East Sixth Dive Bar The Brixton Closed to Make Way for a New Lounge

East Sixth dive bar The Brixton has been closed since March, and the 1412 East Sixth Street space is being turned into a new bar from the team behind neighboring bar Shangri-La. The Low Down Lounge is aiming to open sometime next week, during the beginning of June.

Low Down’s ownership team includes Tyler and Emily Brooke Van Aken (co-owners of East Austin bars Shangri-La, The Liberty, and The Grackle), Josh Mongoven (Shangri-La’s manager), Johnny Stovall (Shangri-La’s assistant general manager), and Allen Demling.

“Our goal is to make good and reasonably priced drinks in a fun environment,” described Mongoven. The bar has a whole vintage 1970s aesthetic, with retro fonts and vibrant colors.

Low Down is waiting until tentatively next week to open “as long as it’s safe,” said Mongoven, which, to them, means that the number of COVID-19-related hospitalizations in the city would decrease.

Brixton co-founders Tim and Sarah Lupa sold their share of the bar to fellow co-founders Van Akens in March, after which the bar closed. The group opened Brixton in 2009 and was featured on an episode of Bar Rescue, the reality television series which seeks to revamp bars, in 2012.

The Lupas still run East Cesar Chavez bar Drinks Lounge and South Congress coffee shop and bar Velouria (both of which are still temporarily closed for service, as is Shangri-La for now).

• The Low Down Lounge [Facebook]
• The Low Down Lounge [Instagram]
• All Coverage of The Brixton [EATX]