The Head and the Heart will headline Austin’s New Year’s party at Auditorium Shores on Dec. 31 from 7pm to midnight. Local stars Chaparelle, Taméca Jones, and the Point will also perform at the free, family-friendly event hosted by the city and Visit Austin, alongside a drone show and, of course, a fireworks finale to welcome 2026. Head to the lakefront early to get a seat for the spectacle and a bite to eat from local food truck vendors along the shore, or you can tune in to CNN to watch the live broadcast from wherever you’re ringing in the new year.
Balance Dance Studios and the Hideout Theatre are the latest recipients of the Place-Based Enhancement Program, a city of Austin initiative that invests in local, creative, and legacy businesses to support their expansion and long-term stability. Balance Dance Studios will use its $10.5 million investment over 10 years to expand its South Austin building to include a new performance theatre, green rooms, and multi-use spaces supporting their youth-oriented mission. The Hideout, a 25-year-old coffee-slinging hub for improv theatre that announced plans to move from Congress to South Austin complex Art Hub ATX earlier this year, will receive a $700,000 investment to aid in tenant improvements and equipment associated with its relocation. “Austin is home to incredible talent, creativity, and entrepreneurship,” Anthony Segura, interim director of Austin Economic Development, wrote in the press release. “These are cherished local businesses with strong roots in Austin, and we are proud to encourage community-oriented policies that combine economic growth and tourism with prosperity for our legacy businesses and creative spaces.”
Prototype Vintage announced a second outpost at 123 North Loop. The sister location to the South Congress shop will sit just a few doors down from its now-cousin, Room Service, recently purchased by Prototype co-founder and co-owner Audrie San Miguel. San Miguel and Emily Larson, the other half of Prototype’s leadership, met at a North Loop block party when San Miguel first worked at Room Service, so the new spot has a sentimental pull for the pair. “With the new 2nd location, we’re excited to expand our brand of sustainable fashion to locals & will fight to keep the independent spirit of the North Loop neighborhood alive,” they wrote on Instagram. “It’s truly an honor to be among other legacy Austin businesses on the block.” Prototype Vintage on North Loop will celebrate its grand opening on Dec. 6 from 6pm-8pm.
Birdie’s, Uchi, and Franklin Barbecue were named three of luxury lifestyle magazine Robb Report‘s first-ever 100 Greatest American Restaurants of the 21st Century. The cuisine-crossing trio were the only Texan restaurants to make the list, which was created by an independent jury of 250 chefs, restaurateurs, sommeliers, ingredient purveyors, and well-traveled diners ranking the 10 greatest restaurants in America by considering the dining experience, staying power, and other nebulous forces that make a restaurant “truly great.”
JewBoy Sliders welcomed a fifth location inside campus haunt Cain & Abel’s, the very West 24th bar where JewBoy founder Mo Pittle got his start as a bouncer. “As a proud Texas Alum, this was an exciting opportunity for Jewboy Sliders,” Pittle wrote in a press release. “As a former employee of the old bar, I knew the heritage and tradition that comes with it. We’re honored to bring our late-night fare back to West Campus.” The new outpost will serve location-exclusive menu items including loaded fries, flautas, and a breakfast-inspired slider.
This article appears in December 5 • 2025.
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