Local · Trusted · Free
The Morning Impact — your neighborhood's most important stories, delivered every morning.
Editor's note: This list is not comprehensive. Have a tip? Email [email protected].
Check out the latest dining updates throughout the Austin metro, including all-you-can-eat sushi in North Austin, a butcher shop expansion in Round Rock and handcrafted bubble teas in Dripping Springs.
Impacts of the week
Hanami AYCE Sushi now serving signature rolls, fresh-cut sashimi in North Austin
The family-owned Japanese restaurant provides an all-you-can-eat dining experience, featuring more than 40 signature sushi rolls and fresh-cut sashimi. Handcrafted cocktails, as well as hot and cold sakes, are available.
New owner Chandler Wible spent six months refreshing the menu before reopening in March. The revamped shop also introduced a Scoops Chicken Salad Market, with more menu additions planned in phases. Wible said the expansion is a commitment to staying independent and community-rooted as national brands move into the area.
First opened in Georgetown in October 2020 by Keith Odom, Jonathan Brooks and Landrum Turner, the locally owned butcher shop and restaurant opened its second location in Round Rock in mid-March. The full-service shop brings fresh cuts of beef, pork and wild game from Texas ranches, along with house-made sausages, jerky and charcuterie. The menu includes the Georgetown Melt, pulled pork sandwiches, hot chicken sandwiches and chili cheese dogs.
The Alley is gearing up for a grand opening at Ledgestone in Dripping Springs. The shop serves a curated selection of teas, freshly prepared tapioca and house-made cane syrup, with drinks including ube milk tea, passionfruit green tea, mango green milk tea, Thai milk tea and strawberry yogurt smoothie.
An Arkansas-based chicken restaurant will occupy the former Zaxby's location on I-35 in San Marcos, which closed in June 2025. Slim Chickens will offer fried and grilled chicken dishes with 14 sauce options, Southern-style sides including fried okra and potato salad, and house-made desserts.
Beyond Pompeii Pizza serves up family-style pies in Leander
Independently run and family-owned, Beyond Pompeii Pizza is a “true mom-and-pop shop.” Owner Bob Khan had one rule when he dreamed of opening a restaurant: make it for families, run by family, everything family. More than a decade after immigrating from India and settling in Leander, he and his family made it happen.
Bob, his wife Krista and their children officially opened the pizzeria in November 2023, serving classic and specialty pies like the Margherita and supreme, along with favorites like the Meat Monster, topped with cheese, pepperoni, sausage, turkey bacon and ground beef.
Beyond Pompeii Pizza offers a permanent 10% discount for all first responders, veterans, active military and school district employees year-round. "The love and support that they continually show to us is the entire reason we're open," MK Khan said.
