Tuesday, February 21, 2017

#48: Dizzy Rooster

The Bar


Dizzy Rooster. 306 E 6th St, Austin, TX 78701

Visited 2/21/17 @ 8:30pm.

The Drink




Dizzy-rita. Dulce Vida grapefruit tequila, OJ, Red Bull tangerine. $7.

I have had scads of flavored vodkas in my time, and even some flavored whiskeys, but I had never had a flavored tequila before. It makes sense that it would be here: Dulce Vida is local, and they were just bought by Deep Eddy, who have an entire stable of (excellent) flavored vodkas themselves. It's easy to make fun of flavored liquors as novelties for tasteless college students, but I think there's a difference between a cheap grapefruit flavoring, and the kinds of flavors you find in high-end products. Patrón, for example, has an anejo aged in a sherry cask that tastes of "pecans, light toasted oak, caramel, raisins, hint of butter" - in that context, I think even Quetzalcoatl would agree that grapefruit is not a sacrilege. It certainly made this ersatz tequila sunrise more enjoyable. I still don't like it when bartenders plop down the extra side drink and I have to jigger around with it myself, but I guess I'll make a special exception for Red Bulls - sometimes bartenders know what's best.

The Crew


Travis, Aaron.


Notes


Dizzy Rooster is most famous, of course, for its appearances on MTV's The Real World: Austin. A dozen years ago, some idiots from an MTV reality show showed up to drink at this bar, and that's still what it's most known for. I wonder how many of the people who moved to Austin after the show ended did it specifically because they saw some bozo getting punched in the face on Sixth Street and thought it sounded right up their alley. I actually enjoy little reminders like this of what a small town Austin can still be, and that a bar's appearance on the teevee counts to this day as a civic milestone. Even the Austin population sign hanging from the ceiling, boldly proclaiming 656,562 inhabitants, is from the year 2000. Ah, what a kinder, gentler, more innocent time it was. You remember? Back when gas was a buck a gallon, a breakfast taco couldn't be bought for more than two, and "gentrification" sounded like something aristocrats in a period novel got up to.

Luckily Dizzy Rooster is still around to remind us of those halcyon days. There is a lot going on in the interior, to the point where it feels like you've reached Terminal Knickknack. But sometimes it's nice to have some accoutrements around; you don't want your bar interior looking too sterile, and all the games, stickers, and flashing lights inside do give off a certain effect. Granted, that's probably the same effect that you get from watching some awful people on a reality TV show, but you came here by choice. Truth be told though, I didn't mind the bar, and I was almost hoping for some of the MTV alumni to show up, just to give some excitement on an otherwise slow night. We sat and listened to a pretty solid funk/rock band for a while before departing, our brush with notoriety complete.

No comments:

Post a Comment