While Refuge’s official opening date is May 17, Heugel posted on Facebook that the bar would be in soft opening phase beginning this weekend.

It’s going to be our best bar yet – no doubt about it.” “We lost that, and we’re going to celebrate being able to do that again with Refuge. Sure, the safe move coming out of this difficult era would be to open bars that are easier to operate and more profitable, but what I missed the most while being forced to operate in ‘survival mode’ during COVID was the challenge of finding new levels of creativity in our bars and helping our guests forget the world outside with unique experiences,” he said. “The past two years have really made us question what is important to us and why we do what we do. Refuge not only re-establishes Heugel’s creative bar chops, it represents a commitment to an industry ravaged by the pandemic. And the not so discreet: a vintage neon sign that is a replica of the one outside Havana’s famous Floridita Bar. Look for other discreet touches such as linen coasters, flower vases, small table lamps, brass dishes for complimentary snacks, and brass ice buckets. Heugel is especially proud of the bar’s glassware, which he has collected for years from glass producers in Japan, Italy, France, and the U.S. The cocktails include the Pantone 359, a pastel green mixture of coconut-washed rum and basil soda Eastern Non-Sour, a Japanese whiskey sour made with a seven-citrus cordial Hall Pass, made with gin, lemon, chamomile, gooseberry and champagne Greenhorn, fashioned with tequila, Midori and Suze, a French aperitif and a Sauternes Cobbler made with mango. The menu will feature nearly 20 cocktails divided into Originals, Classics & Riffs, and Excessives.

The “we” is the team he’s assembled for the project, which includes general manager Tommy Ho, a bartender who joined Anvil in 2013 head bartender Kristen Nepomuceno, who Houston cocktailians will know from Uchi and Squable Peter Jahnke, Heugel’s lieutenant at Tongue-Cut Sparrow and Mate Hartai, former Fords Gin ambassador and Tongue-Cut bartender. “I’ve wanted to do this for years, and we finally feel we can pull it off,” Heugel stated in his announcement for Refuge. MEET THE NEWBIES: 10 new restaurants ready to add flavor to the Houston dining scene The new bar, 1424 Westheimer, is set above and behind Anvil in a second-floor area in the former Etro space that Heugel fashioned into Penny Quarter which closed at the outset of the pandemic. With only 50 seats, Refuge will follow a similar path of Heugel’s now-closed Tongue-Cut Sparrow: a dark, lamp-lit lair for serious cocktails within a bar where every detail has been thoughtfully curated and purposefully chosen. Bobby Heugel Show More Show LessĬalling it his “best bar yet,” Bobby Heugel, the bartender who helped ignite Houston’s modern craft cocktail movement, is opening Refuge, a new bar located in the same building where he opened Anvil in 2009. Bobby Heugel Show More Show Less 7 of7 Refuge, a new 50-seat cocktail bar, is opening in Montrose from Bobby Heugel the original founder of Anvil. Jenn Duncan Show More Show Less 6 of7 Refuge, a new 50-seat cocktail bar, is opening in Montrose from Bobby Heugel the original founder of Anvil. Bobby Heugel Show More Show Less 5 of7 Refuge, a new 50-seat cocktail bar, is opening in Montrose from Bobby Heugel the original founder of Anvil. Bobby Heugel Show More Show Less 4 of7 Refuge, a new 50-seat cocktail bar, is opening in Montrose from Bobby Heugel the original founder of Anvil. Jenn Duncan Show More Show Less 3 of7 Refuge, a new 50-seat cocktail bar, is opening in Montrose from Bobby Heugel the original founder of Anvil. Jenn Duncan Show More Show Less 2 of7 Refuge, a new 50-seat cocktail bar, is opening in Montrose from Bobby Heugel the original founder of Anvil. 1 of7 Refuge, a new 50-seat cocktail bar, is opening in Montrose from Bobby Heugel the original founder of Anvil.

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