A new restaurant called Mercer is on the way to Thompson Austin, the Hyatt-run hotel at 500 San Jacinto Blvd. in downtown Austin. Work on the 4,269-square-foot space is scheduled to begin in December 2026, with completion targeted for August 2027.
The project will turn an existing restaurant space inside the hotel into a new dining concept, with an interior remodel estimated at about $600,000. The project is privately funded, and the hotel is within walking distance of Lady Bird Lake, the Rainey Street district and Austin’s convention center.
Mercer joins a busy dining lineup at the Thompson. The hotel’s rooftop, Arriba Abajo, serves Mexican fare including tacos, fajitas and mezcal cocktails, with downtown views and poolside daybeds. Downstairs, Fifth Street Diner serves a retro-style, all-day American menu of omelets, burgers, brisket hash and milkshakes, and The Royale Room is a martini bar with oysters and burgers. A lobby coffee bar serves coffee in the morning and local beer and natural wine in the afternoon.
The Thompson has seen plenty of change in its restaurants in the last couple of years. Chef Mashama Bailey’s Diner Bar and Grey Market closed in July 2024, shortly after the hotel’s owner began bringing its food and beverage operations in-house, and the rooftop moved from Wax Myrtle’s to Arriba Abajo in early 2024. The hotel then added Fifth Street Diner and The Royale Room.
