By SARAH DOOLITTLE
Four Points News
Mark and Carrie Kudela will soon open the Rock House Bar and Trailer Park near the intersection of RM 620 and RM 2222.
Rock House will feature a full bar and, “a limited menu inside with some salads, sandwiches, heavy hors d’oeuvres. So it’s completely different than (what the food trucks offer),” explained Mark. “We have Mighty Fine… Big Kahuna, Tika Express and then Gebby’s BBQ.”
Though the bar is still undergoing renovations, the food truck court is already open.
The Kudelas live in Steiner Ranch with two of their three children, Taber, 14 and Gabbi, 12. Their oldest, Tanner, 24, graduated from Texas A&M University and lives in Houston.
The couple bought the property in August, as soon as it came on the market. They have no previous restaurant experience but for years, they had been thinking of opening a “dive bar,” something that feels like a comfortable neighborhood bar where the whole family can hang out, they said.
“We’ll have some yard games… horseshoes, cornhole, some different stuff for people to do,” said Carrie. “We’ve always wanted to have a bar, something kind of casual. Shabby chic, that’s what we’re calling it.”
Mark and Carrie Kudela, of Steiner Ranch, are opening Rock House Bar and Trailer Park near the intersection of RM 620 and RM 2222. Already four food trucks are open at the new venue, and the family dog, Scout, enjoys the scene.
They’re also considering adding a sand volleyball court and tetherball.
The house where the bar is located was previously a real estate business, which they’ve completely gutted and added a small kitchen, bar and dining room. The inside will be divided between six or seven tables and lots of comfortable seating areas with big, oversized chairs and the home’s original stone fireplace for use in cooler weather.
“We’ve taken a little from every bar we’ve been to over the years,” said Mark. As for the name, “we just started calling it the Rock House because it’s, well, a rock house. And we decided to just keep the name.”
Customers will be able to purchase their food from any of the food trailers or order inside, then eat at the food truck picnic tables, or on the back patio or the inside Rock House.
““They (Mark and Carrie) allowed us to be a part of it and they were nice enough to let us start before the rest,” said local resident Marlis Oliver, executive director for nearly two decades of K&N Management, which founded and owns Austin-area Mighty Fine Burgers Fries Shakes as well as Rudy’s Country Store & BBQ.
Throughout Austin, Might Fine has four brick and mortar sites and a food truck and now the trailer at Rock House Bar, which Oliver said sales have been great at since opening last fall.
“We’re very pleased with the community coming out. It’s been really exciting for us to be (there),” Oliver said. “It’s such a unique, fun, Austin experience. We’re excited about what the future holds.”
Recent storms took out a third of the trees at Rock House Bar and Trailer Park, but their spacious back lot still features plenty of oaks and expansive views of the Texas Hill Country.
Their location at the busy RM 620 and RM 2222 intersection already brings a welcome flow of customers to the new venue.
“TxDOT (Texas Department of Transportation) has (estimated) 51,000 or 52,000 cars a day come through that intersection,” Mark said.
Ironically, the couple had already planned to move away from Austin to escape the heat. But when the lot came up for sale, it was too good of an opportunity to miss. A family vote sealed the deal.
“We asked (the kids), what do you all want to do, do you want to move or stay here, and they said ‘Stay here and do this,’” said Mark. The kids even plan to have a little ice cream shack in the food court.
“We’re not restaurant people. We’re not bar people,” conceded Mark. Instead, he owns a company that provides litigation support and e-discovery, and Carrie was a paralegal. But the couple is not flying blind either while navigating the many permits and licenses required by the city of Austin. “We have friends that have bars in town,” who’ve offered advice and guidance, said Mark. “We’ll learn as we go, but we have a lot of good people giving us good information.”
Due to the unforeseeable challenges of opening a restaurant, the opening date of the bar has been a moving target. For now, they hope to open in mid to late July. The food court and seating area is already open for business.
For more details on the opening, go to the Rock House Bar and Trailer Park Facebook page.
Lynette Haaland contributed to this article.
Rock House Bar and Trailer Park picnic tables.