Kall it a komeback.
Barry Katz is bringing Katz’s back to Austin, the restaurant and bar owner told the American-Statesman Tuesday.
The restaurant will occupy the ground floor space at 618 W. Sixth St. that was home to Barry’s dad, Marc Katz’s Deli & Bar from 1979 to 2011.
Barry and wife, Lisa Katz, announced last week that they had purchased the property at auction in bankruptcy court, but waited until the sale had officially closed before announcing their plans for Katz’s.
The return to Austin is a “full circle life moment” for the 53-year-old Katz, who started working at Katz’s Deli & Bar when he was 8-years old.
“It was always part of my identity,” the Austin High graduate said. “I knew from a very young age I wanted to be a restaurateur. It was in me. It wasn’t forced; it was more power of attraction. I loved every part of it. Still do. It’s what gets me out of bed in the morning.”
Barry and Lisa Katz opened the first Houston location of Katz’s in Montrose in 2000 and have since opened three more, with another slated for West Houston in the next year or so. They had been considering expansion to Austin or Dallas once the fifth Houston location opens, and Barry Katz says he couldn’t believe it when the opportunity to bid on the West Sixth Street real estate became available.
“To go back to our original location, with 45 years of history, it just feels too good to be true. It’s the luckiest thing in the world that it came up for sale. I feel like I’ve won the Oscars, I have so many people to thank,” Katz said.
There is no timeline set for the opening of the Austin location of Katz’s.
The West Sixth Street property had previously been part of the portfolio of real estate impresario Nate Paul’s World Class Property. Paul was arrested and charged in federal court with eight counts of mortgage fraud in 2023 and was a central figure in the impeachment case against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The building that once housed Katz’s and later the Rio nightclub was part of more than a dozen bankruptcies declared by Paul-related companies.
Katz said the new location, which will be designed by Michael Hsu Office of Architecture, will be unique in that it will both offer a nostalgic nod to the past while embracing some of the similar design elements of the Houston locations.
The menu for the 24-hour restaurant will be similar to those in Houston, with some classic items like the nosh basket, blintzes, matzo ball soup, pastrami sandwiches and cheese-stuffed potatoes sitting alongside newer items.
“We’re continuously evolving and are always looking to improve. Our goal is to be the premier, elite 24-hour restaurant in the country,” Katz said.
One thing that won’t be the same as the original is the omnipresence of Marc Katz, whose large personality and avuncular hospitality were as famous in Austin in the 80s and 90s as his trademark yellow Cadillac.
“We’re no longer in business together,” Barry Katz said. “We’re just father and son, again.”
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Katz’s restaurant is reopening at original West Sixth Street address
