Old Bar New Tenants
The oldest bar in Austin is looking for something new

Scholz Garten, the oldest bar in Austin — and the second oldest bar in Texas — is looking for a new tenant to take over the property which includes, in part, a restaurant, beer garden, bowling alley and dance hall.
"We're just looking for someone to come in and take that history and run with it," explains Reagan Roland, development director of Austin Saengerrunde, the German heritage club that owns the property. The new lease, which begins in 2016, would require the new tenants to maintain the Scholz name, but would allow them freedom to create a new and improved bar and restaurant.
The folks at Austin Saengerrunde are taking an unusual approach to finding the new tenants. "[We're] not working with a broker, just doing it ourselves," Roland says of the unusual opportunity. After interested parties submit proposals, Roland plans to sit down with potential partners to get a better sense of their ideas. "We're allowing people to be creative," she explains. "We're meeting with these individuals and saying, 'This is who we are, and who are you?'"
With the University of Texas' new medical school under construction next door, this could be a new era for Scholz, which will celebrate its 150th anniversary next year. "People are really attached to Scholz," says Roland, who notes that with the right tenants, the prime locale could become a destination spot for Austin's ever-growing foodie crowd.
The deadline for proposals is March 1 and should be submitted directly to Roland at reagan@saengerrunde.org.