Bottles with Spirit
New East Austin bottle shop dresses up the spirit-shopping experience
Goodnight Cowboy is officially open in East Austin.
Goodnight Cowboy, a suave new bottle shop and "parlour" with dim lighting and some western touches, is Austin's latest passion project by local marketers. Following a soft opening in April, the bottle shop at 3120 Manor Rd. is celebrating its grand opening today, May 21, from 5-9 pm.
The grand opening event will offer tastings, a live DJ set, and flash tattoos. While in the shop, guests can browse a collection of small-batch Texas bourbon, family-owned natural wines, local craft beers, and even THC drinks.
Adam Rios and Zach Hill were part of the team that in 2023 introduced the Las Vegas Sphere, the domed concert venue that surrounds its audience with graphics and can take on any look from the outside, too. According to a press release, after the project was over, Rios and Zach weren't thrilled about giving up their remote set-up to work in the company's California office. Instead, they decided to stay home in Austin and start their own project.
“We’d worked together for years and knew we made a great team,” said Hill in the release. “So when we started thinking about what we wanted to create, it came down to this: what if a liquor store didn’t feel like a liquor store?”
Goodnight Cowboy is named after the famous 19th century Texas Ranger Charles Goodnight. Goodnight first came to prominence fighting against the Comanche, then serving with the Frontier Regiment under the Confederacy during the Civil War, and finally driving cattle along what would come to be the Goodnight-Loving Trail. Goodnight and his friend Oliver Loving were inspiration for the iconic novel Lonesome Dove.
Rios and Hill approached the project through a business lens, searching for industries that could be resilient through a recession and then finding a spot in a community without a liquor store within a mile radius. They then focused on the feeling of the store, designing something that felt curated, and planning to host a range of events: tastings, pop-ups, creative workshops, poker nights, and more.
“We wanted to build something that felt the opposite of what most liquor stores feel like,” said Rios. “Not sterile. Not sketchy. But a space that’s inviting, curated, and fun – a place that brings people together.”
The Homunculi lights the way with a frothy top layer.Photo by Brianna Caleri