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It’s the final day of 2025, and we’ve been taking some time to listen back and reflect on the year that was here in Austin.
Austinites love supporting local shops and restaurants, but the hard truth is that running any kind of business is the city is a difficult and expensive pursuit. A look back at some local businesses that shuttered their doors for good this year.
Plus: New Year’s festivities bring on annual traditions — have you got yours ready? Come and share some good home cookin’ with us.
The full transcript of this episode of Austin Signal is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.
Jerry Quijano [00:00:09] It is the final day of 2025, and we’ve been taking some time to listen back and reflect on the year that was here in Austinites. Now, Austinites love supporting their local shops and restaurants, but the hard truth of it is that running any kind of business in the city is a difficult and expensive pursuit. Today, we’re going to look back at some local businesses who shuttered their doors for good in 2025, that’s coming up next.
KUT Announcer: Laurie Gallardo [00:00:32] The Austin signal is a production of KUT News, hosted by Jerry Quijano.
Jerry Quijano [00:00:37] Plus we’ve got our staff’s final favorite song of 2025 and some Austin music history for you to learn good and well heading into 2026. And New Year’s festivities bring on annual traditions. Have you got yours ready? Come and share some good home cooking with us. That’s coming up next, right here on Austin Signal. Howdy out there, and thank you for tuning in to Austin Signal on this Wednesday. It is the 31st of December, the final day of 2025. It has been some year and we are glad that you spent part of it here with us. I’m your host, Jerry Kehannel. Let’s start today’s show. A former Austin police officer sentenced to prison for fatal, fatally shooting a man has been acquitted by a Texas appeals court. In 2019, Christopher Taylor fatally shot 46-year-old Maurice De Silva, who was in a mental health crisis and holding a knife. A Travis County jury convicted Taylor, and he was sentenced late last year to two years in prison. Taylor’s attorneys say his acquittal is a, quote, powerful rebuke to Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza. Garza called the decision by an Amarillo-based state appeals court, quote, absurd, and said he would continue to work to uphold Taylor’s conviction. We have more about that story over at KUT.org. It’s tough running a business each and every year, and 2025 was especially tough for a few long-time Austin institutions. KUT’s Travis County reporter Katy McAfee spoke with host Jennifer Staten about the local businesses we lost this year.
Jennifer Stayton [00:02:22] So first of all, you’ve spent some time researching longtime Austin businesses that closed this year. What are some of the places that we lost?
Katy McAfee [00:02:30] Yeah, so there were quite a few this year. Coriente, a Korean restaurant downtown, closed this year after more than 20 years. Trudy’s, the local Tex-Mex chain, closed its last location on Burnet Road after more then 40 years. And then another place people might recognize, Skylark Lounge, the blues and soul music venue. They closed after 12 years. And we have about a half dozen other places on our list that were in business for 15, 20 plus years in Austin.
Jennifer Stayton [00:03:01] So Katy, I feel like we do these discussions at the end of each year about businesses that close, and I feel there are fewer and fewer local places in Austin that have been in business for say 10 plus years. Why are we seeing what feels like so many local businesses closing?
Katy McAfee [00:03:19] Well, you know, a lot of these long time places that are closing are restaurants or stores selling food and independent locally owned restaurants are really struggling right now. A report that came out on Halloween from the Texas Restaurant Association found that and this is statewide, 88% of restaurants are facing higher food costs, 66% are higher wage costs and 52% are seeing a traffic decrease. And then one thing that I’ve just heard anecdotally is that not only are restaurants seeing an overall traffic decrease, but people are drinking less alcohol when they go out and that makes a big impact on a restaurant’s bottom line. And then a few places, you know, Hanna World Market, the Asian grocery store on Palmer Lane, they said one reason they’re closing is because of tariffs. They said it was really hard to compete against big national chains like H Mart and tariffs had a crucial impact on their business.
Jennifer Stayton [00:04:16] Right, so Katy, we’ve mostly been talking about sort of food centered and restaurant businesses. What about the local businesses that aren’t restaurants? The ones that you know about, why are they closing?
Katy McAfee [00:04:27] Yeah, so, you know, we do have triple z threads on South Congress is closing this year. They sell vintage shirts and other embroidered stuff. And they said that they’re closing because they’re being pushed out. On an Instagram post when they announced their closure, they said, quote, a corporation with deeper pockets will be moving in. And that’s something that we’ve seen a lot in recent years. We had South Congress books closed last year after they were pushed out of South Congress. Lucian Disguised with Diamonds closed, Tessarose Trading Company, those were all sort of long time businesses on South Congress that were pushed out in the last few years.
Jennifer Stayton [00:05:05] Sounds like it’s kind of doom and gloom for these businesses that are closing for the variety of reasons you’ve been describing in 2025.
