Behind a paywall but try this: [https://archive.ph/xKlLU#selection-466.0-466.1](https://archive.ph/xKlLU#selection-466.0-466.1)
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# Exclusive: Beloved Italian restaurant La Traviata relocating from downtown to Southwest Austin
**📷**[**Matthew Odam**](https://archive.ph/o/xKlLU/https://www.statesman.com/staff/3624819001/matthew-odam/)Austin American-StatesmanPublished 1:56 p.m. CT Feb. 22, 2023
Lovers of Italian food and denizens of Southwest Austin alike will be thrilled with the news that one of Austin’s longest-running Italian restaurants will be re-emerging from its pandemic slumber in a new location.
Chef Marion Gillcrist told the American-Statesman that she plans to open a location of [La Traviata](https://archive.ph/o/xKlLU/https://latraviatatx.com/) at 7415 Southwest Parkway later this year in the same development where her former employee chef Ling Qi Wu [recently opened Ling Wu Asian Restaurant](https://archive.ph/o/xKlLU/https://www.statesman.com/story/entertainment/dining/2023/02/15/austin-lin-asian-bar-qi-ling-wu-asian-chinese-restaurant-opening/69906342007/).
Longtime Austinites will remember that Gillcrist opened the original La Traviata at 314 Congress Ave. in the summer of 2000, with the restaurant quickly rising to the top of Austin’s Italian ranks thanks to pasta dishes like spaghetti carbonara, a lush three-meat Bolognese and aglio e olio spaghetti with shrimp.
Construction has not yet begun on the new restaurant, which Gillcrist says will have “some hints” of the décor of her intimate downtown trattoria.
“I’m very excited,” Gillcrist wrote in an email. “I will continue the signature dishes along with some new dishes. Between COVID and some of the changes downtown it was a great time for me to start fresh. I’m very excited and looking forward to parking, a new kitchen and an outdoor patio.”
The coronavirus pandemic sent Gillcrist and the restaurant scrambling for answers in 2020. The restaurant operated as takeout-only for most of the summer of 2020 and briefly reopened its dining room before announcing a temporary closure due to a downtown bereft of workers and diners.
While La Traviata has been closed for more than two-and-a-half years, diners have still had a chance to taste Gillcrist’s cooking, with the longtime Austin chef working at her sister Joan’s restaurant, 68 Degrees, on Lake Austin Boulevard next to Deep Eddy Pool.
Gillcrist did not respond to a question about whether La Traviata also would return to its original space.
by ponkyball
5 Comments
Cool. Never heard of it on here before though.
A fine place with good atmosphere. I’ve missed it and can’t wait until the return.
We love Chef Marion and how about a hand for Matthew Odam? The fact that he’s still going, working for Gannett, one of the worst employers in the media world. He’s gotta be tough.
Glad to see more move into this shopping center.
It’s really cool to see Southwest Austin getting more fancy/unique restaurants. I’m from the area, and going somewhere date nightish always meant going downtown. I’d only been to La traviata one time, but I’ll definitely give it another go when they open.