Reality bites at the Hole in the Wall
Anybody who's picked up an Austin paper or walked down the Drag this summer knows the sad story of the venerable Hole in the Wall. The friendly bar, grill and live music venue had been operating across from UT for nearly 30 years, collecting hippie/punk memorabilia and an aging contingent of regulars along the way. Then this spring the landlords announced that the lease was up and the hand-to-mouth operator of the bar, waitress and booker turned owner Debbie Rombach, would have to cough up (pinkie to corner of the mouth) one million dollars for the decrepit building or shut down by June 30th.
There followed a flurry of newsprint, tearful testimonials, and a solid month of benefit shows from the many bands who had had their formative gigs at the Hole in the Wall. I'm not sure who they thought they were kidding -- a month of $5 cover charges for a living-room-sized venue can't make much of a dent in a million-dollar price tag. But if it amounted to severance pay for the soon-to-be-Hole-less Rombach, good for them.
But wait, there's news. This week's Austin Chronicle says:
Could the Hole in the Wall yet return? Local real estate maven Perry Lorenz says that the Hole, or something like it, at least, most certainly could. In fact, Lorenz has got two potential buyers interested in the property where the Hole stood. Basically, what that means is that the Hole in the Wall could return if new owners could be found to run it. Is there anybody out there sane enough to run a club at that location yet insane enough to want to run a club at that location? If so, give Lorenz a call -- he's waiting for the phone to ring.Huh? Why do the buyers need to find a new operator? What about Debbie Rombach? Is this just one of the Chronicle music writers' infamous nonsensical rumors or is there some reason why the people with the bucks want to run her out of the picture?
Time for my own tearful testimonial: I'm ashamed to confess that I never made it to the Hole in the Wall to hear the bands. I was never hip enough to know the up-and-comers who played there until they had broken out to larger venues. But I did go there for food, atmosphere, and some of the best people-watching in town looking out their picture window onto the Drag. When I was a starving student one of my rare splurges on sit-down food was their Reality Sandwich: chicken-fried steak in a hamburger bun with swiss cheese and jalapeños, yum! Unfortunately, some time in the late eighties or early nineties, the kitchen went downhill and what had been a succulent experience in gourmet comfort food became inedible. The Reality took on the consistency of deep-fried styrofoam and the accompanying fries were limp and greasy. Nostalgia persuaded me to try it again and again, but every time was a bitter disappointment.
So, a suggestion to Perry Lorenz, Debbie Rombach or anyone else thinking of reviving the Hole in the Wall: best of luck, and if you pull it off, please put some attention into the kitchen!
/ Usenet thread