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XL Cover Story: Drink your dinner

XL's 'Girl Walks Into a Bar' columnist visits a handful of Austin watering holes that also happen to be restaurants

By By Moira Muldoon | Photos by Aubrey Edwards
July 14, 2005

Tired of going to the same places for a Friday drink? Looking for something new? Looking for someplace where you can order a refreshing drink and perhaps a nibble?

Me too. Some restaurants around town include great bars, worthy of drinking in, not only while waiting for a table, but also just because they're good places to sip -- comfortable, convivial, even aesthetically pleasing.


Do�a Emilia's bartender Codi Stone may not be able to make your churrasco steak, but she can fill your drink order.

Below, from left, Maria Tran, Llana Boren, Ketzia Menkhus, April White and Rachel McDaniel make a toast at the seafood restaurant 7, where you can order a Lucky No 7, at right, which has citrus vodka, pomegranate juice and prosecco.

That minty fresh taste? It's from Do�a Emilia's mojito.

At Kenichi, it's not just raw fish that's appealing, as Alex Williams and David Curtiss, above, can attest. At left are the Kenichi 'Tini, the Sake Sangria and the True Blue.

At Vivo, drinks such as the prickly pear margaritas above are garished with orchids.

Vivo's bar area, where Cenaida Rinco and Sterling Hall are lounging, has a pair of leather love seats and a rustic coffee table.

I've gathered information on fun restaurant bars and classic restaurant bars -- and even one caf�/meeting center/spa facility sort of bar that's not really a bar but a great unexpected place to have a drink -- in the hope of offering you, dear readers, options when you're trying to decide where to go.

We couldn't get every great restaurant bar into this feature; some we're saving for features coming later; some good places we skipped because most people seemed to prefer to eat in the bar area rather than just drink there and perhaps nibble (Roaring Fork), and some because I'd written about them several times before in one fashion or another (the V Lounge at Eddie V's had its very own "Girl Walks into a Bar" column entry, for example). Here, then, is an eclectic list of eight good restaurant bars -- classic, new or unexpected -- we'd like to recommend to you. Chin-chin.

Sullivan's Steakhouse

300 Colorado St., 495-6504

Before traipsing to the Alamo for the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" musical episode singalong, a friend and I girded up by downing a drink at Sullivan's Steakhouse. Here, the theme is the 1940s: the stylized murals feature men with hats and women in dresses even Rita Hayworth would deem Gilda-worthy. Live jazz every day (duos Sunday-Wednesday, trios Thursday-Saturday) creates a supper-club ambience. Waiters wear long white aprons tied at the waist -- we could watch them serving in the restaurant from our spot at the bar and were alternately terrified and fascinated by one waiter's apron that was so long we were afraid he'd trip.

One of the great advantages of having a drink in a nice restaurant is the wine. Sullivan's regularly stocks about 3,000 bottles and its wine-by-the-glass list is strong -- as are its bourbon and cognac lists. I was tempted by the glass of 2001 Edge cabernet from Napa, but eventually went with a Manhattan served up. If we'd been in on a Thursday, we could have had $5 martinis -- and half-price on the bar menu. If we'd had more time before our movie, we could've headed into Ringside, Sullivan's live music, dance-if-you-wanna cigar lounge, open only on Fridays and Saturdays. But instead I drank my Manhattan. And then I left, to sing along with a soft-shoe-ing demon in a zoot suit, a slayer feeling zestless and a leather-clad vamp in love with his nemesis.

Trudy's Texas Star Restaurant and Bar

409 W. 30th St., 477-2935

Who can resist a Mexican martini? Actually, if you want to keep your wits about you, resisting that martini may be in order. Ah, Trudy's. Summer nights. Khaki shorts. The end of exams, the new promotion, the birthday, the drinks after a day on the boat or running a marathon (seriously, I saw that once). All-day happy hour on Mondays. Chips and salsa and burgers on the deck or in the downstairs bar to staunch the effects of the Mexican martini. Those deadly deadly Mexican martinis. (Legend has it they'll cut you off if you try to order more than two. I've never tried more than one.) Established in 1977, Trudy's stays open till 2 a.m. -- at least in the bar area. I think most people I know have closed it down at least once -- draft beer, full bar, margaritas round out the beverage options -- and suffered the consequences. So close to the UT campus and all that is central Austin, Trudy's is low-key and full of people, some eating, some drinking, nearly all making merry. Plus, with locations down south and up north, merriness can be had all over town.

