Yet Another Closure
Downtown Austin wine bar abruptly stops pouring
Another downtown establishment is permanently closing its doors. The Red Room Lounge, a basement wine bar on East Third Street known for its eclectic wine list and NYC feel, shut down on Tuesday, July 18.
The Red Room was founded during SXSW 2012 by Alex Andrawes, chairman and founder of Personal Wine, when a group of his friends realized that the personalized wine company's conference room would make for a cool tasting room and bar.
The lounge is closing to make more room for Andrawes' booming Personal Wine business.
"I founded Personal Wine in 2000, and we've been growing like crazy, acquiring more and more space each year. Personal Wine continues to grow by double digits and, simply put, we need more space for Personal Wine operations," Andrawes says in a release. "The decision needed to be made to either leave the [current] location entirely or allow Personal Wine to naturally acquire the space occupied by the Red Room, and today is the day."
In addition to a wine bar, Red Room was an active SXSW venue, hosting big acts like Snoop Dogg, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Smashing Pumpkins. Andrawes says he will keep hosting public events in the space, as well as operating Personal Wine.
Those storing personal wine collections in the private lockers at Red Room can continue to do so via Personal Wine. As a token of appreciation, Personal Wine is offering 50 percent off the retail price on the entire Red Room inventory through July 31.
"The most important people who have been to the Red Room are the first dates, the wedding anniversaries, the reunions, the rehearsal dinners, the winemakers, and ... each and every one of you who simply decided that our spot was your No. 1 choice for the evening," Andrawes says. "Thank you so much for allowing us to serve you."