AUSTIN, Texas — A bar in East Austin is using relics of "Old Austin" to make something new.
Sign Bar Austin, located at 9909 Farm to Market 969, Building 3, opened this past weekend. It features dozens of signs from Austin businesses of the past and present and describes itself as a "brand-new, completely immersive bar experience."
"What started as a passion project of collecting deserted yet legendary bar and restaurant signs evolved into a desire to preserve the history of an Austin forgotten," the bar's website reads.
On Wednesday, KVUE toured the grounds of the bar, which was once an auto repair shop.
"It was desolate and broken down – cars as far as you could see behind us. So the first thing we did was kind of frame the property out with the container boxes, make it feel a little more intimate and closed in a little bit," co-founder Max Moreland said.
He, along with co-founder Matt Luckie and friend Douglas Kuehn III, collected signs over the years that would otherwise either be left in storage, lost or destroyed and brought them back to life in East Austin.
"We've offered a place where they can live in infamy. And so, it's been really cool to see people come in, take a walk around and take that trip down memory lane of an Austin that's been lost," Moreland said.
PHOTOS: Austin's Sign Bar
Moreland and Luckie said the point of the bar is for people to come in and get a jolt of nostalgia from places that have either been closed down for good or have been moved to different spots.
"You could tell for a lot, they've kind of forgot about some of these places and it's this thing that clicks of like, 'Oh my God, I have these wonderful memories in there.' And the nostalgia of what those places used to be," Moreland said.
Both Moreland and Luckie have their own memories from the locations, but explained this journey is not about them.
"A lot of people have a lot of stories and connections on all of the signs, so it's great," Luckie said.
The bar also has stands with pictures and a QR code located next to each of the signs for anyone who wants to know the history behind them.
Sign Bar is a property of FBR Management, the team behind Lala's Little Nugget, Mean Eyed Cat, Lavaca Street Bar and several others.
So far, the bar has been met with both positive and cautious response from Austinites. One commenter on a Reddit post about Sign Bar said that it is "the real deal" and a "passion project, totally unique and original and just what Austin needed in a way that bridges old and new Austin." Meanwhile, another commenter said, "I wouldn't be able to hang out without feeling sad ... It's a boneyard."
Sign Bar's property includes a patio, a maze, a viewing deck and more, and the bar says it serves "delicious and visually stunning drinks." There is also a taco truck on-site.
Below is an inventory of all of the signs at the bar:
Sign Bar Austin is open 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday through Sunday. The patio is dog-friendly, and the bar is kid-friendly until 7 p.m.
Sign Bar is also hiring bartenders, barbacks and door staff.
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