#53: The 311 Club

The Bar

The 311 Club. 311 E 6th St, Austin, TX 78701

Visited 2/24/17 @ 9:30pm.

The Drink

Lone Star and TW whiskey. $6.50.

A shot of whiskey with a beer chaser is a classic that probably goes back to ancient times, but it turns out that you can still screw up a drink order that's as old as civilization itself. When I asked the bartender for the drink that he thought that best represented this place, he flat-out refused to answer, which was a first. I've had plenty of bartenders try to pass the buck back at me, but never a solid denial to perform the single essential task of bartending like that. I kept pressing - what about his favorite drink? He said that "this place doesn't have it, so I don't drink here". I should have taken his advice. After he decided I needed a shot and a bar, he poured me the whiskey and handed me a Lone Star, we did our cheers, and then right before I was about to do my shot, I noticed that there were little dead bugs floating in my whiskey! It's not quite the grossest thing I've ever seen in a bar, but it was up there. All "hey it's free protein!" jokes aside, that's just not what you want to see, and all the Lone Star in the world isn't enough to wash the knowledge that you could have been drinking bugs out of your mind. I am mildly surprised that this was the first Lone Star I've been given though, given its ubiquity in Austin and overall interesting history. I've always had a fondness for it, just given the sheer amount that I've drank, and it did help somewhat. Lone Star has always been there for me, and I needed it then, more than ever.

The Crew

Travis, Aaron, Nick, Kathryn.

Notes

After a drink like that, it's hard to consider the bar visit as anything other than as a failure. Disappointment was the color of my energy. However, there was a fairly legit band playing in the back, which we watched play for a few songs. I've talked about how much fun live music is in a few of these reviews, but it really did soothe my spirit to just rock out for a bit while I tried to forget my drinking experience. The 311 Club is grimy and scuzzy and dirty (maybe too dirty), all the things you want from a cheap rock and roll venue, so some loud redneck music was welcome. Would I ever return here? I'm a forgiving guy in general, but it's hard to shake the memories of bad service and colonies of floating insects in your whiskey. There are plenty of other bars to go to on Sixth.