park:
(Laura Figi/Austonia)
You might be able to find street parking if you visit Rainey Street between Monday-Wednesday, but don't count on it. Rainey Street does have an attached gravel parking lot but costs tend to be expensive, like $10-20 per hour type expensive, so the best option is to walk, Uber or branch out to one of the many options that will be cheaper to park.
Free
You can try your luck with the many street parking options around Austin or get free parking at...
- 742 Interstate 35 Frontage Road
- Triangle Park and Ride, 4600 Guadalupe Street
- Mexican American Cultural Center, 600 River Street (only free on Sundays)
You might just have to do a little walking!
$5 or less
Finding parking for a small fee is very doable if you're willing to do some scouting.
- Hyatt Regency Austin, 208 Barton Springs Road ($4)
- N Interstate 35 Frontage Road / E. 6th St ($5)
- 801 Trinity Street ($5)
- 1501 E. 6th St ($5)
$10 or less
This category gives you the most options while still saving a little bit of cash for Rainey.
- 604 Driskill St. ($10)
- 314 East Cesar Chavez St. ($8)
- One Texas Center, 505 Barton Springs Road ($8)
- 707 East 7th St. ($10)
- AMLI Downtown Garage, 201 Lavaca St. ($6)
- 419 East 7th St. ($10)
- 313 East 7th St. ($10)
- 717 Red River St. ($6)
- 108 West Gibson St. ($6)
Where to stay:
(Hotel Van Zandt)
If you're trying to stay walking distance from Rainey Street, you have options across the board.
In the two-star range, Rainey is home to some eclectic hostels. The Heirloom Lounge and Rusty Railway Hostel is a colorful homage to old Austin, not just another "hipster hostel," offers $3 breakfast buffets and regular movie nights. With a cafe and bar onsite, Native Hostel is an upscale hostel tucked away inside an 1890s railroader hotel. Though you'll be sharing a room with four to six people, the luxurious furnishings will make you feel cozy and you might even make some new friends.
For a guaranteed private room, you'll need to move to the three star range. Homewood Suites has rooms from around $140-$200 and sits along I-35, right behind Rainey Street, so you won't even have to Uber. Just a little further away is the Holiday Inn, sitting further South on IH-35, but is still a very comfortable walk to Rainey Street. You can stay there for cheaper too: around $90-$175.
If you can swing it, Austin has some luxurious hotels to lay your head for the night. Four-star hotel Locale Austin offers fully-furnished apartments to stay in, so you'll feel right at home, and comes complete with expansive views of the city. Hotel Van Zandt has been named "#1 Hotel in Texas" by Condé Nast and you can enjoy the downstairs restaurant Geraldine's for a fancy meal, or have them bring it to you as part of the 24/7 room service. Both hotels are just a stone's throw away, sitting right beside Rainey.
- Some Austin businesses will keep masks despite Abbott's order ... ›
- Dramatic downtown Austin drone shows scope of Project Connect's ... ›
- Austin bars that lifted the mask mandate like Abbott - austonia ›
- Craft Pride and Javelina may be replaced by Rainey highrise ... ›
- Final Rainey Street residential home cleared for demolition - austonia ›
- Final Rainey Street residential home cleared for demolition - austonia ›
- San Jac Saloon's custom doors were stolen - austonia ›
In its heyday, The TarryTown Shopping Center bustled with shoppers. But today, a lot of the beloved shops are gone. (Blair Newberry)
Aerial view of TarryTown Shopping Center flanked on the west by Exposition Boulevard and on the south by Windsor Road in 1948. (Austin History Center, Austin Public Library)
Towering over a corner of the Casis Village that used to belong to a Blockbuster is the Tarrytown Pharmacy. It has served locals since Dec. 6, 1941, the day before Japanese soldiers attacked Pearl Harbor. Far from your run-of-the-mill chain pharmacy, the nearly 80-year-old apothecary beckons customers to roam its aisles and browse its assortment of artisanal gifts, including decorative stationery, denim dresses and scented candles with names like "baltic amber" and "santiago huckleberry."
Before it relocated to Casis Village in 2010, the Tarrytown Pharmacy operated out of the TarryTown Shopping Center, roughly half a mile down the road. These days, the once-thriving center now stands largely desolate, cutting a vastly different figure than the bustling Casis Village.
The Tarrytown Pharmacy in the TarryTown Shopping Center before it moved to Casis Village. (Blair Newberry)
Save for the handful of couples eating lunch at vegan gastropub the Beer Plant, there are few customers to be found between the barbershop, liquor store, vegan grocery, various exercise studios and Austin Pets Alive! that occupies the TarryTown Shopping Center's sprawling corner lot.