Vivo

2015 Manor Road, 482-0300

Iam, at this moment, smelling a long-stemmed yellow rose. I've just come from Vivo. The Eastside hot spot offers a lovely deck full of brightly colored plants. But quite frankly, it's too hot to sit outside, and no amount of water -- misted, drunk, poured directly over your head -- can cool the body down enough. Fortunately, Vivo has an inside drinking area. A dozen chairs line the bar, a quartet of tall tables provide plenty of room to nosh, and a pair of large brown leather loveseats complement an ottoman or two and low wooden rustic coffee table. Instead of tropical flowers, vivid paintings of vibrant women match the colors of patrons' margaritas, which come in strawberry, raspberry, mango and prickly pear flavors, along with the more traditional lime. Of course, drinking at Vivo can be expensive: the house margarita is $8.95 (for $21.95 you can have a liter to share with friends-- or daintily sip a small for $4.95), and all 'ritas (except the small ones) come with a orchid in them as garnish -- a gesture so extravagant and gorgeous you forget you've paid $10 for your drink. But flowers are clearly the theme: The sinks in the women's bathroom are filled with ice cubes and rose petals are sprinkled across them -- an artistic loveliness that's replenished every hour and half or so. And each woman, whether she comes for a meal or just a drink, leaves with a long-stemmed rose.

Do�a Emilia's

101 San Jacinto Blvd., 478-2520

It says something that my largely teetotaling, largely early to bed, very good friend stayed up with us and a pitcher of caipirinhas until the bar closed. Do�a Emilia's, the South American restaurant serving delightful way-south-of-the-border cuisine (I love me some fried plantains) has an entire bar upstairs called the Atrium. Live music with Latin flavors ranging from tango and flamenco to rock and cumbia provide a backdrop to conversation and caipirinhas, the Brazilian drink made with cacha�a, muddled limes, and I'd swear some kind of demonfire that leads to dancing on tables later on in the night (not that I know anything about that).

The Atrium is a white square, bar in the center, and seats about 100. Fiber optic lights -- changing, brightly colored fiber optic lights -- run from the small downstairs bar up to the Atrium, where patrons can avail themselves of the same full menu offered in the main restaurant. Including, on Mondays-Fridays, half-price appetizers, $2.50 margaritas, $2.50 Latin beers and $2.50 well drinks. The videoteca audiovisual lounge experience -- VJs, music videos light shows -- is on hiatus right now, so the pair of TVs are mostly used for sporting events, news, etc., including Tour de Lance action. Plus the whole place is wireless: you can drink and e-mail all at once, an invariably excellent plan.

The Crossings

13500 RM 2769, 258-7243

Which of these things is not like the others? Which of these things is not quite the same? Clearly, the Crossings, the spa and wellness facility north and west of Austin. It's not a restaurant, though it has a restaurant, and it's not a bar, though you can buy beer. But in the spirit of places you might not have thought of to have a drink . . . it has an infinity-edge pool with a view of Lake Travis, and when a friend invited me to join her for an afternoon of swimming and beer, I couldn't resist, especially as she covered my $20 day pass (that fee is waived if you're having a spa treatment done). We bought chips and beer in the caf�, poured our libations into paper cups, wrapped ourselves in spa robes and special spa flip flops and headed out to the pool.

I swim regularly at the University of Texas, which houses one of the world's great pools; I've swum at St. Ed's, Big Stacy, Deep Eddy, Barton Springs, Decker Lake, Rollingwood and Circle C and I'm just back from two weeks in some of the Caribbean's best resorts (though I admit, I was in the ocean far more than the pool). But the Crossings pool is the prettiest one of all. Pop your clear goggles on, stick your head underwater and admire the crisp blueness that surprises with its serenity. Pop your head back up, stretch out across the infinity edge, admire the view of the Lake Travis, then swim over to your beer. It was too hot to do real laps (the water was 90 degrees), but frolicking worked fine, especially when followed by a dip in the cold pool -- 54 degrees. Oof. That'll make you scream like a girl.

