A 1985-built commercial building at 409 N. Mays St. in downtown Round Rock is getting a $500,000 makeover to become Casa Masa, a new Mexican restaurant built around a daily, in-house tortilleria. Construction began in June and is expected to run through December, according to a filing with the state.
The project was filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, as reported by Community Impact, which first detailed the buildout. State filings show the remodel spans 2,812 square feet of interior space, with tenant Fernando Palacios operating under a lease from property owner N Mays, LLC, according to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. The renovation will add both a tortilleria and storage space to the aging structure.
A Wine Bar Gives Way to Fresh Masa
Casa Masa is moving into the space vacated by Wine Sensation, which left the address in early 2025 to relocate to Georgetown's Rivery Boulevard, opening its new location there in February 2025, per Community Impact's reporting at the time. The switch from a wine and small-bites bar to a tortilleria built on centuries-old corn preparation illustrates how the aging, mid-1980s commercial building is being repurposed for a specialized culinary use.
According to Casa Masa's own business description, the restaurant's concept centers on nixtamalization — the traditional process of cooking and soaking corn in an alkaline solution — to produce fresh masa daily for its tortilla program. That process forms the backbone of the restaurant's identity, tying its name directly to the dough at the center of its menu.
State registration records also show that Casa Masa hired local design firm Spencer-Pierce Architecture + Interiors, Inc., based at 110 N. Stone Street in downtown Round Rock, to design the interior dining room and tortilleria expansion. The firm operates within walking distance of the restaurant site it is helping to reshape.
Neighbors and Municipal Sign-Off
The restaurant sits at the corner of North Mays Street and East Milam Avenue, placing it near neighboring independent businesses including Paige's Bakehouse, Something Natural Hair, and 620 Florist, according to reporting from WhatNow. That cluster of small operators along the North Mays corridor gives the project a built-in customer base as it takes shape.
On the municipal side, local planning officials with the City of Round Rock processed a pre-construction review for the 409 N. Mays Street site on July 29, confirming that the project has cleared local permitting checkpoints beyond its state filings.
Part of a Bigger Downtown Push
Casa Masa's buildout doesn't exist in a vacuum. The Round Rock City Council passed a comprehensive update to downtown mixed-use zoning regulations in October 2025, rezoning more than 100 parcels to encourage walkable retail and dining redevelopment, an effort aimed at simplifying adaptive reuse of historic and aging buildings. That policy shift dovetails with a much longer-running investment: the city has poured nearly $200 million into public infrastructure, plazas, and facility projects downtown since adopting its 2010 Downtown Master Plan, per Community Impact.
Access to the area is also getting a boost. In August, the Round Rock City Council awarded a $3.5 million construction contract for the first phase of the Eagles Nest Street extension, a project that will widen connection routes directly onto Mays Street and is funded by the city's economic development corporation.
Casa Masa's arrival adds to a wave of turnover in downtown Round Rock's dining scene. Alcove Cantina rebranded as the Mexican concept Sociedad in April, while the 25-year staple Louisiana Longhorn Café closed its doors in June. Just days ago, Hoodline also reported on another historic storefront buildout downtown, the retro-style Bed Rock Breakfast & Bar. Together, the projects point to a district where long-standing venues are steadily giving way to new, more specialized culinary concepts. More details on Casa Masa's menu and opening timeline are expected on the restaurant's website, www.casamasatx.com, as the December completion target approaches.
