Influential Texas Architect Dick Clark's Austin Restaurants

Longtime influential Austin architect Dick Clark died this week at the age of 72. He left behind a legacy of impactful modern design that defined the city’s building aesthetic, which included restaurants. As sister site Curbed Austin wrote:

Clark and his firm also brought his unique form of contemporary architecture, sometimes rustically inflected with the local and regional vernacular, to numerous city residences

Clark studied at the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, followed by Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. He opened Dick Clark Architecture (later renamed Dick Clark and Associates) in 1979 in Austin where he and his team worked on creating award-winning residential and commercial projects.

Clark received the first-ever Downtown Impact Award from the Downtown Austin Alliance in 1999 for designing projects in the area, including fine dining restaurant Mezzaluna (which closed in 2005). He was also awarded with the AIA Austin Firm Achievement in 2009.

With that, here’s a look through Clark’s notable Austin restaurant work, like the purple-hued renovated bungalow Nightcap, Texas-through-and-through decor of Lonesome Dove; West Sixth bars and restaurants like Star Bar, Key Bar, and sushi restaurant Maiko; East Side brewery Zilker Brewing Company; Rainey Street bar The Blackheart; South First gelato shop Dolce Neve; and restaurants no longer open in the city, such as Kenichi, Fork & Vine, Fino; among others.

Star Bar/Facebook

Paul Bardagjy

Paul Bardagjy

Paul Bardagjy

Key Bar/Facebook

Zilker Brewing Company/Facebook

Dick Clark and Associates/Facebook

Dick Clark and Associates/Facebook

Flyrite Chicken/Facebook

Fork and Vine/Facebook

The Blackheart/Facebook

Shannon Kintner

Halcyon/Facebook