Despite its pint-size population—eighty-seven full-timers by last count—and rural setting, Round Top, Texas, booms as treasure hunters flock to the thrice-annual Original Round Top Antiques Fair. During the multiday events, which began in 1968, vendors sprawl across venues all over town. “What’s so cool about Round Top are not only the pieces you buy but the people you chat with,” says regular attendee Kate Towill, the creative director of Basic Projects hospitality group in Charleston, South Carolina. “It’s this unbelievable network from around the globe that comes for the shows every year.” But Round Top, which sits roughly midway between Houston and Austin, has attracted enough fanfare that it’s drawing visitors between fairs—many shops are open year-round; a new film festival launched last November; buzzy openings abound; and Hotel Lulu, the luxe downtown lodging that books up months ahead, will this year unveil a sister property. Whether you’re planning to get boots on the ground for the spring show (March 27 through April 1) or hoping to shop in the offseason, these spots will help you make the most of this tiny town with a big draw.
The West Texas Country Music Jamboree at the hall.
The Early Bird Gets It
If you plan to visit during fair time, you’ll want to book your lodging far in advance. In and around town, options include a mix of boutique inns, private rentals, charming newcomers such as Red Antler Bungalows, and high-end RV parks like the Round Top Roll Up, which hosts live music at its on-site bar and restaurant. Wherever you wake up, you’re probably just a hop from a morning staple: Round Top Coffee Shop, where breakfast tacos arrive loaded with sausage, eggs, and a secret salsa that the late local entrepreneur Lee Merritt Ellis famously called “Mexican ketchup.”
The Branca Bungalow at Red Antler Bungalows.
First on the agenda during fair days: the twenty-six-acre complex of Blue Hills, which will be open this spring from March 22 through April 5. Among its picturesque pole barns loaded with a staggering range of wares, the must-stops include Old World Antieks for European treasures and Lolo French Antiques for the likes of outdoor bistro tables, glazed olive jars, and botanical art galore. The venue recently expanded and added a Party Barn for comparing hauls over cocktails.
Round Top Coffee Shop breakfast.
Just down the road, Market Hill, one of Round Top’s newest year-round venues, boasts some 225,000 square feet of goods from around the world: European lighting and mirrors from Susan Horn, say, or the incredible collection of rugs, café chairs, and rugged industrial furniture from the Durham, North Carolina–based Nomadic Trading Company.
A longhorn off Highway 237.
Midday Refuel
For serious shoppers with limited time, the staff at Red Antler Bungalows packs guests lunches of salads, sandwiches, cookies, and a split of Champagne. The boutique hotel, located on the edge of town, also recently introduced a new cabana gathering space overlooking a round (naturally) pool.
Generous plenty at Merritt Meat Company.
Other lunchers know to arrive early at Merritt Meat Company, serving from Friday to Sunday year-round. Its doors are open from 11:00 a.m. until sellout, and the slabs of ribs and pulled pork sandwiches go fast. (If it’s available, the savory brisket bánh mi with Thai peanut coleslaw is a good choice, too.) The team behind Houston’s cult-favorite TRUTH BBQ took over the space—formerly Round Top Smokehouse—after the prior owner, the aforementioned Lee Merritt Ellis, died in 2023. “We joke that we have the prettiest pit room in Texas,” co-owner Leonard Botello IV says, “because only Lee Ellis would put giant crystal chandeliers in a pit room.”
Bocce in Henkel Square.
Post-lunch, the idyllic Henkel Square invites shady shopping downtown beneath stately oaks. There, two notable outposts recently opened: the Aspen-based retailer Kemo Sabe, with its high-end hats, vintage buckles, and Western jewelry; and Sapana, where stacks of the company’s signature soft blanket coats, made from colorful vintage kantha quilts by artisans in Bangladesh and India, make visitors to the sunlit showroom feel as if they’re waltzing through a rainbow.
The colorful world of Sapana.
A quick walk north stands yet another year-rounder: The 550 Market hosts more than twenty retailers, among them Cathy Mace Frietsch’s Rockabilly Baroness, featuring couture Western wear and superlative vintage. She also creates clothing with Ricky Hodge and Stewart Colgate, who turn recycled rugs, blankets, and dead-stock fabrics into one-of-a-kind wearable art pieces, on sale at 550’s Chimayo.
Kemo Sabe.
That Evening Sun
As golden hour descends, you have your pick of happy hour spots—the Ellis Motel Emporium & Lounge, for instance, for spicy palomas, or Boon & Co., a popular food market and retail spot opened by Susanne Maida in 2023, with an eatery serving burgers and brick-oven pizzas, and outdoor seating around firepits when it’s chilly. Try the mandarin basil margarita or the classic espresso martini at the new cocktail lounge upstairs, Bar 17. “I want people to feel they’re in a special place where they want to stay and come back,” Maida says. “You’re not just going to a restaurant or a store—you come and hang out for a while.”
Hotel Lulu’s charming Il Cuculo bar.
For a town this small, Round Top’s nightlife scene is surprisingly multifaceted. Back at the 550 Market, patrons two-step at the historic Round Top Dance Hall or sip cocktails from the Mark, a speakeasy that’s one of the town’s best-kept secrets. On most weekends and throughout the fairs, a padded door gives way to a moody, peacock-blue lounge with antique chandeliers and a striking seventeenth-century architectural fragment gleaming over the bar. But it’s hard to beat a bourbon nightcap at Hotel Lulu’s velvet-draped and mural-adorned Il Cuculo bar, where the setting is as intimate and magical as this little town itself.
The Bluebonnet cocktail at Boon & Co.
