If you walked 32nd Avenue between Lowell and Perry in April and again last week, you noticed the same thing: the "coming soon" paper has come down. Three of the concepts that were being talked about all through 2025 are now serving customers, and the summer of 2026 is the first stretch when the Highlands opening pipeline is caught up with itself. That is the shape of the season worth paying attention to, because it changes what a normal Sunday around Highland Square looks like from here through October.
Here is the through-line. For two years the neighborhood's food conversation has been about anticipation. Which chef is signing where, who is taking over Tres Chiles' old shell, whether the Austin brunch import would clear its build-out. As of this month, those questions are answered, and the answers cluster on two blocks a five-minute walk apart.
The Tennyson storefront that changed hands twice
The address at 3900 Tennyson has cycled through three concepts in three years. Nicolas Medina ran Tres Chiles there, closed it in 2023, leased the space to Santo Remidio, and is now back in his own building with a new concept called Cenizas Mexican Restaurant & Cantina.