Katy McAfee [00:05:14] Yeah, well, you know, it’s not all so sad. Not every single local business closed this year for financial reasons. A few business owners just said that they were ready to retire. Jim Jim’s Water Ice, if you can remember, they were an Italian ice shop on Sixth Street. They had their last summer this year after more than 31 years, because the owner, Jim Moy, is ready to slow down and travel and spend more time with family. And that was, you know, a few other businesses owners just said we’re ready to retire and move on with life
Jennifer Stayton [00:05:48] Well, that’s KUT’s Travis County reporter, Katy McAfee. You can read about all the local businesses that closed this year in Austin and see some great illustrations that KUT multimedia producer, Michael Manassi drew of each business at KUT.org. Katy, thanks for walking us through this today.
Katy McAfee [00:06:04] Thank you so much, Jennifer.
Jennifer Stayton [00:06:06] And you can keep up with Katy McAfee’s coverage of Travis County at KUT.org.
Jerry Quijano [00:06:18] In case you didn’t know, Connie Jo Kirk is a homegrown Austin legend. As a teenager, she helped to integrate old Austin High. As an adult, she became a renowned musician and blues singer, a civil rights activist, humanitarian and champion for historical East Austin. And there is one other accomplishment to add to that list, celebrated home cook. A few years ago, she spoke to Texas Standard, invited them over for a traditional New Year’s video.
Connie Jo Kirk [00:06:51] I just took the cornbread out the oven, homemade cornbread, and I’m getting ready to melt some butter so I can glaze it. Hi, my name is Connie Jo Kirk. I’m from Austin, Texas and I was born in 1948, June 7th, in East Austin. I have been cooking since I was four years old. But I’m also a professional jazz and blues singer. I wear many hats. Here, we’re going to melt some butter. Yeah. For New Year’s, I’m doing the African-American New Year tradition. You have to have black eyed peas to start your year off. I have glazed carrots. I have collard greens. I ain’t bragging, but my collard green are to die for. I’m serious. Colegrains will make you slap your momma, your daddy, your cousins, your uncle, your dog. Everybody up the street, you just going down the street slapping people. And here we got some chicken that I bought. These are old black recipes the way we cook. People get to know you when they eat your food, it shows them that you have a kind heart and that you’re a special person and that’s why so many people, I feed at least 16 people every week. Hello, I’m here for some stuff for Uncle Barry. I’m the nephew. He’s taking up food from my adopted brother. We adopted each other. That’s the way black people are. We don’t go through no legal channels. Girl, we don’t need no legal channel. I’ll tell you, everybody in whole East Austin knows me as Aunt Agani. Woo, this butter’s been melted. Nice. Hey, cuz, if Barry’s your uncle, you’re my cousin. Come on. No, you my nephew. And taste that. That’s homemade. That’s after you glaze it with butter. I come from a family of great cooks. My great grandmother was the head chef on the plantation. My grandmother was born on the plantations, but she was a free slave. They were excellent cooks. My mother was one of 14. Mother was number 13, so the older sisters taught my mother how to cook. There was nothing like coming home to fresh, skillet cornbread and chili beans. Smelling outside the door, all out in the yard. Pickle beets, fresh pickle beets and collard greens or either cabbage. And that made you a day. You know, you look forward to getting out of school and going home to see what mama cooks. I want many people to experience the wonderful flavors of home-cooked meals, post-slavery meals. That’s one of my children. Go let her in, baby.
Connie Jo Kirk [00:10:17] Bye!
Connie Jo Kirk [00:10:18] Where’s Ta-Neh? He’s running late, but he’s just around the corner. Ta-Neh! Ta-neh, y’all hold up. Be quiet for a minute. We thank thee, Lord, for this food for which we’re about to receive for the nourishment of our bodies, through Christ’s sake, amen.
Connie Jo Kirk [00:10:33] Come on, let’s do this!
Connie Jo Kirk [00:10:39] I’m Connie Jo Kirk, professional jazz and blues singer and chef from Austin, Texas.
Jerry Quijano [00:10:47] That story was produced by Texas Standard’s Leah Scarpelli. We’ll have a link to it at kut.org slash signal and in our podcast show notes. This is Austin Signal.
Jake Perlman [00:11:11] This is Jake Perlman. I’m the senior audio production engineer with KUT and KUTX. So much great music that came from Austin in 2025. And one of my favorite songs is the points, Itis. The band is three people, the keyboard player plays bass on a keyboard at the same time he’s playing the keyboard lines, the guitarist plays with a lot of blues, but blues from all over the world. So there’s a little bit of Thai funk in there. If you’re a fan of Krungben, this is sort of a sped up version of Krugben I guess. And the drummer swings behind the kit. Just a funky machine. They’re all nice guys too. A lot of their songs have some really great instrumental breaks. Vocals don’t seem to be as important to every single one of their song. I followed them for a few years, the first time I got to see them. They’re playing on a double-staged show at Sagebrush, and they’re just playing at the front of the bar on a small stage up there. Just really set this cool mood and I couldn’t believe that these guys were from Boston. I just felt like a little window into several different parts of the world.
