Posted: Mon, 12 Apr 2010 02:25 PM - 11,958 Readers

By: Food and Flame - Blog

A waterfront Austin dining institution is back, and better than ever.

Ski Shores Café, owned by the Fowler family since 1954, announced it will reopen April 12, 2010 under new management — serving the same great fare and now much more, in a vastly expanded, open-air facility now approximately double the previous capacity.

New Ski Shores Café amenities — spacious, indoor-outdoor dining and a full bar, table service and a full wait staff, an expansive deck, additional boat slips and even call-in, dockside delivery — abound in the longtime local favorite, which will now open seven days a week and operate year-round.

Long noted for classic American food in a lakeside setting, the café has added new menu offerings to the mix. However, Ski Shores’ loyal following will be pleased to learn that all of the iconic Austin eatery’s longtime, signature menu items remain, including the legendary Border and Scooter burgers, the popular pizzas, catfish sandwiches, famous fries, fried okra, and much more.

Led by Restaurant Freedom co-founders Rick Engel and Mark Turner, the Ski Shores Café management team brings years of entrepreneurial expertise and restaurant industry experience to this local waterfront icon.

“We are delighted to revive and update an Austin institution, keeping the great feel of Ski Shores intact, as a great place for families, boaters and our Lake Austin neighbors,” says Rick Engel, Restaurant Freedom CEO and co-founder. “This has always been a special place, and now it adds faster service and expanded attractions.”

“Ski Shores has always been about spending a day with friends on the water and stopping here — It’s one of the things that ‘makes Austin Austin,’” said Turner. “For fifty-plus years, people have come here to enjoy the unique waterfront setting. There’s something for everyone here and we have painstakingly preserved that legacy, while improving the experience.”


SKI SHORES - The Sequel

For more than 50 years, boaters (and jet skiers) have pulled right up to the dock to grab some refreshment and take in the relaxing views at Ski Shores Café, located just a short boat ride west of the 360 bridge (and by car, off 2222 near the end of long and winding City Park Road).

With the new additions and amenities of Ski Shores Café, today a visitor can:

• Boat in, “tying down” at one of several new cleated boat slips
• Disembark and walk across the expansive deck or hang outside at the new palapa bar.
• Be seated by wait staff – no more standing in line, or long waits
• Order any original Ski Shores menu item, or choose from a variety of all-new menu offerings
• Relax and enjoy scenic views, live music several days a week, or catch the game on several flatscreen TVs
• Bring a laptop and jump online using the venue’s free wireless wifi
• Grab basic boating amenities, such as ice, or sunblock
• Order dockside delivery direct to your boat
• Bring your dog!
  

Kids (and parents) can enjoy a gated playscape area, and everyone can go in the game room, or play washers or shuffleboard. Visitors also may order carry out, or if located in designated nearby neighborhoods, may take advantage of in-area, full-menu delivery.


ABOUT SKI SHORES CAFÉ PARTNERS

Local business partners Rick Engel and Mark Turner have reinvigorated the eatery. The pair have a successful, long history of developing, operating, reviving and restoring Austin institutions. Engel and Turner are owners in, and operators of Austin restaurant concepts Little Woodrow’s, Austin Java, Uncle Billy’s Brew & Que and the Austin-area Texadelphia restaurants.

All of these, including Ski Shores, are supported by Restaurant Freedom, which offers a complete array of professional management services — including operations management, strategic marketing (including complete campaigns and social media), accounting, payroll, human resources, IT/POS support and more, for restaurateurs.