Nickel City Bar Manager Is Opening a New Bar Exuding Vacation Vibes

Now-former Nickel City bar manager JR Mocanu is turning the old Chicon space into a new bar and restaurant. Last Straw will open on 1914 East 6th Street sometime in the summer.

Last Straw will have what should be an impressive cocktail program, given Mocanu’s involvement. There will be classic and house drinks, including the frozen C.R.E.A.M. made with whiskey, hoodoo chicory, pecan, pistachio, espresso, and ice cream. Plus there will be boilermakers.

An everything-type food menu will support the cocktail list, spanning fried rice to dumplings to nachos to hamburgers to vegetarian dishes. The bar/restaurant will be open until 2 a.m. every night.

The physical bar and restaurant is meant to exude vacation vibes, from the tropical design aesthetic to silk plants to “dads on vacation.” The space will feature indoor booths and tables, as well as an outdoor patio. Helping Mocanu are co-creative directors, Last Straw partners, illustrators, and artists Will Bryant and Cody Haltom.

Before Last Straw, Mocanu was the founding bar manager of neighborhood spot Nickel City and the beverage director of now-closed Vox Table.

Last Straw’s predecessor Chicon closed last month by the Edgewise group, consisting of Contigo’s Andrew Wiseheart and Ben Edgerton. Before Chicon, the address was home to their Scandinavian-inspired/vegetable-centric restaurant Gardner.

• Last Straw [Official]
• Last Straw [Facebook]
• Last Straw [Instagram]