Cheers!
Bobby Heugel Quietly Opens a New Downtown Cocktail Bar
Tongue-Cut Sparrow promises to be "an ambitious formal cocktail bar."

Tongue-Cut Sparrow opens February 8 at 310 Main.
Image: Courtesy of Bobby Heugel
Just in time for the Super Bowl, Anvil Bar & Refuge owner Bobby Heugel has pulled a Beyoncé move of his own: He's debuting yet another establishment, this one much more under-the-radar than his typical projects. Tongue-Cut Sparrow is the latest in Heugel's stable of downtown drinkeries, which also includes OKRA Charity Saloon, The Nightingale Room and The Pastry War.
In a Facebook post sharing the news, Heugel wrote: "7 weeks ago, my roomate Peter and I were sitting on the couch, and we decided to open an ambitious formal cocktail bar and event space in Houston. And not tell anyone."
Tongue-Cut Sparrow occupies the second-floor space at 310 Main above The Pastry War, and appears to share a similar mahogany-toned, shotgun-length space as its next-door neighbor in the building, Captain Foxheart's Bad News Bar & Spirits Lodge, making the 300 block of Main even more of a drinking destination than it already was.
For those wondering, the name "Tongue-Cut Sparrow" is the English translation of the title of a famous Japanese fable, Shita-kiri Suzume. In the tale, a kind old man rescues a sparrow and cares for it, much to the resentment of his greedy wife, who doesn't want the man to waste food on a bird. In the end, the old man is rewarded for his kindness and loyalty with treasures; the greedy wife is rewarded with a painful death.
The bar will host a soft opening Wednesday through Saturday of next week, while the first official day in business for Tongue-Cut Sparrow will be Wednesday, February 8.