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Beloved Heights Bar Down House Permanently Closes Its Doors

The neighborhood stalwart served its final cocktails last Sunday

The exterior of Down House, a brick building covered with green vines
Down House
Down House/Facebook

After a decade in the Heights, beloved bar Down House has officially served its final cocktails.

The bar announced its permanent departure in an Instagram post on Wednesday, noting that its final day of service was Sunday, February 21. “There [are] countless people who touched this place and made memories here, and we are grateful to all of you. Our original goal was to build educated communities around great food and beverages,” the post reads in part. “Reflecting on the way the Heights has developed over the last ten years, we are proud to have played a part in building this community.”

Once operated by the now-defunct Treadsack Restaurants, which opened some of the city’s most popular restaurants in the mid 2010s, Down House made it through a great deal of financial turmoil before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. In 2017, as Treadsack Restaurants was embroiled in lawsuits ahead of its demise, the bar was visited by agents of the Texas comptroller’s office, who seized cash from Down House in the middle of service to pay unpaid tax bills. After its owners sued the agency, they eventually came to a settlement that would allow the restaurant to operate while that debt was paid down.

Sadly, Down House regulars won’t get the chance to have a final drink there, but its biggest fans are sharing their memories of the space via Instagram.

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