In 2025, Community Impact shared the stories of 11 Cedar Park area restaurants in our dining feature section. Check out those stories below.

Stuffed Cajun Meat Market
Owners Kurt Knies and Tim Garrett opened the business in 2010 after meeting at a previous job in Louisiana and discussing plans to bring traditional Cajun flavors to Austin. Knies said Garrett’s Louisiana roots inspired the business’s menu.

The market strictly sold specialty products when it first opened but after many customer requests for sit-down Cajun meals, Knies and Garrett expanded its offerings.

Suprabhat
The restaurant has been serving vegetarian cuisine since 2013. Owner Chenchu Krishnan took over the business in 2021 after working in the hotel industry and looking to grow his passion for providing the right food for the right palette.

Krishnan began searching for the perfect chef to run the kitchen and found Anil Bashyam, a chef with robust experience in the hotel industry.

Williamson County received over $20 million for road safety improvements through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program on Dec. 23.

The local impact: Using the SS4A grant, the county plans to install:

• 3,648 reflective signal backplates to improve traffic signal visibility at 238 intersections
• 75 pedestrian-activated warning lights at crosswalks
• 32 speed feedback signs

Here are the top Community Impact stories in the Austin area from Dec. 29-Jan. 1:
1. Kohl’s will not open new store in Bastrop
2. Bastrop Sprouts seeks 82 new hires ahead of spring opening
3. Austin ISD names principals for schools affected by closures and turnaround plans
4. AI guardrails, tax rates after disasters: New Texas laws take effect Jan. 1
5. Bastrop concludes $3.5 million Agnes Street extension project
6. Austin Energy planning for 'tremendous strain,' possible billing impacts from new data centers

This November, Texas voters approved 17 constitutional amendments, also known as state propositions. Here’s what’s next for some of those propositions and what they mean for Texans.

The overview: Texas voters authorized the state to spend $1 billion annually on water supply funding, totaling $20 billion over a two-decade period, through Proposition 4. Funding will flow into the Texas Water Fund, a state account created in 2023 to help finance water projects.

However, state law requires that the money does not begin moving into the water fund until September 2027, and it will not be available for grants until 2029. Until then, state agencies, water utilities and local organizations will need to plan for funding, adjust rules and processes to align with recent state laws and update Texas’ water and flood plans, according to the Texas Water Foundation.

More details: Texas homeowners were set to see expanded property tax breaks on their 2025 tax bills under Propositions 11 and 13. Four other property tax exemptions approved by voters will take effect Jan. 1.