Happy Thursday, Round Rock! 👋 Fall officially arrived this week, and Saturday is the first chance to do something with it: a free fitness festival at Old Settlers Park, fifteen artists on the Downtown Paseo, and folklórico dancers at the library, all before lunch.
Plus: oxtails and banana pudding from a family kitchen out by the Hutto line, the Old Settlers Boulevard extension is finally done, an acre on Brushy Creek where the canoe launch is the backyard — and the family that gave Palm Valley its name. Let's dig in.
Know someone who'd love Doing Round Rock? Just send them this link: doingroundrock.com
🍂 The First Saturday of Fall
Fall started this week, and its first Saturday is free from 8am to 3pm if you plan it right. Here's the route:
Live at Lakeview: Fit Fest · Saturday, Sep 26, 8–11am · Lakeview Pavilion, Old Settlers Park
The city's free morning fitness festival runs on a schedule: family strength training at 8:15, Zumba at 9, a group plank challenge at 9:30, yoga at 10, and a raffle at 11 to wrap it up. Come for one session or stay for all of them.
Mainly Art · Saturday, Sep 26, 10am–3pm · Downtown Paseo, 216 E Main St
The fall series opens with 15 local visual artists selling original work outdoors along the Paseo. It's free to browse, parking is free in the City Hall and library garages, and if you miss it, it comes back Oct 31, Nov 21, and Dec 19.
Round Rock Ballet Folklorico · Saturday, Sep 26, 11am–noon · Round Rock Public Library, 200 E Liberty Ave
A short walk from the Paseo, the library's Hispanic Heritage Month lineup brings traditional Mexican folk dance to Meeting Rooms A and B. Free, one hour, and timed so you can slip away from the art and come right back.
🔥 Food Spotlight: Nana B's Country Kitchen
Nana B's started with a nudge. Victor Friar and Keysha Nichols-Friar were already running a shop on Limmer Loop, out by the Hutto line, and their customers kept telling them they ought to be cooking. When the space next door opened up, they took it, and Nana B's Country Kitchen opened last September. This month is year one. Their line is "Nothing frozen. Everything family," and they mean both halves: the kitchen cooks in small batches every day, and Nana's Banana Pudding is Keysha's mother's recipe.
Start with the oxtails, served with greens and scratch-made cornbread, which is the plate in nearly every photo of the place. The fried catfish plate ($18.99) is cooked to order, the smash burger and fries ($11.99) covers anyone at the table who didn't come for soul food, and the oxtail quesadillas are the house curveball. Save room for the banana pudding ($4.99) or the peach cobbler.
Sundays are Soul Food Sunday, with shorter hours, so think lunch rather than dinner. And if Keysha is working the counter, you've been warned: "I'm going to watch you take your first bite," she told Community Impact.
Open Tue–Sat 11am–7pm, Sun noon–4pm. Closed Mondays.
📍 101 Limmer Loop, Ste 100
See the menu →
💸 Last Call for September
The library-card discounts end with the month, and two local spots give you a cheap reason to go out this week:
Round Rock Public Library
10–15% off with your library card — through Sep 30 — at Paige's Bakehouse, Mi Mundo Coffeehouse & Roastery, Blue Diamond Boutique, un.earthed, and Hometown Gift & Decor. Show your card at the register. No card yet? September is sign-up month at the library.
📍 200 E Liberty Ave · See the details →
Warpath Pints & Pizza
$8.95 three-topping personal pizzas — Thursdays, 4–10pm — dine-in only. Happy hour runs all day on weekdays, 11am–7pm, trivia starts at 7pm Wednesdays, and Moscow Mules are $5 on Saturdays from 11am to 5pm.
📍 1116 E Palm Valley Blvd · See the specials →
Bluebonnet Beer Company
Oktoberfest Märzen is on tap, and your first beer is free on your birthday — bring a valid ID. David and Clare Hulama's brewery has been pouring in Round Rock since 2013; the taproom is open Thu–Fri 5–9pm, Sat 2–9pm, and Sun 3–9pm.
📍 1700 Bryant Dr, Ste 107 · See what's on tap →
🗓 Events This Week & Just Ahead
Country at the Amp, a comic whodunit on Mays Street, a morning built for families of kids with special needs, and mahjong with a glass of wine.
Braxton Keith at the Round Rock Amp
🗓 Friday, Sep 25, 6pm
📍 Round Rock Amp, 3701 N I-35
Part of the KASE 100.7/KVET Country Music Live series, with Carson Peters & Iron Mountain and Caden Gillard opening. $42–$248; everyone over 2 needs a ticket.
Clue at Penfold Theatre
🗓 Thursday–Sunday, Sep 24–27 (runs through Oct 11)
📍 Penfold Theatre, 2120 N Mays St, Ste 290
The board game and the cult movie, onstage as a PG-13 comic whodunit that runs about 90 minutes. $29–$39. Evening shows plus a Sunday matinee; check showtimes on Penfold's ticket page.
2026 Special Needs Family Jamboree
🗓 Saturday, Sep 26, 9am–noon
📍 Play for All Abilities Park, 151 N A.W. Grimes Blvd
The park closes to the public for the morning so families in the special-needs community have it to themselves: crafts, games, music, snacks, Kona Ice, and local resource booths. Free, but register first.
