Katz's Deli & Bar owners eye return to Austin with purchase of original restaurant

Despite its slogan, West Sixth Street staple Katz’s Deli & Bar actually did close once upon a time .

The Katz family shuttered the Jewish deli known for its pastrami sandwiches, cheesecake milkshakes and loud advertising campaigns at the beginning of 2011 and turned its focus to its budding restaurant business in Houston.

But, now, the Katz name appears to be headed back to Austin. A company owned by Barry and Lisa Katz has purchased the property at 618 W. Sixth St. that was home to the original restaurant that Barry’s dad, Marc, opened in 1979, according to a representative for the ownership group. The restaurant has no affiliation with the famed Katz's Delicatessen in New York City.

Barry and Lisa Katz’s KFLP #4 LLC purchased the property during an auction at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Austin. The representative said the new owners, who own and operate four Katz's Deli & Bar locations in Houston, plan to lease out the second and third floors of the building at West Sixth and Rio Grande streets. He would not comment on whether or not Katz’s Deli & Bar would take over the ground floor, saying only that KFLP would release its plans for the original restaurant space once the sale is closed, which is expected in the coming days.

The top floor of the building was home for a decade to Momo's, Cosmic Coffee & Beer owner Paul Oveisi's club, which was one of Austin's premier live music venues for singer-songwriters.

The West Sixth Street property had previously been part of the portfolio of real estate impresario Nate Paul’s World Class Property. Paul was arrested and charged in federal court with eight counts of mortgage fraud in 2023 and was a central figure in the impeachment case against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The building that once housed Katz’s and later the Rio nightclub was part of more than a dozen bankruptcies declared by Paul-related companies.

Marc Katz was a local celebrity during the 80s and 90s in Austin, known for his big yellow Cadillac and commercials in which he shouted the deli’s tagline: "I can't help it, I gotta tell ya — Katz's never kloses." An outsized personality, Katz, who moved to Austin from New York in 1977, ran unsuccessfully for Austin mayor in 2003 and lieutenant governor in 2010 before moving back to New York. The American-Statesman last reported on Marc Katz in 2014 , when he was entertaining the idea of moving back to Austin.

No stranger to bankruptcy himself, Marc Katz sued his son, Barry, in 2001 over financial dealings related to the Houston expansion of the restaurant, though the younger Katz prevailed in the case, earning a judgment of almost $1 million, according to the Houston Chronicle . The representative for Barry and Lisa Katz would not comment on whether Barry Katz would be involved in the new business venture at the old address in Austin.

This is a developing story.

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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Katz's Deli & Bar owners eye return to Austin with purchase of original restaurant