A sign facing the street next to the TarryTown Shopping Center bears a picture of a lamb on one side and a cow wearing a Santa hat on the other. Its two all-caps slogans create a fitting credo for the center's mercurial landlord, Jeanne Crusemann Daniels: "PEACE TO ALL BEINGS" and "JOY TO ALL BEINGS."
Jeanne Crusemann in high school. (Lynn Pugh Remadna)
A staunch animal rights activist and vegan, Daniels is seldom seen at the TarryTown Shopping Center, but her presence is always felt. Since inheriting the center from her mother Mary Lee Crusemann, in 1999, Daniels has systematically eliminated every business that used or sold animal products.
Restaurants like the beloved Holiday House burger joint and Texas French Bread met the chopping block, as did the TarryTown Pharmacy, which sells drugs tested on animals. But Daniels' policy also extended to the Austin Shoe Hospital, which was ordered to keep its leather shoelaces out of sight from customers; Steve's Liquor & Fine Wines, which was barred from putting caviar in its gift baskets; and the Chevron filling station, which was forced to stop selling milk-based candy bars.
The TarryTown Shopping Center used to be a place where kids could drop their bikes and grab a malt after school, local politicians could hold court over baskets of burgers and fries and customers could get their prescriptions cheerfully refilled by memory. But Daniels' iron-fisted policies have transformed it from a thriving community hub into a barren relic that doesn't adequately meet the needs of the neighborhood, according to several former tenants and longtime Tarrytown residents.
The Tarrytown Shopping Center attracted many for its busy shops and restaurants. (Blair Newberry)
"It was part of the fabric of what made that neighborhood so great," says Mark Newberry, owner of the TarryTown Pharmacy. "And now when you drive by, it's something that you hold against the neighborhood."
Daniels declined to be interviewed for this story, as she has turned down many reporters over the years. When asked about the origin of her commitment to animal rights, she recommended—via Belva Green, owner of the DT Land Group, which manages the TarryTown Shopping Center—two books: Peter Singer's "Animal Liberation: A New Ethics for our Treatment of Animals" and Ernest Freeberg's "A Traitor to His Species: Henry Bergh and the Birth of the Animal Rights Movement."
If Daniels' policies are confounding and infuriating to many Austinites, they're also remarkable. She is a rare breed of a business owner who makes her decisions based solely on principle, not profit. And she is rumored to have passed up much of the latter, declining various offers from locals to buy the TarryTown Shopping Center for several times its estimated value.
High school yearbook photo of Jeanne Crusemann. (Lynn Pugh Remadna)
"She couldn't care less about making money," Newberry says. "She's trying to drive an agenda. And when you put someone who doesn't care about money and her agenda together, that's very dangerous."
The TarryTown Pharmacy has been in the Newberry family for three generations, since Gatewood Newberry purchased the store from original owner Guy Kelly in the 1940s. At its original Tarrytown Shopping Center location, the pharmacy quickly became a pillar of the community, a place for shoppers to grab a malt at the soda fountain or play a few rounds of pinball at the front of the store while waiting to get their prescriptions filled.
"There was a whole little group from the neighborhood," says Lynn Pugh Remadna, whose family owned a bridge construction company and leased office space in the TarryTown Shopping Center for decades. "They'd sit (in the pharmacy) and just have a great time talking, you know, having their coffee and talking about how to solve the world's problems."
TarryTown shoppers could also congregate at Ralph Moreland's Holiday House and savor one of the owner's famous flame-grilled hamburgers. The local hotspot drew numerous high-profile guests over the years, including golfer Arnold Palmer, actor Dennis Quaid and George W. Bush, then the governor of Texas. Regardless of their resume, every Holiday House customer was treated with the same respect and discretion, per Moreland's policy.
Holiday House in 2004 before it closed. (Jeannie Moreland LeTeff)
In its heyday, the TarryTown Shopping Center radiated friendliness and security. Parents could catch up with their neighbors as they stocked up on weekly provisions at the grocery store, and they knew their kids were in good hands if they went there after school to grab a bite to eat with their hard-earned allowances.
"I remember many times, if I ate all my breakfast, my grandpa would give me 50 cents to $1.50 and tell me to go down to the pharmacy, and I would get special treats, whether it was ice cream or a shake or fudge," says Moreland's granddaughter, Lono Zurita. "Everybody knew everybody's name. It was really a close-knit community."
