St. Paul Square nightlife complex Outpost Junction abruptly shuts down

Outpost Junction housed four bar concepts including, Blessed Bogside, the former Francis Bogside. Credit: Courtesy Photo / Giant Noise

The party’s over for Outpost Junction, the multi-story St. Paul Square complex housing four separate bars.

In a Sunday Instagram post, the business announced that its quartet of concepts — Blessed Bogside (formerly Francis Bogside), The Box, Frankie’s Roundup and Vino Veritas — would end service Sunday. The statement invited patrons to stop by for drink specials and a chance to enjoy one last celebration but offered no reason for the closure.

“Thank you to everyone who’s shared drinks, laughs and late nights with us — we’ve loved every minute,” the post concluded.

The shuttering of Outpost Junction comes roughly a year after the children of Robert Darilek, the late business partner of Francis Bogside founder Steve Mahoney, took over management of the Mahoney Bar Group and its properties, including Outpost Junction.

During an interview with the Current last September, Darilek’s son Trey said the family stepped in because they worried the ownership group’s out-of-control spending would destroy their father’s legacy.

At the time, Trey Darilek — former trucking company owner and one-time NFL guard — said Mahoney Bar Group had lapsed months behind in tax payments to the Texas Comptroller’s Office. However, the business had since caught up on the taxes it owed the state, he added.

The Current reached out to Darilek on Monday afternoon for comment on Outpost Junction’s closure but got no immediate response.

After the family’s takeover of Mahoney Bar Group, Darilek said they had been forced to close down one of the venture’s concepts, Blue Box Bar — a 12-year-old fixture at the Pearl — to staunch the flow of red ink.

While Darilek undertook a rebranding of the four bars that made up Outpost Junction, he told the Current last fall that he planned no changes at the group’s other properties, George’s Keep, Hanzo and Lilly’s Greenville.

“I’m pretty sure we’re to the point where things have stabilized,” he said. “The taxes were a big one, and the closure of Blue Box was something unfortunate but unavoidable.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.