One of San Antonio’s most anticipated bars is now shaking up downtown nightlife, but don’t expect Chad Carey to make much fuss. Merci Jones made its official debut at 1101 Broadway on Tuesday, February 17, by simply opening its doors.
The bar is the latest from Carey’s Empty Stomach Group, the owners of Vibras, Paper Tiger, and Petite Coquin. The company briefly tested the concept as a pop-up in July 2024 afterSouthtown’s much-missed Hands Down shuttered. Now it fills out the same downtown block as Hot Joy, Pumpers, and NOLA Brunch & Beignets.
Merci Jones reads like a jukebox stacked with both greatest hits and deep cuts. There’s a little bit of Double Standard in the hunting lodge brick-a-brac on the olive walls and Leo’s Hideout’s slightly askew checkerboard on the floor. Barbaro’s frozen French coffee is on the menu, alongside the frozen gin & tonic from Southtown’s much-missed Hands Down.
The handsome wooden bar is well-stocked with everything from Tito’s vodka to seven-year-old Jamaican rum, but the cocktail menu isn’t bogged down with tricky drinks. The list of “seven cocktails for $7” mixes tiki mainstays like Mai Tais with classics like Salty Dogs, daiquiris, and Negronis.
The bar does make room for a few originals, created “from the lab.” According to the bar staff, the back prep room is stocked with state-of-the-art equipment like a centrifuge, but Merci Jones isn’t crowing about the “molecular mixology” that goes into the Oops! All Berries cocktail.
Although most of the drinks are boozy, Merci Jones does respond to the contemporary sober curious trend. In addition to a zero-proof cold brew martini and Amaretto by Morning, an amaretti. Lemon, and orgeat blend, the bar offers several non alcoholic beers and wines.
Merci Jones is now open seven days a week from noon-12 am. The $7 cocktails are available during happy hour until 7 pm each day, rising to $12 during peak hours.