Bella Sera
The Liberty Hill restaurant is owned by Niki Granit, a third-generation Italian chef whose family moved to Texas from Sicily in the 1980s.
Granit's uncle Johnny Vebi started the family-owned business in 2003 when he opened the first Bella Sera restaurant in Marble Falls. Over the last 22 years, the family has opened several locations across the Central Texas area, including Boerne, Fredericksburg, New Braunfels, and Kerrville. Bella Sera also has a franchise location in Leander, Granit said.
Simply Sourdough
When she first began making sourdough in 2022, Simply Sourdough owner and founder Kellsey Hibbs didn’t think she had room in her life to start a bakery. As the mother to four young children, taking care of her family was a full-time job.
Three years and an estimated 5,000 loaves of bread later, Hibbs is now running Simply Sourdough out of her home in Liberty Hill’s Orchard Ridge neighborhood, producing dozens of fresh-baked loaves of bread for the community every week.
Nick’s Breakfast & Coffee
Nick’s Breakfast & Coffee is one of several restaurant concepts Nick Arapi has launched nationwide throughout his 35-year career. Upon moving to Texas, the restaurant owner and chef said he felt there was a need for more breakfast offerings in the Leander area.
The mom-and-pop restaurant’s breakfast menu features classic dishes such as omelets and skillets, some with a Greek twist. Nick’s Greek Skillet is made with gyro meat, grilled onions and peppers, eggs, hash browns and feta cheese.
The business is known for its stuffed French toast featuring cream cheese and strawberries. Diners can enjoy their breakfast alongside a variety of espresso and coffee drinks. For lunch, the restaurant offers burgers, deli sandwiches, pita sandwiches and wraps. All entrees and sauces are made from scratch by a team of chefs, including owner Nick Arapi.
Night Owl
Co-owner Danny Parrott has been in the restaurant and bar industry since 2009, when he moved to Austin to operate a food truck. Within a few years, Parrott had opened his own bar along Austin’s bustling 6th Street, but he was looking for opportunities to build more community-oriented locations.
He opened the Austin Night Owl on Burnet Road in 2017, followed by a Round Rock location in 2019.
Parrott says he was approached by Leander city leadership to set up shop in the Old Town district, which the city was seeking to redevelop as a destination for the area.
Nameless Saloon
Cecelia Fortney first opened the bar in 2024. She credits her son with the idea of starting the outdoor venue-style bar with food trucks.
She said he was the vision behind the business before leaving to operate restaurants in Lakeway, and Fortney is keeping his vision alive.
5th Element Brewing
The German word "reinheitsgebot" represents a purity law for brewing, stating that you need four elements to craft a truly pure beer: water, hops, grain and yeast. Mike Brune believes that there is an important fifth element that Reinheitsgebot is missing, which is human connection. As a lifelong and self-proclaimed chemistry nerd, Brune started his brewing career at home, moving from a five-gallon bucket to the three-and-a-half barrel system at 5th Element Brewing in Leander.
