\u201cKeep Austin Weird,\u201d<\/a> until a friendly recommendation prompted a visit \u2014and a closer look at a restaurant that\u2019s almost frozen in time.<\/p>\nArticle continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Inside, wood-paneled walls are lined with fantasy comic art, tables are sealed with illustrated scenes and scattered coins, and strings of colored lights glow above booths worn in by decades of regulars. Near the entrance, a glowing beer sign hums beside vintage arcade games, while a tucked-away booth acts as a shrine to Stevie Ray Vaughan.<\/p>\n
Not much has changed in its 48 years \u2014 right down to the dough, still made in the early hours each morning by longtime employee Erich Knapp, who\u2019s worked for Conan\u2019s for close to three decades.\u00a0In a city where new restaurants open daily, Conan\u2019s South has stayed true to what it\u2019s always been: a place built on friendly faces, quality pizza, and the kind of consistency people crave in a world of constant change.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"The]()
<\/p>\n
The eclectic ordering counter at Conan’s South in Austin, Texas.<\/p>\n
Annie Brown for MySA<\/p>\n
Conan\u2019s Pizza first opened in Austin in 1976 near the University of Texas, eventually expanding to multiple locations across the city. Today, the business operates as separate outposts with different ownership, including a North Austin location.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
The South Austin restaurant, which opened in 1978, has been serving the neighborhood for nearly five decades, but in the summer of 2020, it came close to disappearing forever.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Texas community that kept\u00a0Conan\u2019s alive<\/p>\n
Co-owner Jeremy Shirk had grown up around the restaurant, working his first job there at 15\u2014donning a mohawk no less\u2014and spending years treating it like a second home. So when he learned the South Austin location was set to close that October, he decided to step in. Without a clear plan, Shirk turned to the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
In a series of Facebook posts, he shared what was at stake: a longtime Austin business quietly preparing to close its doors for good. He asked for support from the community, and the response was immediate.<\/p>\n
![\"Conan's]()
<\/p>\n
Conan’s South shows off its\u00a0unique Texas flair.<\/p>\n
Annie Brown for MySA<\/p>\n
Hundreds of people commented, shared, and reposted his message, turning a potential closure into a citywide conversation. Former employees reminisced about working there in the \u201970s and \u201980s. Others recalled grabbing a slice and a Coke for a couple of dollars after school at nearby Crockett High. Many wrote about growing up at Conan\u2019s and now bringing their own kids.<\/p>\n
Within weeks, Shirk had launched a GoFundMe and reached an agreement to take over the restaurant, pledging to keep it running without losing staff or changing what customers loved about it.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
For Shirk, the goal wasn\u2019t to modernize Conan\u2019s, but to preserve it. \u201cIt\u2019s my heart and soul. There\u2019s so much nostalgic value. You simply don\u2019t see places like this anymore. I always felt safe here, and we want people to feel like they\u2019re at home,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That approach is still Conan\u2019s north star today, employing many nearby Crockett High School students and creatives who reflect the same offbeat, come-as-you-are spirit that has long defined the restaurant.<\/p>\n
Deep dish pizza, done the Austin way<\/p>\n
The menu hasn\u2019t strayed far from what made it popular in the first place. As Austin\u2019s original deep-dish pan pizza spot, the options are straightforward: whole wheat or white dough, thin crust or deep dish, all made fresh daily. The deep-dish \u201cSavage\u201d remains a fan favorite, stacked with multiple meats, loads of fresh vegetables, and a punch of salty anchovy.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
![\"Interior]()
<\/p>\n
Interior of Conan’s South in Austin, Texas.<\/p>\n
Annie Brown for MySA<\/p>\n
For those looking to go bigger, the \u201cSuper Savage\u201d has taken on a life of its own. The nearly 10-pound pizza has drawn competitive eaters and YouTube personalities, including Joel Hansen, who finished the challenge in under 20 minutes and racked up over a million views on YouTube, bringing international attention to an Austin staple.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the appeal isn\u2019t just in the spectacle. There\u2019s a balance to the ratio of sauce to dough to toppings, and the cheese in particular carries a kind of old-school comfort\u2014something that feels familiar even on a first visit.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
For Shirk, that feeling is exactly the point. \u201cWe just have to thank the city for being behind us for so long,\u201d he said. \u201cSome places have prime locations, but people still choose to come here and support local. It means the world.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Find it:\u00a0Conan\u2019s Pizza South, 2018\u00a0W. Stassney Lane, Austin, TX 78745. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pizza at Conan’s South in Austin, Texas.\u00a0 Annie Brown for MySA Driving through South Austin, it\u2019s hard to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257295,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,2108,1112,820],"class_list":["post-257305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-mysaaustin","tag-mysafood","tag-mysastaff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}