Swamplot Archives by Tag: Bars and Clubs

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

And Another Wine Bar: Shady Grocery Going Crisp

July 6, 2011 – 2:43 pm

The owners of Pub Fiction and Shot Bar in Midtown plan to make over the former Shady Grocery at the corner of Bevis and 23rd St. in Shady Acres into Crisp Wine Bar and Eatery, which will also feature craft beers on tap, an “Italian-influenced” menu (including pizza and deli-style hoagies), a retail wine shop, and a separate entrance for customers who just want to order takeout. Also: a patio next to the kitchen’s new herb-and-vegetable garden that’ll be carved out of the asphalt. Guy-in-charge Al Scavelli tells Swamplot many of the details are still being worked out, but he hopes to open the place at 2220 Bevis up by next January.
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2:43 pm | 12 Comments | Read more about Neighborhoods: Shady Acres, Nightlife, Proposed Developments, Restaurants
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Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Hard Knocks: Octane Shuts Down in Garden Oaks

June 15, 2011 – 12:29 pm

Several readers have written in to report on the apparent demise of the Octane Coffee and Wine Lounge at the corner of 34th St. and North Shepherd. “As of Sunday,” says one correspondent, “the place was shut with a computer-generated ‘Sorry We’re Closed’ sign taped to the door, and a Pink’s employee next door said the owners had been carrying stuff out all day.” The morning and night spot opened almost exactly a year ago, one of the first tenants in the renovated but still-modern Garden Oaks strip center.

Photo: Candace Garcia

12:29 pm | 16 Comments | Read more about Neighborhoods: Garden Oaks, Nightlife, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Strip Centers
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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

The Top-Secret Downtown Location of Houston’s New Freetail Brewpub

May 17, 2011 – 1:06 pm
   

The Freetail Brewing Co.’s second-ever brewpub will go into 20,000 sq. ft. of “a historic building in downtown Houston,” the company announced today. What’s the address? “Out of respect to the developer, the exact location cannot be named at this time,” reads the press release. Respect! Oh, yeah, and a few details are still to be worked out, including some financing that’ll need to be complete within 90 days. The $4.2 million facility will span 3 floors of the mystery building and include a company store, plus restaurant and bar space. It appears the Houstonification of the San Antonio company has already begun: “Unlike Freetail’s original location, which is primarily one big room with a patio overlooking the Texas hill country, Freetail Houston will feature traditional restaurant seating, private dining space, and a “game room” with pool tables, shuffleboard, darts and numerous televisions.” We’re guessing that downtown building isn’t on a pad site by the freeway, though. [Beer, TX]

1:06 pm | 17 Comments | Read more about Neighborhoods: Downtown, Nightlife, Proposed Developments, Quicklink
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Friday, April 1, 2011

A Midtown Beer Bar Is Born

April 1, 2011 – 3:10 pm
   

Who’s the mama? “A craft beer bar will be coming to Midtown in roughly the same time it takes to conceive and gestate a baby. Except this baby’s father is one of the most esteemed bar owners in town. And the baby will have a diet primarily composed of small-batch craft beers. It’ll be taking up residence next to another beloved bar, right along the light rail, making this small section of Midtown suddenly infinitely more intriguing.” [Eating Our Words]

3:10 pm | Add a Comment | Read more about Neighborhoods: Midtown, Nightlife, Openings and Closings, Quicklink
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Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Washington Ave’s 360 Sports Lounge: The Oil-Trading Kickback Connection

March 15, 2011 – 3:01 pm

Last Friday, a former St. Anne’s Catholic School P.E. teacher named Jonathan Barnes pled guilty to 4 counts of federal charges in connection with a multimillion-dollar oil-trading kickback scheme. What does the Bellaire resident have to do with the 360 Sports Lounge on Washington Ave? The plea agreement he signed last week spells it out: His investment in the bar was a kickback itself, one of many gifts given to him by his 2 alleged co-conspirators, to thank him for overcharging his employer, Houston Refining (now a part of LyondellBasell) by as much as $82 million for shipping contracts he arranged with their companies.

Why might Barnes have figured that a new Washington Ave sports bar would be a good investment? Well, his stint at Enron in the early 1990s had given him a solid business background.

