The word is officially out. After Trudy’s closed its beloved Tex-Mex spot after almost 50 years in Austin, another longtime Texas brand is stepping in to takeover the space. Now the question stands on whether or not the barbecue staple will close another longtime outpost.
The Original Black’s Barbecue, the Lockhart-based chain that has been feeding Texans since 1932, revealed it has taken over the former Trudy’s location at 409 W. 30th St., Austin, TX 78705, just north of the University of Texas at Austin campus. Reports about the acquisition started circulating in April, but Black’s Barbecue confirmed the move with a Facebook video on Friday, June 27.
“The rumors are true. The news is real. The original Trudy’s here on 30th Street now belongs to the Original Black’s Barbecue,” Barrett Black, the director of operations at Black’s Barbecue, says in the video. “This is where we will call our home permanently in Austin. We own this land and we are so excited to be here and be here for a very long time, just north of UT.”
Trudy’s opened in Austin in 1977 and became a place for countless memories over the next 40-plus years. However the business closed in January 2025, paving the way for a Black’s takeover.
The Original Black’s Barbecue has been in Austin since 2014, when its restaurant at 3110 Guadalupe St., Suite 150, Austin, TX 78705 first opened. In light of the acquisition, MySA asked Barrett Black if the company will close the Guadalupe Street location.
The answer is yes, when the lease expires Guadalupe Street will no longer have a Black’s barbecue. However, Black told MySA that the chain does have enough time left on Guadalupe Street so that by the time it expires, Black’s will have opened inside the former Trudy’s space. He assured fans that the neighborhood will not be without a Black’s Barbecue, but it will take up to two years to renovate and open the former Trudy’s.
“Very excited about it,” Black said to MySA. “We may decide to keep the Guadalupe location going for a different concept but for now there would only be one Black’s BBQ in the neighborhood.”
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