In 1857, Gov. Elisha Pease purchased the land for the TarryTown estate, then known as Woodlawn, from Texas State Comptroller James Shaw. Pease's grandson, Niles Graham, opened the first phase of Tarrytown—named for the family's New York summer retreat—in 1934 along with his cousin Murray Graham, his sister Carrie Margaret Graham and her husband Paul Crusemann. Five years later, they opened the Tarrytown Shopping Center at the intersection of Windsor Road and Exposition Boulevard, with the goal of providing a one-of-a-kind shopping destination for what would become one of Austin's wealthiest neighborhoods.
For a while, it did just that. "It was one of the finest retail centers in the entire state. I mean, it was jam-packed 24/7," says Newberry, who graduated from high school in 1996 and witnessed many of the TarryTown Shopping Center's banner years. "That parking lot would be 100% full, and some days, it would overflow onto the street. And I remember thinking, wow, I sure am lucky that my dad owns the store because I can park in the back. Because there literally would not be anywhere to park."
Paul Crusemann's son Paul Conrad Crusemann, married Mary Lee Wilson in 1940, and she inherited the center after his death in 1968. Reverently referred to as "Mrs. Crusemann" by many of her tenants, Mary Lee was a tough but fair businesswoman and a razor-sharp dresser whose vintage Jaguar couldn't be missed. Crusemann commanded respect and was particular about what tenants could display on her properties.
Neal Newberry, former owner of the TarryTown Texaco and uncle of Mark Newberry, quickly learned that when he decorated his storefront with commemorative Indy 500 banners one year.
"I saw her at the intersection where the stoplight is," Neal recalls. "She was staring at all these banners, and she made a beeline on the property. I'm standing out there, of course, and she rolls up, cranks her window down and says, 'Neal, you're trashing my property. Get them down.'"
The original owner of the TarryTown Texaco in 1961. (Neal Newberry)
Daniels, whom Remadna describes as a "glamorous, platinum-haired woman" in her later years, did not share her mother's business savvy, according to several former tenants. After inheriting the TarryTown Shopping Center in 1999, she instantly began overhauling it, as if to announce her homecoming with a vengeance.
"When her mother died, she had this big funeral over at Good Shepherd (Episcopal Church). It was like a dog and pony show," says Remadna, who briefly overlapped with Daniels at Austin High School. "It was like, 'Look at me, here I am. I was plain Jane and now look at me. I'm glamorous. I've got the center and y'all can't do anything about it.'" (Speaking of glamour: Several former tenants also talk of a fabled photograph of a pre-vegan Daniels wearing a lavish fur coat that exists somewhere in the ether among old Austinites.)
By that point, Remadna's family had left the TarryTown Shopping Center. Remadna had gone to the City Council on Crusemann's behalf to petition for a renovation of the center in the mid-'80s. The renovation was approved, but Crusemann wanted to place her family in a second-floor office across the street, which wouldn't have worked for her father, Robert Pugh, who suffered from arthritis.
Remadna wonders if the proposed move was part of Daniels' plan to replace the businesses on the main side of the TarryTown Shopping Center with retail. "(My father) didn't want to (leave Tarrytown), but it was kind of forced in some ways," she says. "And after I had gone to the City Council for her to get approval for her redo, I thought, 'Well, that's kind of ironic, isn't it?'"
Under Daniels' draconian rule, restaurants like the Holiday House, Texas French Bread and Chinese restaurant Formosa became the most obvious victims. When their leases prevented Daniels from ousting them entirely, she imposed outlandish restrictions that made it virtually impossible for them to do business.
"One day we were supposed to have a spray, or food safety bug inspection and all that, and she stopped it," Zurita says. "She had people outside on the sidewalk, collecting ants with straws."
The scene would have been farcical if it weren't so dire for Moreland. "You don't fail your complete health inspection, but you get fined from the city if you're not following protocol, which she tried to block," Zurita says. "So it became really, really nightmarish at the end."
(Blair Newberry)
Newberry likewise had to do pest control after hours on the weekends to fly under Daniels' radar. He had also stopped selling leather-bound planners and beef jerky in the pharmacy, but the final straw came in August of 2009, when Daniels' representative told him he could no longer administer flu shots, which are mostly made using eggs.
"Her representative came and said, 'Hey, you can't give flu shots anymore,'" Newberry recalls. "This is a pharmacy. That's what we do. I can't not give flu shots."
