Adult Playground Punch Bowl Social Is Coming to Downtown Austin

Punch Bowl Social, the Denver-based overloaded entertainment restaurant chain, is expanding into downtown Austin. Founder and CEO Robert Thompson signed a letter of intent for the location to be found within the Scarbrough Building at 522 Congress Avenue at 6th Street.

This Punch Bowl will include bowling alleys, karaoke rooms, arcade and table games, much like the other locations. The space will include a patio right on Congress Avenue. It’s expected to open sometime in February 2019.

James Beard Award-winning chef, restaurateur, author, and Top Chef judge Hugh Acheson is Punch Bowl’s culinary partner. The downtown location will spearhead another new menu change that is more Texas- and Tex-Mex related. “We really feel like Tex-Mex and Mexican food is really becoming part of the entire nation’s culinary landscape,” Thompson told Eater. “Mexican is part of what is Americana.”

Thompson liked the new downtown Austin location because of the building’s historical value, the Chicago-style architecture and Art Deco details, and its prime location in the heart of Austin.

This will become Austin’s second Punch Bowl Social, with the first up on the Domain, which opened in August 2014. A rep for Punch Bowl Social also teased some changes for the Domain location, but wouldn’t reveal any further details.

The first Punch Bowl Social opened in Denver in 2012, followed by 12 locations across the country, and several more coming soon, including one in Dallas.

Similarly, Austin-based fancy bowling alley and bar The Goodnight is still working on its West 6th Street expansion. Then there’s the Austin location of ping-pong bar Spin, set to open on 213 West 5th Street sometime in late spring.

• All Coverage of Punch Bowl Social [EATX]