#199: Marlow

The Bar

Marlow. 700 E 6th St, Austin, TX 78701

Visited 8/2/2024 @ 7:30pm.

The Drink

Angel w/ a Shotgun. Ford's gin, sake, black sesame, grapefruit, lemon, pho spices, sakura. $15.

After the tasty but filling burger we just had at NADC Burger, a dessert-ish cocktail hit the spot. Every so often I will drink a cocktail that I change my mind about halfway through. This was one of their house specialty cocktails, which I generally have had great luck with whenever a bartender recommends one (they're specialties for a reason!). This one didn't really land with me until I was deep into the back half of it, when all of the more subtle flavors - Ford's gin, sake, sakura (which means cherry blossom) - finally coalesced into something I enjoyed rather than merely ingested. As indicated by the sakura ingredient, the name of the drink appears to be some kind of anime reference, which is apt given the Japanese theme of the drink. Periodically on this project I'll have a fleeting thought that I wish I had stuck to a standard gin and tonic or something else super basic, for ease of comparison if nothing else, but bartenders serve me just what I need enough of the time that I'm glad that I've stuck resolutely to Dealer's Choice. Plus, this is really just a fancy gin and tonic anyway, although not with the typical G&T's price tag like I would have gotten at Waller Ballroom. 

The Crew

Elijah, Aaron.

Notes

The second visit of the night was a new discovery to me. The opening of a new bar is always cause for celebration at this blog, but sometimes the pleasant introduction of a new bar involves the sad discovery that a previous bar has closed. Marlow replaces Edwin's, which was apparently a COVID casualty, which had in turn replaced Waller Ballroom. While the preceding two names honored Edwin Waller, signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence and most importantly Austin's first mayor, Marlow breaks the pattern: rather than being Waller's middle name or something, the new name honors the owner's daughter, which is a charming touch. I have always known the bars in this space as concert venues and nightlife bars; the new owner evidently has plans to make it cozier and a bit more West Sixth-like, which is just fine with me. Marlow is one of the properties owned by Stream Realty, which has ambitious plans to make this stretch of Dirty Sixth a bit less scuzzy, and from the looks of it they've gotten ahead of the game. When we visited the evening rush had not yet begun, so we had time to chat with the other patrons and the bartender, which was a welcome surprise on a Friday night. We had a good chat about Bangladesh, which I'd visited back in 2019, enjoyed our drinks, and then headed on out.