Lasagna bolognese on the menu at Vespaio on Friday, Jan. 11, 2019, in Austin, Texas. [NICK WAGNER/AMERICAN-STATESMAN]
Nick Wagner, AMERICAN-STATESMAN, Austin American-Statesman
Few Austin restaurants occupy such a strong and meaningful place in their regulars’ hearts and minds as Vespaio. The Italian classic, the second-longest tenured of any restaurant on South Congress Avenue (behind Guero’s), is closing this weekend after almost 30 years in business.
In my personal experience, no restaurant engenders more passion from its devoted diners. If I ever write a list of best this or that and Vespaio is not included, there’s plenty of chirping on social media and in my email inbox. People love the restaurant, and with good reason.
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Pizza, like the prosciutto, fontina and arugula combination, was always a hit at Vespaio.
AMERICAN-STATESMAN FILE
Vespaio’s almond cookies hold a dear place in many regular visitors’ hearts.
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It’s a throwback in the sense that it is the kind of place that always makes you feel welcome and always delivers on its promise of comforting cuisine. Whether as a go-to for special occasions or regular happy hour retreat. it’s dependable in the best way.
My two biggest personal memories of Vespaio were of my good friend Geeta working as a hostess there in the early aughts (everyone had a friend who worked at Vespaio at some point). I would pop in to say hi, let her smile brighten my day and usually she would slide me into a cherished spot at the bar — sometimes next to Jimmie Vaughan, more often next to a less famous but equally intriguing regular.
A decade later, after welcoming guests to town for my wedding with happy hour at the South Congress Hotel, I realized we had a hungry group of about a dozen folks an no dinner plans. I called over to Vespaio, and they gracefully accommodated us in their private room, where we had an impromptu wine-soaked rehearsal-rehearsal dinner that went on for hours and made me feel like a made man and the luckiest guy in Texas.
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The antipasti case was always an enticing welcome, steps away from the host stand at Vespaio.
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Vespaio is the rare type of restaurant in which its regulars and longtime employees feel ownership. My favorite pushback regarding Vespaio came once when I casually referred to it as a “red sauce Italian restaurant.” Upon reading it, an octogenarian friend bristled, “You’re all wet, Odam!” My favorite insult of all time. (RIP Tom and Joan Taylor.)
Indeed, the restaurant was more than a red sauce Italian joint. It was a trailblazer in sourcing locally and seasonally, with produce from Tecolote and Rain Lily farms coloring the offerings and protein sourced from regional farms and ranches. Vespaio was one of the first restaurants in the region to engage in whole animal butchery and even kept its own herb garden on the property.
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Vespaio didn’t just provide the soil for great memories, it also served as an incubator for a slew of culinary talent. Its roster of kitchen alumni includes Jesse Griffiths (Dai Due), Tom Micklethwait (Micklethwait Barbecue), Bradley Nicholson and Susana Querejazu (Lutie’s), and Ian Thurwachter (Intero, Poeta).
A steady presence on changing South Congress Avenue
Chef Alan Lazarus and partners Scott Bolin and Claude Benayoun opened the restaurant — named after a beehive found in the building’s walls during construction — in 1998 on South Congress Avenue. This was years before the strip of road would become home to boutique hotels, popular restaurants and flashy retail outlets. Vespaio, with its welcoming warmth and intentionality in the kitchen, helped change the face of dining not just on South Congress but in the city. The partners’ impact multiplied when they opened the casual Enoteca next door in 2005.
Partners (left to right) Claude Benayoun, Scott Bolin and chef Alan Lazarus opened Vespaio in 1998.
PROVIDED BY ALAN LAZARUS
The partners sold the restaurant to longtime chef de cuisine, Ryan Samson, who’s been with Vespaio for more than 25 years, and former general manager Daniel Brooks of Licha’s Cantina in 2018. They made few changes to the South Congress stalwart.
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With the sale of the property, Vespaio’s story comes to a close after service Saturday. But the memories of the restaurant will carry on. The Statesman reached out to former employees and regular diners for some of their fondest memories of the space. Their responses have been edited for clarity and concision.
As for the next chapter for that corner of South Congress, the Austin Business Journal reports that new owners, Austin real estate development group Fortum Ventures and Quanna Partners, a Colorado-based private equity group, have plans to “approximately double the building foot print. They also intend to preserve the existing structure.”
