"We're ready to do something different here," Midnight Swim co-owner John Michael Villanueva said in an Instagram reel, as reported by the San Antonio Current on Oct. 6. The DJ bar at 2403 N. St. Mary's St. closes Jan. 3 after seven years. Villanueva said his team has other plans for the location but hasn't said what they are.
Candlelight PourHouse, Singhs Vietnamese and The Art of Donut also closed in 2026. Several of the strip's best-known empty spaces already have a name or a renovation filing attached, and the two biggest projects run on 2027 timelines. That makes the next few months the quietest stretch between two rounds of tenants. The strip has run on that cycle for well over a decade.
Two Doors Apart on the 2400 Block
Start with the stretch around Midnight Swim. Four doors up at 2407 N. St. Mary's St. is the former Amp Room, the live music venue that closed in October 2025 after a decade. Its owners cited a rent increase. According to the Express-News, a bar called La Descarga is taking over the space, based on a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Renovations are scheduled to start Dec. 1 and wrap up by the end of April 2027. The concept hasn't been announced. The Express-News found no sign that the well-known Los Angeles bar of the same name is involved.
Paper Tiger sits on the same block at 2410 N. St. Mary's, with its calendar already booked into late December. In the coming months, one stretch of the 2400 block will have a long-running venue staying put, a bar counting down to closing and a construction site getting ready for spring.
The same thing is happening up and down the corridor:
| Address | Recent tenant | What's filed or announced | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2403 N. St. Mary's St. | Midnight Swim | Owners say they have other plans for the space | Closes Jan. 3, 2027 |
| 2407 N. St. Mary's St. | The Amp Room, closed Oct. 2025 | La Descarga | Renovation Dec. 1 through end of April 2027 |
| 107 Kings Ct. | Candlelight PourHouse | Vecino, from Bilia Eatery owner Bryan Rojas | Renovation projected to finish Sept. 28; no opening date announced |
| Former Gallery Club / Hardbodies building | The Gallery Club, closed 2025 | Renovation filed by Bar House owner Nick Marquez; no public name | Starting this month through August 2027 |
The Gallery Club building's renovation timeline, reported by MySA on Oct. 15, puts it in the same 2027 window as La Descarga. Filings name Nick Marquez, who owns the three-story Bar House on South Alamo Street. The 1981 building's new concept doesn't have a public name yet. MySA expects 2027 to be a year of openings on the strip.
Today's Favorites Moved Into Someone Else's Space
Seen against the strip's history, the current turnover looks routine. Many of the places Tobin Hill now treats as permanent opened in rooms another business had just left. MySA's history of the corridor lists them:
- Paper Tiger replaced White Rabbit in 2015.
- Faust Tavern opened inside the former Web House in 2013.
- TBA brought back Saluté in 2013, after the original bar closed in its 25th year.
- Brass Monkey opened in 2012 in a historic building that once housed the Mexican restaurant Jacala and later the Lava Lounge.
- Jandro's took over the Crazy Horse Saloon space in 2016.
- The Lonesome Rose opened in 2018 in what had been Phantom Room.
- Vibras opened in 2023 in a building Candlelight Coffee had occupied before it moved to its final home on Kings Court.
That last one matters for Vecino. Candlelight has now handed off two buildings on the strip. One became Vibras, a Latin bar. The second, at 107 Kings Ct., is going to Rojas's new restaurant. According to the Express-News, Candlelight spent more than three decades serving coffee, brunch and the LGBTQ+ community. It announced a hiatus in January, and by July the Kings Court space had been cleared out. Vecino means "neighbor" in Spanish, and the project's only public tagline so far is "where neighbors become friends." MySA reported in August that the cuisine and opening date were still unclear.
A few anchors have stayed put through all of this. MySA counts The Mix and Demo's Greek Food as strip staples with about three decades each. Joey's has been open since 1988. Curry Boys BBQ serves Asian-Texan food out of the pink house that most people on the strip would recognize.
The Spaces Still Waiting
Two of this year's closures don't appear in that table. The Singhs Vietnamese location at 2803 N. St. Mary's St. closed in August. Co-founder Eric Treviño confirmed that the St. Mary's and UTSA locations had closed for good after what was billed as a short Aug. 3–5 break. Further north at 3428 N. St. Mary's, The Art of Donut planned to close July 26 after 10 years and relocate to another city.
Those two were daytime spots. The spaces with named or filed successors are nightlife spaces: the Amp Room, the Gallery Club and possibly Midnight Swim. The one daytime exception is Vecino, which is a restaurant. Some investors have noticed the daytime gap. In December 2025, KSAT reported that Headwall Investments planned three renovations along North St. Mary's aimed at bringing in daytime business. At that point, tenants for the project hadn't been chosen.
Other businesses have left the strip's nightlife too. MySA notes that Cream II, known as the "vampire bar," closed in March. MySA also raises a bigger question in the same piece: will a new generation of drinkers bring the strip another boom, or will the growing bar and club scene in River North pull them away?
What's Booked Between Halloween and the Last Call
Until those openings arrive, the venues that are staying carry the strip. Their calendars are full right through the stretch when Midnight Swim winds down. Hoodline reported that Midnight Swim is planning a three-month send-off, starting with drink specials and curated events over Halloween weekend and running through closing. From this Thursday, that leaves a little over nine weeks to visit before Jan. 3.
These are the dated shows on the venues' own calendars. Live listings can change, so check before you go:
- Saturday, Oct. 31: The Lonesome Rose, 2114 N. St. Mary's St., hosts a Halloween night with Nathan Felix & the Dirty Rotten Boys and opener Autumn Michele, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Paper Tiger's Halloween lineup includes System of a Brown and "Freak Show."
- Thursday, Nov. 5 through Saturday, Nov. 7: Paper Tiger has Ceremony and Jady on Nov. 5, Dinosaur Jr. on Nov. 6 and Nick Shoulders on Nov. 7. The same three nights at The Lonesome Rose bring Thelma and the Sleaze, then Joshua Ray Walker with Kathryn Legendre & Los Texmaniacs, then Ruben Ramos & the Mexican Revolution with Los Juanos & Las Hijas de la Madre.
- Sunday, Nov. 15: The Deslondes, Kristina Murray and Nicky Diamonds play The Lonesome Rose.
- Tuesday, Dec. 1: Paper Tiger hosts The Casualties, on the same day renovation is scheduled to begin at La Descarga a few doors away.
- Sunday, Dec. 6: Phosphorescent with Garrett T. Capps & NASA Country at The Lonesome Rose.
- Wednesday, Dec. 9: Amigo the Devil at Paper Tiger.
- Saturday, Dec. 26: MINI-KISSMAS with The Crowned and Starlight at Paper Tiger.
Faust Tavern at 517 E. Woodlawn Ave. stays open on its regular schedule for anyone heading to the north end of the corridor.
The strip will look different after Jan. 3, but not empty. Paper Tiger and The Lonesome Rose have shows booked into December, The Mix, Demo's and Joey's carry decades on the strip, and renovations are scheduled at 2407 N. St. Mary's and in the old Gallery Club building.
If you own near the strip and are wondering how these 2027 openings could affect your block, or you're weighing a rental or a small commercial property along the corridor, Sold in San Antonio follows these filings as closely as the listings. Schedule a Free Consultation and we'll go over what's planned near your address.
