Cisco’s Restaurant, Bakery & Bar has been serving classic Tex-Mex dishes like huevos rancheros and migas to Austin residents since 1950. Now, 74 years later, the restaurant has received $50,000 as part of an effort from the National Trust of Historic Preservation to support small, historic businesses.
Longtime customer Gardner Selby said he’s been going to Cisco’s since the ’80s.
“Cisco’s is a place people can go to routinely that will give them a taste of Austin 50 years or older,” he said.
Selby said he couldn’t imagine having to give up Cisco’s food or staff, which “has become like family” to him.
Thanks to this federal grant, he won’t have to.
The nationwide Backing Historic Small Restaurants program gave $2.5 million to 50 restaurants this year. Each restaurant received $50,000.
Matt Cisneros, the owner of Cisco’s, said when he shared that the restaurant received the grant, it blew up on social media to a previously unseen level.
“It was very cool when we found out,” Cisneros said. “(Cisco’s) is an encapsulation of time in a city that’s just ever-changing. It’s preserved to what it was always intended to be: a casual place of no judgment. A place where you can hang out with anyone and see anyone.”
Cisneros took over the business in 2017 after his grandfather, Rudy “Cisco” Cisneros, started it 74 years ago. He said he didn’t want his family’s legacy to end as Austin rapidly changed and trendier restaurants popped up.
“We (wanted to) save this, keep the livelihood of our employees going as well as the people who come in all the time, and (keep) the generational ties to the restaurant,” Cisneros said.
The business wasn’t necessarily struggling, he said, but with a building that’s over 120 years old, it needs some repairs. The staff plans to use the money for upkeep. They will restore the exterior of the building and repaint graffitied murals. Cisneros said these efforts will also help with the overall cash flow to employees.
Cisneros said he thinks Austinites will appreciate the restoration of Cisco’s and be reminded of the many historic relics around the city.
“Eat at all the places you want to eat out, but remember how the city got to where it is,” Cisneros said. “Places like Cisco’s and other historic spots made the city cool.”
This story was produced as part of the Austin Monitor’s reporting partnership with KUT.
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East Austin: East Austin is the quadrant of Austin that, generally speaking, is east of IH-35.
historic preservation: Official actions of a municipality such as the City of Austin taken to preserve structures with their jurisdiction. Preservation is often accompanied by a property tax exemption.
