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🔝 TOP 3 IN 10 SECONDS
🆕 Tacodeli has signed a lease at Highway 290 and Canyonwood Drive — the Austin taco favorite's first Dripping Springs store, with an opening date still to come.
⭐ Our Featured Spot is Trattoria Lisina in Driftwood — Damian Mandola's Tuscan-style dining room next to the Duchman vineyards, where the osso buco has been on the menu since day one.
🆕 This week's craving is barbecue — Pig Pen BBQ in Dripping Springs and Meat & Drink in Wimberley — and the Driftwood Fall Festival opens tonight at Vista Brewing.
🏗️ COMING SOON & NEW FILINGS
🆕 Tacodeli (Dripping Springs / Hwy 290 at Canyonwood) — The Austin-born taco shop has signed a lease for its first Dripping Springs location, at the corner of Highway 290 and Canyonwood Drive on the east side of town. Expect the same menu that built the following in Austin — breakfast, lunch, and dinner tacos, plus salads, bowls, and soups. The company says an opening date is still to be determined, and nothing has been filed with the state for the build-out yet, so this one is a ways off.
⏰ ETA: TBD
📍 Address: US Hwy 290 at Canyonwood Dr, Dripping Springs, TX 78620
🌐 Website: https://www.tacodeli.com
📞 Phone: TBD
Still in the pipeline: The Forager, the botanical tea-and-wine shop on Ranch Road 12 in Wimberley, was promised for September and still hasn't opened its doors, and The Cat's Meow boba and tea house up the road is still under construction with no date. No new restaurant filings hit the state or county logs for Dripping Springs, Driftwood, or Wimberley this week.
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✅ NOW OPEN (LAST 60 DAYS)
Quiet week for brand-new doors — nothing opened in Dripping Springs, Driftwood, or Wimberley in the last two months that we haven't already told you about. We scan the filings, the trade press, and the town pages every week, so the next new spot around the valley shows up here first.
⭐ FEATURED SPOT
Trattoria Lisina (Driftwood)
Houston chef Damian Mandola built Trattoria Lisina in 2007 as the last piece of a Tuscan-style estate on FM 150, side by side with the winery that is now Duchman Family Winery — he sold his share of the winery in 2010 and kept the restaurant, which still goes by "twenty minutes to Tuscany." The kitchen cooks the way it did when it opened: Mamma Grace's meatballs, lasagne alla Bolognese, wood-fired pizzas, a bistecca alla Fiorentina for the table, and an osso buco and sfinci (Italian doughnuts) that have been on the menu since the first winter. With patio weather finally here and the vineyard next door, it's the fall dinner that feels like a trip without leaving Hays County. Pro tip: open Tuesday–Friday 4 to 9 and Saturday–Sunday 11 to 9 (closed Monday) — book ahead for a weekend table, and come early enough to walk the grounds before you sit down.
📍 13308 FM 150 W, Driftwood, TX 78619
🌐 https://trattorialisina.com
📞 512-894-3111
📖 Want the full story on Trattoria Lisina — the backstory, hours, and what to order? Read our complete write-up at LocalEats.News/austin-hillcountry
🍷 DRINKS WATCH — NEW ON THE WINE & BEER TRAIL
Quiet week on the trail — no new winery, brewery, distillery, or tasting-room filing surfaced for Dripping Springs, Driftwood, or Wimberley. Two dates we're holding for you: Briggs Distilling Co. in Driftwood is still set for its grand opening on Saturday, Oct. 17, and Goodnight Loving Vodka has yet to name an opening day for its tasting room on East 290. The moment either one moves, you'll read it here.
😋 THIS WEEK'S CRAVING — BBQ / SMOKEHOUSE
Our weekly pick: a local favorite worth the drive.
🍽️ Pig Pen BBQ (Dripping Springs) — Pig Pen started as a food truck back in 2016, the side project of an Austin police sergeant named Bill who learned to barbecue from his mother, and the brick-and-mortar on 290 is celebrating five years this fall. Go for the brisket sandwich, pork ribs, pulled pork, and smoked sausage, with baked potato salad, creamed corn, and street corn on the side — and they open early enough for breakfast tacos. There's a patio and a playground, so the kids are handled. Open Tuesday–Wednesday 7 to 7, Thursday–Saturday 7 to 8, and Sunday 8 to 3 (closed Monday).
📍 301 W Hwy 290, Dripping Springs, TX 78620
🌐 https://ds.pigpenbbq.com
📞 512-858-0060
🍽️ Meat & Drink (Wimberley) — If you're on the Wimberley end of the valley, this is the smokehouse to know: smoked meats, a full bar, and live music under a big heritage oak on Ranch Road 12, open since late 2024. The smoked chicken plate comes with rice, beans, tortillas, and two sauces, and the menu has grown to include burgers, wraps, and frozen cocktails. It's an outdoor spot, so they close when the weather turns cold or wet. Open Thursday–Sunday from noon and Monday and Wednesday from 3 (closed Tuesday).
📍 13904 Ranch Road 12, Ste 4, Wimberley, TX 78676
🌐 https://themeatanddrink.com
📞 737-260-4984
📅 AROUND THE VALLEY — THIS WEEK
Thursday 10/1
Driftwood Fall Festival opening day at Vista Brewing, Driftwood · 4–7p · $5–$15, under 3 free
Saturday 10/3
Wimberley Market Day at Lions Field, Wimberley · 7a–4p, rain or shine
Driftwood Fall Festival (pumpkin patch, maze, food and beer) at Vista Brewing, Driftwood · 11a–7p · $5–$15 (also Sunday)
Art Market with food trucks at Willow Lake Watering Hole, Wimberley · 11a–6p
Wednesday 10/7
Dripping Springs Farmers Market at Ranch Park, Dripping Springs · 3–6p
❌ RECENTLY CLOSED
Good news — nothing new shuttered around the Hill Country this week. We'll always flag real closings here first.
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✌️ Until next Thursday,
Nolan K.
P.S. Corrections welcome. If I got something wrong, email me at [email protected] — I try to double-check everything, but I’m human.