Turnstile Bar and Restaurant has changed hands. The team behind Hold Out Brewing has taken over ownership of the bar at 10025 Burnet Road.
Mark Stowe, partner at Hold Out Brewing, told What Now Austin that the transition felt natural. Turnstile and Hold Out both opened in late spring 2020 amid the COVID-19 shutdown. During the pandemic, Stowe was a regular patron at Turnstile and befriended the team there.
“When they were allowed to have people on site, that was one of my escapes in my bubble zone as someone who lived nearby and as someone who immediately identified that the people there are good people doing good things,” Stowe said.
When Mark Harris, the former owner of Turnstile, reached out to Hold Out and shared he was looking to transition out of ownership in the business, Stowe felt it was a good fit for Hold Out. The two companies overlapped in both brand culture and hospitality values.
Harris plans to stay on as operating manager. Much of the front-of-house staff has also stayed on through the ownership change.
Some changes are already underway, including an increase in presence for Hold Out Brewing on the beer list. They are also expanding the hours of operation for the kitchen, adding some more made-to-order breakfast items and adding weekend breakfast service.
“The long-term goals are to keep making great beer and great food to pair with it,” Stowe said. “The addition of Turnstile helps us get it in front of more Austinites in a different part of town.”
Community Impact also reported plans for some aesthetic changes during the summer.
For Stowe, the transition marks less of a change and more of an evolution for the Turnstile brand.
“We want to carry forward the culture they’ve spent the last six years building,” Stowe said. “There will be changes of course, but ultimately it’s an evolution of what Turnstile has been.”
