Tumble 22 to begin renovations in former Austin bookstore

Plans are officially underway for a popular Texas fried chicken joint to take over part of an old bookstore in Austin. 

Weeks before Tumble 22 opens a restaurant in Northwest Austin’s Arboretum shopping center, state filings revealed last week remodeling is expected to begin soon for the brand’s other new location, which will be in the city’s South Lamar section. 

The hot chicken chain filed a permit Oct. 6 to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation for a 3,500-square-foot restaurant at 3001 S. Lamar Blvd., Bldg. G, Suite 200. That is not the address Tumble 22’s website has marked for the future South Lamar restaurant, listed as 2929 S. Lamar Blvd., about a tenth of a mile away.

As the Austin Business Journal previously reported, Tumble 22 is taking part of the former South Lamar Half Price Books space, which was subdivided with Frost Bank and a yoga studio. Half Price Books vacated the space in March and will soon move into a property over on South 1st Street; for the moment, it has a temporary space serving residents at 3005 S. Lamar.

According to the project details in the TDLR filing for Tumble 22, work for the estimated $500,000 renovation was expected to begin Oct. 15 and be completed by April 2027. But a spokesperson for Tumble 22 confirmed to Chron that work has not yet started, as the team is waiting for its permits for the restaurant, which is expected to open sometime next spring.

Once open, the South Lamar location will mark the Austin-based restaurant’s 11th statewide. Tumble 22 started as a single food trailer in 2016 and has since expanded with additional city storefronts, plus locations in Austin suburbs including Cedar Park, Pflugerville and Round Rock. Houston has Tumble 22 locations in the northwest part of the city, and close to municipal court, making it a prime stop for hungry residents doing jury duty.

Inspired by by Nashville hot chicken, Tumble 22 is known for its chicken fried and coated in chef Harold Marmulstein’s secret blend of spices, with six heat levels ranging from “painless” to “stupid hot.”