After 16 years of feeding downtown Austin, Turf N' Surf, the no-frills po'boy window tucked inside Lavaca Street Bar, has quietly gone dark. Owner Ralph Gilmore says the walk-up kitchen's run is over, citing years of rising food costs and a steady slide in downtown foot traffic. Now, he is turning his attention to the coast and teasing a new waterfront spot instead.
According to MySA, Gilmore wrote on Facebook that "high food costs" and sagging downtown sales, which he said worsened after the city demolished the Austin Convention Center, helped push him to close. MySA notes the old convention center came down last year and that the reimagined project is expected to cost about $1.26 billion and wrap up by the end of 2028.
New coast-side plan
Turf N' Surf's own site thanks customers "for 16 great years" and points loyalists toward a new concept, according to Turf N' Surf. The Hook House Kitchen website lists an address at 210 Gulf Gate Road in Aransas Pass and says the menu will center on steaks and fresh Gulf seafood like red drum, black drum, snapper, mahi and tuna. Diners will also be able to bring in their own catch to have it grilled, blackened or fried.
A downtown mainstay for more than a decade
Gilmore first rolled out Turf N' Surf as a food trailer on a lot that was eventually redeveloped into the JW Marriott before moving the operation into a walk-up kitchen inside Lavaca Street Bar in 2013, according to Community Impact. Lavaca Street Bar still bills itself as the "home of Turf N Surf Po Boy," a lingering reminder of how deeply the kitchen was woven into the bar's downtown appeal.
What this means for downtown dining
As MySA pointed out, the closure arrives amid a string of recent downtown losses as restaurant operators juggle higher food costs, construction headaches and fewer office and convention crowds. Gilmore told the outlet he expects to pay less rent at his coastal location, a math problem plenty of small operators are now working through.
