Drinking ON OUR RADAR


s The Townsend ttttt The venue’s recent overhaul


includes star power (Dushan Zaric from NYC’s famed Employees Only is now executive beverage director) and a slew of brand-new cocktails worth their $13 price tags. Categorized by the bartenders who invented each drink, the menu lists Zaric’s the Billionaire Cocktail (bourbon, pomegranate grenadine, lemon and absinthe bitters) along with a fantastic Mr. Sinatra—rye, spiced chai vermouth, yellow Chartreuse— from principal bartender Brian Bounds. à 718 Congress Ave, suite #100 (512-887- 8778, thetownsendaustin.com)


d Vigilante ttttt Gaming geeks, take note: If


playing Settlers of Catan or Dominion with a craft beer in hand is your idea of a wild Saturday night, consider Vigilante your new go-to. With custom-made tables featuring food, drink and card holders, plus a service call button and a switch that invites other gamers to join your table, it’s enough to make you want to move in forever. The rotating beer list stocked with local brewers and seasonal suds means everyone’s a winner. à 7010 Easy Wind Dr (512-538-1516, vigilantebar.com)


d Barrr ttttt Austin has a mild obsession with Yeti, so it’s only right that the cooler company’s new South Congress Avenue flagship location has a legitimate bar built into its store. Barrr— no, that’s not a typo— offers a patio where drinkers can sip beer (like the Fire Eagle IPA), wine, micheladas and a few nonboozy picks. Hungry? There isn’t bar food, per se, but you can purchase jerky and Cheeto puffs to snack on. à 220 South Congress Ave (512-640-7249, yeti.com/flagship)


KNOW YOUR BARTENDER


Sharon Yeung


Head bartender, the Roosevelt Room à 307 W 5th St (512-494-4094, therooseveltroomatx.com)


What do you love most about working downtown? We get a lot of out-of-towners, and most of the time they’re not used to the type of service we provide. I like to coax people into having something they’ve never tried. It brings a lot of joy to me when they end up loving their drink and they’re like, “Oh, my God, I’m going to start trying more gin, even though I was never a gin person.”


What sets Austin’s cocktail culture apart from other cities right now?


Time Out Austin May 11–August 16, 2017


Our bar community is small and tight-knit, and we all 32


love bouncing ideas off of each other. We encourage each other to grow. It has this light, friendly competitiveness as well, but we’re all homies.


Any bars you’re really into at the moment? I love the whole staff at Péché (208 W 4th St; 512-494-4011, pecheaustin.com). They’re really creative, even as individuals, and their service is always above and beyond. I also frequent the Aristocrat Lounge (6507 Burnet Rd; 512-363- 5288), which is a dive bar. It’s dark and dingy, but sometimes you need that.


What’s your foolproof hangover cure? Oh, that’s easy: a giant bowl of pho, Gatorade and two ibuprofen. ■ Erin Kuschner


PHOTOGRAPHS (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT): COURTESY THE TOWNSEND/SJ REID PHOTOGRAPHY; GEOFF DUNCAN; ALEX MILLER; COURTESY VIGILANTE


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