bottoms up

Groundbreaking: Dunlap's Container Bar on the way

Bridget Dunlap and her team ready to cut the ribbon.
Photo by Jessica Pages
With golden shovels they break ground for Container Bar.
Photo by Jessica Pages
Plans for the new Container Bar.
Photo by Jessica Pages
Architects and designers talk over the plans at Clive Bar.
Photo by Jessica Pages

A small group of supporters and investors gathered across the street from Clive bar to celebrate the start of Container Bar, almost 3 years after the idea was hatched. Owner Bridget Dunlap hopes to start construction by Labor day, and hopes to celebrate the opening New Years Eve. That'll be a party. Only a few city building permits stand in the way. They hope to have those within a month.

Oh to have been there when they began construction on the Colosseum! Or to have seen the Eiffel Tower erected! There are just some structures you wish you could have seen from the beginning. The newest bar of Bridget Dunlap, owner of Bar 96, Lustre Pearl and Clive in the Rainey Street Historic District, will be a history maker.

The Container Bar will be a first for Austin — several shipping containers, 8' x 8' x 40' will be transformed with new flooring, windows and lots of stylish design elements — and they’ll be stacked and positioned to create a large courtyard in the middle, perfect for laughing over beers and cocktails with friends. Full-service bars, outdoor and indoor seating, eco-friendly LED lighting, a dramatic 30-foot entry, a retractable canopy and a big screen HD video projection system are just a few of the neat things this new Austin hang-out spot will sport.

We don’t mean to be too flattering, but we’re pretty sure this is gonna be awesome. The ground-breaking ceremony was held at 90 Rainey Street by Bridget Dunlap — ceremonial shovel in hand — and a few of her key team members, and immediately afterwards a celebration at Clive Bar (not made of containers, but still pretty nice) complete with complimentary drinks.

You can read more about the Container Bar and how rockstar owner Bridget Dunlap works her magic, in our piece "Bar-owning and life tips from Rainey Street bad-ass Bridget Dunlap."

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NYT loves AUS

Homey Austin bakery Comadre makes New York Times Best Bakeries list

Comadre Panadería/Instagram

Comadre Panadería is known for nostalgic Mexican bakes with feminine flair.

The New York Times has once again shined its spotlight on Austin’s culinary scene. It included Comadre Panadería, an Austin bakery focusing on Mexican treats, on its new list of the 22 of the Best Bakeries Across the U.S. Right Now.

Interim food critic Priya Krishna praises pastry chef Mariela Camacho’s pastries that include conchas and her signature pink cake. “Despite their saccharine appearances, not one of the desserts is overly cloying, and even the coffee drinks (Texas pecan horchata! Cranberry vanilla agua fresca!) strike the playful tone of the pastries,” she writes.

Comadre Panadería has been widely recognized, including by this publication; she won Pastry Chef of the Year in the 2023 CultureMap Austin Tastemaker Awards. She also earned a 2024 James Beard Award semifinalist nomination for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker.

Camacho and Comadre as a whole are both invested in using baked goods to make a more equitable world, from the bakery's early days as a fundraiser for disaster relief, to a current insistence on charging enough to support ethical and organic foods, and paying staff enough to keep up with rising costs in Austin.

Mariela Camacho of Comadre Panaderia in Austin Mariela Camacho, Comadre Panaderia. Courtesy photo

The Times also recognized Houston's Koffeteria. Krishna hails the bakery for pastry chef-owner Vanarin Kuch’s creative fare that includes dishes such as beef pho kolaches, Chinese sausage breakfast tacos, and butter mochi.

“Some of Mr. Kuch’s offerings are rooted in his Cambodian American identity — he makes cornbread with the coconutty, scallion-forward flavors of Cambodian street corn — while others are odes to Houston’s multicultural makeup. But most of the fun of Koffeteria is having no idea what Mr. Kuch will do next, and eagerly awaiting his next innovation,” Krishna writes.

Open since 2019, Koffeteria has been riding high this year. It earned a James Beard Award semifinalist nomination for Outstanding Bakery and a CultureMap Houston Tastemaker Award for Pastry Chef of the Year.

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Comadre Panadería and Koffeteria are the only Texas establishments to make the Times’ list. Only California and New York City, which each have three representatives, earn more recognition.

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