{"id":74106,"date":"2025-12-03T07:32:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T07:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/74106\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T07:32:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T07:32:18","slug":"first-look-san-antonio-is-about-to-get-a-sexy-new-vinyl-bar-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/74106\/","title":{"rendered":"First Look: San Antonio is about to get a sexy new vinyl bar"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Volta\u2019s wall is lined with more than 7,000 records, and bartenders select the tracks. Credit: Stephanie Koithan<\/p>\n

The needle is about to hit the groove for a new vinyl \u201clistening room\u201d in San Antonio\u2019s Government Hill neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Poised to be a paradise for local crate diggers and vinyl junkies \u2014 not to mention, others simply looking for a classy and curated night out \u2014 Volta is nearly ready to make its big debut.<\/p>\n

Volta has already held its soft launch in the space once occupied by Gen Z haunt Snake Hill. Over Thanksgiving weekend, the fledgling nightspot played host to a full roster of DJs spinning tunes ranging from \u201960s and\u2019 70s psych and garage rock to cumbia, soul, blues, jazz and hip-hop.<\/p>\n

\u201cBasically anything that\u2019s on vinyl, you can spin here,\u201d co-owner Danny Delgado said. <\/p>\n

Volta is the latest brainchild by the group behind the Lonesome Rose, Holy Diver, Palomino and \u201970s-sleaze biker bar Slow Ride, which inhabits the spot next door.<\/p>\n

Between crafting artisanal cocktails, bartenders will select tracks from a collection of more than 7,000 records on the wall behind them. However, only some of the records are meant to be played, according to Delgado. <\/p>\n

\"\"DJ Catdaddy and Rae Cabello from Pecos Records and N\u00famero Grupo christen the turntables during the soft open on Thanksgiving Eve. Credit: Stephanie Koithan<\/p>\n

\u201cBrainwaves Records hooked us up,\u201d the co-owner said about the sweetheart deal that enabled the club to amass its collection in one fell swoop.<\/p>\n

Other nights, local DJs will bring their own collections to spin.<\/p>\n

Listening rooms have become an international craze over the past few years, with the classy vinyl bars popping up in London, Tokyo, Seoul, Mexico City and other hip urban centers.<\/p>\n

For San Antonio \u2014 a fast-growing hotbed of vinyl enthusiasts \u2014 Delgado reasons that it was only a matter of time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to do it before someone else did,\u201d he explained at the soft open.<\/p>\n

While Volta hasn\u2019t yet officially announced its grand opening, Delgado told the Current it will likely be on the weekend of Dec. 19.<\/p>\n

For now, the new spot has been christened by toasts between friends of the bar, who float back and forth between Slow Ride next door. This intermingling could provide a preview of what the duo of hip bars could do to revitalize the strip across from Fort Sam Houston as its own nightlife destination.<\/p>\n

And to get ahead of the avalanche of inquiries, no, the bar isn\u2019t named after experimental rock band The Mars Volta.<\/p>\n

Like many of the details at Volta, the name is an homage to something much older.<\/p>\n

\u201cVolta\u201d comes from Volta Laboratories, where Alexander Graham Bell invented the first phonograph, later called the gramophone, record player and \u2014 more recently \u2014 the turntable. Two such phonographs are also on display on the record wall behind the bar. A set of Technics turntables is also embedded in the bar itself behind a set of green banker\u2019s lamps.<\/p>\n

\"\"Vintage paintings adorn the walls of the stylish but unpretentious space. Credit: Stephanie Koithan<\/p>\n

Every inch of the cocktail and listening lounge is decorated in vintage paintings, thrifted all over the state by Delgado, along with ch\u00edc metallic-striped wallpaper and other design touches to convey the feeling of a highly curated \u2014 yet somehow unpretentious \u2014 environment.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the kind of place where guests should feel comfortable imbibing in anything from a dirty gin martini to a High Life and shot.<\/p>\n

Delgado says a specialty cocktail menu is also on the way, along with a food menu. Those details should take shape in about a week, when we\u2019ll know more about the grand opening as well.<\/p>\n

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