Hey, Round Rock! 👋 Twenty-three works by Picasso go on view Friday at the City Arts Center on Main Street, on loan from the museum at his birthplace in Spain, and admission is free. Saturday is just as full: the Palm House reopens in the morning, and Día de los Muertos takes over Old Settlers Park in the afternoon.
Plus: a Tex-Mex place that started with about 20 tables in 1988, a $29.99 light show deal that ends Thursday, a Forest Creek home with its own zip line — and why an old trail through town was called the Double File. Let's dig in.
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🎨 Picasso Friday, Palm House and Día Saturday
Free art on Main Street to start the weekend, then a museum reopening and a festival at Old Settlers Park.
Dialogues with Picasso · Opens Friday, Nov 6 · City Arts Center, 216 E Main St
Twenty-three works by Picasso, on loan from the Museo Casa Natal in his birthplace of Málaga, Spain, hang beside 20 pieces by artists from the U.S., Ecuador, Mexico, Spain, and England. CultureMap calls it the first U.S. showing of works on loan from that museum. A solo show, The Art of Nick Ramos, opens with it. Admission is free, and the gallery is open Tue–Sat 10am–6pm, until 8pm on Wednesdays. Go in the front door of the Griffith Building and look for the gallery door in the lobby; downtown parking is free.
Palm House Grand Reopening · Saturday, Nov 7, 10am–noon · Old Settlers Association grounds, 3300 E Palm Valley Blvd
The Palm House moved to the Old Settlers grounds in 2024 and has since been restored, and now the museum's collection is going back in. There's a ribbon cutting, then an open house until noon. It's free.
Día de los Muertos Festival & Parade · Saturday, Nov 7, 3–10pm · Lakeview Pavilion, Old Settlers Park
The 13th annual festival has a new home this year, with live music, folklórico dancing, food and artisan vendors, kids' crafts, and costume and altar contests. The procession steps off at 5pm. The city suggests coming dressed as a Calaca, Frida, Selena, or Prince. Round the Rock lists it as free, and proceeds benefit Round Rock Ballet Folklórico.
🔥 Food Spotlight: La Margarita Restaurante
When Owen Reischman and Kathy Boyd opened La Margarita in 1988, it had 20 to 25 tables. It has moved three times since. General manager Eli Aviles started there in 1996 as a busser, while he was a high school freshman, worked his way through dishwasher, host, and server, and took over as GM in 2006. About half the staff has been there a decade or more. "Over the years, I see some kids become adults and have their own kids and bring them in here," he told Community Impact.
Fajitas are the thing here, cooked over mesquite and served with homemade flour tortillas; mixed fajitas for one run $24.99. Also on the menu: Enchiladas de Crema, chopped chicken layered with a four-pepper sour cream sauce ($16.99); Mexican White Wings, bacon-wrapped chicken nuggets with serrano in a cayenne pepper sauce (12 for $25.29); and Shrimp Diablo, jumbo shrimp wrapped in bacon with serrano and Monterrey jack ($23.95 for a five-piece entrée).
Pick your day. Fajita Monday means beef and chicken fajitas for two for $28, with $3.99 house margaritas (dine-in). Tuesdays, each adult purchase gets one free kids meal. This Thursday brings $6.95 house Mexican martinis. They're booking holiday parties now, too.
Open Mon–Thu 11am–9pm, Fri–Sat 8am–10pm, Sun 8am–9pm.
📍 1530 N I-35 Frontage Rd · (512) 388-1103
See the menu →
💸 Lights, Ice Cream, and Halo-Halo
Three ways to save this week, and the first one ends Thursday.
The Light Park at Dell Diamond
$29.99 per vehicle — presale through Thursday, Nov 5 — The mile-long drive-thru light show opens Friday and runs nightly through Jan 3, with gates opening at 5:30pm. You tune your car radio to hear the music, and pets are welcome inside the car. After the presale, online tickets run $29.99–$49.99 depending on the night, and it's $60 at the gate.
📍 3400 E Palm Valley Blvd · Get tickets →
We Are Blood
A free pint of Amy's Ice Creams for donating — through Saturday, Nov 14 — Everyone who gives blood or platelets gets a voucher. Appointments are strongly encouraged, but walk-ins are welcome.
📍 2132 N Mays St, Ste 900 · See the details →
Little Mama's Filipino Cuisine
Halo-halo buy one, get one half off — Fridays, 11am–5pm — Bring someone and split the savings on the shaved-ice dessert.
📍 2021 N Mays St, Ste 1000 · See the listing →
🗓 Events This Week & Just Ahead
Jon Pardi, a choir concert, a downtown shop crawl, and a Veterans Day ceremony with a flyover.
Jon Pardi with Alexandra Kay and Sadie Bass
🗓 Saturday, Nov 7, 5:30pm
📍 Round Rock Amp, 3701 N I-35 Frontage Rd
Country at the amphitheater that used to be Nutty Brown. Eventbrite tickets are listed at $40–$185; check what's left before you go.
Round Rock Market Days
🗓 Saturday, Nov 7, 9am–4pm
📍 Prete Plaza, 221 E Main St
Local vendors and live music downtown, and dogs are invited. The Picasso show is open that day too, at 216 E Main.
