Texas French Bread: Plans underway to reopen after 2022 fire

Texas French Bread Bakery and Bistro said it was securing a building permit and expected to break ground for"(re)construction" later in 2023.

Editor’s Note: The above video shows previous coverage from the day of the fire at Texas French Bread Bakery.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas French Bread Bakery and Bistro said it was securing a building permit and expected to break ground for "(re)construction" later in 2023.

In January 2022, a fire broke out at the original bakery location, which was established in 1981 off Rio Grande Street in central Austin. The Austin Fire Department said the fire was accidental and caused by a “mechanical failure.”

The fire caused an estimated $1.1 million in damage to the building and $500,000 to what was inside. 

Texas French Bread said all indications pointed toward the city treating its situation as a type of remodel rather than as new construction, which would allow the bakery to put back roughly the same amount of square feet on the same footprint.

“Our plan calls for keeping the south and west brick walls, which we hope will allow the new building to retain much of its original charm,” the bakery said.

Texas French Bread said it was working on a new layout design for the interior of the building.

“This is a design pattern that has long animated my thinking about what we should change if we ever got a chance to start over from scratch. Well - now we have that chance,” the bakery said.

“As we dream a new building into being, we are also putting our shoulder into the bistro and bakery operation. Our biggest job for the moment is to keep grinding and keep the wheels on financially,” Texas French Bread said.