Jake Perlman [00:12:56] Oh
Jake Perlman [00:13:08] The vibe of this song is playful, I think. Kind of reminds me of like a Terry Gilliam film. My name is Jake Perlman. I’m the Senior Audio Production Engineer with KUT and KUTX. And you can find out more of our favorite songs from 2025 at KUTx.org. This is the Austin Signal.
Jerry Quijano [00:13:39] It’s New Year’s Eve. Thank you for tuning in to the show. Hopefully you are on or about to be on.
Audio Clip Vacation by the Go Go’s [00:13:48] Vacation all I ever wanted Vacation had to get away Vacation missed if they spent it alone
Jerry Quijano [00:13:57] Yeah, that song by the Go-Go’s is a classic penned by Austin’s own Cathy Valentine before she joined the band. She wrote it as part of the Austin band the Tex Tones in the 80s before her and bandmate Carla Olsen ventured out to L.A. To make it big. Here’s Jason Mellard from the Center for Texas Music History at Texas State University with more about Cathy Valentine.
Jason Mellard [00:14:23] This week in Texas music history, Austin Punk reverberates through the Rock Hall of Fame. On New Year’s Eve 1980, bassist Cathy Valentine played her first concert with the Go-Go’s in Los Angeles. The Go-Gos are legendary, synonymous with the 1980s, the first all-woman band playing their own material to top the Billboard charts with 1981’s debut album, Beauty and the Beat. But many may not know the Texas connection through Kathy Valentine. The Go-Go’s were already up and coming in the Los Angeles punk scene when guitarist Charlotte Caffe ran into Valentine to whiskey a Go-go and asked her about filling in with the band. Caffe knew Valentine’s work from the text tones, the group Valentine and Carla Olsen had brought from Austin to LA the year before. Valentine agreed, joined the Go-Gos, and the rest, chart-topping hits and global tours, is history. Valentine wrote some of those hits, Head Over Heels for One, and Vacation, a Textones tune that draws a direct line back to the origins of Austin Punk. And Cathy Valentine was an originator. She’d been steeped in the Texas scene, a 70s teen into ZZ Top and Doug Somm, but she’d also been in a band in London when Punk broke in 1975. Back in Texas, when the Sex Pistols brought English punk stateside, Valentine and her friends were at that legendary 1978 San Antonio show. Inspired, Valentine, Carla Olsen, Marilyn Dean, and Jesse Sublette then formed The Violators, and the next month convinced Tejano Bar Raúl’s into giving them stage time. Valentine and Olsen split for LA, The Textones, and The Big Time. In summer 1980, Kathy was back home from California, visiting Raúls to check out the new band. She wrote the song Vacation on the plane back to LA about that Austin trip, a tribute, too, to the scene she’d helped form and left behind. She’d come home again in the course of her illustrious career, forming the blues-rocking band The Blue Line. She’d make it as a local legend and global icon, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, a story told in full in her masterful memoir, All I Ever Wanted. You can hear music from the Lone Star State 24-7 on the Texas Music Experience at TMX.fm.
KUT Announcer [00:16:30] Support for this week in Texas Music History comes from Brain Audio, maker of portable speakers with patented built-in subwoofer technology to deliver deep bass sound with waterproof design and Alexa functionality. Holiday inspiration at BrainAudio.com
Jerry Quijano [00:16:46] Well, thank you for tuning in to Austin signal. You can listen to us live here on KUT news, 90.5 on the KUT app and online at KUT.org and of course you can subscribe to our podcasts wherever you listen to your shows. It is our final segment of 2025 and we are talking about music to help us out. We are joined by Maile Carballo from our sister station. KUTX Maile happy new year. I don’t get to see you in the new year, you know, have a little bit of a break. So you know I think we have written this discussion yesterday about saying Happy New Year. So I’m going to say it and I’m gonna lean into it.
Maile Carballo [00:17:25] We’ll have the new year.
Jerry Quijano [00:17:26] But before we can get into 2026, we had some news today about a music venue on the final day of the year. Tell us about the music venue. Which one is it?
Maile Carballo [00:17:35] Absolutely, so we’re talking about Monk’s Jazz Club. The Austin Chronicle reported this morning that they will be ending their time on the East Side. They’ve been there for about a decade now, but they’re moving over to the St. Elmo Arts District.
Jerry Quijano [00:17:49] Okay, okay, that’s a pretty happenin’ district for folks who might not be familiar with monks. What kind of a listening room is it? What kind a venue is it.
