#166: Gnar Bar

The Bar

Gnar Bar. 219 E 6th St, Austin, TX 78701

Visited 12/12/20 @ 9:30pm.

The Drink

Method Mule. Ketel One cucumber mint vodka, ginger beer, lime. $7.

Yet another one of the drinks that I have developed a permanent allergy to ever since the incident at Unbarlievable. As Moscow Mules go this one was done right, but ever since being forced to drink a half-gallon of Mule I just can't bring myself to write much more about this now-hateful cocktail. It's a good value for what it is, so if you like Moscow Mules, you will like this. 

360 Turndown. Dripping Springs gin, blackberry liqueur, lemon juice, agave syrup. $9.

I enjoyed my second drink much more, although I foolishly did not manage to get a picture of it due to all the excitement happening. Lemon and blackberry is a winning flavor combination, and this was the downscale/affordable version of the similar lemon blackberry cocktail I got at Drop Kick, minus the Solerno blood orange liqueur. A little sweet, a little tart, a lot of gin - this is a great drink at a great price.

The Crew

Aaron.

Notes

I found out about this place due to an insider tip from the bartender at Devil May Care. Gnar Bar replaced Chuggin' Monkey fairly recently; they'd been open barely a month when I visited. Despite Austin's strict rules for historical preservation limiting what they could do with the layout of the interior, I was very impressed with how they'd spruced up the place: the grime of 15 years of college students been sandblasted away and replaced with skateboards everywhere, in keeping with the new owners' "Ride Eat Drink Destroy" BMX/action sports aesthetic (the first word of the bar's name is of course short for "gnarly"). The multiple levels still offer plenty of room to gather with your drinking crew, and the outdoor patio is still the same old quasi-oasis, where you can escape the noise of the inside yet never be too far from your next round. The highlight of my visit was watching the incredible end of LSU @ Florida (I've been watching college football my whole life and I've never seen a game changed so dramatically by a shoe) and doing a round of shots with the owner to celebrate.