7

1716 S. Congress Ave., 383-8877

Occasionally, when we go someplace cool, my mother will look at me and say, "Don't you dare write about this place and let the world know about it." That's kind of how I feel about 7, the new bar attached to the seafood restaurant of the same name. I like it on the quiet side, but the service is excellent and the wine list is small, fun, varying and offers most wines by the glass (hurrah!). Plus something about that cornflower blue interior makes me sea-like-ly happy (it's officially "Phillipsburg Blue"). Best of all, it stays open late, so if you're on South Congress Avenue and the Hotel San Jos� bar closes and you're not ready to go home yet, you can slide into 7's banquettes, order from the full bar and fun wine list, and even munch on something like fish and chips, one of three salads, risotto and crayfish cakes. And you can order up till 1 a.m. on Saturday nights and midnight during the rest of the week. Happy hour is weekdays from 4 to 6:30 p.m. -- $2 drafts, $4 wells -- for those wishing for libation prior to a show at the Continental Club or a drink after a day of poking about the South Congress shops. And did I mention that the blue and white color scheme paired with curvy contours makes me happy?

Kenichi

419 Colorado St., 320-8883

The couple of times I've stuck my head into the chic clothing store By George, I've ended up saying, "Gosh, this is gorgeous, but where would I wear it?" The answer: Kenichi. The upscale sushi restaurant has traditionally nurtured a lively bar scene, with willowy bodies wandering through the tall steel "tables," the tops of which comprise slightly more than a square foot set on four long thin legs -- they're almost spidery chic. Despite its bargains on sushi and rolls during happy hour, early evening seems less popular than late night -- the bar is open until about 10 or 10:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and about midnight Friday and Saturday -- and while some bar patrons drink while waiting for tables, others show up just for a drink or perhaps a bit of a flirt. Twenty or so sakes are served, and at least that many young, attractive people may make eye contact with you. (They also have a full bar, solid wine list and some nonflirters too.) One Friday night around 10, we had to wedge our bodies into the bar area to get drinks, though we had no trouble finding a place to stand and watch gorgeous platters of fish wander by. Hard to say which made for better viewing: the food or the clothes.

Starlite

624 W. 34th St., 374-9012

They make drinks with roses in them. OK, one drink called the Lithuanian Rose, and it's not exactly rose petals, more like rose preserve, but the idea still got me excited enough to order it. Made also with Stoli vanilla, sugar and Meyer lemons (yummy Meyer lemons), it smelled a little like a birthday cake and was slightly too sweet for my whiskey-loving self. But it sure was cool to order a drink with roses (the waitress even brought out a little of the jam for me to taste separately with bread). The pomegranate cocktail (pomegranate nectar, amaretto, Absolut Mandarin) was fantastic. And we drank them on the porch, watching a big table of sophisticatedly dressed people celebrate a birthday, and reveling in the neighborhood-y feel: For just a few more weeks, Starlite is on 34th Street between Lamar Boulevard and Guadalupe Street -- then it moves to the old Crimson building in the Warehouse District, where the drinks will mostly stay the same, even though the space will change (and the bar actually get bigger). So stick your head in, find yourself an elegant, rose-petaled cocktail, say goodbye to the lovely porch, and anticipate what's to come.

Mars Restaurant and Bar

1610 San Antonio St., 472-3901

Red and intimate. A handful of tables, a short shelf along a wall, a full bar and waitstaff service, Mars invites. (Plus, since I've been watching "Firefly," the short-lived Joss Whedon interplanetary post-"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" series, I took real pleasure in going off-planet myself. Do try to contain your guffaws.) Seriously, I've been in a couple of times to chat with girlfriends over a Marstini (Absolut Citron, Grand Marnier and a lemon twist) or Martian (raspberry bellini) or wine or bourbon. The Pacific Rim food smells good and looks delectable as it passes us by, but we like chatting over dim lamplight and red and black d�cor and consuming tasty beverages, even if we've never made the 5 to 7 p.m. Monday-Friday happy hour specials. That's OK; the intimate seating arrangement -- 25 people would be quite a crowd -- encourages lovely conversation: how to change careers, for example, or what it means to take risks in writing and in life. Or where to acquire hip new glasses and official geek status for wanting to see the "Firefly" movie sneak previews.