This January, the most expensive dinner on East Sixth between Waller and Chicon was a $235 prix fixe at Pasta|Bar. By October it was gone, and so was the format it stood for. Five places now share the stretch from 1007 to 1108 E. 6th St., and all five let you order dish by dish. Most of them also keep a bar seat or a walk-in table. None of these restaurants needed a new building. Each one moved into a kitchen that was already on the block.
That last point explains a lot about how the block works on a weeknight now, and it started with one closing.
The tasting menu that set the tone, and why it ended
Pasta|Bar opened in spring 2022 in the Corazon apartment building at 1017 E. Sixth St. It was the Austin version of a Los Angeles-area restaurant that earned a Michelin star in its first year. Dinner was a fixed menu starting at $235, with drinks served before and after the meal in separate spaces. On January 30, 2026, the Austin American-Statesman reported that chefs Phillip Frankland Lee and Margarita Kallas-Lee would close it at the end of February.
The reason they gave is the most useful fact about this block. In that same Statesman story, Lee pointed to the couple's newer restaurant next door. Shokunin is a sushi bar where diners order à la carte, a break from the fixed tasting menus Scratch Restaurants had built its name on. "Connecting with the general dining crowd has just felt so awesome since opening there," Lee told the paper, adding that he thought the Pasta|Bar space and Austin were right for an idea he'd been thinking about for a decade.
So the change began with the operator who had the most invested in the old format. The restaurant group behind the block's priciest dinner watched how diners used the room next door and rebuilt around that.
Next door first: Shokunin set the pattern
Shokunin, at 1009 E. 6th St., has 20 seats. Diners mark nigiri, sashimi and hand rolls on an order sheet. It's open Thursday through Monday, 5 to 9 p.m., and closed Tuesday and Wednesday, according to its Scratch Restaurants page, which says it now takes reservations. Eater Austin describes the fish as flown in weekly from Tokyo's Toyosu Market. It also notes that you can keep the meal moderately priced or move up to a full omakase. The sheet lets each diner choose their own spend, and the tasting menu becomes an option.
Next door to the west, the same group runs Not a Damn Chance Burger at 1007 E. 6th St. It's the cheapest meal on the stretch and the one that stays open latest. NADC's location page lists daily hours from 11:30 a.m. to midnight, running until 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. A single burger is $9 and fries are $5 on its menu.
Then the old room: Big Slick at 1017
The idea Lee hinted at in January turned out to be Big Slick. It's a 22-seat steakhouse in the former Pasta|Bar space, named for the ace-king hand in Texas hold 'em. Community Impact reports that it held its grand opening on August 29, 2026. The beef comes from Lobel's of New York and dry-ages in a large case on the way into the dining room. Lee told the Statesman that Big Slick is the only restaurant currently serving the Manhattan butcher's beef.
Guests with reservations wait in a candlelit bar up front, and that same bar serves walk-in diners the full dinner. Big Slick's page says the bar is first come, first served. Dinner runs Wednesday through Sunday, 5:30 to 10 p.m., and the bar stays open until midnight on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday and until 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. The menu is à la carte. The Statesman noted that the top end can get very high, but that a steak and a beer at the bar could come in under $100.
Compare that with the $235 starting price the same address carried in January. A walk-in can now make dinner there cost less than half that.
Across the street, the same move in someone else's old kitchen
The pattern holds beyond Scratch Restaurants. At 1100 E. 6th St., Hermanas opened on September 2, 2026, in the space OKO left. Chef Silvino Sanchez was born in Austin and grew up in Del Valle. Community Impact reports that the restaurant takes its name from his father's hometown, Ejido Primero de Mayo in Coahuila, Mexico, which is known locally as Hermanas after its train station.
The cooking blends Sanchez's Mexican heritage with Southeast Asian techniques he learned from his Thai and Lao chosen family. Dishes include panang curry mole and wagyu larb, and the bar pours a Thai iced tea carajillo. Eater Austin lists three places to sit: a small bar counter, an exposed-brick dining room and a temperature-controlled patio. Its reservation listing shows dishes priced individually from $12 to $55, with service Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday from 5 to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday until 11.
One door east at 1108, Poeta moved into the East Austin Hotel in January. It's the Michelin-recommended sibling of Intero, from chefs Ian Thurwachter and Krystal Craig. Poeta had run as a prix fixe restaurant before. The move brought back à la carte favorites like milk-braised pork and lasagne, plus the brunch wafflegato, a waffle served with gelato and espresso butter. Poeta's FAQ lists à la carte menus for dinner and brunch and a chef's tasting menu at market price in the main dining room. It also says the restaurant keeps walk-in seating. Poeta has taken over the hotel's upstairs lounge too, serving cocktails and bites until midnight on weekends.
The block as it stands this fall
| Address | Restaurant | In this space since | How you order | Getting a seat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1007 E. 6th | Not a Damn Chance Burger | Before 2026 | Burger menu, $9 single | Stop by or order online |
| 1009 E. 6th | Shokunin | Open by November 2025 | Order sheet, optional omakase | Reservations accepted |
| 1017 E. 6th | Big Slick | Grand opening Aug. 29, 2026 | À la carte | Dining-room reservations; bar is walk-in only |
| 1100 E. 6th | Hermanas | Opened Sept. 2, 2026 | À la carte, $12 to $55 dishes | Reservations; bar counter and patio |
| 1108 E. 6th | Poeta, East Austin Hotel | January 2026 | À la carte plus chef's tasting | Reservations and walk-in seating |
Where you can walk in on a given night
Since every room keeps its own schedule, the night of the week decides your options more than the cuisine does.
- Monday or Tuesday: Big Slick and Hermanas are both dark. Poeta serves dinner from 5 to 9 p.m. Shokunin is open Monday and closed Tuesday. NADC is open both nights until midnight.
- Wednesday: Big Slick's bar opens at 5 p.m. and Hermanas starts service at 5. Shokunin is the room that's closed.
- Thursday through Sunday: all five are open. Big Slick's bar is the surest walk-in for a full dinner on the block, and NADC is the late option at 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday.
- Saturday or Sunday morning: Poeta's brunch runs 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. On weekdays, it serves breakfast and coffee from 9 to 11 a.m. and lunch until 2.
If you want one more stop after dinner, Mother's Ruin is a short walk east at 1401 E. 6th St. It's been there since March 2025, and Eater Austin reported that its founders planned to open daily from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. with a late kitchen.
Restaurant hours change more often than addresses do, so check each restaurant's own page before you head out.
All three 2026 arrivals on this block moved into kitchens that already existed, and each one opened by changing how people order. If you're a restaurateur looking at a second-generation space on East Sixth, or an owner thinking about who should run your kitchen next, Lead Commercial works on these questions block by block through our tenant representation practice. Let's talk about your property.
