The 16th season of MTV The real world took place in Austin and y’all, it was chaotic! It was filmed in a very underdeveloped downtown Austin. The cast lived in a converted warehouse at 301 San Jacinto Boulevard.
What happened to the real Austin House
After filming was completed, the warehouse was converted into a restaurant called Rio Grande. The restaurant took advantage of the filming location by keeping some of the neon signs from the series, including Big Texand the swimming pool, which would be better described as a paddling pool. They also held the Austin sign on the roof of the building. Years later it stood on a building on South Congress, but we are not sure where the sign is now.
In 2010, Vince Young Steakhouse took over the space, completely renovating it and removing any references to the MTV series. Now, The steakhouse has announced it will be closing. A statement on the website reads: “After 15 memorable years of serving the Austin community, Vince Young Steakhouse will close its doors on January 24, 2026, marking the end of a chapter that helped define downtown dining for more than a decade.”
So now the fate of the former The Real World Austin The house is up in the air – although it doesn’t currently look the same as it did when the series aired in 2005. But then again, neither does the rest of Austin.
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