"It stands as a celebration of the artists who have made our city so special," Still Austin co-founder and CEO Chris Seals said in an October news release, as quoted by the Austin American-Statesman. He was talking about the Still Austin Quarter, a 15,000-square-foot bar and music venue at 4211 Willow Springs Road that officially opened Oct. 13. Thursday, Nov. 5 is the free public grand opening. Adrian Quesada of Black Pumas DJs in the Vinyl Lounge at 7 p.m., and Shakey Graves plays the Music Room at 7:30 p.m. Food and drinks are for purchase.
The venue is new, but the company behind it already had a home on the block. Still Austin runs its distillery tasting room at 440 E. St. Elmo Road, inside the same complex its new venue now belongs to. Two days after the grand opening, The Yard holds a free block party for its tenth year. Put the two events together and you can see how St. Elmo has been built. The businesses that last here started as tenants and grew. The one big project planned from the top down never opened as planned.
What the Quarter actually holds
According to CultureMap's reporting, the Quarter has four separate spaces and holds about 500 people:
- The Atrium, the entry and main bar
- The Vinyl Lounge, a listening room built around an album library, with DJ sets and record listening
- The Music Room, the concert space, booking local and national acts on Fridays and Saturdays
- A private-event room that honors women in Austin music
The menu runs past bar snacks. CultureMap lists steak frites, jalapeño popper deviled eggs, pork belly and a tuna bowl, along with cocktails, beer and wine.
Still Austin's own page describes the Quarter as "part of The Yard at Elmo Arts" and notes dedicated on-site parking. The district's biggest new room wasn't brought in from outside. One of its own tenants built it.
The one plan that didn't take
St. Elmo did get a top-down project once. The St. Elmo Public Market was planned as a food hall by Maker Bros. with Groundfloor Development. By May 2023, Community Impact reported the building was still empty and up for sale. Later that year, KXAN reported that SomeraRoad had bought the property and planned to redevelop it as an entertainment venue instead.
That redevelopment opened in April 2025 as Pins Austin, with duckpin bowling, pinball and arcade games at 4323 S. Congress Ave., according to Community Impact's opening report. It's a good night out. It just isn't the food hall the building was designed to be. The food that the market plan promised showed up a few blocks away, in trucks parked outside breweries.
Ten years of businesses that grew in place
"10 years ago, The Yard opened its doors to makers, artists, and small businesses that made it what it is today," The Yard's anniversary page reads, and it invites people to "come meet the businesses that are now not all that small."
Many of those businesses make things in the same buildings where they sell them. Most share the 440 E. St. Elmo Road address:
- Still Austin Whiskey Co. runs its distillery tasting room and bottle shop there, with tours and tastings.
- St. Elmo Brewing Co. brews and pours at the same address.
- The Austin Winery sits in Unit A-1. Visit Austin lists tasting-room hours of Tuesday through Thursday, 2 to 9 p.m., and Friday through Sunday, noon to 9 p.m.
- Spokesman Coffee roasts and serves next door in A-2.
Across the road at 415 E. St. Elmo, Vacancy Brewing runs a taproom where food trucks, Salam's Grill among them, handle the cooking.
The food list from The Yard's spring walkabout in April 2026 shows what eating in St. Elmo looks like now. Spicy Boys, Patty Palace, The Pizza Den, Knuckle Sandwich, Rogue's Over the Top Pierogi and Salam's Grill all took part, next to the breweries and C.L. Butaud Wines. These are food partners spread across the drink makers, not stalls inside one hall. When Still Austin wanted a kitchen and a stage, it built them on its own block.
Two free events in one week
The Nov. 5 grand opening and the Nov. 7 block party fall within three days of each other, with more on the calendar in between. Here's the early-November calendar for St. Elmo, pulled from the venues' own listings:
| Date | Event | Venue | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed., Nov. 4, 7 p.m. | Small Batch Trivia by Geeks Who Drink, a weekly series | Vacancy Brewing | RSVP link, price not listed |
| Thu., Nov. 5, 7 p.m. | Grand opening with Adrian Quesada DJ set, then Shakey Graves at 7:30 p.m. | Still Austin Quarter | Free, food and drinks for purchase |
| Fri., Nov. 6, 6–11 p.m. | Mi Gente, a Mexican dark lager release with mariachi, a DJ and Latinx vendors | Vacancy Brewing | RSVP link |
| Fri., Nov. 6 | Caroline Hale | Still Austin Quarter Music Room | See venue |
| Sat., Nov. 7, 1–5 p.m. | The Yard Block Party and 10-year anniversary, with the Fall Walkabout | The Yard, 440 E. St. Elmo Rd. | Free, all ages |
The block party is the one to plan your Saturday around. Austin Flea, which has featured local, handmade and vintage vendors since 2008, sets up 30 to 40 vendor tents on Retail Row from 1 to 5 p.m. Eight muralists from The Butcher's Crew paint live in the Spokesman alleyway. Konami Code plays pop-punk covers from 1 to 4 p.m. on the stage in front of Building D, and Restos follows with Americana and country rock from 4 to 5 p.m. Free drinks for guests 21 and up are poured in front of Spokesman Coffee until they run out. St. Elmo Brewing hosts the Fall Walkabout through the same hours, with a curated food and drink menu across the participating businesses. The Yard asks guests to RSVP through the link on its block party page.
The rest of November, and into December
The Quarter's opening schedule keeps the Music Room busy on weekends. Tribeza's listing shows Elijah Ford on Nov. 13, Gran Moreno with Flavor Saver opening on Nov. 14, and Louisiana Surf Department on Nov. 21. Times and ticket details aren't posted yet, so check with the venue first.
The breweries take over on weekend mornings later in the season. St. Elmo Brewing hosts a 5K Fun Run on Sunday, Nov. 22 at 11 a.m. for $35, open to all ages. Vacancy Brewing hosts the Holiday 5K Beer Run on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 11 a.m., with registration through Eventbrite. On Nov. 14, The Austin Winery hosts Sip 'N Bloom from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., listed at $75 per person.
Hours worth checking before you go
The Quarter is closed Monday and Tuesday. It's open noon to 10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday. On Fridays and Saturdays, food service ends an hour before close. The Quarter's page says the distillery tasting room at 440 E. St. Elmo keeps the same hours. Still Austin's distillery page, though, lists the patio as open Tuesday through Sunday, noon to 10 p.m. If you're planning a Tuesday visit, call ahead.
The route on block party Saturday is short. Park once at The Yard, walk Retail Row and the Spokesman alleyway, cross to Vacancy for a food truck, and end at the Quarter on Willow Springs Road. Every stop on that walk is a business that makes something on site.
Here at Taute Homes, we like to see what a block turns into after ten years of small businesses building out their own spaces. If you're thinking about what a South Austin property could become, from a remodel to an addition or an ADU, let's connect and walk through it with a builder's eye.
