The Bar
Buffalo Billiards. 201 E 6th St, Austin, TX 78701
Visited 2/11/17 @ 10pm.
UPDATE: Buffalo Billiards has closed.
Happiness. Malibu rum, pineapple, grenadine. $6.50.
Our bartender was one of those innocent drink-wranglers thrown for a loop by my best-drink request, so he hemmed and hawed for a while before we cornered him into concocting this. It felt like the kind of drink that you'd get on an all-inclusive cruise, not so much girly as generically tropical. I wasn't necessarily any happier after I drank it than I was before, merely more drunk. But the bartender had personally bestowed the drink's name upon it, and so to honor its christening we partook without complaint.
On a side note, I've long thought it was interesting that in many languages, the word for "happy" often does double duty for "lucky": French heureux, German glücklich, Spanish feliz, Latin felix, Russian счастливый, Swedish lycklig, and so on. I've never read a good explanation for exactly why. Is this just a case of convergent understanding that good luck brings happiness (or that unluckiness brings unhappiness)? Either way, I wonder if there's an language out there where "drunk" means "happy", because that's the language for me!
James, Vince, Ben, Aaron, Elijah, Cat, Geoff, Rome (not pictured), Travis (not pictured).
There are a lot of games you can play here while you drink. Pool is obviously #1, but don't let that stop you from exploring. I've known this as Buffalo Billiards for forever, even though it's only been around in the building since 1999. The structure itself is the Missouri House, a historic boarding house/brothel/ghost nexus that dates back to the Civil War, although chances are you'll be too busy drinking, playing billiards, etc. to be paying much attention to the brickwork. Often I wonder exactly what the people who built these buildings back in the day would think of their current uses, after they got over the shocks of electricity, indoor plumbing, bachelorette parties, etc. There's a strong element of optimism inherent in the act of development - only the most pessimistic architects deliberately plan for collapse - yet in some ways, once you've built the four walls and the roof, everything that comes after is out of your hands. Would the builders approve?
It might seem silly to wonder what a bunch of Civil War-era real estate developers would think of a group of Millennials playing foosball while drinking ersatz tropical cocktails. And it is - if there are any living descendants of the Ziller family, they're as likely to be eating queso at the bar alongside us instead of shaking our heads how upset great-great-great-great-granddad would be at what we've done to his brothel. But as Austin continues its slow march towards greater affluence and leisure, it's worth spending a minute to consider how that progress requires the living to repurpose the capital stock of the dead, and how the depreciation of the buildings can be mirrored by the inebriation of their occupants.
The Drink
Happiness. Malibu rum, pineapple, grenadine. $6.50.
Our bartender was one of those innocent drink-wranglers thrown for a loop by my best-drink request, so he hemmed and hawed for a while before we cornered him into concocting this. It felt like the kind of drink that you'd get on an all-inclusive cruise, not so much girly as generically tropical. I wasn't necessarily any happier after I drank it than I was before, merely more drunk. But the bartender had personally bestowed the drink's name upon it, and so to honor its christening we partook without complaint.
On a side note, I've long thought it was interesting that in many languages, the word for "happy" often does double duty for "lucky": French heureux, German glücklich, Spanish feliz, Latin felix, Russian счастливый, Swedish lycklig, and so on. I've never read a good explanation for exactly why. Is this just a case of convergent understanding that good luck brings happiness (or that unluckiness brings unhappiness)? Either way, I wonder if there's an language out there where "drunk" means "happy", because that's the language for me!
The Crew
James, Vince, Ben, Aaron, Elijah, Cat, Geoff, Rome (not pictured), Travis (not pictured).
Notes
There are a lot of games you can play here while you drink. Pool is obviously #1, but don't let that stop you from exploring. I've known this as Buffalo Billiards for forever, even though it's only been around in the building since 1999. The structure itself is the Missouri House, a historic boarding house/brothel/ghost nexus that dates back to the Civil War, although chances are you'll be too busy drinking, playing billiards, etc. to be paying much attention to the brickwork. Often I wonder exactly what the people who built these buildings back in the day would think of their current uses, after they got over the shocks of electricity, indoor plumbing, bachelorette parties, etc. There's a strong element of optimism inherent in the act of development - only the most pessimistic architects deliberately plan for collapse - yet in some ways, once you've built the four walls and the roof, everything that comes after is out of your hands. Would the builders approve?
It might seem silly to wonder what a bunch of Civil War-era real estate developers would think of a group of Millennials playing foosball while drinking ersatz tropical cocktails. And it is - if there are any living descendants of the Ziller family, they're as likely to be eating queso at the bar alongside us instead of shaking our heads how upset great-great-great-great-granddad would be at what we've done to his brothel. But as Austin continues its slow march towards greater affluence and leisure, it's worth spending a minute to consider how that progress requires the living to repurpose the capital stock of the dead, and how the depreciation of the buildings can be mirrored by the inebriation of their occupants.
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