What becomes an icon most? I've yet to talk to local restaurateurs lately without hearing their opinions on the city's $750,000 forgivable loan to the
Perez sisters of
Las Manitas (211 Congress, 472-9357). Reactions range from anger and outrage to envy and frustration. A few people wanted to know where they could sign up for that loan program, and others wondered why the city didn't offer money to the owners of Bert's Bar-B-Que, especially after an Austin Fire Department employee ignored the first 911 call about the devastating fire that destroyed their campus-area location. Some folks who had recently suffered the financially punishing delays and confusions of the city's torturous development process said they thought the $750,000 would be better spent streamlining and simplifying a situation that is so often a crucible for restaurant start-ups or remodels. I wish I possessed the wisdom to offer up a solution that would satisfy everyone. I've always admired the Perez sisters. I like the food at Las Manitas, and I have no quarrel with the restaurant's status as a local icon: I've witnessed the diversity of the everyday clientele and observed South by Southwest participants making their annual pilgrimage there, waiting patiently in lines that stretch around the block. I've also played host to national chefs and cookbook authors who demand to eat at Las Manitas whenever they visit Austin. And I would certainly hate to have the unenviable task of telling those two very formidable women they were losing their business because they don't own that particular piece of real estate. All that being said, however, I'm not sure they are any more deserving of the city's generosity than any other restaurant that doesn't own the building in which it operates. I've been in the building the Perez sisters do own at 227 Congress, and I have no doubt that it will take every bit of $750,000 to retrofit that space to house a restaurant. But I also know that other local independent restaurant owners have recently managed to accomplish much the same thing nearby by putting together investment money, which they will have to pay back, just like (almost) anyone else. I'm concerned the negative backlash that comes with the forgivable loan might ultimately do Las Manitas more harm than good.
In another "real estate ownership is destiny" saga Downtown, Dan McClusky's (301 E. Sixth) closed last week. The steak house had been a mainstay on East Sixth Street since 1979, long before the area became known as an entertainment district. Though Steve Batlin owned the restaurant, he was only a minority partner in the family group that owned the building and was unable to buy the building himself. Batlin currently has no plans to relocate Dan McClusky's. Austin chef Shawn Cirkiel and a group of investors have purchased the two-story corner building and plan to open a new restaurant there this fall. In a telephone conversation last week, Cirkiel was unwilling to provide any details about his new venture except to say that he is very excited about ongoing changes on East Sixth and about the prospect of operating a restaurant there.
