Houston’s East End is getting a new spot to linger, listen, and linger some more. By the Wayside, a cocktail bar and listening lounge, opens Friday at 5644 Navigation, filling what used to be an abandoned shell with music, low light, and neighborhood chatter. Owners Samantha and Braden Navarre cut the ribbon on the bar just days after another major milestone: their wedding the previous weekend.
Outside, the building now wears its personality on the walls. A lineup of murals wraps the exterior, led by Houston artist Alex Roman, better known as Donkeeboy. His pop-culture pieces and long local track record help turn the formerly blank wall into part of the bar’s identity, according to Donkeeboy.
Built for listening
Inside, the Navarres are not treating music as background noise. "I want live music to be more of a focal point, rather than something that's hidden in the background or lost in the background noise," Braden Navarre said. The couple arranged the room to echo old-school listening spaces, with intimate sightlines and seating meant to spark conversation instead of shouting. The layout plans and Navarre’s comments were detailed by the Houston Chronicle.
Cocktails and small plates
Longtime friend Sergio Contreras is running the cocktail program, keeping things tight with a seven-drink menu that leans on house syrups, seasonal fruit and plenty of mezcal. Drinks the owners expect to catch on include the Burnin' Daylight, a mezcal strawberry margarita; the Bayou Bloom, built with vodka, blueberry, violet and citrus; and Rooted Not Settled, which layers mezcal with beet, ginger and citrus. The bar will lean on small plates and neighborhood suppliers as it finds its footing, a dynamic that also shows up in recent East End coverage from CultureMap.
Opening plans and hours
By the Wayside will open Wednesday 4 p.m. to midnight; Thursday through Saturday 4 p.m. to 2 a.m.; and Sunday 11 a.m. to midnight. For opening weekend, food will be limited to tacos and proteins for small plates supplied by Eastbound Barbecue. The owners say they primarily funded the project themselves, with help from one friend, and that they pivoted and rebuilt after earlier setbacks, according to reporting by the Houston Chronicle.
In a neighborhood that has steadily added both eateries and murals, the Navarres’ bar comes in as a locally minded spot that leans on music and art rather than glitz. Expect short sets, a compact cocktail list and a largely neighborhood crowd in the early days as By the Wayside settles into its rhythm on Navigation.
