#87: Easy Tiger

The Bar

Easy Tiger. 709 E 6th St, Austin, TX 78701

Visited 7/14/17 @ 7pm.

The Drink

Austin Beerworks Pearl Snap. $5.

I'm mildly surprised at how often this specific beer has been recommended. Not that it's been oppressive or anything, especially given how easy-to-like Pearl Snap is, just that it's notable that this is the beer that all these bars have synchronized on as the one to showcase themselves. Pilseners aren't even the most popular style of craft beer, and wouldn't you need a different beer for the hipster newcomers than for the surly longtime locals? Then again, it did get voted the "official beer of Austin" pretty recently, as you can read in that roundtable (you have to smile at the attempted literature in calling it "a cold-blooded assassin to Austin's ribald summer temperatures and a beer with the boisterous ethos of Texas, with the playful tenor of Austin's vigor"). Personally, I'm not sure I would vote for anything other than a dollar Lone Star special as the official beer of Austin, but maybe I'm just stuck in the past. Regardless, it is undeniably a fine beer for all seasons.

The Crew

Rome, Aaron, Kaylee, Michael, Phil (not pictured), Charles (not pictured).

Notes

Easy Tiger is one of my favorite hangout spots on lazy days. They do just about everything right:

1. Food. They've got an excellent restaurant, with fantastic German-style dishes as well as a top-notch sandwich selection, with massive renditions of classics like the muffaletta or the Reuben. Their bread is superb - even getting a simple side order of bread and butter is satisfying. Try their pretzels. If I worked downtown, their $9 lunch special would tempt me every weekday, and right after that their happy hour specials are great too. Even better, they have a bakery, so you can take their bread home; several restaurants around town use their bread as well.
2. Drinks. The big board up by the bar has a broad array of beers, in nearly any style you'd care for, but they've also got a carefully curated cocktail list with their takes on a few of the classics. I haven't spent a lot of time on their whiskey list, but if you've got to go out drinking with one of those people, it should do the trick.
3. Setup. As we are all aware by now, I'm a big ping pong fan. Easy Tiger has three outdoor tables, and nothing is more fun than to play a few rounds, with rounds of drinks for stakes, right next to Waller Creek with a bench of admirers watching your attempted spin moves. The tables, plus their row seating, plus their indoor air conditioned table service, makes for good options no matter who you're with.
4. Service. I don't know how they manage it, but I've never had a problem getting a beer no matter how many people are crowding the patio. Their servers somehow always know where I am and that I need another Pearl Snap.

Their long-promised north location seems to have run into delays, which is a bummer, but as long as the original maintains its stellar quality, there's nothing to complain about.