The city of Austin sued East 6th Street bar Pour Choices and its owners for tolerating repeated criminal activity, including assaults, serving alcohol to minors and drug possession at and around the premises, according to a lawsuit filed Jan. 12 in Travis County.
The city filed this lawsuit to stop a “common nuisance,” which the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code defines as allowing a location to be used for criminal activity. The suit was filed in accordance with this code and the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code, which expands the definition of “common nuisance” to also include the alcoholic beverages themselves.
According to the lawsuit, the Austin Police Department has responded to 17 incidents at Pour Choices since April 2024. These incidents also involved “obstruction of police investigations,” “weapons violations,” “disorderly conduct” and “public intoxication,” according to the lawsuit.
The most recent incident listed in the lawsuit was from October, when officers saw an unconscious and intoxicated 20-year-old man carried out of the bar by employees, according to the lawsuit. Just two weeks prior, officers found two underage people in the bar, with one who appeared to have been served alcohol, according to the lawsuit. One of the arrestees was found with methamphetamine and marijuana, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit names Pour Choices owner Brandon Burleson as a defendant. Burleson declined to comment on the lawsuit but wrote in a text message that the bar has hired an attorney.
“There is every indication this lawlessness will continue unless enjoined by this Court,” the lawsuit states. “The City thus brings this lawsuit to protect the law-abiding citizens of Austin from harm.”
The city requested both a permanent and temporary injunction, according to the lawsuit. If the court approves the city’s request for a permanent injunction, those codes require the court to close the bar for a year. The temporary injunction requests a bond payment from each defendant between $5,000 and $10,000 to the state if the court finds the city likely to succeed, according to the lawsuit.
A city spokesperson wrote in an email that the city will provide further comment during court proceedings.
A nuisance abatement lawsuit’s purpose is not to prove guilt of illegal acts, but “rather to prove that the property owner allowed the illegal activity to occur on the property or failed to make attempts to stop it,” according to the 2011 Texas Attorney General Nuisance Abatement Manual.
Chris Porter, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission’s director of communications, wrote in an email that Pour Choices had two permits issued from the commission under this name in 2018 and 2023, respectively.
The first permit was subject to four investigations, three of which resulted in written warnings, Porter wrote. The business paid an $1,800 fine for selling alcohol to an intoxicated person in 2018, according to Porter’s email. He wrote that there have been investigations related to the 2023 permit, but no administrative violations were found.
“Every day that the Property continues to operate in this way and continues to attract the criminal elements that it does, puts everyone who travels near and visits the Property in serious danger,” the lawsuit states.