Brooks and Samson are keeping the spirit of the restaurant alive with the casual Italian restaurant Vespa Rossa, which opened in Dripping Springs in the summer of 2025.
Chefs and diners remember Vespaio
“Ryan Samson is probably the most unsung chef in the city,” Dai Due co-founder and former Vespaio chef Jesse Griffiths said of the longtime Vespaio chef who bought the restaurant with Daniel Brooks in 2018.
Nick Wagner/AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Jesse Griffiths, Dai Due co-founder and chef at Vespaio and Enoteca 2002-2006
“It was about food. It was about quality. There was no smoke and mirrors there. Everything was done to order. A kitchen of that quality was existing so far ahead of its time. I would imagine Vespaio was one of the first restaurants in the region to start doing whole animal butchery. We would bring in lamb and whole pigs pretty consistently. Ryan Samson deserves so much of that credit. He’s probably the most unsung chef in the city. He’s a total badass. He’s always been doing it and doing it really quietly.”
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George Scariano, Royal Blue Grocery co-owner and regular diner
A restaurant shouldn’t necessarily mean this much, unless it’s been there every damn time you needed it to be. Or when it or its glorious sibling Enoteca can check any box you’re in the mood for: fancy occasions; Friday lunches that make you feel like you’re in a big city; graduations, going aways or outta towners; those ridiculous brunches with the kids; yapping with Bret Egner at the bar for years on end; a to-go splurge for the family that can make one feel like a hero.
Or always ending the meal with an affogato — the peanut butter cookies anchored and elevated by lard that haunt me; a wine list bursting with hidden gems like Arnaldo Caprai, Bucci or Arpepe; the kookoo appetizer with polenta sticks and gorgonzola; peerless linguine with clams.
Or listening to founder Alan Lazarus brag, “here’s the thing, George — we don’t serve tweezer food!”
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Or knowing that every time you’re there it’s flying the flag for good old Austin, the irresistibly independent and charming one shared with (classic Austin restaurants) Las Manitas, Les Amis, Mad Dog & Beans, Ted’s Greek Corner and the first Jeffrey’s.
Or marveling that chef/co-owner Ryan Samson actually figured out a way to take the helm from the founders and keep it great and somehow still elevate it.
Vespaio was one of the first modern restaurants in Central Texas to butcher whole animals in-house.
AMERICAN-STATESMAN FILE
Or knowing that ATX’s farm to table scene was pioneered and flourished there, partnering with badass farmers like Tecolote Farm and countless others.
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Or the fact that ATX’s culinary pathway was carved out of that beautiful brick building — too many chefs and front-of-house pros to count.
Or just knowing, and holding on so tightly to the ineffable feeling that not only is it your go-to place to go to, but that so many others are lucky enough to feel that same priceless feeling.
Thank you Enoteca/Vespaio for the unmatched generosity throughout so many years. The bullseye was struck by your existence, as we’ve all borne witness to for so long by so many.
Ian Thurwachter, Intero and Poeta chef and co-owner who worked as cook and sous chef at Vespaio 2007-2012 an executive sous chef 2016-2018
“I was only 20 when I started there and was still wet behind the ears, culinarily speaking. Basically, everything that I know about cooking started at Vespaio. I learned how to make pizza, pasta, sausage, foie gras torchon, pesce al cartoccio, mozzarella and a million other things. I learned how to work the line, butcher meat and fish, fix a sink, put out a fire (literally), and cook with love and respect for the food. To say it was a formative time for me is a serious understatement. I left for a few years and then came back prior to opening Intero and it was still the same place, with he same people. It felt like I was home in a lot of ways. Ryan, Allen and Scott were all so supportive of my upcoming venture and continue to be to this day. That, to me, is what made Vespaio so special. It was that old reliable. Always warm and welcoming, even if years had passed Hell, Tom has been behind the bar for 28 years!”
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A funny story that stands out to me: When I moved to the pizza station, there was a serious learning curve. We were encouraged to throw the pizzas for the showmanship of it. I thought I had it down pretty well, but on my first solo shift, the first pizza I threw went flying into the dining room and landed on a table in front of two guests. Their immediate reaction was surprise and shock, then they looked over at me (I was queasy with embarrassment) and busted out laughing. I explained that I was new on the station and they warmly encouraged me to keep at it.”
