Exclusive first look at Fresa's 360, which opens next week with Hill Country views
The Westlake area, not well known as a longstanding hotbed for locally owned restaurants, is getting some good news from a popular name.
Fresa’s Chicken al Carbon, the Mexican restaurant from chef-partner Rene Ortiz that specializes in grilled meats and tacos, will open October 3 at 3600 N. Loop 360. It will be the third location from the ownership group that also includes founders Margaret Vera and Tracy Overath. The original opened on North Lamar Boulevard with a drive-thru and outdoor seating in 2012.
The recent addition to the Fresa’s family features a similar menu to the South First Street location, which opened in 2016, with ceviche, margaritas, grilled steak and other additions you won’t find at the original.
The new location sits in a space once inhabited by Thai Spice and the Austin outpost of Houston restaurant Berryhill Baja Cafe. The expansive 6,000-square-foot restaurant features a wall of windows and outdoor patio that overlook the western hills. There is also a to-go counter serving the restaurant’s takeout operation.
Fresa’s 360 is located a stone’s throw from Jack Allen’s Kitchen and across the highway from locally owned Jade Restaurant and Maudie’s Milagro. It joins a mini-trend of new openings out west that includes the wine bar Neighborhood Vintner and Baldinucci Pizza Romana, which both opened last year in the Westlake area.
“Having served fellow Austinites for over a decade, we’re grateful to bring our concept not only to a new neighborhood but to my neighborhood,” said Fresa’s co-owner Margaret Vera. “We can’t wait to share the new space with the community. We really tried to create a space that captures the spirit of Westlake and the Hill Country.”
Fresa’s 360 will be open daily, with dine-in hours of 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. (opening at 10 a.m. on weekends) and to-go operations from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
The location in Davenport Ranch West is not the end of Fresa's expansion plans. The restaurant group, which decided in 2021 to focus its growth on sit-down casual restaurants and forego the drive-thru model due to the shifting restaurant landscape, will open a fourth location in September 2024 in Mueller. That location will be situated in the forthcoming Solomon apartment building at 1414 E. 51st St.
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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: First look at new Fresa's Mexican restaurant in Westlake on Loop 360
