Tumble 22 started with one Austin food trailer in 2017. Nearly a decade later, the hometown hot-chicken brand is still finding new places to feed its home city. The planned Tumble 22 South Lamar restaurant brings that next stop to one of Austin’s signature dining corridors.
The brand’s official location directory lists the future restaurant at 2929 S. Lamar Blvd., in The Corners. Plans call for a 3,500-square-foot restaurant, with an opening anticipated in 2027.
And for anyone who remembers browsing the longtime Half Price Books here, the setting will look familiar. Tumble 22 will occupy part of the former bookstore’s building, giving a well-known Austin address a decidedly spicier use.
A New Kitchen in a Familiar Austin Space
The current leasing plan shows Tumble 22 sharing the reconfigured building with Frost Bank and CorePower Yoga. It identifies the restaurant’s own space beside the other two tenants, rather than assigning the entire former bookstore to hot chicken.
Earlier leasing material listed the building at roughly 10,000 square feet. The new arrangement divides that larger footprint into three distinct destinations.
There is an important distinction for book lovers: Half Price Books still has a presence in the center. Its official store page now lists an open location at 3005 S. Lamar Blvd., Suite D-113. Tumble 22 is taking part of the former 2929 space, not replacing that current store.
For diners, the address gives the project a recognizable landmark. For Tumble 22, it adds a South Austin restaurant to a business that began much closer to downtown.
From One Trailer to a Hometown Following
Chef Harold Marmulstein developed the chicken concept after experimenting with Nashville-inspired fried chicken at Salty Sow. Contemporary reporting from The Austinot traces the trailer’s launch to summer 2017 and the Burnet Road restaurant’s opening to March 2018.
The concept also grew out of the restaurant world of Larry Foles and Guy Villavaso. Their Guy + Larry Restaurants group helped establish Tumble 22 before the brand expanded across Texas.
Later, an investment partnership involving BRS & Co. and Rosser Capital Partners brought additional backing. The transaction announcement said the original restaurant group would retain an ownership position.
That growth has carried Tumble 22 beyond its trailer beginnings. Yet South Lamar makes the hometown thread easy to follow: a restaurant idea developed in Austin continues to add places for Austinites to try it.
The Crunch Behind Tumble 22 South Lamar
The name offers its own small piece of kitchen trivia. Tumble 22 says its Texas-raised chicken is hand-breaded and tumbled precisely 22 times to build its crust. The number on the sign starts with the food.
That crunchy coating is the foundation for sandwiches, tenders and bone-in chicken. It also gives the brand a clear identity in a crowded restaurant category: Nashville inspiration, an Austin origin and chicken prepared with a very specific count.
The current menu includes the O.G. Chicken sandwich, Dirty Fries and housemade pies. The supplied sandwich photo captures the appeal: a thick, craggy chicken fillet, slaw and sliced pickles packed into a bun.
Dirty Fries take the loaded-side approach, piling chicken, sauce and pickles over fries. Pie offers a sweeter finish. These are examples from the brand’s existing offerings; South Lamar’s final opening menu has not been announced.
Meanwhile, heat is a choice. The brand’s current description lists six levels running from Painless to Stupid Hot. That gives cautious diners an entry point while leaving room for people who order chicken partly for the challenge.
More Austin Restaurants on the Way
South Lamar is part of continued hometown expansion. Tumble 22’s directory still lists Burnet Road and Lake Austin Boulevard, while also identifying an Arboretum location at 9761 Great Hills Trail.
Together, the South Lamar and Arboretum additions would extend its reach into South Austin and northwest Austin. The brand is growing beyond the city, but it is also putting more restaurants within the city that gave it its start.
When Will Tumble 22 South Lamar Open?
The state construction filing describes a 3,500-square-foot restaurant buildout with an estimated construction cost of $500,000. It lists work from October 15, 2026, through April 1, 2027.
April 1 is the filed construction-completion estimate, not a confirmed opening date. The brand’s location directory does not yet provide a specific South Lamar opening day or operating hours.
The construction record uses 3001 S. Lamar Blvd., Building G, Suite 200, within the same larger shopping center. Tumble 22’s public-facing address is 2929 S. Lamar Blvd. The $500,000 figure represents estimated construction, rather than the restaurant’s total investment.
The next milestone is turning that former retail space into a working chicken joint. When the doors open, South Lamar will gain another Austin-born restaurant, with a story that runs from a food trailer to a familiar bookstore building—and a name that still comes back to the crunch.