A new chicken spot is coming to New Braunfels this winter.

The overview: Slim Chickens is expected to open a New Braunfels location in January 2027, Big Star Hospitality President Dan McGrath told Community Impact. Big Star Hospitality is an Austin-based restaurant development and franchise group.

The restaurant is expected to open at 1395 I-35 N. frontage road, according to a permit filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

• 1395 I-35 N. frontage road, New Braunfels

Johnson Furniture Co., located at 283 S. Seguin Ave., will be closing its doors.

Some details: The furniture store is closing due to owner Carol Johnson’s decision to retire. Johnson said her family has had the privilege of helping generations of customers furnish their homes and celebrate life’s milestones.

“What began as a family furniture store became part of the story of thousands of families—and those families became part of ours,” Johnson said in an email. “I am deeply grateful for the relationships, friendships, and opportunities this business has given me.”

What they offer: Johnson Furniture Co. sells single ottoman pieces, living room sets, coffee tables and lighting. There will be a retirement sale beginning Aug. 3. Johnson said they will continue helping customers select from their in-stock furniture and accessories until their showroom closes at the end of September.

• 283 S. Seguin Ave., New Braunfels

A new restaurant serving locally sourced, scratch-made cuisine has opened in downtown Buda.

Astra Restaurant + Bar held a soft opening in February and celebrated a ribbon-cutting with the Greater Buda Chamber of Commerce on May 18, marking the milestone of being open seven days a week.

Owner Mattison Bills said she is fulfilling a lifelong dream to open a restaurant like Astra.

Quote of note: “The concept itself is something that I’ve been ruminating on for a decade,” Bills said. “The local sourcing, everything scratch-made, the sourdough program is really a huge part of my identity; the handmade pasta. It's really built on recipes that I've been making my entire career.”

On the menu: Every item on the menu at Astra is scratch-made with no commercial ingredients, with produce being locally sourced or grown in the restaurant’s own 6,000-square-foot urban farm in San Antonio. The menu follows a similar framework throughout the year, but rotates seasonal vegetables to bring the best quality produce to the plate.

Texas is halting the approval of new data center projects until state regulators can audit all data centers seeking to connect to the power grid, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Aug. 3.

The overview: The governor directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to conduct “a comprehensive verification and audit” of all data center applicants “before any additional data centers are approved to move forward.” 

Data center regulation has emerged as a bipartisan issue in recent months, and the move comes amid both growing public criticism of Texas’ booming data center industry and recent political pressure for Abbott to respond.

Zooming in: Abbott asked the PUC and ERCOT to collect information about the tax exemptions each data center is collecting; details about each project's anticipated water and electricity usage; and how data center developers will work to limit noise, light pollution and other impacts on local communities.

Officials did not say how long the pause would last or when the audits would begin.