{"id":438249,"date":"2026-09-17T00:36:33","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T00:36:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/438249\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T00:36:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T00:36:33","slug":"clarksvilles-newest-neighborhood-third-space-the-watershed-central-austin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/438249\/","title":{"rendered":"Clarksville\u2019s newest neighborhood third space: The Watershed | Central Austin"},"content":{"rendered":"

From coffee to cocktails, music to Mexico City eats, The Watershed<\/a> is bringing a local gathering spot to Austin\u2019s Clarksville neighborhood. The new hospitality hub welcomed customers starting Sept. 8, with hopes of creating a new neighborhood hang.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all designed a program, a menu and a space that we want to spend time in,\u201d said Patrick Gartner, co-owner at The Watershed and founding partner of Verified Hospitality.<\/a> \u201cSo, I’m sure other people will as well. It’s just a matter of how fast they find us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gartner opened The Watershed alongside partners Austin Berry and Austin Pfiester with Lost Heard Enterprises to emulate \u201ca for-profit community center,\u201d Gartner said.<\/p>\n

\" PersonThe coffee menu features matcha lattes and coffee drinks brewed with beans from Figure 8. (Courtesy Rhodes in Focus\/The Watershed)<\/p>\n

The background<\/p>\n

Gartner has been active in the food and beverage industry for 15 years. He began bartending while enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley to pay for school, according to the Verified Hospitality website.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gartner later worked as a bar manager and beverage director at various establishments in California and New York. Then, he served as beverage manager locally at MML Hospitality <\/a>and beverage director at Nova Hospitality<\/a> in Austin before establishing Verified Hospitality\u2014a bar and restaurant consulting company. His specialty, the Verified Hospitality website details, is crafting simple and unique beverage programs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On the menu<\/p>\n

The Watershed is home to Grisette<\/a>, an all-day cafe with coffee, pastries, wine, beer and light bites. Patrons can find espresso-based drinks, teas, non-alcoholic canned beverages and indoor and outdoor seating. Wine offerings include bottles and glasses from natural wine producers; beer options feature a range of brands like Brasserie Fantome from Belgium to Oxbow from Maine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Grisette food menu consists mainly of wholesale pastries, Gartner explained. The space features baked goods from local businesses including Texas French Bread<\/a> and Tiers and Treats.<\/a> For late-night bites, Grisette will offer cheese boards and tinned fish to accompany the drinks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gartner is looking forward to adding a low-ABV cocktail program using wine-based spirits and non-alcoholic ingredients in the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Watershed\u2019s team will continue to make necessary adjustments as the year progresses, Gartner explains, including weatherizing the patio to make the space accessible to patrons year-round. (Courtesy Rhodes in Focus\/The Watershed)<\/p>\n

Main course<\/p>\n

For more substantial bites, visitors can head to Muy Yum<\/a>, which is parked at The Watershed\u2019s patio. The truck serves food from\u00a0 Claudia Willis Villegas, including boards, salads, sandwiches, bowls and light bites. The Muy Yum sandwich features sourdough bread, herbed butter, pesto-chimichurri, avocado, arugula, sun-dried tomato and parmesan cheese.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of the truck\u2019s boards is served with a choice of protein, sourdough bread, lettuce, radish, cornichons, manchego cheese, pesto-chimichurri and pepitas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One more thing\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Watershed will soon host live music, including singer-songwriter acts. Artists who are interested in performing can submit their information to The Watershed online.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I’m trying to do is find a really good mix of different types of songwriters,\u201d Gartner explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He plans to have an emcee at each performance to ask the performers questions and talk about the songs to make each show \u201ca little more intimate, a little [more] fun, than going to a regular coffee shop open mic where it’s just one performer after the other,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Watershed features indoor and outdoor seating. Individuals can also reserve the space for private events. (Courtesy Rhodes in Focus\/The Watershed)<\/p>\n

Dig deeper<\/p>\n

The property is owned by long-time Austinite Walter Long, who wanted to see the space turned into a resource for the community, Gartner previously told Community Impact.<\/a> The Watershed team is implementing that community-driven mindset, while also preserving the building\u2019s history. For example, the original owners saved the bricks from the University of Texas\u2019 former Main Building that was demolished in the 1930s. The bricks are now being repurposed as part of The Watershed\u2019s outdoor landscaping.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cStep in and grab a bite at Muy Yum, or a drink at Grisette,\u201d Pfiester said in a statement to Community Impact. \u201cSettle outside under mature tree cover with intimate views of the downtown skyline, or head into the modern space tucked inside a building nearly 100 years old.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From coffee to cocktails, music to Mexico City eats, The Watershed is bringing a local gathering spot to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":438250,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,910,3893],"class_list":["post-438249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-business","tag-central-austin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=438249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/438250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=438249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=438249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=438249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}