A Lush Sandwich Shop and Bar With Tableside Cocktails Are Opening Together in Downtown Austin
A new restaurant with sandwiches and salads and a speakeasy-styled bar are opening in downtown Austin this month. Sandwich shop Manny’s and cocktail bar Powder Room will open at 301 West Fifth Street starting on Monday, April 15.
Manny’s is meant to be a casual cafe with classic sandwiches such as BLTs, French Dips, banh mi, chicken salad, and Cubanos. The menu also has its own creations like the Crying Tiger, a baguette sandwich with roast beef, mint, Thai basil, tomatoes, toasted rice powder, and the namesake sauce (a spicy Thai-style condiment).
The cafe will also serve tartines (open-faced sandwiches). Then there are other dishes like bowls, salads, and smoothies. There will also be vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free items. Drinks will include booze and non-boozy options. The physical space is full of plants and greenery and art deco artwork, with indoor and outdoor areas.
And then, through a backdoor of Manny’s is the entrance for the Powder Room bar. The bar and lounge will serve classic and house drinks, and will implement a whole tableside cocktail service where people can order drinks made the way they want them. Leading the menu is head mixologist Drew Record, who had been at San Francisco bar Trick Dog. There will be snacks too, as well as live music and other performances in the space.
Manny’s and Powder Room’s general manager is Dawn Catagnus, who previously worked the same position at Austin Marriott Downtown hotel bar Zanzibar, Korean American restaurant Oseyo, and since-closed barbecue restaurant and bar Freedman’s. And the entire space was designed by design firm Petermaxco’s Peter Bowden.
Lobos Hospitality is behind Manny’s and Powder Room. The newer restaurant company opened its first business, Bouldin Creek diner Toasty Badger, on South Congress in January. Co-founders Grace Chow, Eric Kemp, and Jason Ellefson teamed up in Austin after working together in various combinations and places in Las Vegas and elsewhere.
Manny’s and Powder Room’s first week-ish of service is a limited service one with partial capacities through Wednesday, April 24. Both will fully open starting on Friday, April 26.
Manny’s hours are from 11 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday and then from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday through Saturday. Takeout orders can be placed in person or through third-party delivery services to be announced later; there are indoor and outdoor dine-in areas.
Powder Room’s hours are from 5 p.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday and Sunday, and then from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Reservations can be booked online; there are indoor dine-in services.
