Bartlett’s second location will be at 301 W. Riverside Drive, according to a recently submitted Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) filing. That site was the 22-year home of Threadgill’s and, prior to that the Armadillo World Headquarters, a historic live music venue in the heart of Austin.
Started by Kenneth Threadgill as a Gulf filling station and beer joint in 1933, the original Threadgill’s opened at 6416 N. Lamar Blvd. near the University of Texas at Austin. Janis Joplin, who attended UT in the 1960s, performed at the tavern to hone her craft.
Threadgill’s opened its second location in 1996 as a Southern-style restaurant in south Austin on Riverside Drive near the old Armadillo Headquarters. In March 2020, Threadgill’s owners Eddie and Sandra Wilson closed both locations due to rising operational costs and unsustainable COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
In February, Austin-based MML Hospitality first announced on social media that Bartlett’s would be opening its second restaurant in the beloved space. MML Hospitality confirmed it will oversee both service and culinary-related operations as the 9,000-square-foot building will undergo a major transformation.
“We’ve long admired Bartlett’s and its legacy, and we’re proud to help write its next chapter in one of Austin’s most storied restaurant spaces,” MML Hospitality said in the February post.
Late Bartlett’s owner Tim Bartlett operated the original North Austin space as Houston’s from 1986 to 2009 before changing the restaurant’s name to Bartlett’s in 2010. Bartlett’s is an upscale, neighborhood steakhouse best known for its prime steaks, pork chops, cocktails and signature spinach-artichoke dip.
Bartlett’s new TDLR reveals that the space will receive a 9,500-square-foot interior renovation to its existing building and transform into a restaurant on a 19,650-square-foot property, per its scope of work. Exterior work on the property includes landscaping and re-striping the parking lot, which appears to coincide with MML Hospitality’s initial plans to create more green space, outdoor seating and “signature booths” incorporated into project designs.
Construction on the new Bartlett’s is expected to begin January 1, 2027 and is slated to be completed eight months later by September 30, 2027. MySA reached out to MML Hospitality and Bartlett’s for comment.
Dining and Cooking