New Austin bar pays homage to iconic businesses from city's past

AUSTIN, Texas - A new bar in East Austin is getting a lot of attention for the way it’s paying homage to some iconic businesses from Austin’s past. The recently-opened Sign Bar is lighting up the sky in neon, and keeping old memories alive. 

"I think everyone who comes in, you know, it's immediately this kind of sense of wonder," said Sign Bar co-owner Max Moreland.

Many historic Austin bars have unfortunately closed their doors in recent years, but their iconic signs are shining once again at Sign Bar in East Austin. 

"They're the fabric of our culture, the fabric of our town. So having them live on here is really important," said Moreland.

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The idea started about a decade ago when Moreland and co-owner Matt Luckie started collecting neon signs from old stores, restaurants and bars, and keeping them in a warehouse. 

"Some people contributed. Some people came to us. We had to buy some," said Luckie. "It was always going to be a bar with all the signs and somebody didn't really believe it for a while. They just thought I was a hoarder."

Construction began last year, with some signs being brought in by crane. Others were broken and needed to be fixed. All of them, strategically placed. 

"From Nutty Brown Cafe to the Frisco, a lot of these really tell the story of the history of Austin," said Moreland. 

"It’s not just things that have gone out of business. Some are still open. They just lost one location and a lot of times they don't know what to do with the sign. And so we're there to pick them up," said Luckie.

Newcomers to Austin can learn about the old bars by scanning QR codes while old timers can just reminisce. 

"Coming in and seeing the stories and going, ‘I used to hang out there, or I used to work there’ or ‘had my first beer there’ or ‘me and my wife went on our first date there’. So we're getting a lot of those stories, which is really fun for us," said Moreland.

Right now there are about 80 signs, mostly originals, some replicas, with more to come.

Sign bar is open seven days a week. They are family friendly during the afternoons for more information, visit their website or Instagram page.