The building that housed Make My Day Lounge for decades at 12114 Nacogdoches Road is gone, torn down to make way for a Quick Quack Car Wash, but the neighborhood dive bar known for morning Bloody Marys and late-night karaoke isn't done yet. Owner Leo Garza is rebuilding at a new location on San Antonio's Northeast Side, aiming to reopen before the end of the year.
The longtime dive bar had been razed ahead of its move, according to CultureMap San Antonio, which reports the lounge is relocating to the River Oaks Shopping Center at 8373 Perrin Beitel. The new address is also listed in a restaurant directory entry for the bar. Garza announced the move in early April, but setbacks including HVAC leaks have kept him from locking in a reopening date, per the same report.
Garza bought Make My Day Lounge in 2023 and is its sole proprietor, the outlet notes. He's a 20-year Army veteran who now focuses on the bar full time, and he says he only knows the place has been around since the 1980s — though a Yellow Pages listing for the Nacogdoches Road location put its run at 29 years. The bar's reach over the years was wide: a 2015 writeup in the San Antonio Express-News described it as a neighborhood spot drawing businessmen and women, musicians, service-industry folks and party animals alike, while CultureMap's reporting specifically notes it attracted medical workers alongside the service-industry crowd.
A Dive Bar Rebuilt, Not Reinvented
Garza has said the new location will remain a dive bar, just in an updated setting. Make My Day 2.0 is set to bring back a dedicated stage that had been torn down around the pandemic, along with a surround-sound system and new TVs — while keeping the dim atmosphere regulars have grown to love, the outlet's report states.
Programming is also set to grow. Tejano music is being added to the lineup, and Izzy & the Lizards, a band known for playing 1980s and 1990s hits, are expected to perform frequently at the new venue. That's on top of a history the bar already had with live entertainment and karaoke: the same 2015 Express-News piece mentioned the Funtones' Sunday night jam session, running 25 years at that point, and Thursday karaoke nights.
Same Early Hours, New Location
One thing that isn't changing is the bar's early-bird identity. Make My Day 2.0 is expected to run 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Sundays, according to CultureMap's reporting — hours that echo the bar's 2015 schedule of 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 2 a.m. Sundays, as recorded by the Express-News at the time.
No firm reopening date has been announced, but Garza says he's hoping to be back in business by the end of 2026. For regulars who built routines around morning Bloody Marys and nighttime karaoke on Nacogdoches Road, the wait for the River Oaks Shopping Center doors to open continues.
