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Three Six General in San Marcos is a bodega and butcher shop owned by Mattison Bills, a highly recognized Austin-area restaurateur and owner of Astra Restaurant & Bar in Buda.
Bills and her team sell their locally sourced products at five farmers markets across the Central Texas region, from Cedar Park to New Braunfels.
“She is a force to be reckoned with,” general manager Brooke Dinsmore said. “She's an incredible businesswoman.”
The business
The woman-owned and -operated shop, established in September 2020, places a heavy emphasis on local sourcing and processing. Employees at the shop make sausages and butcher, cure, and smoke meats in-house.
Seven days a week, customers can find hormone- and antibiotic-free beef, pork, lamb and chicken raised on Texas pastures, produce sourced through Farm to Table Texas, which connects local producers with businesses, and Gulf seafood acquired through a partnership with Quality Seafood in Austin, according to Three Six General.
Dinsmore said in addition to meat and produce, the shop has a full grocery section, noting that the team strives to offer everything a customer may need. Grocery products include toiletries, flowers and sourdough delivered weekly to Three Six General from local producers.
Three Six General sells bacon, ham, smoked sausages, smoked chicken salad, pimento cheese, pickled vegetables and fermented foods at the farmers markets.
“It's important to always show faith and community and show people that we're here because we care,” Dinsmore said. “It's not just about the money for us by any means; it's about being able to provide what the community needs.”
The restaurant
Bills is the co-founder of Mum Foods, an Austin restaurant featured in the Michelin Guide's “The Best Barbecue in Austin” list. In addition to Three Six General, she owns Howdy Child in San Antonio and opened Astra Restaurant & Bar in Buda in February.
“She's got a background in business agriculture,” Dinsmore said. “She wanted to work on a farm right out of school, so she did that. She has her roots very much in what we do.”
Astra Restaurant & Bar offers a diverse menu built with locally sourced, seasonal ingredients, features an on-site garden and sources ingredients from other urban farms.
Menu items include artisan sandwiches, sourdough pizza, handmade pastas, seasonal vegetable dishes, burgers and craft cocktails. Bills’ Three Six General produces the cured meats for Astra Restaurant & Bar.
Lauren Beckman, cocktail director at Mixtli in San Antonio, leads the restaurant’s cocktail program.
