Bridget Dunlap's Parlor & Yard Takes Over Arro

Lounging and games, Sinatra-style.

Written by: Melanie Haupt of Austin Eater

February 9, 2016, 2:30pm

Arro closed last week, with ELM having sold off the space to downtown bar maven Bridget Dunlap. After the last drop of champagne was consumed and the doors closed on the casual-yet-chic French concept for good, Dunlap announced her plans for the new place, Parlor & Yard.

The hangout at 601 West 6th Street will become a "relaxed sports lounge," complete with board games, lawn dice, shuffleboard, and cornhole. With an anticipated late February opening, there will ostensibly be very few renovations to the space. While the emphasis will be primarily on lounging, Sinatra-style (presumably involving Old Fashioneds and other classic cocktails), into the wee hours, there will eventually be a snacks-and-brunch-focused menu.

Arro opened in the summer of 2013, arguably the most posh among the ELM Group’s restaurants, which include Easy Tiger, Italic, and 24 Diner. Before that, the space was occupied by the American-style gastropub Haddington’s, which had a tumultuous two-year run. With Arro in the rear-view mirror, ELM is setting its sights on the imminent opening of Irene’s and a second Easy Tiger location in Lincoln Village.

Dunlap, best known as the proprietor of Rainey Street bars like Lustre Pearl and Container Bar, has expanded into the restaurant space with mixed results. Her first restaurant, Mettle, shuttered this January after nearly three years in business; meanwhile, her pizza restaurant, Burn, thrives on East Sixth. Lustre Pearl was reborn as Lustre Pearl East and the impending new Rainey Street iteration.

Read the article: https://austin.eater.com/2016/2/9/10952756/bridget-dunlap-parlor-yard-arro-west-sixth