Punch Bowl Social signs lease for downtown Austin location

Punch Bowl Social is coming to downtown Austin with a new location in the historical Scarbrough Building.

The entertainment venue has signed a lease for 22,000 square feet of space at 522 Congress Ave. at the Sixth Street intersection. Punch Bowl Social will occupy spaces on the first floor and in the basement that were vacated by Brooks Brothers and Gold's Gym.

An outdoor patio along Congress Avenue is also planned at the site, which is expected to open this summer.

The downtown site will be Punch Bowl Social's second in Austin. It opened a venue in the Domain in 2014.

The Scarbrough location will include ping pong, darts, board games, classic video games, bowling and private karaoke rooms as well as a 360-degree bar.

Founded in Denver in 2012, Punch Bowl Social currently has 15 locations and plans to open nine new locations in cities including Milwaukee and Dallas this year. Most locations are in urban settings similar to the new downtown Austin location.

"Austin's energy is unlike anyplace else," said Punch Bowl founder and CEO Robert Thompson. "It's a cool, young, creative city where ideas are born - a great fit for our brand. We look forward to being a part of the downtown community."

The menu at the downtown location will feature made-from-scratch items such as chicken and waffles with chipotle syrup, fried bologna sandwiches, street tacos and shareable dishes such as pork rillettes and green chorizo fries.

Britt Morrison and Brett Maze of Weitzman were leasing agents for the Scarbrough Building's street-level retail space. Perren Gasc with DBA Commercial Real Estate LLC and Dan Nesson of Denver-based True North represented Punch Bowl Social.

“Punch Bowl Social is the kind of concept that likes an ‘urban vibe,’ which downtown Austin delivers better than any area I can think of," Maze said. "Downtown offers a walkable environment with incredible residential density, with the added benefit of a huge number of hotel rooms and year-round events, as well as a significant office population.”

While there will be many similarities in between the two Austin locations there will also be differences, Thompson said last year when Punch Bowl announced plans for a downtown site.

“I’d say the look will probably be the biggest difference,” he said. “Back when we opened at the Domain, that was only our third location and we just didn’t the budget then that we have now.”

The Art Deco-style Scarbrough Building was completed in 1910, and at the time - at eight stories - it was Austin's first skyscraper.