#196: Tiki 311

The Bar

Tiki 311. 311 E 6th St, Austin, TX 78701

Visited 12/21/2023 @ 6pm.

The Drink

Mai Tai. Appleton Estate Signature rum, Kuleana Huihui rum, Grand Marnier, almond orgeat, lime juice. $12.

Now this is a Mai Tai. Part of the drink's charm is that Trader Vic's didn't publish its recipe for several decades in an attempt to prevent knockoffs, thus ironically guaranteeing that all of the inevitable knockoffs would be a little bit different and potentially even more popular than their own. One good way to make a cocktail popular is make it strong; all of the Sixth Street versions of the Mai Tai I've been served have had multiple rums, and Tiki 311's rendition is no different. Appleton Estate Signature rum gets solid reviews for its mild smoothness, while Kuleana Huihui is a higher-proof mix of several different rums, making it the rum equivalent of a blended whiskey. Toss in some Grand Marnier, and this was an excellent Mai Tai, especially for the price, although as always I would have preferred a tiny bit less ice. This was either the 3rd or the 5th Mai Tai that I've been served so far, depending on how you count some similar drinks, and my favorite of the lot.

We also had a round of their Zombie cocktail to accompany our garlic shrimp plates, both of which were also delicious. I think I actually slightly preferred the Zombie over the Mai Tai, but both were great.

The Crew

Kason, Misty, Aaron, Travis (not pictured).

Notes

A dive bar to tiki bar conversion would ordinarily be a generally regarded as yet another sad step on the relentless road of gentrification, but not this time! Not to dance on a bar's grave, but I will shed no tears for the closure of The 311 Club, given their habit of putting bugs in my whiskey, although according to the comments on their later posts the employees may have gotten screwed by some sort of sudden sale and closure way back in 2017. The building itself appears to have lain fallow until earlier this year, when it became the newest member of the Bucks bar family (they evidently had trouble fitting the name into the established naming scheme of Two Bucks, Buck Wild, Buck Shot; oh well). It is a vast improvement on the previous occupant even aside from the lack of bugs in my drink; the decor is better, the vibe is more welcoming, the staff is MUCH friendlier, and they even have some awesome food (don't miss the garlic shrimp plate). Their sole blemish might be that they're a Dolphins bar for some reason, but no matter - this is a dramatic upgrade no matter how you look at it.