Austin restaurants bounce back from COVID closures

The number of new restaurant listings in the Austin metro area rose 14% between 2019 and 2023, according to new Yelp data shared with Axios.

By the numbers: 683 restaurants were newly listed on Yelp in 2023 in the Austin area, compared to 599 in 2019.

• New businesses overall in the area rose 36% from 2019.

Why it matters: The numbers are a promising sign for Austin's restaurant scene, which has struggled after the COVID-19 pandemic , when business halted and many local staples were forced to shutter for good.

• Yelp's data showed 495 newly listed spots in 2020, a more than 17% dip from the previous year.

The big picture: New restaurant openings in Austin outpaced national figures, per Yelp data.

• Nearly 53,800 restaurants opened their doors across the country last year, up 10% from 2022 and up 2% from 2019.

What they're saying: "The restaurant industry has proven to be resilient throughout the pandemic, with the industry seeing higher restaurant openings in 2023 than pre-pandemic levels for the first time," says Clifford Cate, vice president and general manager of Yelp Restaurants.

• "Even through economic challenges, restaurant owners continue to delight their diners, staying responsive to shifts in consumer preferences, like the increasing demand for earlier reservation times and higher-end experiences."

Be smart: Just because a restaurant is new doesn't mean there's a newbie at the helm. Some of these new openings are the product of someone who's been at it once or twice before, such as Uptown Sports Club , Dovetail Pizza , Ling Wu , Poeta and soon-to-come Bambino .

The bottom line: Pandemic-era restaurant closures were gut-wrenching for owners and patrons, but Austin's growing number of openings could be a sign of what's to come.

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