C-Boy's Heart & Soul

The first floor of C-Boys Heart & Soul is awash in red velvet upholstery and vintage furnishings. A heart-shaped neon light glows behind the bar, and live music fills the venue seven days a week.

In name and spirit, the venue is an homage to Louis Charles “C-Boy” Parks, the manager of the legendary Austin blues club the Rome Inn. In the 70s, the Rome Inn was frequented by musicians like Stevie Ray Vaughn, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, and Paul Ray’s Cobras.

Steve Wertheimer, owner of C-Boy’s Heart & Soul as well as the nearby Continental Club, credits C-Boy Parks as the main reason that he works in the music industry today. As an accounting student at the University of Texas, Wertheimer worked alongside Parks at the Rome Inn before its closure in 1980. “The Rome Inn has always been the standard, in my mind, for how to run a club,” he said. And in 2014 he opened up a bar dedicated to his former mentor, who died in 1991.

Like the club that inspired it, C-Boy’s offers a diverse lineup of musical acts. There’s blues, soul, and R&B, of course, but you can often find country and rock and roll in the mix.

Upstairs you’ll find the crown jewel of C-Boy’s: a quieter, more intimate lounge called the Jade Room. Inspired by the Japanese bars that often hosted American G.I.s in the 1950s, the upstairs bar has its own menu that features sake and Japanese beers. (It also boasts an elegant emerald green bathroom that has been named one of the best in Austin.)