J. Alexander’s restaurant is planning a new location in Cedar Park, according to a recent filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

The details: The $4,250,000 construction project is slated to break ground in March, with an estimated completion date of November 2026. No official opening date has been announced.

What else? The restaurant, which serves a variety of American food, craft beers and cocktails, currently has three Texas locations, with new branches opening in Plano and Prosper in early 2026. The Cedar Park branch will be the first in the greater Austin area.

Shallots Indian Cuisine opened in North Austin in October and serves a variety of coastal Indian dishes. 

What they offer: The restaurant serves classic Indian breakfast dishes such as dosas and idli, meat, seafood and rice dishes, and naan bread. Also on the menu are street snacks such as samosas, pakoras and Mumbai burgers, and drinks such as mango lassi and masala chai. The restaurant also has a dessert menu, and vegetarian options are also available.

• 12221 Riata Trace Pkwy., Ste. 190, Austin

Austin leaders kicked off their review of a trimmed city budget following the failure of Proposition Q as they move to approve the plan within the next week.

Whats happening: City Council is now working to adopt a revised fiscal year 2025-26 budget with about $100 million in city services and public programs removed. Spending on those items proposed under the Proposition Q tax hike must now be reversed, and officials are considering how those cuts should be made while maintaining some of their top priorities.

Discussion at a Nov. 18 work session largely centered around funding and staffing for public safety departments, including proposals to boost EMS services with several million dollars and suggestions that long-vacant police department positions could be removed. Review will continue Nov. 19 ahead of possible budget approval Nov. 20, or in the following days.

Thanksgiving week is expected to be one of the busiest U.S. travel periods in history, according to projections from AAA. A record 5.8 million Texans are projected to travel at least 50 miles from home Nov. 25-Dec. 1.

Zooming in: About 5.3 million Texans are expected to drive to their Thanksgiving destinations, according to a Nov. 17 news release, while about 328,000 people will fly and 140,000 will use other forms of transportation.

The impact: Texans should give themselves extra time to reach their destinations during Thanksgiving week, with the most congestion expected Nov. 25-26. Traffic is also expected to be heavy as Texans return home Nov. 30, according to INRIX, a transportation data company.

Minimal traffic is expected on Thanksgiving Day.

More details: Texas drivers will pay about the same for gas as they did last Thanksgiving, according to AAA Texas. One gallon of regular unleaded gas cost about $2.65 in Texas as of Nov. 13, down from $2.69 last year.