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3:01 pm | 4 Comments | Read more about Fraud, Neighborhoods: Washington Ave, Nightlife, Real Estate Investing
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Thursday, February 10, 2011

Comment of the Day: Unless, of Course, They Show Urban Cowboy Every Night at Midnight

February 10, 2011 – 10:29 pm
   

“In regard to Sundance Cinemas, that’s potentially great news, but honestly, I wonder if it won’t succumb to the same fate as its predecessor. Even if it manages to reel in the handful of film buffs gasping for air in this sprawling sea of easily titillated Transformers, it still has to deal with being in a somewhat awkward spot. I just don’t see the independent film crowd planning a night of avant-garde cinema and theme bar hopping. Yee-haw, Thaddeus! Ride that bull.” [kilray, commenting on Report: Sundance Cinemas Replacing Angelika Film Center at Bayou Place; Bar Smorgasbord Moving in Upstairs]

10:29 pm | 3 Comments | Read more about Comments, Neighborhoods: Downtown, Nightlife, Openings and Closings, Quicklink
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Report: Sundance Cinemas Replacing Angelika Film Center at Bayou Place; Bar Smorgasbord Moving in Upstairs

February 10, 2011 – 7:25 pm

The city of Houston and the Cordish Company are “deep into negotiations” with Sundance Cinemas to take over the former Angelika Theater spot at Bayou Place, Steven Thomson reports. Robert Redford’s Sundance Group has operated 2 Sundance Cinemas since 2007 — an 8-screen complex in San Francisco and a 6-screen multiplex in Madison, Wisconsin. If Sundance does end up taking over the vacant Angelika space at 510 Texas St. and maintains all existing screens, it would tie with the Sundance Kabuki Cinema near Pacific Heights as the largest complex in the small chain. The company appears to have scaled back the aggressive expansion plans it announced 4 years ago, which included new theaters in Chicago and Denver. The Angelika Film Center closed suddenly last summer.

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7:25 pm | 18 Comments | Read more about Attractions, Neighborhoods: Downtown, Nightlife, Openings and Closings, Restaurants
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Wednesday, February 9, 2011

What It Takes To Get Into the Vintage Lounge

February 9, 2011 – 2:48 pm
   

This week’s Houston Press exposé on velvet-rope racism includes several first-hand accounts of actual sightings of minorities inside the Rice Village’s Hudson Lounge — and this sweet little nugget of nightclub strategery from Amir Ansari, owner of the Vintage Lounge at 2108 Kipling (across the street from Petsmart): “‘A bar is like a prison, and we have to keep our population in check,‘ [Ansari] says. ‘We are outnumbered 100 to one — we have to prescreen. I’m not letting eight random guys come in in a group. They will usually start fights or bother the girls, which makes matters even worse.’ . . . Ansari has structured the dress code at Vintage to encourage long-term business, or so he hopes. Patrons sporting designer labels such as Dolce & Gabbana or Armani will move on to the next trendy bar soon enough, while more casually clad customers in button-up shirts and khakis are more loyal, he says. Beyond that, ‘We don’t allow graphic printed shirts. No Affliction stuff — nothing you would see on Jersey Shore,’ Ansari adds. ‘No baggy hip-hop stuff, but even that style is dying off.’” [Houston Press; previously on Swamplot]

2:48 pm | 29 Comments | Read more about Neighborhoods: Lanier Place, Nightlife, Quicklink
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Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Comment of the Day: How Kids Can Help Make Way for More Alcohol Sales in and Around the Heights

December 22, 2010 – 5:34 pm
   

“If HISD closes Hogg [Middle School] (it’s been identified as one of 66 struggling schools), that may open up some of the Studewood/ 11th area for liquor sales. How far do you need to be from a church to get an alcohol permit?” [Holster, commenting on The Rush to White Oak: Is the Corkscrew Next?]

5:34 pm | 7 Comments | Read more about Comments, Neighborhoods: Houston Heights, Nightlife, Quicklink, Schools
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Friday, December 17, 2010

Will Late Nite Pie Rise Again?

December 17, 2010 – 3:43 pm

Update, 12/22: Late Nite Pie has reopened!

It looks like there’s been another shut-down at Late Nite Pie in Midtown. As first noted by the Houston Press late yesterday, the entrance to the pizza joint has been boarded up, with a stern-sounding note warning off trespassers and indicating the locks have been changed. The person listed as a contact on the note (presumably from the property’s landlord) would not comment on the situation. It may be a bit early to count Late Night out, though: Bell’s restaurant was able to start up again after a similar shuttering last year. The restaurant moved to its current location at 302 Tuam (on the corner of Baldwin) in 2008.

Photo: Aaron Carpenter

3:43 pm | 16 Comments | Read more about Leasing, Neighborhoods: Midtown, Nightlife, Openings and Closings
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The Rush to White Oak: Is the Corkscrew Next?

December 17, 2010 – 1:45 pm

“You wouldn’t believe the amount of hate mail that I have received since I closed it,” owner Andrew Adams says about the Corkscrew, the wine bar he and his brother Doyle opened way back in 2006 — the early days of the new Washington Ave — but shut down last year. But Adams has been paying attention. He tells the HBJ‘s Allison Wollam he’s planning to reopen the Corkscrew in the Heights in February, as well as a second location elsewhere, which he plans to call Little Corkscrew. Where in the Heights? Adams won’t say, “because he’s still negotiating leases,” but he says he’s “considering” a building on White Oak.

