A beautiful old brick building from the 1950s that overlooks Waller Creek is getting a new lease on life. The recently founded Fresh Air Hospitality is opening its first concept, an elevated watering hole called MARLOW, at 700 E 6th Street—between I-35 and Sabine St. We spoke with Mike DeBonville, who, along with Joe Schumacher, and Wade McElroy, are the three partners behind it all, and he gave us a preview of the upcoming bar. 

“We named the bar after my daughter Marlow, but we love that it would also be a great name for a cowboy or small town,” DeBonville says. “To us, MARLOW is timeless, mature, and elevated. A brand new spot that feels like it’s been there all along.” 

The bar will have an evolving menu of seasonal cocktails, eclectic wines, and local beers alongside a couple of rotating vintage punch bowls for sharing—and, to start, they’ll have pop-up food programming. A permanent food truck could be a thing down the line. There will also be a back bar that focuses on bourbon and mezcal, but they’ll always be fully stocked to make whatever people want. “We are striving to keep things simple, delicious, and approachable,” DeBonville says.

Fresh Air worked with as many local artisans and creatives as possible and will be featuring their work on MARLOW’s Instagram in the coming months. The group saw this historic location as a massive opportunity. 

“This area has some of our most beautiful and historic buildings, but doesn’t always get the love it deserves due to years of neglect and lack of development,” DeBonville says. “We want to breathe fresh air into the district, being the first to move in and bringing one of the coolest stretches of Austin architecture back to life.”

MARLOW is slated to open in September 2023.

Interior photography credit: Andrea Calo