Crestview Cafe, Bar, and Ice Cream Shop Closes to Make Way for a Natural Wine Bar and Bottle Shop

Violet Crown Clubhouse — the combination cafe, wine and beer bar, arcade, and general family-friendly space — closed earlier this week. Its last day at 7100 Woodrow Avenue in the Crestview neighborhood was on Sunday, January 15.

Taking over the address will be a new natural wine bar and bottle shop tentatively titled Violet Crown Wine Bar & Bottle Shop according to city permitting filed on December 19, 2022. It’s expected to open in the spring of 2023, according to Violet Crown’s Instagram.

Violet Crown co-owners Mike Lavigne and Kelly Chappell announced the impending shutter in November 2022. They shared, at the time, that the new wine bar/shop will be run by an unnamed couple who live in the nearby Brentwood neighborhood and that one of them was raised in Austin. Permitting discloses that one of the owners is Chris Nagelhout, who is the co-owner of Smithville-based Crisp Farms.

Nagelhout confirmed his involvement and writes in email to Eater that the new business will also include a coffee shop.

For the impending Violet Crown Wine Bar & Bottle Shop, there are plans to redo the interior of the space, based on those permitting designs, created by Seattle-based firm Jeunesse Architects. The main dining room space will be opened up with way more seating, getting rid of a room and the arcade, plus a counter bar with seating will be installed.

Lavigne and Chappell shared on Instagram that they are also investing in this new business and “hope to be active participants in its success.”

Lavigne (who is also involved with Outer Heaven Disco Club and Lala’s Little Nugget) and Chappell opened Violet Crown Clubhouse (not to be confused with the Violet Crown Social Club on East Sixth) in 2019. The space functioned as a neighborhood spot full of coffee, beer, wine, ice cream, and arcade games, and it hosted a ton of events. Its final day of service was actually a silent disco party.

New wine bars-slash-bottle shops have been becoming more of a trend in Austin within the past year: Neighborhood Vintner in Westlake in June 2022, Golden Hour in South Austin in November 2022, and the forthcoming Underdog on South First.

Update, January 20, 5:35 p.m.: This article, originally published on January 19, has been updated to include confirmation and details from Nagelhout.