Megan Navarro
BUDA — A new dining opportunity is coming for families along Main Street in Buda with the opening of Astra Restaurant & Bar.
Owner Matti Bills got her start in the entrepreneurial side of the restaurant business in 2014 with farmers markets — stretching from Cedar Park, Buda, San Marcos, New Braunfels and more throughout the Central Texas corridor — when she founded her first business, Mum Foods, before selling it in 2019. It was then that she started Three Six General, a butcher shop in San Marcos.
Through participating in farmers markets with the butcher shop — alongside having the brick-and-mortar location — she also gained an opportunity of joining the Pearl Food Hall in San Antonio through a sandwich shop, called Howdy Child.
The latest venture that Bills has set her eyes on is opening Astra Restaurant & Bar in downtown Buda, where she will be living out her dreams of having a wood-fired oven concept. She shared that the name Astra comes from the Latin phrase, “per aspera ad astra,” meaning through hardships to the stars, as this star of a project has been in the works for a long time and is finally able to come to fruition.
“I had worked on wood fired ovens in the very beginning of my career. I got my very first restaurant gig when I was like 22 years old, I might have been 20,” she explained. “We were managing this place on Lake Travis and it had a wood burning oven. So, I got my first experience there and then, I traveled to Hawaii to collaborate with a friend on a wood burning oven pizza project in O’ahu. I’ve always wanted to have one in my concept and we're finally going to get to do that.”
Bills’ other projects and local partnerships will help Astra come to life, as Three Six General will produce the restaurant’s house-made cured meats, including mortadella, coppa ham, bacon and salami. They will also have scratch-made, locally-sourced food, such as sourdough pizza and sandwiches with bread that is made with organic grain from Barton Springs Mill in Dripping Springs, as well as vegetarian dishes and shared plates like crudo and carpaccio.
“The whole reason I got into the food world was to support local farmers and ranchers. It's definitely what drives us. But since then, I feel like it's become just as much about community, whether it's our staff or our customers, just the community aspect of it all,” Bills said.
Ingredients will also come from an urban farm that Bills has in San Antonio that is used to supply her different concepts: “It's really rare that restaurants are growing their own food, even if they're sourcing it locally. It just takes it to a whole other level for us to have our farm,” she said.
In addition to the food, Lauren Beckam, cocktail director at Mixtli, will oversee the bar aspect, offering various cocktails, natural wine and craft beer.
The Buda Economic Development Corporation is excited to welcome Astra to the local family of restaurants, according to CEO Jennifer Storm, as Bills’ experience, reputation and food will add to the culinary destination of Main Street.
“We hope this restaurant helps energize the northern end of Main Street, bringing families and visitors to explore this restaurant and stay a while, to shop and dine in other establishments, as well,” she said. “Astra is capitalizing on the patio and lawn of the property, which should create more connectivity to the park, drawing folks into downtown.”
Astra Restaurant & Bar will be located at 404 Main St. in Buda, with an anticipated opening in February.
To stay up to date, visit www.instagram.com/astra.btx.
