Two bars on Sixth Street announced on their Facebook pages that they'll be closing for good because of the cornavirus pandemic.
Rob Hicks, the owner of Dirty Dog Bar, wrote that he would not be renewing the lease for the bar's East Sixth location. The lease expires on August 31.
"We held on as long as we could even after losing revenue from March though today and with no end in sight. The loss of SXSW, Rot Rally, summer tourism and more due to covid has led us to next weeks exit. Signing a new lease right now at a rate that won't allow us to be profitable is just not an option that makes sense," Hicks wrote.
Hicks also wrote that he had been looking for a new location and that he hopes to reopen the bar, but that won't be a reality until after pandemic-related restrictions have lifted.
A few blocks down, B.D. Riley's Irish Pub is also choosing not to renew its lease on Sixth Street.
"After 20 fun-filled and exciting years, BD Riley’s Pub on 6th Street has chosen not to renew our lease, and to permanently shutter our downtown location. We say 'so long' to our beloved downtown pub, but NOT to the pub business we love so much," the owner wrote on Facebook.
B.D. Riley's location on Aldrich Street will remain open.
The coronavirus pandemic has been particularly hard on bars in Texas. Most have been closed since Gov. Greg Abbott mandated all bars to shut down on June 26. Some establishments have found a way around the mandate but selling food and operating as restaurants for the time being.