"The Townsend was a cocktail bar located at 718 Congress Avenue in Austin, opened in 2015 by Penumbral Strategic Ventures and Austin bar expert Justin Elliott. It focused on well-made cocktails, bites, and live music programming and won an Eater Award in 2015 for the best new bar. The bar was involved with New York-based cocktail bar Employees Only for an expansion plan that didn't materialize. The Townsend closed permanently in June 2020 due to the pandemic." - Nadia Chaudhury