A New York City Bar With ’70s Retro-Meets-Australian Vibes Opens in Austin

New York City bar and restaurant the Flower Shop is expanding with its first out-of-state location in Austin this month. The Flower Shop Austin will open at 1300 East Seventh Street in the Central East Austin area — within the former Wilder Wood restaurant building — starting on Thursday, October 10.

The Austin edition of Flower Shop is similar to its New York sibling. The cocktail bar and restaurant embraces Midwestern and retro vibes with a dive bar and diner aesthetic stemming from the 1960s and 1970s — the bar team worked with Austin architecture firm Fox Fox Studios. This means wood-paneled walls, carpeted areas, floral upholstered banquettes, mustard yellow diner-style booths, and walls covered in decorations and trinkets sourced from various vintage shops, markets, and Round Top. The first floor includes the main cocktail and dining room and a beer garden; the second floor has a bar, pool table, and alfresco seating with umbrellas. The on-site water tower will remain standing.

Flower’s drinks are simple. There’s a short but sweet cocktail list; the Harry Styles is a mezcal and Aperol beverage with watermelon, basil, and lime; there’s a prickly pear margarita; and a michelada with mezcal, tequila, and an upside-down Corona bottle. Then there are beers, including three Austin options: St. Elmo Brewing Co.’s Carl kolsch, Live Oak Brewing’s IPA, and Austin Eastciders; and glasses of wines.

The Flower Shop

The Flower Shop

The food takes cues from general bar pub, New American, and Australian menus. This means oysters with yuzu mignonette; pan-roasted cauliflower steak with quinoa and a sunny side up egg; deviled eggs topped with sesame seeds and wasabi; linguini with crab, chicken wings made with Frank’s hot sauce and served with ranch; fish and chips with mushy peas and malt vinegar; Australian-style beefy meat pies, and chocolate molten cakes served with vanilla ice cream. Scope out the full menu below.

Flower Shop Austin’s executive chef is Hector Hernandez. He was most recently the director of food operations for NoCo Hospitality in Austin (yes, that group), as well as Hotel Vegas, True Food Kitchen, and Kome. Flower Shop’s general manager and lead bartender is Gareth Marvel, from the New York team.

The Flower Shop

The Flower Shop

Flower Shop co-founders and co-owners Dylan Hales and Ronnie Flynn always had a fondness for Austin, as they told Eater before, visiting often. That’s why they wanted to open a location of their bar here. The two became friends in high school in Australia. Eventually, they opened Flower Shop in Manhattan in 2017 and then New American restaurant Little Ways in 2020.

The East Seventh Street building dates back to 1922 and served as the shop and offices of a tortilla factory run by Tamale House East’s Diana Valera’s grandparents. It became a burger-and-beer joint Silo on 7th from 2014 to 2017. And then it became a gluten-free restaurant and bakery Wilder Wood from 2017 to 2023.

The Flower Shop

The Flower Shop