A Dallas-born restaurant is bringing Korean stuffed tofu pockets to the Drag, opening its first Austin outpost near the University of Texas campus. Neko Yubu has begun a soft opening with grab-and-go boxes that turn a humble fried tofu skin into a sampler-friendly meal.
Neko Yubu started its soft opening Saturday at 1910 Guadalupe St., serving Korean and Japanese-inspired yubu near UT, according to Community Impact. The current schedule is 3 to 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays.
The launch is still operating in test-drive mode: The first 30 customers each day through Friday will receive a free box of four yubus, CultureMap Austin reports. Online ordering is not active during the soft opening but is expected to come online once the restaurant fully opens.
What’s Inside Neko Yubu’s Tofu Pockets
Yubu, also called yubuchobap, consists of fried tofu skin pockets filled with seasoned rice and topped with savory ingredients. A Dallasites101 profile of the original concept highlights options including grilled bulgogi, torched salmon and egg mayo, while the Austin menu adds torched butter crab, crumbled tofu and egg salad.
Customers can order boxes of four, five, six or eight, along with yubu soup, miso soup, tteokbokki and imported Korean snacks. Matchas, specialty sodas and imported drinks round out a menu built for mixing and matching rather than committing to one lonely lunch item.
A New Chapter For The Former CoCo’s Cafe
The Austin shop occupies the former CoCo’s Cafe space, where the Taiwanese restaurant operated for 25 years before closing in April, according to CultureMap Austin. Neko Yubu owners Connor Park and Dean Kim launched the original Dallas concept in May 2025, making the Guadalupe Street opening its first move into Austin.
For Austin diners, the appeal is pretty simple: a portable meal, several flavors in one box and a format that is not quite sushi, not quite snack food, but happily borrows from both. If the soft opening goes according to plan, the Drag will soon have another quick-stop option with plenty of little tofu pockets competing for attention.
