#16: Steampunk Saloon

The Bar

Steampunk Saloon. 700 W 6th St, Austin, TX 78701

Visited 1/30/17 @ 7pm.

UPDATE: Steampunk Saloon has closed.

The Drink

Abita Purple Haze. $4

The bartender was from Louisiana, so this what was he chose, to my approval. I've been drinking Abita for what feels like my entire life - even my very first keychain bottle opener was Abita-branded. Even though I've grown out of my early-20s hefeweizen obsession, I still have a soft spot for this beer. It's light, not too wheaty or yeasty, and the light raspberry taste is just enough to be refreshing without being cloying. 4.2%.

The Crew

Karen, Aaron, Sonali.

Notes

We started off night 5 at this joint, which due to the oddball theme has had a complex relationship with social media since it first opened, replacing the old Opal Divine's that used to be there. Recently things have calmed down, to the point where it looks no different from any other bar. That's a shame, as it would have been fun to see people wandering around in neo-Victorian drag, but as you can see from the picture we didn't bother to dress up either, and as the saying goes, be the steampunk you wish to see in the world. Since it was the night before my birthday we celebrated extra hard, as you can see by the shot glass.

This is yet another of the properties owned by Bob Woody, the "mayor of East Sixth Street". One of the highlights of this project is learning the connections between each of the different bars. It's difficult to keep a bar going, given the number of ways there are to go broke, and it's always interesting to see how smart owners develop properties differently to cater to different crowds:

What is the difference between having a bar on West Sixth versus East Sixth?

I’m the landlord of Opal Divine’s, Brew Exchange, J. Black’s and The Ranch. The difference is age. What I want to do is to open a hospital in East Austin and I want [a prospective customer] to be born there, and I want him to drink on East Sixth Street until he moves on to drink at West Sixth Street. I’d also like to open a graveyard on far West Sixth and have him buried there. So I want to have him cradle to grave.
I’m kidding about the hospital, but you see what I’m saying. You've got a little more professional workers on West Sixth versus a college student on East Sixth. You bring your girl in to a bar on East Sixth; you get a few beers for $4. Then, you leave her to go to the bathroom and there’s four college boys hitting on her.
You buy two beers for $9 on West Sixth Street, you leave her there to go to the bathroom and she’s sitting there on the leather bar stool when you get back, and everything’s all right.

Alright, alright, alright, as another famous Austinite once said.