Rainey Street’s Bar 96 Is Closing

Bar 96, one of bar entrepreneur Bridget Dunlap’s Rainey Street establishments, is closing this weekend. Its last day will be on Sunday, July 9, commemorated with a party.

Reddit users rumormongered that Bar 96’s ample backyard space will be used by Dunlap’s other bar, the next door Lustre Pearl Rainey, and that Bar 96's building will become a new bar. Eater has reached out for more information; watch this space for updates.

Update, 9:54 a.m. Dunlap confirmed the shutter and that a new bar will take over Bar 96’s space, not run by Dunlap ATX. The new owners aren’t known yet.

Dunlap opened Bar 96 in 2010. Her group, Dunlap ATX, shuttered East Side sports bar Trackside (which used to be her first East Side project and restaurant Mettle, and then a Texas-Louisiana-inspired restaurant with Baton Creole’s Lynzy Moran). It also turned East 6th Street pizzeria Burn into an events space/restaurant/bar collaboration with creative agency Collide.

Also under Dunlap ATX’s umbrella is West 6th Street bar Parlor and Yard (which took over French restaurant Arro’s building). She still runs both versions of Lustre Pearl (on Rainey and in the East Side), Clive Bar (which includes that mezcal bar), Container Bar. Dunlap is also opening its first out-of-state bar with Lustre Pearl's expansion into Denver, Colorado.

Bar 96’s farewell festivities will include drinks, actual free tattoos, a dunk tank (with a potential Dunlap appearance), and games. It runs from 3 to 7 p.m. on Sunday, July 9.

This article has been updated to clarify that Dunlap ATX is not running the new bar that will take over Bar 96.

• Farewell Bar 96 (Closing Party) [Facebook]
• Bar 96 closing [Reddit]
• All Coverage of Bar 96 [EATX]