Nestled in Georgetown’s historic downtown, just steps away from the Courthouse Square, stands City Post Chophouse, a finer dining steakhouse located in a building that has served the city’s residents for over 90 years. For owners Kevin and Rachel Cummins, preserving and adapting the historic 1932 post office was a labor of love, driven by the desire to celebrate the heritage of the building. For Georgetown, the project is a master class in what can be accomplished by people who want to bring an old building to a new life while holding tight to its history.
For generations of Georgetown residents, it was simply the post office, opening its doors in 1932 and serving the citizens for almost 60 years. Constructed of brick and stone, the Georgian Revival building boasted interior finishes including Texas pink granite and marble from Missouri and Georgia. The building occupies a corner that had been home to the Snyder & Bryson livery stable and, back during Williamson County’s founding in 1848, the site of the first courthouse.
In 1990, the town acquired the building, converting it to City Hall. Fortunately, both the town and state recognized the historic significance of the building, and the renovation left the original mahogany trim, exquisite tilework, and custom ironwork intact. Thirty years later, the city had moved to a new facility, the building was again empty, and Georgetown decided to sell the property with the hope a new use would be an asset to the historic blocks of downtown.
The road from stamps to steaks began in 2018 when local businessman Kevin Cummins and his wife Rachel attended an open house hosted by the city, giving a behind-the-scenes tour of the building. The couple were not strangers to either renovation or running a business, having already established Sweet Lemon Kitchen nearby.
“I wasn’t looking to open a steakhouse in downtown Georgetown,” said Cummins. “In fact, I had been on the road a lot with my corporate job.”
The building seemed to have other ideas. As they toured the main level, they were struck by possibilities. The interior was very municipal, but the couple could see how to transform the space to create a very special restaurant with room for an expansive dining room, private dining space, and bar. The second floor, originally built with catwalks to allow the postal inspectors to spy on the employees, was large enough to accommodate a private event room.
“Then they took me downstairs,” said Cummins. “It was amazing.”
Built during the Depression and Prohibition era, the post office had a full basement, with a secret entrance which historically allowed the inspectors to enter the building unobserved. In that space the couple envisioned a speakeasy. They left the building with that vision running through their heads.
“Somebody’s got to do this,” said Cummins, “and that was how this started.”
The couple, along with a small group of financial backers, submitted a proposal which focused on transforming the space while paying homage to the building’s past – 60 years as a post office and 30 years as city hall – and Georgetown’s leaders loved it.
In 2019 they purchased the building, and the project was off and running. Working with architect Gary Wang, the couple went into it with their eyes wide open. Because the structure had been a federal building, restrictions on its modification imposed by the Texas Historical Commission were stringent.
Left City Post Front of House after renovation. Right City Post main dining room
“It turned out to be really hard to build a restaurant in an old post office,” said Cummins.
Today he can enjoy stories of installing huge kitchen equipment that was only millimeters smaller than the largest exterior door and vent hoods that balked at being attached to the concrete ceiling, but they posed huge obstacles at the time. The challenge that was in nobody’s business plan, though, was COVID, which struck in March of 2020.
“After some soul-searching and a couple of weeks of wondering whether anyone was ever going to go out to eat again,” said Cummins, “we decided to keep going.”
Keeping the mindset that they never wanted to lose the history of the building, they incorporated the original materials and fixtures, including marble wall surfaces, ironwork, and even post boxes into the design.
The result is an almost magical blending of old and new. On the main level, the old Postmaster’s office has become a retail space. The original postal counter now houses a welcoming oyster bar, and the workroom has been transformed into an expansive, yet cozy dining room. A private dining room, known as The Mailroom, displays copies of the original blueprints for the building, and old photos of both the building and town grace the walls.
On the second floor, the catwalks are gone, and the large space is now fitted with a private bar and custom dance floor. Named Ada Talbot Hall for Georgetown’s first woman Postmaster, the space is designed to accommodate events like anniversary celebrations, showers, rehearsal dinners, and more.
City Post Chophouse opened its doors in 2021 and has been enthusiastically welcomed by both residents of Georgetown and visitors. In 2023, the Texas Downtown Association recognized the project, naming it recipient of the President’s Award for Renovation, Rehabilitation, and Preservation. The local preservation community has been equally enthusiastic about the transformation.
“City Post is an outstanding example of restoration at its finest,” said Alton Martin, President of Preservation Georgetown. “It is a lovely building with a rich history that has been restored and adapted for modern use while preserving its charm and beauty.”
As for that speakeasy in the basement, it is well underway. Cummins is keeping many of the details of this space, including its name, a secret for now, but you can tell the Depression, Prohibition, and those secretive Postal Inspectors have been on his mind as he has designed the space. If the rest of City Post Chophouse is any indication, it’s sure to be special.
