El Arroyo is a Mexican restaurant located on West 5th Street in Austin, Texas. The restaurant is known for its humorous marquee.
| El Arroyo | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1975 |
| Owner(s) | Ellis Winstanley Paige Winstanley (2012–present) |
| Previous owner(s) | Clay McPhail Doug English (1985–2012) Robert Ogden Mary Ogden (1975–1985) |
| Food type | Mexican |
| Street address | 1624 West 5th Street |
| City | Austin |
| County | Travis |
| State | Texas |
| Postal/ZIP Code | 78703 |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 30°16′30″N 97°45′53″W / 30.274966487752124°N 97.76459909617616°W |
| Website | www |
History
editEl Arroyo was established in 1975 by Bob and Mary Ogden, the land owners. Clay McPhail and Doug English, who owned the restaurant for 25 years until 2012,[1] when it was sold to Ellis and Paige Winstanley, who met when Paige got a job at Cain & Able's, a bar owned by Ellis. After "a while" the two started dating and formed a business partnership.
Menu
editThe restaurant serves typical Mexican cuisine including tacos, fajitas, guacamole and tortilla chips in "gargantuan" portions.[2]
Marquee
editThe restaurant is known for its humorous marquee, which attempts to "toe the line" between "uplifting, snarky, and of-the-moment". The messages on the marquee are the result of a group effort among 15 people including the owners and restaurant managers.[2][3] The marquee has inspired its own line of merchandise such as jigsaw puzzles[4] and yard signs.[5]
References
edit- ^ Gubbins, Teresa. "El Arroyo ex-owner returns to Austin to open 5280 Burger and Taphouse (mile-high burger joint) in Far West neighborhood". Austin.Culturemap.com. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
- ^ a b Leffler, David (May 2, 2021). "Meet the Couple Behind El Arroyo". AustinMonthly.com. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
- ^ Swiatacki, Chad. "Low-tech marketing: The minds behind El Arroyo's iconic signs". BizJournals.com. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
- ^ Webb, Eric. "Solve the sign: Austin restaurant El Arroyo selling jigsaw puzzles of iconic marquee". Austin360.com. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
- ^ KVUE staff (June 22, 2020). "You can buy an El Arroyo (yard) sign of your very own". KVUE.com. Retrieved November 1, 2021.