USA, TX: New brewery Stay Put opening in downtown Austin this year

A new brewery is opening in downtown Austin this year, courtesy of bar hospitality group Pouring With Heart. The Stay Put will be found at 73 Rainey Street (the former G’Raj Mahal restaurant space) starting sometime in the summer of 2022, the Eater Austin reported on March 23.

The brewery will brew its own beers, focusing on what a rep describes as “crisp and clean, easy drinkers.” Draft cocktails are also on tap. The space will include indoor and outdoor areas with two bars.

Overseeing the project is Pouring With Heart’s operations director Steven Robbins and general manager Amanda Carto, who had been the general manager for Nickel City, and had bartended at the company’s other nearby bar Half Step for a bit.

The company decided to open a brewery on Rainey Street since the area “has always had a special place in our heart because we have a deep love of maintaining the historic character of neighborhoods and spaces,” according to the head of development Peter Stanislaus through a rep. “It’s an honor to be in this space, and we’re excited to continue to preserve a little bit of what made us fall in love with Austin.”

Indian restaurant G’Raj Mahal was the Rainey Street address’s previous occupant. Owner Sidney Roberts turned her food truck of the same name into the restaurant in 2014. The downtown lease was up in January 2020, but she was able to continue to operate during the pandemic through July 2021.

Last year, Pouring With Heart reopened favorite neighborhood bar King Bee in April 2021, after its founders Billy and Colette Hankey sold the business just ahead of the pandemic. Other Austin bars under the bar hospitality company’s umbrella include expansions of its Los Angeles bars Seven Grand (whiskey), Las Perlas (mezcal), and Caña Rum Bar, as well as Half Step. Elsewhere, it has bars in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Denver.

Rainey Street’s been awash with developments and new constructions for some time, from high-rise buildings to renovations of existing bars. Two bars down the street from Stay Put closed in the latter half of last year, Craft Pride and Javelina, presumably to be replaced by a new residential building.

25 March, 2022