Austinville 78704 Grand Opening: Sunday January 16

For those in south Austin looking for a fun activity for the afternoon of Sunday, January 16, check out the Grand Opening of Austinville 78704, which is located at the triangle of Lamar, Manchaca, and Barton Skyway.

But Snowed, isn't that shopping center years old?  Well, yes, but it is under new management as of the past year or so, which has led to a bit of revitalization for the area, which until recently was only still holding on to much of any traffic thanks to a fairly well-performing Thundercloud Subs.  In the past year, Thundercloud has been joined by Papalote Taco House, Juicebox & Soup Peddler, American Cleaners, and Ga Ga, while the corner lot across Barton Skyway has seen a marked improvement by going from one of the dozens of no-SSN-no-problem car lots to a combination Phil's Icehouse and Amy's Ice Cream.

They're all already open, Snowed, so what's the deal?  Well, I asked, and I found that the reasoning behind having the Grand Opening now was just to start slowly and build traffic just from word of mouth (and, I would imagine, to get any kinks out of the system--and judging from my two visits so far to Phil's and Amy's, there were no kinks to be found).

And why should I go, Snowed?  Well, there are several incentives for you to go Sunday.  First of all, 10% of all sales on Sunday are going to be donated to Austin Pets Alive.  There will be activities for the kids (above and beyond the playground always available at Phil's and Amy's), such as, I was told, a bounce house.  (So you can get the kids their sugar rush and then put them in a padded room, as it were.)

So, if you can make it, it promises to be a good time for all.  More info may be found here.

(Update:  Obviously, if you have come to this post after Sunday, January 16, you have missed the Grand Opening event, but all these businesses are of course available for your dining and shopping pleasure every day.  By the way, I heartily recommend the Brentwood Burger at Phil's.)