By then, foot traffic at the TarryTown Shopping Center had atrophied to the point that Newberry and his employees had begun parking in front of the pharmacy to give the illusion of a crowd. Newberry had already been looking elsewhere for a new lease, but he immediately pulled the trigger on Casis Village after the flu shot fiasco.
"I thought, this is not even a negotiation for me to get out," he says. "I will take basically whatever (our new landlord) wants to charge me, because this is not long-term where I am. She obviously doesn't want me here. She doesn't like what we're doing. And that was not a good feeling to have."
Some tenants still tried to accommodate Daniels' demands. Moreland briefly added fancier dishes and cocktails to his menu, which Jeannie Moreland LeTeff, Moreland's daughter, says ended in disaster. Others, like Bill Broaddus, who ran the Chevron station where Austin Pets Alive! now stands, protested cheekily. Broaddus stopped selling milk-based candy bars at Daniels' behest, but he began giving every customer who received an oil change a coupon for a free hamburger at Sonic.
"That didn't seem to sit very well," Broaddus says with a laugh.
When he found his new lease offer filled with unreasonable provisions, Broaddus cut his losses and said goodbye to the Chevron station that had been in his family since his father opened it in 1941. He now owns several other stations around Austin, but he still looks back wistfully on his old stomping grounds.
"I miss TarryTown tremendously," Broaddus says. "It's really a special spot and it's a wonderful group of people there, and to me, they were certainly more than customers. They were friends."
A shop in the TarryTown ShoppingCenter. (Blair Newberry)
With nearly every classic business besides the TarryTown Texaco gone, the Tarrytown Shopping Center of yesteryear is now a distant memory over which longtime Austinites wax nostalgic. Some tenants have been lucky enough to start fresh in new locations, but many of them never reopened after Daniels gave them the ax.
Every closure or relocation was another painful reminder that Daniels had ripped the heart out of a once-flourishing community that set the template for other upscale shopping centers in Austin, leaving a void in the neighborhood that has yet to be filled.
"This is a constant topic of discussion at every holiday party for the last 21 years when we see folks," Mark Newberry says. "I really wish that that would be better, because right now, it's just not. I want what Highland Park has and what River Oaks has and Alamo Heights. We were the first of all of those places, and now (the TarryTown Shopping Center is) the laughingstock of those places."
The center's downward trajectory doesn't seem likely to change, either. Daniels' vice grip on her tenants has only tightened over the years, and she is rumored to have left the center to the SPCA in her will. "I remember hearing at one point she didn't care if the shops sat empty," Zurita says.
Holiday House in 2004. (Jeannie LeTeff)
These days, it's up to the descendants of Daniels' former tenants to keep the memory of the TarryTown Shopping Center alive. With its secure new lease and bigger, more visible property, Newberry's TarryTown Pharmacy continues to serve customers from Casis Village—with no restrictions on beef jerky, leather goods or flu shots. Meanwhile, Zurita preserves the Holiday House legacy by selling her grandfather's flame-cooked burgers at her Dripping Springs food truck, Lono's Southern Cooking & Keto Cuisine. Her customers remind her that the Holiday House—and the rest of the TarryTown Shopping Center—was more than a place to grab a burger. It was a monument to the best times of their lives.
"There was a group that came before Thanksgiving, and one of the ladies was like 90 years old," Zurita says. "She could barely walk, but they helped her get to a picnic table. And she started crying and she said, I've always dreamed and wished, before I passed on, that I could have my number two cheeseburger one more time.'"
- Gentrification in East 11th St. Austin pushes out Black people ... ›
- Austinites retell the history of South Congress Avenue - austonia ›
- Music Lane in South Congress brings new business to Austin - austonia ›
- Rare sighting of bobcats in south Austin caught on camera - austonia ›
- Rogers Washington Holy Cross historic Black neighborhood home tour - austonia ›
- Jester King's Farmer Peppy leads the renewable farming charge - austonia ›
- 75 dogs die in Georgetown Ponderosa Pet Resort fire - austonia ›
- This Hill Country gem has only been on the market twice - austonia ›
Jessica and Janessa Tomberlin are the co-owners of Crema Bakery in South Austin. (Kristin Finan)
"We're really blessed in a lot of ways, but none of it would be happening if we didn't have each other," said Jessica Tomberlin. "I feel like our feelings for each other are reflected in our business and our product and our relationships with other people, too. A lot of partners are good cop, bad cop. We're not like that. We're just two halves of a whole."
