West Sixth Bar Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Is Opening an East Austin Sports Bar

West Sixth bar Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Icehouse is taking over the sprawling East Austin bar and restaurant space formerly belonging to beer garden/bakery mini-chain Easy Tiger and French restaurant LaV. WTF Sporting Club will be opening in the East Cesar Chavez neighborhood at 1501 East Seventh Street on Friday, September 6.

Per the name, WTF Sporting Club is a sports bar with food and drinks. The former is centered on casual American and New American dishes; think bao flights, pizza on flatbreads, boneless chicken wings, smash burgers, and desserts. The latter includes the Pebble Beach Paloma, a bourbon-peach smash, the Magnolia Mai Tai, and the Derby Mule. There are also beers, wines, and nonalcoholic drinks.

There will be many televisions that will air various games throughout the seasons. There are high-definition televisions and a huge projection screen in the indoor space, with an LED screen outside. The large outdoor area will include bookable private cabanas, as well as a shipping container outfitted as a bar, and a deck for live entertainment. Expect events like DJ sets and podcast recordings.

WTF Sporting Club falls under the Gold Fox Hospitality umbrella, run by co-owners Habib Bakshi, Shabawn Espili, and Kahran Espili, with general manager Ryan Keas. They opened the original Whiskey Tango Foxtrot bar in 2018, taking over a former Gatti’s Pizza space.

Before WTF Sporting Club, the East Seventh address was a location of the Austin-based beer garden/restaurant/bakery mini-chain Easy Tiger. It opened in early 2021, but in early 2024, it announced it would close in April 2024. Co-founder and head baker David Norman explained it had to shutter because of weather issues and higher cost of operations. Easy still has its Linc and South Lamar locations.

And before Easy Tiger, the East Austin space was 7co, an event space run by Austin restaurant group Parkside Projects. And then, before that, the entire outdoor-indoor area was originally built out for the fine-dining French restaurant LaV, which ran from 2014 through late 2026.

WTF Sporting Club’s hours will be from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Friday and then from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday and Sunday