The Parks and Recreation Board on Monday recommended city approval of a vendor to operate Zilker Café, the long-vacant concession stand located steps from Barton Springs Pool.
The vote comes four years after a previous parks board rejected a local vendor over plans to sell alcohol – an idea that drew strong opposition from pool lifeguards and community members.
This time, the board struggled over how the proposed vendor – Legacy Hospitality and Entertainment Group LLC – would be able to turn a profit and generate revenue for the city without selling alcoholic beverages along with food items.
“I would be shocked if, whoever the vendor is, is going to be selling anything below $10 or $12 per item. And that’s not affordable,” Board Member Pedro Villalobos said, noting his family’s background in the restaurant business and the industry’s reliance on alcohol sales to boost profitability.
“If we approve this vendor, which I’m more than happy to do, are we setting ourselves up for failure – to be having the same conversation and having to take this exact same vote one or two years down the line?” Villalobos asked.
Denisha Cox, contract manager for the Parks and Recreation Department, responded that the vendor’s proposed menu options met the “healthy and affordable” menu requirements of the city’s solicitation for a vendor. She added that the vendor may also sell other items, such as towels and sunscreen.
Board members also expressed concern that no local vendors responded to the city’s request for proposals to operate the café. Legacy, a national concessionaire with operations on the east coast and other areas of the U.S., was the lone respondent.
Paul Trimble, the procurement specialist who handled the solicitation process, told the board he reached out to local vendors to ask why they did not submit proposals. Two vendors specifically cited the prohibition of alcohol while “three or four” cited financial reasons – “and I think that ties in with not being able to sell alcohol,” Trimble said. “We were hoping for local people as well,” he continued. “We had a lot of questions from local restaurateurs and they… chose not to submit offers.”
Unlike the city’s 2021 request for proposal, the new Request for Proposals (RFP) specifically outlawed the sale of alcohol on site, saving PARD from having to seek a conditional use permit from the Planning Commission, which denied the request.
Board member Kim Taylor noted that many food trucks in Austin are able to remain successful without alcohol sales, and that the last vendor to operate the Zilker Café did not sell alcohol and still managed to remain onsite for about 10 years.
In the end, the board voted 6-1 to recommend City Council approval of the vendor, with Ted Eubank dissenting and four board members absent. The issue will go to Council in July or August.
The Zilker Café closed in 2016 to undergo extensive renovations to the building, which contributes to the historic character of Zilker Park and pool entrance. The Covid-19 pandemic extended its closure, as did the renovations to the pool bathhouse, which is nearing its completion.
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