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Business in Bastrop County is getting busier as central Texas grows and more people move to the area.
BASTROP, Texas – The Austin growth is also seeping into neighboring areas – including Bastrop County.
Restaurants and shops are getting busier, and Neighbor’s Kitchen and Yard has seen that growth firsthand. The last four months in a row had more guests than ever before.
It is a success story that has been going on for years. Four years ago, Tom Dickey drove Highway 71 to Bastrop for lunch at a restaurant on the Colorado River.
“I’ve been here to Bastrop a few times but I really didn’t know how to get off Main Street,” said Tom Dickey.
During the lunch meeting, he overheard a conversation at another table that the business was about to sell.
“And four months later they gave us the keys,” said Tom Dickey.
Tom and his wife Lori became the owners in 2018. The shop expanded at the end of 2019 and opened a brewery next door. But then the pandemic hit.
“It was really scary at first. Nobody knew what we were going to do and what would happen then. It was an incredible amount of work trying to turn, ”said Lori Dickey.
The Dickys did the job and made changes to the running of the restaurant to keep the business afloat.
Months later, when the vaccine continues to roll out and COVID-19 restrictions were eased, business is booming. Some Saturdays, 800 customers come and wait times can be up to an hour when Austin’s growth spills over.
“[We’re] We’re trying to strike that balance between trying to manage the growth without going crazy about expansion and never knowing when it’s going back, ”said Tom Dickey.
More than 82,000 people live in the Bastrop district. It’s not far from regional business drivers like Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and the Circuit of the Americas, and it’s also not far from where the new Tesla Gigafactory will be built.
“For seven years I’ve been saying this is a hidden gem that Central Texas doesn’t know about,” said Becki Womble, President and CEO of the Bastrop Chamber of Commerce.
She has seen the growth firsthand as housing developments rise and more businesses call the area home.
“The business climate is excellent here. Even during the pandemic, everyone was so supportive of each other, ”said Womble.
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That support was seen in full last year when Neighbor’s Kitchen and Yard served meals for first responders. During the February frost, Tom and Lori Dickey stepped into action and boiled water to ensure the Bastrop community had clean water.
“This was our opportunity to give back to the community,” said Tom Dickey.
With the backlog and the increase in summer travel – Bastrop is on a route that connects Austin and Houston – the Dickys expect business to keep getting better.
“It’s one of those worst-kept secrets. And it will change, ”said Tom Dickey.
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