48 Hours in Austin: 7 Cool Bars and Restaurants in the Texas Capital
Main photo courtesy of Unsplash. Other photos by Garrett Martin.
Last week I spent two and a half days in Austin, Texas. Maybe you’ve heard of it: it’s a cool town. I’d been to Austin before, but I’d never really been to Austin, because the other visits came during South by Southwest, the massive arts and entertainment festival that takes over the whole city for 10 days or so every March. (It’s happening right now.) When you go to Austin for SXSW, so much of what you experience, from the concerts that happen everywhere at all times of day, to the free food and drinks you’ll find at different party tents and corporate “activations,” is temporary and not indicative of what the city is actually like. You will have no idea how people actually live in Austin if you only go during SXSW. So earlier this month I headed down there for the first time in a decade to see what Austin is actually like, and get a feel for how the people who live there eat and drink when their city hasn’t been taken over by every entertainment industry at the same time. Here’s what I found during my two days in the heart of Texas—starting with what might be my favorite new bar in the entire world.
1. Tiki Tatsu-Ya
1300 S. Lamar Blvd.
Austin, Texas 78704
Tatsu Aikawa, the celebrated chef behind Austin’s Ramen Tatsu-Ya, Kemuri Tatsu-Ya, and more, has teamed up with former Three Dots and a Dash assistant beverage manager Cory Starr to open one of the finest tiki bars I’ve ever had the pleasure to experience. Tiki Tatsu-Ya isn’t just a fantastic bar and restaurant; it’s an immersive experience you’d expect to find at a theme park. (In an interview with Eater shortly before its Oct. 2021 opening, Aikawa compared Tiki Tatsu-Ya to Disneyland.) The sound of tropical birds and waves fill the two-story bar, and when combined with elaborate rockwork, oceanic decorations, and the Hawaiian, Polynesian, and surf music on the soundtrack, it all transports the guest from the Austin heat to a relaxing island getaway. And it does that all while remaining respectful of the traditional cultures that tiki too often appropriates, forgoing the use of idols and Polynesian mythology in its decor and relying more on pop culture references, as Nadia Chaudhury points out in her Eater piece.
During our two hours at Tiki Tatsu-Ya we fell in love with its classic cocktails and inspired takes on traditional Hawaiian and Polynesian food. Expect to order a variety of small plates to share, unless you dive right into the ample pu pu platter. The crab lagoon pairs crispy wonton chips with a blue crab cheese dip and a sweet and spicy pineapple chili jam, and the taro tots fry the tropical root with seaweed and spices to create a unique mix of Asian staples and American fast food. Our favorite was the spam on a half shell, where small cubes of homemade spam are cooked with diced mango, furikake, and shio koji and served in a scooped out shell of a mango. It’s rich and sweet with a satisfying crunch, and we ordered two of them. We washed it all down with classic Painkillers and Mai Tais, the pineapple-rich Jungle Crane, and a Forbidden Grog, a twist on the classic Navy Grog from tiki trailblazers Trader Vic’s and Don the Beachcomber’s. The food is excellent and unexpected, the drinks are exactly what you’d hope for from a tiki bar, and the atmosphere is unparalleled; the decor and design even outdo Disney’s own tiki bar, Trader Sam’s, complete with more dramatic and exciting environmental reactions when certain drinks are ordered. I’ve made a habit of searching out local tiki bars whenever I’m in a new town over the last decade, and in that time Tiki Tatsu-Ya is the best one I’ve encountered. Make sure you get a reservation, which can be a little hard unless you keep track on Resy; there is walk-up space at the bar if you can’t get a reservation, but there’s no guarantee you’ll make it inside.
2. Lala’s Little Nugget
2207 Justin Ln.
Austin, Texas 78757
Lala’s is the best Christmas-themed bar in Austin. It’s the only Christmas-themed bar in Austin, as far as I know—and the only Christmas-themed bar I’ve seen anywhere outside of the Christmas season. An institution in the Crestview and North Burnet neighborhood since 1972, Lala’s is a warm, welcoming dive with great drinks, a jukebox full of classic country and early rock ‘n’ roll, and the nostalgic glow of a childhood Christmas morning. (It’d feel exactly like an early ‘80s Christmas at my grandparents’ North Carolina homes if they pumped in the smell of cigarette and cigar smoke.) The night I was there the jukebox was turned off and a playlist of ‘00s indie rock and MP3 blog hits was playing, but that didn’t even ding Lala’s overwhelming charm. The power of Lala’s isn’t just that the drinks are cheap and everybody’s laidback, but that it wraps two distinct types of old-school charm into a single strand, combining an authentic old-fashioned neighborhood bar (the kind that have rapidly vanished in even our biggest and oldest cities over the last few decades) with the chintzy magic of a ‘70s/’80s Christmas morning. Lala’s has the atmosphere of a themed bar without the calculated artificiality of a theme park bar, and I’d probably be drinking there right now if I hadn’t had to come home. Note that it doesn’t serve food, although you can grab a slice of pizza from the place next door, if it’s open.
3. Otherside Deli
1104 W. 34th St. D
Austin, Texas 78705
Our first day in Texas we grabbed lunch at this unassuming deli, which was opened by two northeast transplants who first sold their pastrami and corned beef sandwiches out of a food truck. Sure, you might not think of a Reuben as being the first thing you need to eat when you get to Austin, but again, I wanted to see Austin the way locals do. Also the buzz on Otherside is substantial, and it’s hard to find a good Reuben where we live in Atlanta, so the choice seemed obvious. I am not a big pastrami guy myself (I got an Italian sub, and hey, it was really good!), but my wife fell in love with their Reuben. I’m pretty sure she’d leave me for it if she could. The best thing about Otherside is the sandwiches, but its lowkey, friendly vibe is just as great. You can tell this is a joint that both loves and is loved by its neighborhood, as proved by the constant stream of pickup orders.