New Dog-Friendly Bar Opens in Central East Austin With Food From a José Andrés Alum

A new bar and lounge, Lucky’s, is heading to Central East Austin. Lucky’s is moving into 1050 East 11th Street, in the space that Italian restaurant Sagra vacated in 2016, is open now with limited hours, expanding to regular hours on Tuesday, January 31.

Lucky’s will serve small plates with a focus on what they describe as Mexican fusion fare. The menu includes casual dishes like a quesadilla with kimchi, a soba noodle bowl, and sweet chili wings. It will eventually add brunch. Executive chef Marissa Tuñon comes to Lucky’s from Chicago, where she worked at José Andrés restaurant Bazaar Meat and a sports bar called Passport.

The drinks menu includes is divided into cocktails (like a spicy margarita or an espresso martini with vodka or mezcal), frozen drinks (the Felix Felicis has vodka, triple sec, genepy, plum bitters, lemon, and lemon sugar), mocktails, and shots, including a nonalcoholic option. Beverage director Kevin Guerrero also comes from Chicago, where he worked at Indian tasting menu restaurant Wazwan, British pub Owen & Engine (which won the 2022 Eater Chicago Award for Comeback of the Year), and the Drake Hotel.

The name Lucky’s comes from managing partner/acting general manager Zach Womble’s late senior rescue dog. As such, the lounge will offer “dog-friendly programming,” according to a press release, when its patio opens in the spring (until then, the bar is not dog friendly). Lucky’s also plans to give back to local rescues.

The bar has a good luck charm theme, its logo is the maneki-neko (the lucky cat). Its first day of limited service started earlier this week on Tuesday, January 24.

Lucky’s will be open from 4 p.m. to midnight Sunday through Friday, and until 1 a.m. on Saturday.

Update, 1/26: This article has been updated to offer details about the menu and reflect that the bar is not currently dog-friendly.