#73: The Lodge

The Bar

The Lodge. 411 E 6th St, Austin, TX 78701

Visited 4/20/17 @ 1:30am.

The Drink

Pickleback shot. Jameson, pickle juice. $5.

What this country needs is a really good $5 pickleback. Unlike the unfathomably overpriced edition we received at The Library, The Lodge's version came in at a mere five bucks, a boon to all the budget-conscious shot-takers out there. I already talked the drink to death so there's not too much else to say about this near-ideal union between whiskey and pickle juice, other than that I still really enjoy them. Evidently there are haters out there somewhere, but I firmly believe that they just need to open their hearts to this two-part shot and savor some brine time.

The Crew

Gary, Stephanie, Aaron.

Notes

I'll be honest, I don't remember much of this stop. I do dimly recall a friendly divey atmosphere, the kind of shabbiness that sits on the comfortable side of the line between homey and tacky. Tons of taxidermy adorn the walls, so they're going for a sort of hunting lodge vibe, as opposed to the "wacky" vibe you get from places like The Jackalope that also do that sort of thing. One moose head is eclectic; several moose heads is a theme. I wonder if that's how all interior design trends start, with one designer finding something he really likes and using it over and over again, turning an eccentric quirk into a theme by sheer dint of repetition. If Piet Mondrian had just drawn some lines and colored blocks once, people would have thought he just didn't know how to make art; but by refusing to stop doing it, he paint-by-numbered his way right into the canon. Same with Andy Warhol and his soup cans: one soup can and you were probably bored and couldn't think of anything interesting to paint; many soup cans, and you surely have something deep and thoughtful to say about society's relationship to the products of consumer capitalism.

In conclusion, any place with reasonably priced drinks will get a thumbs up from me.