Round Rock Community Choir: Beyond the Horizon
🗓 Saturday, Nov 7, 7–8:30pm
📍 First United Methodist Church, 1004 N Mays St
The Full Choir, Bella Voce, Camerata, Men's Ensemble, Youth Choir, and Council Oak Handbells all sing or ring. Tickets are $25, $15 for 65+, and free for 17 and under, though everyone needs one.
Rocking Around the Rock
🗓 Sunday, Nov 8, noon–6pm
📍 Downtown shops, including Hometown, Mays Street Boutique, UnEarthed, and Blue Diamond
Pick up a passport at any participating shop, collect a stamp at each stop, and finish at The Fair for a free custom Round Rock ornament. No purchase is needed, but purchases enter you in a gift-card raffle.
Veterans Day Celebration
🗓 Wednesday, Nov 11, 11am–1:30pm
📍 Lakeview Stage and Pavilion, Old Settlers Park
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Olga E. Custodio gives the keynote, with a Falcon Flight Formation Team flyover and the Stony Point High School NJROTC and Chamber Choir. Afterward, stay for entertainment and a meal from Juicy Lucee's ATX and VFW Post 9078.
Music on Main: Dysfunkshun Junkshun
🗓 Wednesday, Nov 11, 7–9pm
📍 Prete Main Street Plaza, 221 E Main St
The free concert series goes on through Veterans Day night. Bring a chair or a blanket; parking downtown is free.
Just ahead: The holiday craft shows start. Sleigh Bell Lane fills St. Richard's Parish Hall, 1420 E Palm Valley Blvd, Thursday and Friday, Nov 12–13, 9am–6pm, and Saturday, Nov 14, 9am–4pm; bring a canned good for the Round Rock Serving Center. Also on Saturday, Nov 14, the free Holiday Bazaar runs 9am–4pm at Clay Madsen Recreation Center (bring a canned good or a box of colorful Band-Aids for the children's hospital). And Fill the Need starts at 10am at Centennial Plaza, 301 W Bagdad, with yard games and a food drive, then a one-mile walk at noon to deliver the donations to the Serving Center.
📰 Community News & Headlines
Good things happening around town this week:
Yaya's Southern Comfort plans 219 seats downtown — Chef Galdino "Dino" Lopez, his wife Yvonne "Yaya" Lopez, and partner Miguel Salas are targeting spring 2027 for a restaurant at 306 E. Liberty Ave., with 141 indoor seats, 78 outdoor, an event room, and a balcony. Expect fried chicken, shrimp and grits, and cast-iron beef tenderloin. Until then, Yaya's cooks about once a month at Bluebonnet Beer Company. Read more…
Curtiss-Wright investing $30 million in Round Rock — The company will expand its existing facility here to make more pressure and temperature sensors, and it's adding an innovation center, a testing lab, and a project management office. It expects to add staff, though no job count or timeline has been announced. Read more…
79 RRISD seniors named National Merit semifinalists — The Class of 2027 group spans the district's high schools. They can now compete for about 6,700 National Merit Scholarships worth about $24 million, and finalists will be notified in February. Read more…
Send your leftover Halloween candy to the troops — Soldiers' Angels' Treats for Troops drive runs through Nov. 30. Drop off at Five Points Board of REALTORS, 123 E. Old Settlers Blvd., or Forest Creek Family Dental, 2501 Red Bud Ln. (both Mon–Fri 9am–5pm), or Paloma Lake Amenity Center 2, 3185 Magellan Way (6am–10pm, closed Thursdays). Read more…
Light Up the Lake set for Dec. 4–5 — The free holiday festival is planned around Bright Lake at Old Settlers Park, with live music, giant balloons over the water, a light show, and a yule log. No tickets are required, and the city asks you to report anyone offering them. Read more…
🏡 Real Estate Corner
Thinking about buying, selling, or simply curious what homes are selling for around town? Our Real Estate Corner highlights notable local listings, market insights, and trends shaping the Round Rock housing market.
3302 Snead Path, Round Rock 78664
$1,295,000 · 5 bed · 3.5 bath · 3,823 sqft · 0.5 acre
Yes, the backyard has a zip line. The fenced half-acre in Forest Creek also has a pool, mature trees, and a multi-level covered patio. Inside, the remodeled 2004 house has 20-foot ceilings, steel-and-glass double doors at the entry, wide-plank light oak floors, a double staircase, waterfall marble counters, and a guest room with a custom Murphy bed. The roof, HVAC, and water heater all date to 2022. The listing says the owner will pay off the solar panel loan and puts utilities at about $50 a month. HOA dues are $92 a month.
For comparison, Redfin puts Round Rock's median sale price at $385K over the three months ending in September, down 0.69% from a year earlier.
See the listing →
🪨 Poll of the Week
The Double File Trail, laid out in 1828, crossed Brushy Creek at Round Rock's future Kenney's Fort. Why was it called that?
That's a wrap for this week. If you make it to the Picasso show, hit reply and tell us which pairing stopped you. And if you've had the same La Margarita order for years, tell us what it is. See you next week! 👋
-Doing Round Rock Team
🪨 Trivia answer: Two horsemen could ride side by side! The state historical marker says the Delaware people laid out the route in 1828 while moving from East Texas toward present-day Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Kenney's Fort, Williamson County's first settlement, went up at the trail's Brushy Creek crossing in 1838, and members of the Santa Fe Expedition gathered there in 1841. Texas Rangers, settlers, surveyors, and explorers all used it after that. Read more →
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