Don't be surprised if you see a lot of construction surrounding Austin Street in the coming months, as Austin Street Pizza & Craft Beer prepares to open next spring.
Guillermo Garza, owner of the popular downtown restaurant Guillermo’s, is working to build the restaurant — complete with a wood-burning oven, sauté and grill stations, and Hill Country craft brews — at 1214 Austin Street.
Unlike the polished businesses and high-rises found at the nearby Pearl, Austin Street will offer simple seating options and is expected to host an onsite food truck. Garza's mission is simple: to provide good service, good pizza and craft beer.
“We have [a] responsibility to our citizens to represent the city and bring something cool to San Antonio,” Garza said. “We're not trying to replicate New York style pizza, we're not trying to replicate pizza in Italy. What we're trying to do is emphasize San Antonio pizza.”
Garza is keeping the final pizza menu under wraps for now, but referenced Guillermo’s Texas Lasagna — a customer favorite built with steak, BBQ sauce, jalapeños, onions, and sausage — as the kind of fresh, unexpected flavor combinations to be expected.
“It’s going to be a bit spicy and very flavorful, and we’re going to allow for a lot of creativity,” he said.
Garza has successfully grown Guillermo’s fan base over 25 years to include locals, tourists and catering clientele, but he’s sensitive to the industry’s changing business models.
The Austin Street location will provide an additional space for Guillermo’s catering services and serve as a ghost kitchen for the restaurant to fulfill nearby customer orders via delivery apps such as Doordash and Uber Eats.
The extra kitchen will also allow the main Guillermo’s restaurant to focus on the in-person dining experience, Garza said.
There’s no dedicated social media handles for Austin Street Pizza yet, but expect the new restaurant to show up on the Guillermo's website at guillermosdowntown.com in the coming months.
“We want to make San Antonio proud and remind them that we a cool city and that, yes, we can do this,” he added.
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