Taking up the lot that once catered to African Americans via the Airport Bar & Grill before becoming home to dive bar-seeking queers at Bernadette’s, the Skylark Lounge opened as Eastside native Johnny La Touf’s effort to bridge the gap between bygone eras and the East Austin we know today. He found his linchpin in Margaret Wright, a piano icon from old Austin, who plays happy hours every Thursday and Friday, and was inducted into the Austin Music Poll’s Hall of Fame by Chronicle readers. Mondays, La Touf also hosts open mic comedy.