Former Snack Bar Owners Launch GoFundMe for New Bar

rendering via Facebook

The owners of the erstwhile Snack Bar, which enjoyed a seven-year tenure as the Austin Motel restaurant before the property was sold, have launched a GoFundMe to get their new project, Bobo’s Snack Bar, across the finish line.

Bethany Andrée and Karl Gilkey lost their lease for Snack Bar and closed the restaurant in October 2016. While Andrée announced the opening of the new venture in 2018, according to the GoFundMe page, Bobo’s has been beset by the usual delays: bureaucratic snafus with the City and contractor-related hiccups.

The couple also faced major personal challenges, which have led to the delay. Andrée explains in the fundraising video that the week she signed the lease on the future Bobo’s last year, she was diagnosed with breast cancer (she’s fine now, but it was a major financial setback for the couple).

Bobo’s Snack Bar, the owners insist, won’t be an exact reprise of Snack Bar. “Think bar first, snacks second,” says Andrée. The booze and food menus will privilege Texas products, with an emphasis on eco-friendly, ethically sourced products, skewing heavily vegetarian. Bobo’s will be situated at 38th and Airport, just a few steps from the couple’s home.

The fundraiser will help Andrée and Gilkey purchase the equipment and supplies needed to open Bobo’s doors; for every $25 donated, supporters will receive a $25 gift card valid from six months after Bobo’s opens. Other incentives kick in at the $100 level and above.