Maile Carballo [00:17:57] Yeah, it’s super intimate. It holds around 60 people. It’s real kind of DIY jazz, typically just B-Y-O-B. The less clanking, the better, I think they always say. And they’re going to kind of keep with that ethos going forward, but actually their new location has an actual bar this time, so maybe a little schmancier.
Jerry Quijano [00:18:19] Okay, so are they done for good at their old location? Are they gonna have like some final show there? What’s that status?
Maile Carballo [00:18:24] They are. They are done at that location for shows, but at their new location 310 East St. Elmo Road, Unit B, they will still be hosting BYOB kind of small gigs until their first official show on January 2nd.
Jerry Quijano [00:18:37] OK, well, yes, let’s let’s make the most of what we have left in 2025. We were talking earlier about our New Year’s Eve plans, and I’m sure there are a few listeners out there who haven’t quite finalized what their night is going to look like tonight. So you have brought us three options for the listeners out there. So what’s the first option?
Maile Carballo [00:18:55] Absolutely. So just all options are very KUTX coded, as the kids say. But the first one is one that KUTx and UT Student Radio Station KBRX, which I’m also a part of, we’re supporting, it’s Next of Kin with non-aid TC superstar, Kyn Keith, and so many more other special guests. It’s at Antone’s nightclub. And yeah, it’s a lot of KUTX supported artists. Next Of Kin was one of our Artists of the Months this year. Get a little bit of dancing with TC Superstar, some electronic action with Kai and Keith and some good old fashioned country.
Jerry Quijano [00:19:35] And we have heard a good deal of Next of Kin here on Austin Signal, they’re a great band. They were part of our Austin City Limits Music Festival episode. And you can find more and hear a really cool song from them that’s at kut.org slash signal. That’s our first show option. The second one you were saying, it’s kinda got more of a Austin, a real Austin feel to it. What is that one?
Maile Carballo [00:19:56] Yeah, this is one that I would probably choose. This is my, my little niche. Um, it’s a 29th street ballroom and Tweedies also known as spider house. If you’re from the older gen, your old school, but it’s almost heaven, ha ha laughing. Another artist of the month, Jacuzzi, Holy wave, and so many more artists, DJs and more. Um, and it’s, yeah, more of a local kind of DIY grunge vibe. Um, also KUTX supported artists. Um, I think that one would be really, really fun personally.
Jerry Quijano [00:20:29] And for the final option, we’ve got something to really bring in the new year with some style, with some pizzazz. What is that one?
Maile Carballo [00:20:36] Absolutely. This is how I spent my New Year’s last year. It’s Golden Dawn Orchestra’s New Year Eve celebration at Radio East with Superfonicos and Hard Proof. And last year, I will say, Jerry, they released a dove. So if that tells you anything, it’s going to be a funky eclectic time.
Jerry Quijano [00:20:54] Well, hopefully they’ll step up their game a little bit. You know, keep it safe, not anything too crazy, but you know, kind of step it up and outdo the final, the last performance that is. Well, on this last day of 2025, and my last question for you, what did you enjoy about Austin music scene in 2025, and what do you hope to see more of next year?
Maile Carballo [00:21:13] Absolutely. I was ruminating on this, marinating, if you will. And, you know, I’m still a youngster, still getting used to everything in Austin, but something that really struck me this year was just getting to dig deeper into all the subcultures of Austin. Two-stepping has gotten really big, the whole kind of honky tonk music. Has been amplified, I feel like, because of that. You know, Boomer Shack and Theo Lawrence and all of these country artists in Austin holding residencies at all the honky tonks. That was a joy to experience more of. And of course, the DIY shows too. And I’m all about the psych community. Like I was saying earlier, kind of that ballroom vibe. Um, and so going to levitation this year was really special just cause you run into absolutely everyone. If you go to these events, you run into so many people, familiar faces. And I think that’s super cool because people are always like, Oh, is this the still the live music capital of the world? It’s not old Austin anymore, but
Jerry Quijano [00:22:14] Okay, well in 15 seconds, what do you want to see more of next year?
Maile Carballo [00:22:17] Next year, more DIY stuff, let’s keep it weird.
Jerry Quijano [00:22:21] Let’s keep it weird and again, we provide you to those three options. You can see a little bit more about that over at KUTX.org. That is Maile Carballo from our sister station KUTx. Maile, you’ve been on the air a little more this year and this week. You’re going to be on the Air Anymore going forward.
Maile Carballo [00:22:37] Yes, sir.
Jerry Quijano [00:22:38] When is that?
Maile Carballo [00:22:39] Uh… Next monday
Jerry Quijano [00:22:41] Okay, next Monday. Okay, that’s Maile Carballo. Thank you, Maile.
Maile Carballo [00:22:44] Thank you, Jerry.
Jerry Quijano [00:22:45] And thank you for tuning in to Austin Signal. We will be back with you on Friday at one o’clock here on KUT. And of course, you can find us at kut.org slash signal. Have a happy new year.
This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.
