An element which made Austin…Austin and not another cookie-cutter, ‘burb-filled shithole filled with just Volvo-driving soccer moms (see Indiacrapolis and Raleigh-Durham), is shuttering for good.
Threadgill’s has been at its location on Lamar since the days the city proper ended long ago. When I used to live in Hyde Park, you can see the traces of when my neighborhood was the edge of Austin as recently as WWII, maybe even the Sixties.
This restaurant was another institution for local musicians and genuine Austin cuisine: chicken-fried steak, all-you-can-eat vegetable sides and sweet tea. Sure BBQ (brisket mainly) is another staple but when you had vegetarian guests and/or those who don’t want to get bloated at every meal, you take them here. It was also a treat for me. Whenever gEeKs visited or it could take the sting off my latest repair bill at Underground VW (I will never miss my Golf). One time the place rescued me from our infamous hail storm that resulted in nobody being able to get a rental car in this city for months.
I regret not being able to visit one last time before it closes. Thanks pandemic and Orange Foolius. I doubt anything nice nor affordable will take its place as the property taxes prohibit anything other than an overpriced chain like Shake Shack or In n’ Out Burger to appeal to all the Californicators or Hipster D-bag New Yawkers we’ve been getting for over 20 years.
Thanks for everything Threadgill’s. Your food never disappointed me and the service was always good, even during the early years when Austin wasn’t helpful.