Austin360 blogs > Dale's Table > Archives > 2008 > June > 19
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Castle Hill to close
Castle Hill Cafe, the restaurant that became famous as Austin’s affordable fine-dining spot, is closing at the end of this month after more than two decades in business because it has become too expensive to operate a fine-dining venue.
“It’s too hard, to be honest, way too hard for us,” owner Cathe Dailey said Thursday. With food and gas prices soaring, it seems like each day brings another cost increase in one or more items, she said.
Plus, the downtown dining scene has changed dramatically in recent years.
“The demographic has changed so much around us,” Dailey said. “Eighteen years ago when we moved into this building, we were considered on the edge of town. Now downtown is surrounding us with condominiums.”
Those new residents, motivated by DWI laws that encourage people to avoid drinking and driving, “are looking for neighborhood restaurants they can call their own,” she said.
So Daily is closing Castle Hill on June 28 and taking at least a month for a major makeover of the place before reopening the space at 1101 W. Fifth St. as Corazon, an interior Mexican restaurant with a full-service bar and lounge.
“It’s been the greatest ride,” Dailey said. “I’m not horribly sentimenal about it. It’s another side of the coin for me. We sort of returning to our roots as a place that’s more afforadable, more available to more people.”
See more details in the story in Friday’s American-Statesman Business section.
