Another piece of cherished “Old Austin” is set to disappear from the dining landscape.
Vespaio, the Italian restaurant that has operated on South Congress Avenue since 1998, long before the street became Austin’s centerpiece entertainment destination, will close in February, the owners announced Monday on Instagram.
“When we took ownership in 2018, our goal was to carry its legacy as long as we were able to continue to serve the wonderful people of Austin and beyond,” the owners wrote. “As South Congress continues to evolve, we felt like this was the right moment to close this chapter on our own terms.”
The current owners did not respond Monday to questions from the American-Statesman about the future of the space but wrote on Instagram that, “We fully trust the next phase of this building will not only be successful but will continue to create a place where our beloved Austinites and visitors will come to.”
Brooks and Samson opened the casual Italian restaurant Vespa Rossa in Dripping Springs in the summer of 2025. The restaurant’s name — which means “red wasp” in Italian — nods to Vespaio, as does its casual Italian menu of pizza, salads and pasta.
Brooks, who also own’s Licha’s Cantina in East Austin, first worked with Samson when the former served as general manager and the latter, who has worked at Vespaio since 2002, served as executive chef at the restaurant, beloved for its warm vibes and signature stacked lasagna. The duo said when they took over the restaurant in January 2019 that they had a lease through 2035.
The name of the restaurant had dual meanings. The founders gave it the moniker, which means “beehive” in Italian, both because they found a nest behind the wall during early construction and because the imagery evoked the buzziness they hoped their restaurant would bring to a street that had not yet exploded into a hotbed of drinking and dining.
The restaurant soon became an Austin hot spot, a home to regulars and date nights tapping into the romance of the Italian cuisine and aesthetic, and a training ground for many young chefs, including Jesse Griffiths (Dai Due) and Tom Micklethwait (Micklethwait Barbecue).
This is a developing story.
Dining and Cooking