If you want a quick peek into the future, take a spin down to Guadalupe Street where West Second crosses it, and look west at the old Liberty Lunch (1994, Best Mural) site. On the east wall where the sign was taken down is a faded old logo, visible from behind peeling layers of paint. At the old backstage entrance is a pile of rubble from the deconstruction that has already occurred. The past is the future with a lot of dust and broken bricks. Out with the old. In with the new -- at a price, of course. The Chronicle's readers took many businesses and places to heart in the first 10 years of the "Best of Austin" poll, and some of the most beloved did not or will not survive to see the new century. Many favorite places closed their doors over the years but foremost would be the clubs that populate Austin's fabled music scene. Technically, Liberty Lunch was only forced out of a lease and will reopen, but there's not a person who loved that place who doesn't know what leaving the old digs meant.
Just ask Chicago House (1991, 1993, Open Mike Night; 1993, 1994, Place to Hear Poetry), priced out of their longtime location in the mid-Nineties. It looked like they would get a second life, but those hopes vanished along with so many this decade. The Electric Lounge (1994, Rising From the Ashes, after its fire; 1995, Best Club Sign & Best Hand Stamp Rivalry, with Emo's; 1997, Best Hoot Night Series, Do Me Baby; 1998, Best Odd New Happy Hour) could offer some solace, so could the Blue Flamingo (1995, Best In Your Face Club) and Chances (1992, Partying With People of Different Sexual Orientations; 1996, Most Intriguing Event Rumor, sadly, for an event which didn't happen --). So it's bye-bye Bates Motel, (1998, Best Restroom Pornography; 1999, Best Club Closing Event), a relocation for Blondies, but demise of her live music (1996, Best Skate Shop Music Venue; 1998, Best Sneakers), adios to the Lizard Lounge (1991, Best DJ Dance Club), the 404 (1994, Best Dance Music Club), Area 52 (1996, Best Dance Music Club, Best Drag Show, and Best Alternative to Proteus), Proteus (1996, Best Damn Danceclub DJ, for Herb), and don't forget Henry's (1993, Best Long Goodbye). Seems fitting to remember Bummer Night at La Zona Rosa (1992, Ongoing Hootenanny; 1993, Best Place to Drown Your Sorrows).
It's tough to say goodbye to inanimate locations that once pulsed and breathed with life as surely as if they had hearts and lungs. "Never had a friend that was a building before," said Mike Henry, writing with stoic elegance about the Electric Lounge in a spoken-word piece that left the audience in tears. It was the final rounds for the national team during the last week of the club's life, and Henry's poem ran over the limit. He didn't make the cut to the nationals, but I'll wager fewer people remember the winning pieces than Mike Henry's eulogy.
In a way, Mike Henry's elegiac send-off exemplifies the way we come to view these places. You spend enough time in a club, or theatre, or store, or business, and it does indeed become your friend. You know where the best line of sight is, where the good seats are, where your favorite items are stocked, and a sign is a beacon of familiarity. You know what it's like to drive past an old haunt and remember when -- nothing else makes you realize how quickly time passes.
Not all the places that leftus got the sentimental send-offs that the clubs did. The Bazaar on Guadalupe (1993, Best Place to Complete Your Party Outfit) location closed its big red lips after two decades without so much as a wink or pinch for keeping us girls looking so good all under for so many years. Once upon a time it was the only place for lacy lingerie and cool hair color. Today, the Bazaar (1998, Best Place to Enjoy Being a Girl) has been relocated on Riverside, and even Target carries black nail polish. You still can't beat the Bazaar for style.
We at the Chronicle suffered our own loss, one with a history that was shared with the readers over the years. In June, we put our beloved Belton to sleep. Fans of the annual "Year of" covers will remember Belton as the mascot for Year of the Dog. Back then, Belton was still healthy enough to come to work every day with Nick Barbaro. He would come in and go about his daily tasks that included sleeping, barking, scratching, and being smelly (Belton, that is --). We wrote plays about him, made up songs, chants, and poems about him, and even put him on the T-shirt. He only received one "Best of Austin" (1991, Best Dog), but I don't think anyone would dispute Belton for "Best Chronicle Dog" for the entire decade. He was truly loved and is deeply missed.
In the early Nineties, Ask Livia Live (1991, Best Public Access TV Show; 1991, TV Talk Show Host, 1992, Best Reason to Call a Talk Show Host) was the hot show on access before going off the air. Ex-council member Max Nofziger (1990, 1991, 1997, Best Local Visionary; 1990, Best Public Servant; 1990, 1991, 1993-1996, Best Council Member; 1995, 1997, 1998, Local Eccentric -- in '95 tied with Crazy Carl, last year tied with Leslie) has won more "Best Ofs" than any other politician. And speaking of things that are gone, how about Madalyn Murray O'Hair (1996, Best Disappearing Act)?
KNACK (1993, Sunday Late Night) ain't on the dial anymore, the Dobie (1994-1997, Best Theatre Concession Stand; 1994, Cinevations; 1996, Theatrical Makeover, Movie Theatre Up for Anything, and Movie Buttered Popcorn; 1997, Best Local Film Talent Incubator; and 1999 Best Movie Programming) isn't independent, and Marion Winik (1994, 1995, Best Local Writer; 1994, 1996, Book by a Local Writer, 1996 Local Features Writer) moved away. Fringeware (1996, New Fringe; 1997, Best Doorway to Fringe Culture; 1998, Best Counterculture Conclaves) fell off the map, and Clean & Lean (1990-1998 Best Laudromat, in '95, tied with Kwik-Wash, in '98 with EcoMat) washed up and missed its chance to come clean in this category for the entire decade.
Mourn the passing of favorite restaurants Cafe Brasil (1994, Atmosphere When You're Drunk at 4am), Good Eats (1997, Best 83¢ Margarita), Mexico Tipico (1993, Mexican Restaurant; 1994, Best Huevos Borrachos). Go ahead, mourn departed menu items from winning restaurants -- the Chipotle Breast of Chicken at Kerbey Lane Cafe, the decline of Salmon Boxty at Fadó when white wine sauce was substituted for the lemon sauce and then dropped as an appetizer, the disappearance of the delicious Continental Club Sandwich from the downtown Whole Foods' now-defunct sandwich bar -- but then I still miss the Armadillo's nachos.
Sometimes it was the facelifts that were so startling -- Bluebonnet Plaza, once the hub of West Campus, got revamped with a New Orleans flair, and Les Amis (amazingly, no awards) said adieu. Europa Books (1995, Best Reopening) with its store-within-a-store Olympia Books (1993, Best Reason to Recycle Books) got urbanely outfitted. Quacks closed its Drag store (1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, Best Place to Eavesdrop; 1991, 1993 Coffee, Cup of; 1992, Anti-Depressant) as did Conan's (with unbelievably, no wins, despite a critic's nomination for this year before it closed), and Martin Brothers (1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, Best Milkshakes & Smoothies; 1992, Best Place to Eat in Peace With a Toddler). They were all our friends and they died.
The good news? The UT Tower has reopened. 
