‘Living room of Montrose’ toasts 40 years
Owner looks back on beloved bar’s history of adapting to changing tastes, vows to keep it going into the future
Celebrating 40 years, Rudyard’s British Pub, often referred to as the “living room of Montrose” remains a testament to how a bar can adapt to changing tastes while preserving its history.
Roughneck oil workers, bohemian artists, men dressed as vikings and women dressed as Barbarella have all crossed the threshold of Rudyard’s British Pub.
Whether patrons drank a cold one by the wood panel windows overlooking Waugh Drive, threw steel-tipped darts for an official league or hollered along with a live band in the upstairs music room, Rudyard’s staff and owner have strived to make guests of every stripe and creed feel at home.
Celebrating 40 years, the “living room of Montrose” remains a testament to how a bar can adapt to changing tastes while preserving its history.
Opened in 1978 on Kipling Street by two British expats, Rudyard’s immediately set itself apart from the local bar scene by offering imported beers when domestic brands ruled the market.
For expats and global oil rig workers, the nine imported labels on tap were a godsend. When the bar closed temporarily to relocate to its current Montrose address in early 1980, regulars took up seats at T.K. Bitterman’s predecessor.
As the story goes, they couldn’t wait for Rudyard’s to reopen, current owner Lelia Rodgers said.
But the good days came to a screeching halt in January 1986. Oil went to $10 a barrel. The regulars lost their jobs.
“The world in Houston fell apart,” Rodgers recalls.
The original owners saw no other recourse.
“They sold (Rudyard’s) to a bartender for a song,” Rodgers said.
Mark and Bernadette Kromholz ran the place from 1986 to 1993, changing up the clientele. They tapped into their existing connections with the local art scene and brought in street skating legends the Urban Animals. They even added live bands as a new draw. Performers would play in the background with the drum-
mer sitting on kegs.
By 1993, the Kromholzes were ready to sell. At that point, Rodgers’ business acumen was built entirely around the corporate world. Yet when friends offered her a partnership owner deal, she signed on.
In 1995, the building went up for sale and Rodgers, who was between jobs at the time, felt they needed to fully invest in the business by buying the property. After presenting options to her partners, Rodgers ended up buying them out.
In 1996, she got a loan package together and with the funds added a kitchen and turned secondfloor apartment units into the music room that stands today.
“It was a change that pretty much positioned Rudyard’s to be dragged into the 21st century sort of kicking and screaming,” she said.
Featured performers have included Alejandro Escovedo, Richard Buckner, the Meat Puppets, The Strokes, The Decemberists and more.
In 2001, Rodgers’ staff opened the corner Next Door bar and gallery space, and in 2010 Rudyard’s absorbed the first-floor space previously taken up by a frame shop.
The extra space took some getting used to. Regulars weren’t thrilled with so many facelifts. Yet the changes were needed to keep the bar relevant and thus profitable, Rodgers said.
Last year, for instance, she added a mural on the side of the building meant to draw in those looking for an “Instagram moment,” Rodgers said.
Other changes have included improvements to its food and drink offerings.
Rudyard’s was an early adopter of the microbreweries that were then popping up along the West Coast.
In August 1994, Saint Arnold Brewing Co. delivered its first keg at Rudyard’s.
Later, in 1996, Rudyard’s became the first tap in Houston for Real Ale Brewing Co.
The bar now boasts 36 taps, 28 of which are craft beers. The rest are a mix of ciders, imports and Shiner Bock.
Over the last 10 years, Rudyard’s has also distinguished itself from the competition through its monthly beer dinners. Started by chef Joe Apa and now run by Jordan Economy, the Thursday event offers guests a collection of dishes paired with a featured beer.
Rodgers hopes to rebrand the event as Rudyard’s Chef Table, adding spirits nights, craft cocktails, even potentially offering cooking classes.
Other possible additions including a deck on the first floor roof, permits to allow dogs on the patio all day, and trivia night. In considering all these changes, Rodgers has conducted focus group meetings with bar patrons and has even sent out staff to observe competitors’ offerings and jot down notes in prepared forms.
“The world is changing, and we want to cherry-pick some of the best parts of those changes that work for us and feel right,” Rodgers said.
Pressure to keep Rudyard’s on top of consumer trends comes in part due to increasing competition in town, especially the growing number of breweries opening their own taprooms.
Rodgers noted that these taprooms save a lot more on taxes by serving in-house and can count on a loyal label fan base.
Then there’s the real estate market.
In 2009, Rodgers said she paid $28,000 in property taxes. Last year, she said, that total was $72,000.
Five years ago, Rodgers had no doubt the bar would remain open “until the sun sets in the east.”
Now, as the Montrose real estate market has gotten stronger and more townhomes populate the neighborhood, Rodgers thinks there may be a 20 to 35 percent chance of Rudyard’s disappearing.
“But I’ve been doing this for 25 years,” she said, “and I’d like to say that I’ve got a few more years in me to keep figuring it out.”
After all, she has several regulars she can’t let down.
There are the music fans who will stay upstairs all night, only passing through the first floor pub space to get in and out. There are the dart players with the Houston Darts Association who care not for whatever act plays above them. The members of the Saint Arnold’s bike team grabbing a bite to eat after a ride. The foodies perusing the menu at the bar. The newbies getting to know the regulars. The longtime bartenders keeping the peace.
On a recent Sunday afternoon, Duane Salinas, 56, assembled a dart collection at the first floor bar. He used to live in Montrose, but like many other Rudyard’s regulars, he moved out to EaDo for more affordable living options.
“But people still come back,” he said.
As he finished his drink, bartender and standup comic Slim Bloodworth greeted some newcomers. She then offered food and beer pairing suggestions to a couple from Kingwood after closing the tab for cyclists from Tomball.
Bloodworth has been a Rudyard’s customer since the late ’90s and a bartender there since 2014.
To her, Rudyard’s is home. “Don’t write on my walls,” she reminds a group of dart throwers.
She then picks up the bar phone.
“Rudyard’s home of lost credit cards. How can I help you?”