C.K. Chin, Austin restaurateur (Wu Chow, Swift’s Attic)
“My wife and I had a small, teeny tiny wedding — just she and I, officiated by our son — during later pandemic times. We went to Vespaio for dinner afterwards to celebrate. Will always hold a special place in our hearts.”
Ryan Samson, left, and Daniel Brooks, purchased Vespaio in 2018.
Nick Wagner, AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Allison Brooks, former Vespaio employee, regular and sister of co-owner Daniel Brooks
My first memory of Vespaio is … I was a broke St. E’ds college student in 2006. I lived alone at The Brook at Travis Heights, had no cable, and streaming wasn’t a thing. When I wanted to get my Real Housewives fix (and a change of scenery), my big brother Daniel would leave me a key to his house on Elizabeth Street. He’d tell me to pick up a lasagna from the place he was managing at the time, a little niche Italian restaurant called Vespaio, then I’d go back to his house, get really stoned, and get my munch on.
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Little did I know about that famous lasagna at the time.
Little did I know my family would celebrate just about every birthday, every New Year’s Eve, every special occasion for our family there for the next 20 years.
Little did I know I’d go on to manage their PR and social media when all of those platforms were still new, getting to try every dish on the menu and documenting life at 1610.
Little did I know the Vespaio staff would become family throughout the years, watching many of them come and go, and some staying in our lives to this day.
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Little did I know those brick walls would watch me grow up from that 19-year-old college girl to the almost-forty-year old mom of two I am today. Our friends and partners around the celebratory table would change, but the setting was always the same: Vespaio.
Tim Trentham, Vespaio regular
“We’re friends with one of the founders and my eldest son worked at Enoteca, but my story is separate from that. The week of September 11, 2001, which was not that long after they opened, some friends and I met there for dinner because one friend worked at the original Gingerman and her partner waited tables at Vespaio. I remember feeling comfortable there, but we were also very uncertain about what would happen next.”
Fast forward to my family’s closing visit in the last few weeks: we ended up sitting at the same larger table on the back wall at the end of the bar as that 2001 dinner. Full circle almost 25 years later. Thank you for the comfort over the years, Vespaio.”
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Blair Fowler, Vespaio regular
“We went in 2010-201S after we moved here and my husband Perry took me! I loved it. We are bar people. I looked around and lo and behold, Alejandro Escovedo was there. I got to chat with him and tell him how much his music meant to me. Perry got to tell him he was sorry for stealing his harmonica when he was at a show. Full circle moment at one of the best places in Austin.”
Cioppino was always one of the most popular dishes at Italian restaurant Vespaio.
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Gilberto Cantu Charles, Vespaio regular
“My wife and I used to celebrate special occasions at this place. We always asked for a bottle of wine, the olives appetizer and our main course. The very first time, we had dinner there we asked for recommendations on the wine, they recommended Avignonesi Desiderio (Merlot), a great recommendation. We always asked for the same wine. For our honeymoon we went to Italy and we got to visit Avignonesi winery!”
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Kristin Stavrou, Vespaio regular
My husband and I got married at the South Congress hotel in 2021. At the time, we were living in Tulsa, Oklahoma and had to plan the entire wedding virtually. My husband is Italian and Greek and we knew we wanted to incorporate his heritage into the rehearsal dinner. Learning that Vespaio, a cherished Italian restaurant, was right across the street from the hotel almost seemed too good to be true.
From the get-go, Vespaio was incredibly kind and communicative when planning our rehearsal dinner. We loved every single part of the planning and actual event. Our friends and family loved the dinner and to this day still talk about how delicious not only the food was, but also the espresso martinis and Vespas. It was the perfect night. After our rehearsal dinner my husband and I vowed, not just to marry one another, but to go back to Vespaio for every big, celebratory event.
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Birthdays, promotions, and most importantly, every wedding anniversary has been spent celebrating at Vespaio. We are heartbroken that they are leaving the South Congress area as we loved them and the area so much that we moved to the South Congress neighborhood two years ago. We will miss being within walking distance of an establishment that holds such fond, joyous memories but will look forward to visiting their sister establishment in Dripping for a Vespa or two.
Responses were lightly edited for clarity.