The family of the late Robert Darilek — Mahoney Bar Group’s majority partner — has taken over management of the company that owns and operates SA staples Francis Bogside, George’s Keep, Hanzo and Lilly’s Greenville, Darilek’s son, Trey Darilek, told the Current.
Darilek said his family relieved the company’s previous managing partner of his duties earlier this summer after growing concerned that out-of-control spending was jeopardizing the business co-created by his dad, who died in 2021.
“Things came to a head about a month ago,” said Darilek, 43, who relocated to San Antonio from North Texas to directly oversee Mahoney Bar Group. “My brothers and I had a discussion about what to do to keep our dad’s legacy alive.”
Darilek declined to name the previous managing partner, whom he said still retains an ownership stake. However, the Mahoney Group’s longtime managing partner and public face was bar developer Steve Mahoney.
Mahoney was unavailable for comment at press time.
The leadership change comes after the late July announcement that another of the Mahoney Group’s properties, Blue Box Bar — a 12-year-old fixture at the Pearl — was closing down.
Darilek said he and his brothers are working to rein in the company’s expenses and revamp the image of its flagship property, Francis Bogside, the Irish pub that’s an anchor of east-of-downtown nightlife center St. Paul Square.
He doesn’t expect to lay off any of the 100 workers employed by Mahoney Bar Group.
“I’m pretty sure we’re to the point where things have stabilized,” said Darilek, a former trucking company owner and one-time NFL guard and center who played for Dallas, Philadelphia and Miami. “The taxes were a big one, and the closure of Blue Box was something unfortunate but unavoidable.”
Tax issues
When the family took control of Mahoney Bar Group, it was months behind on tax payments to the Texas Comptroller’s Office, according to Darilek. Since then, the group has paid off all back taxes it owes the state, he added.
Even so, state tax officials came to Francis Bogside last Thursday with a police escort to collect on the remainder of what it owed it at that time, Darilek confirmed to the Current. He declined to say how much the business owed but added that he’d made multiple efforts to make sure the Comptroller’s Office knew the new management was trying to resolve the matter.
The Texas Comptroller’s Office didn’t respond to multiple attempts from the Current to provide comment for this story. However, a San Antonio Police Department spokesman confirmed that officers accompanied Comptroller’s Office personnel on a visit to the bar last Thursday.
Changes at Bogside
To get the business on a new path, Darilek said his family is preparing to rebrand Francis Bogside. Since the bar’s historic three-level building houses additional concepts, including adjacent wine bar Anne’s and upstairs music venue Blayne’s, the complex itself will be rechristened as a multi-concept destination.
Darilek said it’s too early to reveal the name of the bar hall. He added that Francis Bogside itself will also get a new name and an expanded food menu that better emphasizes its Irish roots and the scratch-made quality of the dishes coming out of its kitchen.
“We’re trying to keep what’s good here and improve what’s not,” he said.
Meanwhile, Blayne’s will be renamed Frankie’s Roundup and reopen as a country and western venue that will feature barbecue served from Bogside’s kitchen. Darilek said the booking policy for the upstairs bar, which often included metal and harder-edged live music, was a poor fit for more upscale ambiance the group is trying to create.
The new country-bar concept, named for Darilek’s grandfather, is scheduled for a Sept. 12 reopening. Anne’s will also get a minor revamp and undergo a name change.
Also as part of the planned upgrades, Mahoney Bar Group plans to retool a pair of basement bars connected to Bogside, according to Darilek. One of those, which had previously hosted comedy shows, will be transformed into a speakeasy-type lounge, while the other — which served as a VIP room for prior building tenant Smoke: The Restaurant — will be reserved for private gatherings.
Darilek said he expects to reveal the name changes in coming weeks. The revamped basement spaces will make their debut at a later time.
Business background
The Darilek family doesn’t plan any immediate changes at George’s Keep, a La Cantera-area craft-cocktail bastion; Hanzo, a Japanese-style gastropub in Alamo Heights; or Lilly’s Greenville, a neighborhood watering hole also located in St. Paul Square.
Even though the management change involved tightening belts across Mahoney Bar Group’s empire, Darilek said workers have been receptive to the new direction and the stability it brought.
“I think the staff welcomed the change,” he said. “We’ve given some consistency to the employees, which they were ready for.”
Running a bar group is new step for all the members of the family — Darilek’s other brothers are in accounting and IT — however, he said they understand good business practices and sustainable spending are the keys to keeping the group’s holdings in operation.
“Business is business,” he said.
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