#66: Jackalope

The Bar

Jackalope. 404 E 6th St, Austin, TX 78701

Visited 3/29/17 @ 10:30pm.

The Drink

Sake bomb. Ace pear cider, sake. $4.

I think this might have been my very first sake bomb ever, meaning a beer or cider with a shot of sake. I've had plenty of boilermakers (beer with whiskey) and Irish car bombs (also known as "peacemakers" at Trinity Hall in Dallas, due to historical baggage, but they're Jameson and Bailey's with Guinness either way) before, but I can't say I've ever had a sake bomb. As with all drink + shot combinations, its true value lies not in the flavor of the drink but in the performance of the drinking, so as a group we engaged in that time-honored ritual of a chug-off. Judging by the appreciative reaction from the rest of the patrons around us, we managed to fulfill our duties as the entertainment du jour - even more so after one of us (I won't use his name, but it starts with "V" and is spelled the same as "Vince") claimed he didn't realize when we were starting and demanded a rematch. Spoiler alert: he didn't win that time either. But it was worth it, because it turns out that the combination of cider and sake is actually pretty good, with the cider's sweetness mellowing the bite of the sake. Our bartender picked it perfectly.

The Crew

Vince, Davis, Aaron.

Notes

As weird as this sounds, in what most be almost a half-dozen trips to Jackalope, this was the first time I ever went there solely to drink. I've mainly known Jackalope for their food, which is excellent - their massive NY style slices of pizza, their gargantuan burgers, and their truly excellent waffle fries. Seriously, just look at these beauties. I've always thought that waffle fries are the best fries, due to the high surface-to-area ratio for maximum flavor. I respect those that prefer steak fries, even though their lower surface-to-area means that the double-frying has to be done right, and the underlying quality of the potato has to be higher since there's less room to hide behind tricks of dip or seasoning. There's just something great about the more complex structure of the waffle fry, which gives you more exciting angles to dip from, as well as a more interesting eating strategy. You'll never be bored with a plate of waffle fries, and one order of them here is easily enough for two people, or even more if you get the waffle fry nachos.

In, uh, other news, Jackalope has a pretty cool interior. Besides the gigantic statue of a jackalope right in front of the entrance, which has the drunken photo op upside without the downside of the mechanical bull mishap like you'd find at Trophy Club. There's also a ton of pinup art on the walls, just like you'd find at their sister bar Chupacabra up the street. Pinup art is cool, it brings a fun atmosphere to the bar without the weird overtones of a breastaurant like Bikini's, and given all the other goofy illuminated or stuffed items over the ancient brick walls, it fits right in. The crowd is also a bit different than your typical Destination: Wasted crew. After you spend enough time on Dirty Sixth, the seemingly subtle differences between what look like identical barfronts become as bright as roadside flares, some guiding you to high-dollar cocktails, others directing you to cheap shots, others pointing you to waffle fries and sake bombs. Don't miss this place.