For the first time in years, a legendary Central Texas barbecue restaurant has a message for anyone wanting to watch Fourth of July fireworks from its parking lot: Don’t.
Kreuz Market in Lockhart will once again be open on the holiday, inviting customers to celebrate with barbecue and cold drinks. But if you were planning to use its parking lot as a free place to watch any festive displays, you’ll have to find somewhere else.
Two weeks ahead of the holiday, the restaurant announced on social media there will be no access to its parking lot at 619 N Colorado St. this year after several issues in previous years—including littering, property damage and other behavior “detrimental” to its property.
The near-century old Lockhart barbecue staple, that’s been open since 1875, said it’s installing barricades and tow-away signs, with tow truck operators on-site to remove unauthorized vehicles at the owners’ expense.
The announcement quickly drew questions and comments from customers, in which Kreuz Market’s owners responded to explain the reasoning behind the new policy.
“It’s not vandalism. It’s mountains of trash including food rotting, dirty diapers, bottles (with pee in them) and cans, charcoal ash marks from people actually using smokers in the parking lot, pee stains on the patio and sides of the building,” Kreuz Market’s team wrote to one commenter. “Not to mention it’s illegal to bring alcohol onto the property that wasn’t purchased from us. Not worth the trouble or the liability we have to assume for other peoples actions.”
Others even suggested that Kreuz Market simply charge for parking instead, with one person joking the restaurant should enlist a local Boy Scouts troop to help. But the owners said the issue wasn’t money—it’s the risk of crowds they can’t control.
“The problem is still liability. NO ALCOHOL can be brought or consumed on the property. Boy Scouts can’t enforce that. And the fireworks begin at 9 p.m. so it’s also a late night. And cleanup would still be a huge factor and with human waste, a biohazard concern. It had become so bad that we just cut off access,” the restaurant wrote in the comments.
According to Kreuz Market’s website, the restaurant closes at 8 p.m. on Saturdays—which would be about three hours before Lockhart’s July 4th celebration ending at 11 p.m.