Valentine's-themed cookies are among the offerings at Crema Bakery in South Austin. (Kristin Finan)
The pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to local restaurants, and Crema is no exception; the Tomberlins credit loyal friends and customers with keeping the bakery's doors open. As a result, the Tomberlins have been able to support the local community through free sack lunches, which they make available to anyone who calls in to request one—no questions asked. Since March 2020, they've distributed more than 1,500 free lunches.
"We just saw a need," said Janessa Tomberlin. "It was just incredible the number of people that were like, 'I'm hungry.' Nobody should have to wonder where their next meal is coming from in this country of all places. We felt like it was the very least we could do to help our community and be a place for people to have a little bit of food security."
Jessica, 42, and Janessa, 37, met when Jessica opened Crema in 2013 and hired Janessa, who had a background in the corporate coffee world. The two quickly became friends and eventually began dating. In October 2017, they tied the knot at Tiny T Ranch in Garfield, on the outskirts of Austin. They didn't have a cake but instead opted for hand pies, which they made themselves. Jessica Tomberlin said the bakery relishes being part of all types of special occasions.
Janessa and Jessica Tomberlin and daughter, Molly. (Seduit Photography)
"We love that we can make somebody's engagement party cake and then do their wedding cake and then a baby shower and then a kid's first birthday," she said. "We love being part of people's lives and part of their families."
As business partners, Janessa runs the front of house, interacting with customers, while Jessica deals more with the product side, although, "being a small business, nothing is ever that simple," Jessica Tomberlin said.
"We teach our baristas how to decorate cupcakes because you never know who is going to need to do what," Jessica Tomberlin said. "That's the essence of a family-owned business–everybody does it for the good of the whole and doesn't really focus on themselves. That's the way Janessa and I have always been, too."
Jessica Tomberlin said 2020 brought challenges the small bakery, which is currently open for takeout and curbside, could never have ever anticipated.
"Any time you have a small business you're always on the edge of everything falling apart, so we've faced a lot of that, but in the last year it's just been a despair that I've never felt before in my life, just not knowing what's going to happen," Jessica Tomberlin said. "Every time I get down where I think I can't get any lower, Janessa picks me up. That's probably the thing I've come to appreciate the most is just that we complemented each other in that way. When one of us can't go on, the other one finds the strength to do it for both of us."
Janessa Tomberlin said Jessica "is like my backbone when I don't have one."
The two have also needed to stay strong for their daughter, Molly, 10, who they call the "littlest cremling" and who, despite not having any social media accounts, has a big following through Crema's social media.
"All these people recognize her, so every time she's up here people like, 'Hey, Molly!'" Jessica Tomberlin said. "She likes to run curbside because people always tip her."
Crema Bakery in South Austin offers a variety of baked goods for takeout and curbside service. (Kristin Finan)
In addition to the free lunch program, the Tomberlins have done fundraisers for causes they are passionate about, such as LGBTQ rights and Black Lives Matter.
"We love being the liberal, hippie, queer-owned bakery. We love being able to embrace those old Austin ideals and give people an outlet for being able to help wherever they can," Jessica Tomberlin said. "We put our politics and our positions out there, which a lot of businesses don't do to be safe, but we also feel like if you can be an advocate for the causes that matter, you should."
With its challenges, the past year has also brought some surprise hits, including a family meal program early in the pandemic and, currently, hot cocoa bombs, which frequently sell out. Once the world begins to open back up, Jessica Tomberlin said, she looks forward to eating out, having some date nights and hopefully resuming a new brunch restaurant project at South First and William Cannon that was in the works before the pandemic.
No matter what happens, though, Jessica Tomberlin said she knows she, Janessa and Molly will be able to weather it together.
"I feel hopeful right now in a way that I haven't in months and months," Jessica Tomberlin said. "There's been a lot of love this year. There's been a lot of sadness, but there's been a lot of love."
More on local businesses:
Austin's iconic Nau's Enfield Drug hopes see to the business return to its heyday amid pandemic woes
Lambert Labay, 81, is the owner of Nau's Enfield Drug, where he has worked as a pharmacist since 1963. He and his wife, Kathleen Labay, purchased the store in 1971. (Laura Labay)- 11 Austin restaurants to buy to-go Valentine's Day meals - austonia ›
- Hidden oasis, Aba, on South Congress grows in popularity - austonia ›
- Music Lane in South Congress brings new business to Austin ... ›
- Ubuntu Life, Austin black business makes Oprah's favorites - austonia ›
- 10 iconic Austin businesses that have closed due to COVID-19 (and ... ›
