Dimassi’s Mediterranean Buffet closed its northwest Austin location the last week of March, owner Sam Khader confirmed. 

The location closed due to an expired lease and dated building, Khader shared, stating Dimassi’s will return to the area soon. 

On the menu: The menu includes zatar, falafel, rice with seasoned ground beef, meatballs and grilled and fried chicken. Dimassi’s specialties include chicken pasta, mansaf with lamb and makloube, which is chicken, rice, potatoes, eggplant, cauliflower and spices with nuts. 

Learn more: The buffet expanded last year with a new location in Round Rock, which opened in the Renaissance retail center in June. The restaurant also has a south Austin location on Stassney Lane, which launched in 2020. 

Those locations will remain open, according to Khader. 

• 12636 Research Blvd., Austin

The 2025 Austin City Limits Music Festival contributed nearly $560 million to the local economy and generated $8.5 million for Austin's public parks system, festival organizers announced May 4, one day ahead of ACL's 2026 lineup reveal.

The details: The six-day festival drew 78 local vendors, and was responsible for more than 3,300 full-time job equivalents—both full- and part-time employees' hours worked—and more than $195 million in pay to Austin employees. Since ACL's economic impact was first tracked in 2006, it's generated $4.7 billion for Austin's economy and either created or sustained nearly 43,000 jobs.

Proceeds from the 2025 festival will also result in various park improvements citywide, adding to the more than $79 million directed to 260-plus Austin park improvements since the late 2000s.

What's next: This year, ACL is being held Oct. 2-4 and 9-11 at Zilker Park. The 2026 lineup will be announced at 9 a.m. May 5, followed by three-day festival tickets being made available at noon.

Check out the latest Austin metro transportation project updates.

Upcoming projects
Lakeline Boulevard shared-use path
Project: A 10-foot paved shared-use path is planned along Lakeline Boulevard in Cedar Park between New Hope Drive and Little Elm Trail to improve pedestrian and bicycle connectivity.
Update: According to city officials, design is 90% complete. Plans have been revised to modify an existing roadway bridge rather than construct a new pedestrian bridge, with final design and permitting ongoing.

• Timeline: 2024-26
• Cost: $10.5 million
• Funding source: Texas Department of Transportation

• Timeline: 2026-29
• Cost: $68.4 million
• Funding source: Austin 2016 mobility bond, TxDOT

Texas retailers can keep various smokable hemp products on their shelves through late July, a Travis County judge ruled May 1.

The overiew: Judge Daniella DeSeta Lyttle’s ruling prohibits the Texas Department of State Health Services, which regulates and licenses consumable hemp businesses, from enforcing new THC testing requirements and sharply increasing licensing fees.

The hemp industry previously argued that the DSHS was overstepping its regulatory authority by changing how Texas classifies THC content. State officials have defended the reclassification and other rules as in line with a September executive order by Gov. Greg Abbott.

What it means: DeSeta Lyttle’s temporary injunction extends an earlier pause on the DSHS rules, which was issued April 10.

The pause applies to all consumable hemp businesses in Texas, allowing them to continue producing, manufacturing and selling smokable products until at least July 27, when a final court trial is scheduled. That could change if the state appeals the ruling to a higher court.