Update: Dennis Mick with the Mueller Neighborhood Association says 119 Mueller and East Austin residents dined at Kerbey Lane last night "to encourage management to consider a location in the Mueller community."
Original post (June 11): How’s this for a chant: What do we want? Migas! When do we want ‘em? Now!
Dozens of residents of the Mueller neighborhood will stage an “eat-in” at the original Kerbey Lane Cafe tonight. Except the purpose isn’t to protest – instead, it’s designed to show residents’ hopes for a Kerbey Lane in their burgeoning Austin neighborhood.
“We have warned them that were going to be bringing about 100 people over,” says Dennis Mick with the Mueller Neighborhood Association, “and so they are staffing up, getting ready for it.”
The idea, residents say, is to demonstrate the support a local restaurant would receive should it open up at Mueller. (A handful of local restaurants and stores dot the Mueller area, whose biggest tenants include national retailers and restaurants.)
As “an iconic, original Austin restaurant,” Mick says Kerbey would be a natural fit at Mueller. But Mick adds “as soon as we announced this concept, we got – I don’t know many – suggestions from our residents that we should do it with other locally-owned restaurants and restaurant chains. We will be doing it beyond Kerbey Lane.”
Mueller Neighborhood Association president Kathy Sokolic says the Kerbey event’s been brewing for a few weeks, “but the push for local business in our neighborhood has been ongoing for several years.”
She says getting a local eatery would help “embody the Austin vibe” residents want from Mueller. But Sokolic also says an eatery in walking distance fulfills the Mueller vision of a compact, pedestrian-friendly environment. She also calls for more public transportation options at Muller, “so that people won’t have to take their cars there. Or they can drive there, park, and then walk around. That’s really important to the overall vision of our neighborhood that was established years ago.”
Starting at 6:30 p.m. tonight, dozens and dozens of Mueller residents will begin assembling at Kerbey Lane's namesake location. (If you’re looking for a quick queso fix, you might consider one of Kerbey's four other cafes.)
