Lake Travis Restaurant Updates 9/18/26

Quiet week for brand-new doors — no new restaurant crossed into our 60-day window in Lakeway, Bee Cave, or Spicewood. One food truck we told you was coming to Fetch Food Park looks to be up and running; we'll confirm and give it a proper welcome next week. The next new spot to open around the lake will show up here first.

Mandola's Italian Kitchen — Bee Cave

The Vibe — Twenty years ago this March, Damian and Trina Mandola opened an Italian kitchen in the Shops at the Galleria built around one idea: authentic Italian recipes, Texas hospitality, and an open kitchen you can watch from the counter. It's the casual side of the Mandola family's cooking — you order at the counter, the food comes fast, and the market case by the door does double duty as a gelato counter. First-timers get a free cookie; regulars get remembered.

Must-Order Items — The handmade pastas are the reason to come, and the lasagna is the one people drive across the lake for. The rustic pizzas come out of the oven blistered, the warm focaccia lands on the table first, and nobody leaves without a scoop of gelato from the case.

Pro Tip — Open every day, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., no reservations needed — which makes it the easy answer for a table of six on a Saturday when everything else at the Galleria has a wait. Grab dessert to go from the market counter on your way out.

📍 Address: 12815 Shops Pkwy #400, Bee Cave, TX 78738
🌐 Website: mandolas.com
📞 Phone: 512-600-8500

📖 Want the full story on Mandola's Italian Kitchen? Read our complete write-up — the backstory, the menu, and what to order — at LocalEats.News/austin-laketravis.

Quiet week on the coming-soon board — nothing new was announced for Lakeway, Bee Cave, or Spicewood. The pipeline we're tracking hasn't budged: What's Up Brew's second Spicewood location is still promised for October with no address posted yet, Cousin Louie's still has no address or date for Lakeway, and The Square at Lakeway is still building utilities toward early 2027 with no restaurant tenants named. We'll flag the next new one the second it surfaces.

Nothing new hit the Lakeway, Bee Cave, or Spicewood filing logs this week that looks like a restaurant — the only new Lakeway permits are medical and office finish-outs. The $1 million market finish-out at 907 Highlands Blvd in Rough Hollow is still listed as "upcoming" by the neighboring landlord, so it hasn't opened yet. We'll surface the next new permit here the moment it lands.

Cafe Blue (Bee Cave) — Cafe Blue started on Lake Travis in 2001 — at Sandy Creek Marina — before owner Pete Clark moved it to the Hill Country Galleria in 2011, and it never lost the lake-house feel. Brunch runs Saturday and Sunday, 9 to 3, and starts with a basket of complimentary house-made beignets. From there it's the Eggs Benedict Arnold, a lobster Benedict, a Maine lobster and asparagus omelet, grilled salmon avocado toast, or French toast — and the oyster bar is open if you're feeling celebratory. Forty-plus wines by the glass and a key lime pie to finish.
📍 Address: 12800 Hill Country Blvd, Ste G-115, Bee Cave, TX 78738
🌐 Website: cafebluetx.com
📞 Phone: 512-366-5230

🆕 Highway 71 Brewing Co. (Spicewood) — The year-old brewery on Highway 71 has a mixed-beverage permit pending with the state (filed Aug. 27) — the license that lets a place pour liquor and cocktails, not just beer and wine. Nothing's been announced, but the paperwork says cocktails are on the roadmap for the taproom. In the meantime it's beer, mocktails, nitro coffee, a pizza truck, and Queen of Hearts on Tuesdays.
⏰ ETA: TBD (permit pending)
📍 Address: 22111 State Hwy 71 W, Bldg 601, Spicewood, TX 78669
🌐 Website: hwy71brewing.com
📞 Phone: 737-273-8962

Otherwise Spicewood's cluster is all open and pouring: Stone House Vineyard, Spicewood Vineyards, Iron Wolf Ranch & Distillery (Fridays and Saturdays), and the new Bella Loma agave distillery on County Road 404.

❌ Rocco's Grill (Bee Cave) — MAJOR UPDATE and a correction from us: Rocco's Grill on Bee Cave Road has closed for good. We featured Rocco's back in August, and at the time the listings we relied on still showed it open — they were out of date, and we should have caught it. The Piazza family opened Rocco's in 2001 on RR 620 in Lakeway before moving to Bee Cave Road, and it fed a lot of birthday dinners over 25 years. If you know what's headed for the space, we'd love to hear it.
📍 12432 Bee Cave Rd, Bee Cave, TX 78738

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✌️ Until next Friday,

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.