Greener pastures await for Giddy Ups. The beloved bar is preparing to reopen at 10509 Old Manchaca, just a 2-mile trot down the road from its old watering hole.
When the “Biggest Little Stage in South Austin” was forced to close its doors in 2024, then-owner Michael Morgan, son of longtime proprietor Nancy M. Morgan, told the Chronicle he was hesitant to start over but open to relocating. A little less than two years later, former general manager Anna Bosworth is taking over the reins with longtime regulars Roy Antognini and Carissa “Crissy” Bunker.
“It was my second home,” says Antognini. “I started going into Giddy Ups when I was 23 and I’m 50 now.” Over those many years, he and Nancy discussed the bar’s charm and goals. “I’ve still got her vision going and we’re just focusing on the live music and that living room vibe that Giddy Ups always had. You weren’t really going into a bar. You were going to a place to meet friends and family.”
Bosworth echoed those sentiments to Austin Monthly when the venue first closed, adding that she felt Nancy would want the dive bar to relocate. “I think Nancy’s proud of us for trying to keep her legacy going,” she said then. “We want to keep the aesthetic the same but it might be a bit shiny at first.”
Nancy, after tending bar at Giddy Ups for two years, bought the joint in 1996 and lovingly treated it as an extension of her own home, as barstool regulars and two-steppers recall. Nancy made her way into the hearts of many musicians and barflies as a big-hearted, no-nonsense barkeep who brought legendary songwriters like Gregg Allman and bluesman W.C. Clark to her stage and hosted countless community events before she passed away in 2023.
Michael picked up the business after her passing, stewarding the bar alongside a plumbing venture he’d started in 2020. When their 12010 Menchaca landlords denied their lease renewal, Michael was frustrated and confused, telling the Chronicle: “We’re not financially in trouble. We’re a profitable, established business. And that’s why it’s so strange to me why he would want to go with someone else.” The BackWood Bar, which took over the spot, is something of a honky-tonk caricature, exchanging dive bar coziness for a charmless millennial-chic aesthetic complete with backyard games and big-screen TVs.
Michael couldn’t be reached for comment before this publication, but Antognini says the new ownership arrangement was approached with trust at the forefront. “He said he wouldn’t be able to focus on it like [Nancy] would have wanted,” Antognini says. “He knew that I would carry on her vision, so he was pretty confident in it.”
Antognini and crew hope to welcome regulars and newbies to the reimagined spot in June with live music and laid-back hospitality, in an expanded interpretation of Nancy’s well-established style. “We got quite a bigger spot as far as indoor space,” says Antognini. “We’re going to push the limits as much as we can.”
This article appears in May 22 • 2026.