Kill It CrossFit Grand Opening
🗓 Saturday, Sep 26, 10am–1pm
📍 111 E Old Settlers Blvd
A free all-levels community workout, a look around the new gym, kids' activities, and local vendors. A good second stop if the plank challenge didn't finish you off.
Trailside Market
🗓 Saturday, Sep 26, 9am–noon
📍 Memorial Park, 600 N Lee St
Handmade goods, baked goods, and specialty foods along the creek trail. Free. The Round Rock Farmers Market runs 10am–2pm the same morning at Rock Creek Plaza, 2111 N I-35.
Mahj the Rock: Tiles & Tasting
🗓 Sunday, Sep 27, 6pm
📍 Swallow Wines, 407 Round Rock Ave
A mahjong evening with wine, $50. Six spots were left when we checked, and Saturday's beginner class is already full with a waitlist, so don't sit on it.
Just ahead: October opens big. The Round Rock Pumpkin Festival opens Friday, Oct 2, at the Old Settlers Association, 3300 E Palm Valley Blvd, and runs Fridays through Mondays, 10am–7pm, all month: pumpkin painting, a corn pit, archery, farm animals, and train and pony rides, with $12 general admission and some attractions extra. On Saturday, Oct 3, the Longhorns play Houston at Dell Diamond (gates 11am, first pitch noon), and Round Rock Market Days fills Prete Main Street Plaza from 9am to 4pm, free. And save the evening of Wednesday, Oct 7: Music on Main opens its fall season on Main Street, 7–9pm.
📰 Community News & Headlines
Good things happening around town this week:
The Old Settlers Boulevard extension is done — back in early September we told you the $23.4 million extension was waiting on a traffic switch. On Monday the city cut the ribbon on it: nearly a mile of four-lane divided road from North Red Bud Lane to CR 110, with twin bridges over McNutt Creek, a 10-foot shared-use path on one side, a sidewalk on the other, and a new signal and crosswalk at CR 110. Read more…
Free after-school clubs open at 10 RRISD elementaries — Boys & Girls Clubs of the Austin Area now run free programs until 6pm every school day for kids 5 and up, with homework help, tutoring, and enrichment. The 10 campuses: Anderson Mill, Berkman, Bluebonnet, Caldwell Heights, Callison, Joe Lee Johnson, Robertson, Union Hill, Voigt, and Wells Branch. A $9 million, five-year state grant pays for it, and the ribbon was cut Sep 16. Read more…
Know a great local business? Nominate it by Oct 9 — the Round Rock Chamber is taking nominations for its 59th annual Business Awards in nine categories, including Entrepreneur of the Year, Best Place to Work, Citizen of the Year, and Lifetime Achievement. You don't need to be a Chamber member to nominate, and self-nominations count. The deadline is midnight Friday, Oct 9, and winners are honored Jan 28, 2027, at Kalahari. Read more…
Round Rock's startup meetup is back Oct 14 — FIESTA Round Rock, a monthly gathering for founders, investors, and anyone building something, returns Wednesday, Oct 14, 4–6pm at CENTRO Event Space, 305 W Liberty Ave (second floor). The first one, on Sep 9, filled to capacity before the doors opened, so register ahead: entry is free, optional tickets run up to $15, and it's capped at 150. Read more…
Best of Round Rock nominations open Oct 1 — the community-voted awards for local favorites open for nominations Thursday, Oct 1, and Weekly Rock subscribers get in two days early, on Tuesday, Sep 29. Start your list now. 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.
1800 Brushy Bend Dr, Round Rock 78681
$1,080,000 · 3 bed · 2.5 bath · 2,619 sqft
The best line in this listing is about a canoe. The 1991 two-story sits on 1.02 acres overlooking Brushy Creek, and the pitch is that you can step out back and get on the water with a canoe or a paddleboard. It's in the Brushy Bend Park neighborhood along the Brushy Creek Regional Trail, between Brushy Creek Lake Park and the Twin Lakes YMCA. Inside, an open kitchen with an island and breakfast bar flows into the main living area, the primary suite is on the main level, and the flexible layout leaves room for an office or a rec room. The schools are Brushy Creek Elementary, Cedar Valley Middle, and Round Rock High. For a sense of the street, 1804 Brushy Bend sold for $995,000 in July.
Market note: 305 homes sold in Round Rock in August, down from 337 a year earlier, and the typical sale closed at about 98% of the asking price.
See the listing →
🪨 Poll of the Week
Palm Valley Blvd, and the 1894 Gothic Revival church on US 79 that shares the name, honor a pioneer family that settled east of town in 1853. Where did the Palms come from?
That's a wrap for this week. If you make it to the Paseo on Saturday, hit reply and tell us which artist's booth stopped you in your tracks — we're always looking for local makers to feature. See you next Wednesday! 👋
-Doing Round Rock Team
🪨 Trivia answer: Sweden! In 1853 a Swedish widow named Anna Palm settled east of what's now downtown with her six sons, then wrote home urging family and friends to follow. So many did that the area became known as Palm Valley. The Gothic Revival Palm Valley Lutheran Church on US 79 went up in 1894, and the house her son Andrew built in 1873 now sits downtown as the Palm House. Read more →
Doing Round Rock Quick Links
Advertise Your Business To Round Rock’s Most Valuable Audience
Want to get your business in front of Round Rock residents? Click here…
Submit An Event
Hosting something in or around Round Rock? Let us know here…
Leave Feedback
Got a suggestion or just want to say hi? We’d love to hear from you here…
