One of Austin’s best new restaurants, Wee’s Cozy Kitchen, closes; new location planned
One University of Texas-area gas station got a lot less interesting at the end of December.
Wee Fong Ehlers closed her Wee’s Cozy Kitchen at 2400 Rio Grande St. on December 23, as her lease was coming to an end. The chef’s counter-service spot that featured her stellar Malaysian home cooking landed on our best new restaurants list in the fall Austin360 Dining Guide.
In the guide, I wrote that “I imagine it won’t be long before Wee has a bigger kitchen and a restaurant to call her own, and there will be no shortage of people saying ‘I knew her when.’”
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Well, that didn’t take long. Ehlers is relocating her restaurant that garnered attention from the New York Times last year, though is not yet announcing the new location or when diners can expect to enjoy her food again.
Ehlers had been operating the food counter inside a Shell gas station in West Campus (aptly named Foodie’s), serving Chinese-American classics and bar food staples like burgers and wings for about six months before she decided in summer 2022 to start mixing in dishes from her native Malaysia, like beef rendang and chicken lasi nemak. They proved to be a major hit with students and food obsessives thanks to their depth of flavor and the home-cooked comfort they inspire.
The Malaysia native cooked at Castilian for 11 years and has been working at Jester for the last three. I wonder if those days are likely numbered, too.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Wee’s Cozy Kitchen in Austin closes but a new location is coming soon
