https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/food/2015-09-10/lalas-lives/

Lala's Lives!

By Virginia B. Wood, September 10, 2015, 11:15am, On the Range

The Crestview and Allandale neighborhoods have been buzzing with concern about the fate of Lala's Little Nugget recently. The doors were locked and the phone disconnected - was it really the end of another beloved Austin icon?

Turns out, Lala's festive year-round Christmas lights aren't going anywhere. A group of local hospitality professionals that is in the business of creating new bar concepts and restoring old ones has stepped in to save the day. Partners Matt Luckie, Max Moreland, and Anngay Tenney of the Mean-Eyed Cat, Gibson Street Bar, and Lavaca Street Bar in conjunction with Ryan Garrett of Stubb's Bar-B-Q make up the team that is giving 43-year-old Lala's a new lease on life.

When longtime neighborhood residents Mike Levine and restaurateur Kelly Chappel of Top Notch Burgers and Galaxy Cafe learned that Lala's might be closing for good, they reached out to some friends they trusted to help solve the problem. "We saw the way their team updated the Mean-Eyed Cat, so it still reflects the best of the place but is better, and we hoped to maintain the flavor of Lala's in a similar way," says Kelly Chappel, "so, regulars note: the Bloody Mary will not be changing."

While many aspects of Lala's interior decor will remain the same, the space is destined to get a mild refresh later on in the fall that will include the addition of a patio and the availability of a barbecue menu from Stubb's. The bar reopens next week*.

Lala's Little Nugget
2207 Justin Ln.
Daily, 4pm-2am

*This post originally reported that Lala's would reopen on September 11. Due to permitting issues, the date has been pushed back to the week of September 14-18. We will keep you updated with the exact date as we hear more.