The Olive Branch eatery is moving, but not very far, and the owner of the La Fiesta restaurants locally will take the vacated space for a food-and-fun venue called Sam’s on the Square.

All of this shuffling involves the growing Waco Town Square development at Fourth Street and Franklin Avenue, as well as the nearby RiverSquare Center — both owned by Wallace Bajjali Development Partners of Houston.

“I hope to do something a little different for Waco, create an urban feel like a little bit of uptown Dallas,” said Sam Castillo, who will put a restaurant and a bar on the first floor of Austin Avenue Flats. They will take in about 6,000 square feet that the Olive Branch will leave and the Square Bar already has left.

The Olive Branch restaurant will relocate to the first floor of the Shops at RiverSquare Center at Second Street and Franklin Avenue.
Duane A. Laverty/Waco Tribune-Herald

Sam’s on the Square likely will open in June and will remind no one of Castillo’s La Fiesta restaurants.

“We’ll have a fusion of flavors,” said Castillo, who mentioned scratch-made tacos prepared from Korean barbecued short ribs, as well as Shiner Bock-braised brisket served on house-made corn tortillas.

Drinks will include microbrews and hand-crafted margaritas, and happy hour occasionally will feature live music, he said.

“We will have continuous serving from lunch through dinner and probably will close around midnight,” said Castillo, who plans to seat 150 inside, 40 outside and have an upstairs room available for private parties.

“I think we’ll have an inviting look, and we wanted to be part of everything going on down here,” said Castillo, who mentioned the ongoing $75 million development of lofts, office space, retail and restaurants in downtown.

David Wallace, CEO of Wallace Bajjali Development Partners, said he’s excited about having an iconic restaurant operator like Castillo, with his successful track record, moving into Austin Avenue Flats.

Meanwhile, the Olive Branch restaurant will relocate to the first floor of the Shops at RiverSquare Center at Second Street and Franklin Avenue. Owner Leah Stewart will have more than 4,000 square feet there, nearly doubling what she has at Austin Avenue Flats, spokesman Jonathan Garza said.

She will have room for a full bakery and space for on-site catering for parties and other events.

“It’s nice to see existing tenants in one building outgrow their capacity and move into our other locations,” Wallace said. “This gives Leah efficiencies to bake, cater and serve her great dine-in food under one roof.”

Jennifer Wilson, owner of the Shops at RiverSquare Center, said she gladly freed up space for the Olive Branch by moving any shops that were on the first floor to the second floor.

She leases space to tenants and now has 45 shops spread over 30,000 square feet.

“Leah and I are good friends, and we’re really excited about doing some joint-venture advertising and promoting,” she said. “This whole center is becoming a one-stop shop to eat and have a good time.”

Like Castillo, Stewart wants to be in her new location around June.

Castillo reportedly will first focus his renovations on the Square Bar, then turn his attention to the Olive Branch space after Stewart has relocated to RiverSquare Center.

Flats filling up

Austin Avenue Flats is filling up, with 48 of its 49 living units either sold or leased. Sam’s on the Square is taking about half the retail space, Wallace said, while two prospects have signed letters of intent to take another 1,700 square feet between them. Negotiations continue with a boutique that wants 2,400 square feet.

“We still have about 1,500 square feet left, but interest is picking up,” Wallace said. “It’s as if once we passed Jan. 1, the curtain went down, and people wanted to put economic woes behind them and focus on the future.”

mcopeland@wacotrib.com

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