New Mexican seafood restaurant Este opens in Austin in October

Austin’s beloved Mexican restaurant Suerte will open its highly anticipated coastal Mexican restaurant, Este, in October. The 2113 Manor Road restaurant will debut in the Blackland neighborhood on Monday, October 3.

To prepare for the opening of this new restaurant, owner Sam Hellman-Mass and Eater Austin Chef of the Year 2018, Fermín Núñez, traveled to Mexico’s coastal regions – Ensenada, Valle de Guadalupe, Tijuana, Puerto Escondido , Tampico and Merida – to expand the menus. And according to Núñez’s main love – masa – there will be plenty of heirloom corn masa items.

This will mean plenty of seafood dishes as well as charcoal-cooked foods, like oysters, aguachiles, fried fish tacos on corn tortillas, grilled shrimp, whole fish, vegetables, and steaks. . There will also be desserts by pastry chef Suerte Derrick Flynn.

Drinks will include global coastal wines and champagne selected by General Manager Celia Pellegrini, as well as cocktails and margaritas created by Bar Manager Patrick Wasetis

Este physically took over the classic Austin restaurant Eastside Cafe, which closed in 2019 after 31 years of operation because owner and co-founder Elaine Martin retired and sold the space to Hellman-Mass. The Suerte/Este also revitalized the on-site garden, now called Este Gardens, with vegetables and beehives.

The restaurant features an indoor dining area, bar seating and a chef’s counter. There will be patio seating along the signature wraparound patio. The space was designed by architecture firm Matt Garcia Design and Delineate Studio. The design includes a special tile created by Garcia and ceramist José Noé Suro of Cerámica Suro.

Prior to officially opening Este, Hellman-Mass offered the Manor Road space to temporary food businesses to use the Eastside Cafe and its Elaine’s Pork and Pie spaces. There was the Mum Foods Farmer’s Market Booth from 2019-2020; chef Grae Nonas’ 2020-2021 Italian pop-up Le Cowboy (it’s now at Bufalina’s next East Cesar Chavez space), chef Max Snyder’s 2020 food truck Rogue Radis (which has since moved and is now at the cafe Greater Goods on East Fifth), and a seafood market in 2020.

Este’s hours of operation are 5-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, then 5-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Meal times will be added later.

Hellman-Mass and Núñez opened Suerte in 2018.