I was very excited to learn that Snack Bar on South Congress is officially open after months of construction, waiting, and two soft openings — one during SXSW in March and one during Austin City Limits Music Festival in early October.

I called and was told that they will be open for the next week during breakfast, lunch, and for afternoon snacktime — closing at 4 p.m. I believe their hours will stretch much later once they have a chance to hire more staff and get in the groove.

This spot, vacated by El Sol y La Luna after they moved to 6th Street is in the heart of South Austin — attached to the Austin Motel with it’s phallicly-shaped signage and across the street from Jo’s coffeeshop, Amy’s Ice Creams, and the Continental Club.

I visited Snack Bar with my colleague and Tasty Touring guest blogger Marc Matthews for lunch on the Friday before ACL. As you can see above, the sign outside spelled “Patience” and the inside (below) was taking shape but still closed for construction.

The chefs were working out of a temporary kitchen in the parking lot and we stopped to chat with them. It turns out that Eric, the head chef, used to work at Counter Cafe. Small world that it is, he was there the day I had breakfast there late last year and is pictured on my blog post about their delicious breakfast.

I ordered this delicious veggie burger. It was priced reasonably and was delicious topped with fresh ripe avocados.

Marc ordered some kind of fancy taco with shrimp and pineapple — I think it was called the Hawaiian.

Overall, the food was really tasty, the menus were varied and enticing and the atmosphere will be cool with ample people-watching opportunities on South Congress. For more details on plans for Snack Bar, check out Rebeccamendations post that includes information about this labor of love, the owner, hours it will be open, and philosophy.

In other Snack Bar news, owner Bethany Andrée will join us on KGSR at 8:15 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 3 to share some snacks and talk more about her labor of love.