The W. 30th Street property was once Trudy’s flagship restaurant. The restaurant caught fire in 2019. A year later, the restaurant chain filed for bankruptcy. According to a property summary report, KBCB Investments LLC. purchased the property in 2025. The investment firm happens to be owned and operated by James “Kent” Black of the Black Barbecue family out of Lockhart—definitely not to be confused with Terry Black’s BBQ, which is operated by Kent’s estranged brother Terry.
In an exclusive interview with the Austin American-Statesman, Kent said his family is busy developing the old Trudy’s grounds to be a permanent home for their barbecue brand.
“We’re very excited to have a permanent spot that we can call our own. We are there to be a part of the neighborhood,” third-generation pitmaster Kent Black told the Statesman. “We really want to be good neighbors.”
An opening date for the Original Black’s Barbecue’s new restaurant hasn’t been announced. Folks can still get a taste of the chain’s slow-smoked barbecue at their 3110 Guadalupe St. less than a mile away.
Chron has reached out to Original Black’s Barbecue and will update this story if we hear back.
Aside from Austin, the Original Black’s Barbecue has locations in New Braunfels, San Marcos and its hometown of Lockhart. Brothers Kent and Terry famously became estranged, splitting the Black family and the barbecue business in two. Terry Blacks Barbecue—which also has several locations around the state, including a new one opening soon in Houston, New Braunfels, San Antonio and in Nashville, Tenn.