Barton Springs Saloon

Jim LeMond, the longtime bartender of Cedar Door fame, soon will be mixing highballs behind his own bar at the east end of restaurant row on Barton Springs Road.

LeMond, 51, and his wife, Rebecca, 45, plan to open Barton Springs Saloon at Barton Springs Road and South Lamar Boulevard, replacing a long-vacant gasoline station that has become an eyesore and a hangout for transients.

If it's too tacky for your walls," LeMond said, "bring it in and we'll hang it up

LeMond, who has tended bar at the Cedar Door for nearly 20 years, wants to build a watering hole that is more Austin kitsch than chic. He plans to spend "less than $400" decorating the walls, preferring instead to have customers supply him with their own favorite posters and memorabilia.

"If it's too tacky for your walls," LeMond said, "bring it in and we'll hang it up."

LeMond said he's already got commitments, with one future patron promising an Armadillo World Headquarters poster and another, a stuffed deer's buttocks.

"It's going to be an alternative Texas history museum," he said.

Despite their low-budget decorating approach, the LeMonds are betting hard on the success of the bar.

"Our life savings are in it," Jim LeMond said, adding that family and friends also are investing in the venture.

LeMond will gut the station, replacing it with a bar that seats 100. They said they eventually would like to add a rooftop bar.

The LeMonds hope to open by September. Work has already started at the site, with removal of the gasoline storage tanks last week.

LeMond, a 30-year veteran of the bar business, still has to get a liquor license and a zoning change for his establishment. Ron Thrower, a land planner who is handling the filing with the city for LeMond, said he expects little problem getting the necessary permits despite the site's location at an intersection that sees 46,000 cars a day.

"It's not any different than the restaurants west of here that serve alcohol," Thrower said. They have happy hours and people who go there just to drink."

Joel Moreno, an official with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, said the bar's location at a busy corner wouldn't be reason enough to deny a liquor license.

Nearby restaurant and business owners said they are pleased about getting a new neighbor.

"It's very welcome," said Deedee Anderson, general manager of the Green Mesquite barbecue house.

"It's getting rid of all the transients," Anderson said, referring to vagrants who loiter at the former Texaco station that has sat vacant for the past six years.

The Green Mesquite could end up sharing street parking along area streets with the new bar, which will have 16 parking spaces on its lot.

Buster Florence, chief executive of the H20 Car Wash & Detail across the street, said the bar will be "a great fit for the area."

LeMond said he thinks his bar will complement the existing eating establishments, including Chuy's, The Shady Grove and Austin Java Company, that line Barton Springs Road to the west.

The LeMonds won't serve food but will happily deliver it from their friends' nearby burger and barbecue joints.

A frequent patron at the Green Mesquite and Shady Grove, Jim LeMond said he's been eyeing the site for 2 1/2 years, thinking it would make a perfect spot for a bar.