The restaurant group once had multiple locations across town, but it has fallen on hard times over the past few years.
AUSTIN, Texas — After serving up queso, Mexican martinis and more for decades, Trudy’s Tex-Mex is closing its final Austin location.
The restaurant group announced on Monday that it is saying goodbye to its North Star location on Burnet Road. Trudy’s did not state an end of operations date for the location, and a KVUE phone call to clarify went unanswered.
“This spot has been so much more than a restaurant – it’s been a place where memories were made, margaritas were shared, and the spirt of Austin came to life,” Trudy’s wrote on social media. “To our amazing team and loyal customers, thank you for making North Star so special.”
North Star’s closure is the latest blow for Trudy’s, which first opened in Austin in 1977. The company was purchased out of bankruptcy in 2020 by equity firm Hargett Hunter. The acquisition included three Trudy’s locations (a fourth closed in 2019, according to KVUE’s partners at the Austin American-Statesman) and South Congress Café.
At the time, Hargett Hunter said it hoped to keep the brand alive and reinvest in Trudy’s locations and teams, including the group’s temporarily closed Texas Star location near the University of Texas campus. But after the acquisition, the Statesman reported that Hargett Hunter said property damage and other issues made reopening Texas Star unfeasible. The firm sold the West 30th Street property in 2022.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of Trudy’s hard times.
In 2021, Trudy’s owners closed South Congress Café to turn it into Trudy’s Del Mar. However, that venture closed in 2023,just over a year after it opened.
Then, last May, Trudy’s announced it was closing its South Star location on Little Texas Lane. At the time, Trudy’s CEO remained optimistic, saying the restaurant group was eyeing expansion that included two new Austin locations and forays into Houston and San Antonio.
That optimism persisted in Trudy’s North Star closure announcement on Monday.
“While this chapter closes, Trudy’s Tex-Mex continues forward, and we’re excited for what’s to come,” the restaurant group wrote.
As of Monday, Trudy’s website does not list any “coming soon” locations.