The switch

Acclaimed San Antonio chef says goodbye to tapas and hello to barbecue with restaurant shuffle

The Bin will be closing to make way for a new barbecue concept.

Hot on the heels of the announcement that Jason Dady was moving Tre Trattoria to Museum Reach and opening his first Austin restaurant comes yet another big change for the celebrity chef — he is now tapping out on tapas.

After an almost two-year run, The Bin Tapas Bar at 511 E. Grayson St. is shuttering to make room for another barbecue restaurant under the Dady empire. Its replacement will be Alamo BBQ by Two Bros. BBQ Market, joining Two’s Bros BBQ and B&D Ice House as the third barbecue concept from the lauded chef.

Although Dady told CultureMap that The Bin was his favorite concept, “at the end of the day, selling $1-3 bites doesn’t make sense” in such a high-traffic area, the chef said. He added that barbecue will likely be a better choice for the busy site, especially since he has had success there with with pop-ups from the Two Bros. truck. “I have to be as much of a businessman as a chef,” he said.

The chef said that although he is usually “go, go, go,” there is not a solid timeline for the switch. The first order of business is to change the interior to fit the new concept. Dady said the team was trying to source AstroTurf and adding a playground to the site.

Although still casual and family-friendly, the new concept will not be a carbon copy of the original Two Bros. For starters, there will be full service and a full bar.

New menu items, such as sandwiches and meat plates will be added and the baby back ribs will switch over to a peach glaze, but many of the sides and sauces will be familiar to Two Bros. fans. And Laura Loomis, the acclaimed pitmaster at Two Bros., will minding the flames at both.

What’s next for the acclaimed chef, we don’t know. But when we spoke to Dady about his new projects earlier in the month, he joked, “My wife would kill me if I thought about anything else.” Maybe it’s time he bought her some flowers.

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Serving up local beer news

What’s brewing in San Antonio: Back Unturned honors closed brewery memberships

Back Unturned Brewing Co./Facebook

Back Unturned Brewing Co. is offering a free monthly beer to anyone who has an old or canceled club membership at a closed San Antonio brewery.

Editor's note: The bustling San Antonio beer scene is always changing — usually with openings and closures, but there are other twists along the way. Let's discuss it over a cold one.

Back Unturned helps craft beer fans

The folks at Back Unturned Brewing Co. in downtown San Antonio are serving up some incentives for patrons of some recently closed breweries.

They are urging people to bring in their old membership mug or other proof of membership from a closed brewery, and their first beer will be free. According to Back Unturned’s owners, customers of shuttered breweries such as Weathered Souls and Second Pitch may take advantage of this offer once a month.

Back Unturned’s leaders said this way, customers of closed breweries can still use their old membership mug or discount, and show support for a locally owned and operated brewery amid hard times for the craft beer industry.

Back Unturned will promote the canceled and old membership offer during its inaugural free beer event, which will take place all day long October 16 as part of its San Antonio Beer Week activities.

Busted Sandal closes its taps

Speaking of hard times, Busted Sandal Brewing Co. is closing its doors for good, ending 11 years of service. The owners announced the sad news in an October 2 social media post, citing inflation as a major factor affecting their decision.

Busted Sandal was among the first in a new surge of breweries that opened in San Antonio in the early 2010s. With a main taproom located near the Medical Center area, Busted Sandal served up yearly anniversary parties, pie and beer pairings, bad holiday sweater contests, and Porterpalooza, a celebration of their porters.

The main San Antonio taproom hosted its final Portepalooza October 12 before permanently closing the next day. Busted Sandal’s taprooms in Helotes and Kerrville are still open through early November, with farewell bashes scheduled at those Hill Country locations.

Former brewer teases post-closure plans

Marcus Baskerville, co-founder of the recently shuttered Weathered Souls Brewing Co., has been keeping social media followers and fans updated on his professional plans and ideas.

The James Beard Award semifinalist just published a book, Wood Barrel and Time: The Art of Barrel Aging, as part of his efforts to share some of his experiences as a beer brewer. He also opened Fresh Consulting Co., a locally based beer consulting company.

Additionally, Baskerville has been teasing the creation of a new bar concept called Fresh. According to Baskerville, he hopes to launch Fresh in a renovated downtown space where patrons may enjoy a hidden speakeasy and a short bar food menu featuring soul food.

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