An Old Austin Honky-Tonk Is Coming Back to Life

Giddy Ups, the beloved South Austin honky-tonk that closed in 2024, is getting a second life less than two miles from its original home. The original location closed after new management took over the building Giddy Ups had been leasing. At the time, the bar said it was being forced out by "gentrification."

The new location is planned for 10509 Old Manchaca Road, with Roy Antognini, Carissa Bunker, and former general manager Anna Bosworth helping bring the bar back.

Antognini was a longtime friend of original owner Nancy Morgan, and the revival is being built around preserving what made Giddy Ups matter in the first place: the decor, the dive-bar feel, the live music, and the local community around it.

People remember where they played their first set, where they met friends, where they became regulars, where they felt like the city still had a little weirdness left in it.

And in a city changing as quickly as Austin, that kind of loyalty may be one of the most valuable assets a small business can have.