#157: The Belmont

The Bar

The Belmont. 305 W 6th St, Austin, TX 78701

Visited 6/12/20 @ 7:30pm.

The Drink

Music City Mule. Maker's Mark whiskey, ginger brew, lime. $7.

Of COURSE the very next bar after Unbarlievable would recommend almost exactly the same drink that made me swear off Moscow Mules entirely. Lightning strikes, not once but twice. This gave me a real moral dilemma, since it's one of my rules that I always the bartender which drink best symbolizes the bar - do I ask them to try again, even though they've given me dealer's choice? Or do I gag down another rendition of the horrible concoction that gave me a permanent distaste for ginger beer just 2 weeks ago? Since the bartender had no way of knowing he was triggering the alcoholic equivalent of PTSD, I let it stand and drank what he made me. This version had whiskey instead of vodka, which was different enough that it was merely unpleasant instead of unbearable, and if I hadn't been suffering from booze flashbacks, it would have been a fine Mule variant on its own due to Maker's Mark being a pretty solid bar whiskey. This is the 8th version of a Moscow Mule I've been served so far, and hopefully the last.

The Crew

Aaron.

Notes

I had known The Belmont as an entertainment venue (a friend of mine had their wedding reception there, they do SXSW and regular concert shows, etc) and not as a bar, so I had marked it off my Sixth Street Complete list, since another rule of mine for this project is that you have to be able to wander into a place and just order a drink without having to buy a ticket or something. Well, desperate times make for flexible business models, so The Belmont had just decided to pivot to being a regular bar when we were walking by and saw a chalkboard notice saying that they were open for business. Alright!

I've already talked enough about the perception of West Sixth bars, so I won't rehash those here; given that The Belmont had only been open as a regular bar for like a week, it remains to be seen how it finds its place as a regular nightlife spot. But it has plenty of room to be a real megabar if it wants to be one. since between the interior, outdoor patio, and rooftop area it must have capacity for about a thousand people. We were the only people there at the outset of Friday night, but I can see this venue eventually providing a valuable link between the bar cluster that tapers off after Devil May Care/Maiko and the one that begins around the intersection with Congress.