Bouldin Creek Cafe Holds Curbside Steady and Prepares for Return: Leslie Martin’s longtime vegan diner goes back to this future ASAP – Food

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Bouldin Creek Cafe owner Leslie Martin (Photo by John Anderson)

The interior of Bouldin Creek Cafe, the longtime vegan restaurant that flaunts its cheerful neo-hippie vibe on the corner of South First and Mary, is empty of customers. The main dining room, which has been closed to the public for over a year, its once-busy tables grouped together to form a practical work surface or pushed up against the walls alongside piles and stacks of previously inviting chairs, has become the staging area for the venue’s success, curb service.

But is “flourish” the right word? Does the Bouldin Creek Cafe do that?

“We got really lucky,” says Leslie Martin, who opened the popular neighborhood diner in 2000, starting in a smaller building down the street – where McGuire Moorman Hospitality’s Elizabeth Street Cafe now animates the coordinates.

“Our curb is pretty sturdy,” says Martin, “and surprisingly. We didn’t know what to expect last spring – we didn’t know the pandemic would last so long – so we closed because of the lockdown.” and opened the curb to get some cash flow. “

This isn’t an easy business relocation, especially for a place known for its personal friendliness and the joy of lingering among like-minded locals to meet up with best friends over coffee and muffins and spicy scrambled tofu.

“At first we thought it wouldn’t be long now,” says Martin, chuckling ruefully. “We thought things would be shut down for maybe a few months and we would just streamline and make things really efficient, with minimal work to get through. And then it just went on and went. And we never found the right time to change things. We added some tables in the courtyard for people to have their takeaway food. There was no service or anything, no access to toilets, just a place to sit and take out, if you wanted weekends as our curb business was also up it was – it was like, wow, I really have to focus on that Getting curb orders correct, and I really don’t want to expand into an intermediate phase, into something in between. That might not make us that efficient. And so a lot of time has passed and this roadside service is what we have now. Our parking lot seems small when the restaurant is open, but right now it’s like 20 deluxe roadside parking spaces. “

Photo by John Anderson

And is it thriving? For example, is the Bouldin Creek Cafe still full? Is the daily operation roughly at the level of, ah –

“We have about half of our former employees, maybe less,” says Martin. She takes a sip of tea and shrugs at the helpless inevitability. “Some people moved away, others went to school. There are people who have learned to code who have finally had time to finish it. And people just want other things. Everyone did an inventory you know About what is important and what you want to deal with and what changes you want to make in your life. So we’ve been encouraging people to keep track of these things and we’ve been very careful about what we want our business to do. And so this little crew stayed with us. And we’re trying to rebuild, but it’s pretty overwhelming. We have some maintenance to take care of and have waited to open up again to do that. But now the vaccines have hit the market so quickly, and – “

“I want to get it right when we open up because in many ways it feels like we’re starting over.”– Leslie Martin, owner of Bouldin Creek Cafe

Martin shakes his head. A fan turns slowly and whirls dust particles through the shadow and light vaults of the large room.

“At first it seemed like it was going to take forever,” she says. “But things have changed so quickly and now we feel a little behind. And I want to get it right when we open up because in many ways it feels like we’re starting over.”

And has the government – the armed bureaucracy that is supposed to enrich, or at least empower, its constituents – helped in these troubled times?

Martin nods. “We’re on the Texas Workforce Commission’s shared work program,” she says, “and because of our short-time work, we get some extra benefits under the CARES Act – and that helps us have a few more people. And we have got a legacy scholarship from the city. Well, we got the first round, but the second round was denied. But there are only 25 places that got the second round and there is a lot of competition. And now there is American Rescue Plan, and we got some help from that too. “

Hell, sometimes the system actually works. And all of that and the vaccines mean Bouldin Creek Cafe will be reopening very soon, right? All these regulars, who circle like airplanes in a waiting loop for years and wait for their landing permit in their caffeine-inducing, completely meatless place of happiness: You will be welcomed back in no time? In a few weeks at the most?

“We’re thinking of August,” says Martin. “I’d like to reopen completely, to a point where enough people are comfortable that we can open fully all at once. Because this year we’ve put all that energy into working on a curb system and refining it , and I don’t want to build another system that’s just temporary, figuring out how to deal with 50% and then giving it all up and moving on to 100%. I just want to tear the band off, you know? But maybe you have a soft one open to get used to things again – because we haven’t served a table in a year and we’re a bit rusty over here! And there are so many unknowns: what do people expect from us? will they feel comfortable? what will customers like or dislike because they are now attuned to things they have never really looked at before? “

But sure, at the end of the day – and also at the beginning and in the middle of the day – is it surely the food that people will be most in the mood for?

“I have the feeling that that was our salvation,” says Martin. “The Austin vegan community was the most important one to come out and support Curbside and I am very grateful and I think they will be the most important ones that will come back when we are open. Our food is like home cooking. I’ve had people say it reminds them of something their mom would cook them at home. Bouldin Creek Cafe, the place, the people and the food just have something comforting about them – and right now the people are looking for it. Is it because of serotonin or whatever? I dont know. But we’re looking for things that make us feel good. “

Bouldin Creek Cafe

1900 s. First,
bouldincreekcafe.com

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