Connection and Innovation in the Austin Food Scene with Grace Chow Co-Founder & CEO of Lobos Hospitality

Can a city’s food scene serve as a catalyst for connection, creativity, and innovation? Grace Chow, Co-Founder & CEO of Austin-based Lobos Hospitality, joins me to share her insights from food scenes across the US, and her in-the-trenches view from building three distinctive Austin restaurants: Toasty Badger, Manny's, and the Powder Room.

Episode Highlights

• The State of the Austin Food Scene
• Balancing Local Sourcing, Trends, and Concept Authenticity
• Crafting Distinctive Dining Experiences
• What Austin Needs for a Vibrant Hospitality Industry
• How Restaurants Intersect with Other Sectors 
• The Impact of Tech on the Restaurant Industry 
• Restaurants as Potential Third Places in Austin 
• What's Next, Austin?
  • "I think just everybody kind of becoming a little bit nerdier about food and a little bit nerdy about restaurants."

Grace Chow, Lobos Hospitality 

-------------------
Austin Next Links: Website, X/Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn
Ecosystem Metacognition Substack

What is Austin Next?

Austin is building the new tech, cultural, and intellectual stack. The region is a living laboratory to answer a single question: How do you build a global innovation superpower?

Host Jason Scharf dissects innovation from the individual to the ecosystem. From the soundstage to the data center to the fab, we decode the mechanics of Austin's innovation ecosystem.

As Atoms, Bits, and Intelligence converge, we explore how Hard Tech scale, digital velocity, and creative density collide. This is an audit of the future. We map the physics of the flywheel so builders and investors can navigate the chaos.