If the Corkscrew does make the move to White Oak, it’ll be joining several new restaurant neighbors: Christian’s Tailgate, Tacos A Go-Go, and D’Amico’s Italian Market Cafe.

The Adams brothers recently gave up on the Corkscrew’s successor, an organic-style cocktail bar they eventually called Sugarcane, after all of 5 months. They’ll be leasing out their space at 1919 Washington to club owners who plan to open a “trendy, upscale bar, complete with bottle service,” he tells Wollam:

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1:45 pm | 12 Comments | Read more about Neighborhoods: Houston Heights, Neighborhoods: Washington Ave, Nightlife, Openings and Closings
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Thursday, December 2, 2010

Successor to Scott Gertner’s Skybar Coming to Houston Pavilions

December 2, 2010 – 1:45 pm

Skybar owner Scott Gertner has found a new space for his jazz club. It’ll be on the 3rd floor of Houston Pavilions — one block west of the House of Blues and Lucky Strike, and directly across the open-air mall from “swing space” originally planned for retail but now being leased as office space by an energy company. Scott Gertner’s Skybar, on the 10th floor of the office building at 3400 Montrose, closed over the summer, after Gertner tired of dealing with building maintenance issues left unaddressed by a new owner.

Houston Pavilions’ 3rd floor is pretty high up there, but Gertner says the new venue will drop the SkyBar name for the multi-level space (it’ll just be called Scott Gertner’s). At 13,000 sq. ft. (and a capacity of 700), it’ll be slightly larger than the old club too. He tells Chronicle reporter Joey Guerra the new interior, designed by Uptown Sushi architect Isaac Preminger, will feature 3 outdoor patios, an “arena-style” stage, and a full kitchen. Directly downstairs from the club, at the corner of Dallas and Fannin: BCBGMaxAzria and McCormick & Schmick’s, shown above.

Photo: Flickr user sabotai

1:45 pm | 6 Comments | Read more about Leasing, Neighborhoods: Downtown, Nightlife, Openings and Closings
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Friday, November 19, 2010

“Thanks for the Mammaries”: Chances Bar Closing, Restaurant Moving In

November 19, 2010 – 3:14 pm

A “high-end” restaurant, led by a yet-to-be-identified “superstar chef,” will be taking over the space known for the last 16 years as Chances Bar, an owner of the property tells Houston Press reporter Craig Hlavaty. “It’s going to blow Montrose out,” Nick Vastakis tells him. “It’s going to be great.” Chances will shut down for good after a goodbye party on Saturday. Vastakis says his family, which has owned the property since the 1970s, will be getting out of the lesbian-bar management business and into property development.

What prompted the change? One of those spear-more-times-with-my-family moments, he tells Hlavaty:

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3:14 pm | 14 Comments | Read more about Montrose, Nightlife, Openings and Closings, Restaurants
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Friday, November 12, 2010

The Next Neighbor in Line for 2520 Robinhood Won’t Mind Getting Wet

November 12, 2010 – 2:23 pm
   

Hudson Lounge owner Adam Kleibert is hoping his new bar directly to the east of the 2520 Robinhood at Kirby condo tower will get better treatment from his neighbors than the drenching and projectile greetings Hans’ Bier Haus directly to the west received last year. And he tells the HBJ‘s Allison Wollam that he and his brothers have some plans for the rest of the property they own directly adjacent to the tower. Once the lending market turns around, he says, they’d like to build a 33-room boutique hotel with a rooftop pool on the site. Kleibert says the Hudson Lounge is already planning a reception expressly for condo residents. [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Candace Garcia

2:23 pm | 7 Comments | Read more about Neighborhood Disputes, Neighborhoods: Rice Village, Nightlife, Proposed Developments, Quicklink
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Thursday, November 4, 2010

“We Got Hosed”: Gallant Knight Closing Again, at the End of the Year

November 4, 2010 – 12:36 pm

“It was an unfortunate leasing issue and nothing else,” say the owners of the Gallant Knight. And so the bar will be closing December 31st “at least for now.” Will there be an everyone-out-before-midnight New Year’s Eve party? The landlord of the bar’s new location at 2511 Bissonnet just east of Kirby didn’t renew the lease, an email from the bar explains: “We have just 60 days to empty our liquor cabinet.” An investor group led by Cushman & Wakefield director Stephen Schneidau bought the name and contents of the 34-year-old neighborhood bar at the corner of Holcombe and Morningside shortly after it closed in 2006, then reopened on Bissonnet almost a year and a half ago. Now sitting on the site of the bar’s original location at 2337 W. Holcombe: a branch of Comerica Bank.

Photo: Eating Our Words

12:36 pm | 3 Comments | Read more about Neighborhoods: University Place, Nightlife, Openings and Closings
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