Best Restaurants: Gabriela’s Downtown Delivers Sensory Overload
Words by Jessi Devenyns Photos by Brittany Dawn Short
In 2018, when Gabby Bucio first began hunting for the perfect space for Gabriela’s Downtown – the original location of her soon-to-become hospitality empire – she kept passing over a house on the hill. “It was painted black, and it wasn’t well-kept, so I kept ignoring it,” she remembers. Then one day, she and her brother, Arturo Bucio, “skipped the fence, and we saw the view and fell in love with it.”
That regal view of downtown begs to be photographed, and it’s not uncommon to see diners snapping photos of themselves against the sky-lined patio while indulging in one of Gabriela’s imaginative micheladas filled with fruity paletas. However, on the weekends, Gabby recommends adding birria tacos to the order. She explains, “They’re really good tacos that come with a consomé for dipping.” For the uninitiated, a consomé is a thick broth that is not only essential for adding a layer of flavor, but it also enhances the texture of these indulgent tacos which, according to Gabby, many Mexican families grow up enjoying.
In every way, Gabriela’s is a modern take on Mexican food. It is also a reflection of Gabby herself. From the tropical colors of the décor to the effortless transitions between Spanish and English on their social media, this restaurant embodies the Bucio family’s Michoacán roots and Texan upbringing. Looking more closely, this photogenic space also proudly displays what it is like to start a business from scratch with only your own reserves to pull on.
When they first opened, they did so without outside investment. “We didn’t have a lot of money; it was just whatever scraps my brother and I could get,” confesses Gabby, who at the time was working as a bartender at the Mexican restaurant Tres Amigos. “So a lot of the interior, all the decoration, the furniture, we painted ourselves. Our landlord gifted us furniture.” Today, diners still sit on the same furniture and admire the same hand-painted walls, but these atmospheric accents are a reminder of the passion and the good times that were instrumental in building what is now the crown jewel of an expanding enterprise.
Gabriela’s Group Empire
Besides Gabriela’s Downtown, Gabby and crew also operate:
Revival Coffee
Taquero Mucho
Mala Vida
Mala Santa
Seareinas
Gabriela’s South Austin
Contact:
900 E 7th St.
@gabrielasdowntown
