The South is about to lose some of its best soul food. Chef Hoover Alexander will close his legendary Austin restaurant, Hoover’s Cooking, on May 31, after an almost 30-year run. The restaurant will transition away from full-service operations, but it’s not the end for Alexander. He plans to offer a smaller menu and limited operations through part of the summer, along with bookings for private events.
He also plans to host a party on June 15 in the days running up to Juneteenth, a holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. (Additional details will be announced at a later date.)
Alexander, a native Austinite, grew up less than a mile from what would become Hoover’s Cooking at 2002 Manor Road. The beloved local chef started his culinary career in the 1970s at the historic Night Hawk, one of the first restaurants in Austin to integrate its staff and customers. Alexander worked his way up through the kitchen, moving through every station, as well front-of-house jobs, eventually becoming management.
In 1998, he struck out on his own, opening Hoover’s Cooking in a historically Black part of Austin. The menu offers a little bit of everything, from a catfish po’boy to Jamaican jerk chicken, to his “Awesome Austin Fried Chicken,” sold as pieces or as a sandwich on a kolache bun…