Westlake's Fall Restaurant News Comes Down to Where You Sit

Baldinucci Pizza Romana closed its Westbank Market flagship on Aug. 10 so it could reopen with 54 seats in place of 12. A month later, at 3201 Bee Caves Road, Whataburger closed its first fully digital restaurant. That location had been built without a dining room, a drive-thru or curbside service.

The other changes around Westlake since spring follow the same pattern. A wine cafe opened at the Village at Westlake. An indoor golf simulator opened at Davenport Village. An online shop opened its first physical store on Bee Cave Road. In each case, the new business gave people a room to spend time in. As we head toward the holidays, the clearest change on this part of the west side is the number of places to sit down.

A 12-seat room becomes a 54-seat room

Baldinucci's flagship is at 3300 Bee Caves Road, Ste. 110, in Westbank Market. Most of its business has been pizza by the slice. The menu includes margherita, sausage and honey, chicken parmesan, and fig and arugula, along with salads, New York hero sandwiches, meatball parmigiana and a limoncello mascarpone cake. According to Community Impact, the renovated shop is slated to reopen in November with a dining room of 54 seats, up from 12.

The change is large. The flagship's dining room is growing by 42 seats, or about four and a half times its old size. Hoodline described the old 12-seat room as a bottleneck for anyone who wanted to eat there. A shop that size depends on takeout. A 54-seat room is a place to stay for a meal.

No exact reopening day had been announced as of this writing. Baldinucci's own locations page still lists the West Lake Hills shop as temporarily closed for expansion, and its online ordering link reads "Coming Soon." Until the doors open, the company is sending guests to its new Domain Northside location at 11501 Rock Rose Ave., which opened Aug. 17.

The restaurant built with no dining room

Whataburger opened its Digital Kitchen at 3201 Bee Caves Road, Ste. 180, in 2023. It was the chain's first fully digital location. Customers ordered online and picked up their food from lockers on the outside of the building. There was no traditional seating area, no curbside pickup and no drive-thru. Community Impact reported that it closed in September.

A company spokesperson gave Community Impact the reason:

"This decision helps focus our efforts where we can make the biggest impact, ensuring our guests continue to enjoy the high-quality, delicious food and genuine hospitality they've come to expect from Whataburger."

The spokesperson also said the company reviews its locations regularly and sometimes closes them, and that many Whataburger restaurants are still open around Austin. The company did not say the format was the reason. Still, the timing stands out. The one pickup-only restaurant on this stretch closed in the same months that a pizza shop nearby was rebuilding to seat more guests.

Rooms meant for spending time

Along Loop 360 and Bee Cave Road, several businesses opened this year that are built around time spent inside.

Postino opened at the Village at Westlake on Sept. 13, at 701 S. Capital of Texas Hwy., Ste. J760. It is the wine cafe's third Austin location, after Bryker Woods and South Central Austin. The menu covers paninis, salads, bruschetta and charcuterie boards, plus a long wine list, craft cocktails, beer and nonalcoholic drinks. Postino also sells a "Bottle Club" membership starting at $20 a month. It includes up to three bottles of wine and an extra happy hour, which gives members a reason to come back to the same room every month.

At Davenport Village, 3801 N. Capital of Texas Hwy., the Back Nine indoor golf simulator opened in April. A simulator bay is built for staying a while.

Farther west, House of Shan Cottage opened Aug. 28 at 8907 Bee Cave Road. The business had sold online and chose this location for its first brick-and-mortar store. Whataburger's Bee Caves Road location went from a full digital format to closing. House of Shan went the other way, from an online shop to a physical store.

Taqueria de Diez had already opened its third location at 3736 Bee Cave Road, Ste. 2, in spring 2026, which added another everyday option to the West Lake Hills section of the road.

The next opening, in a storefront with a long history

Teriyaki Madness is scheduled to open next. The Seattle-style teriyaki chain is moving into 3231 Bee Caves Road in the West Woods Shopping Center. Hoodline reported that the space was home for decades to Jack Brown Cleaners, a dry-cleaning business whose history dates to 1935. The restaurant will be about 1,300 square feet. The menu includes chicken teriyaki, orange chicken, steak, salmon and spicy tofu bowls, chicken katsu, yakisoba-style dishes, egg rolls, edamame, potstickers and crab rangoon. It will be the brand's second Austin-area restaurant, after Round Rock.

This one is a fast-casual counter, so it doesn't add the kind of room Baldinucci or Postino are building. It is still a storefront where a dry cleaner once stood that will now serve food on site. Its timeline has moved before. A March report from Community Impact estimated that construction would finish by the end of March. In September, the outlet reported the project was in permitting, and a company representative gave a tentative opening in early December. Treat December as a target, not a date.

The same caution applies to Baldinucci's November target. A restaurant renovation can slip by weeks, so check the shop's own page before planning a pizza night around it.

Your list for November and December

Here is where each change stood at the end of October 2026, based on the most recent reports for each one.

The season's community gathering is free. The Westlake Chamber's 2026 Westlake Wonderfest is Sunday, Dec. 6, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Westlake High School. Santa arrives on a fire truck, and the afternoon includes student performances, booths from local businesses and community groups, food, pony rides, robotics activities and photos with Santa. If Baldinucci reopens in November and Teriyaki Madness meets its target, that weekend could be the first chance to try the new 54-seat dining room and the new teriyaki counter on the same trip down Bee Caves Road.

I keep track of which Bee Caves Road and Loop 360 storefronts open, close and change hands, from the former Jack Brown Cleaners space to the larger dining room at Westbank Market. If you'd like to talk about how changes on your stretch of road fit with your own plans, I'm glad to compare notes. Let's Connect with Catalyst Realty.