While it’s possible you’ve never tasted an Anvil cocktail you didn’t like, there’s no denying that those tasty intoxicants don’t come cheap. That might be why the Clumsy Butcher – this is the curious name for the ownership group behind Anvil, The Hay Merchant, Underbelly and Blacksmith – is taking a slightly different direction with its upcoming projects, which promise to affordably live up to this city’s love of tequila and The Duke.
The first is tequila and mezcal bar The Pastry War (310 Main), named for the 1838 Mexican invasion by French forces. It will be an “affordable celebration of Mexican culture and beverages” with Mexican longnecks and tequila- and mezcal-based drinks instead of craft cocktails. It will be lead by former Anvil bar manager Alba Huerta (shown at above) and Anvil co-owner Bobby Heugel.
“I’ve wanted to open a tequila bar since I was 20 years old,” Heugel said in an open letter earlier this year. “Since that time, and countless pilgrimages to Mexico later, I’ve learned more about agave spirits than the total amount I’ve learned about all other spirits and cocktails combined.”
The other is the “beer and wine bar meets gun range” Trigger Happy (308 Main). The theme here, however, isn’t as specific. Although it already boasts a Dos-Equis-Man-like Duke as its spokesperson, Clumsy Butcher’s description is vague, but they do promise that it will deliver “cool shit we like to drink.” It will debut with 50 to 60 wines and 20 draft beers that will likely be lesser-known but representative of the group’s experienced palates.
Both bars will be located next to recently opened establishments Goro & Gun, Capt. Foxheart’s Bad News Bar & Lodge and Batanga. That recent downtown revitalization has already seen its fair share of fans and skeptics alike, but both sides can agree that this block of Main Street is in the midst of a rapid redevelopment.
Apart from lobbying for legislative change to improve the city’s notoriously challenging parking and increase Houston’s walkability score, Clumsy Butcher and the aforementioned bars and restaurants are also (perhaps strategically) setting up shop within close proximity of each other, making it easier for customers to hop from one spot to another, sans car. The trick will be to appeal to a crowd beyond the nocturnal downtown residents who currently frequent those spots and attract those who are still downtown-averse … but that’s another story. (And one that might reference the aforementioned parking bugaboos.)
While those upcoming bars are still months away from opening their doors, you’ll be able to sample another upcoming Clumsy Butcher project at this year’s Free Press Summer Fest. Forthcoming Lower Washington bar Julep, also lead by Heugel and Huerta, will be offering concert-goers a first taste of their bourbon juleps inside the same Fancy Pants tent that Anvil is set to occupy. Anvil poured cocktails at last year’s FPSF, and will do so again this year along with a small food menu. Call it cheating, but the group is already luring in the talent with their offerings: They’ve promised Iggy Pop free drinks if he stops in.