#233: Medusa

The Bar

Medusa. 706 W 6th St, Austin, TX 78701

Visited 6/19/2026 @ 9:30pm.

The Drink

Green tea shot. Jameson whiskey, peach schnapps, sweet & sour. $5.

Even though even a great shot can only be so good, as a general rule, after adjusting for the form factor and grading on the appropriate curve, this was a great shot. Preceded by its three cousins at Lux, Voodoo Room, and Bijou Lounge, this was the fourth green tea shot I'd been served so far; the fifth if you count the full-sized version I got at Soho Lounge. I've talked before about using certain drinks as "standard candles" in order to compare bars to each other, and though this is often not possible given the wide variance between bars, despite minor differences from bar to bar (much like real standard candles), the green tea shot is as good a contender as any, barely behind the trusty gin and tonic, since it's a simple shot that's really hard to mess up even compared to other shots. Jameson did well when they invented it! 

One fun benefit of using shots as standard candles is that I've noticed for some reason that there has been much less inflation in shot prices than in other drink types like cocktails. I got a green tea shot at Lux in February 2017 for $5, and almost a full decade later it is still nominally $5, or $3.64 in 2017 money - a full 27% cheaper! Maybe shot deals are just unusually sticky for psychological reasons, or maybe it's just a cosmic anchor (Bijou Lounge had the gall to charge $8 for this shot in 2020 and now they are out of business, hmm), but either way it's much appreciated in this ever-changing world in which we're living. To be clear, I don't recommend switching to drinking only shots when going out, but unlike your doctor, your accountant might not object to your strategy. Lil Jon certainly wouldn't mind.

The Crew

Aaron.

Notes

My second stop of the night. Add Medusa to the list of bars I only found out about by physically walking past on the way to another bar. It replaced WYLD about a month ago, which itself replaced Brew Exchange back in 2020. I'm not sure what happened to WYLD, as it seemed to be plugging along as recently as March of last year, but such is life on Sixth Street. Medusa is not related to the old Medusa's that was located on Dirty Sixth back in the 90s, instead being a new venture attempting to bring some of the Latin dance club vibe you see at places like Mala Vida or Mala Fama to West Sixth, which does not currently have that exact type of dance club. As I was the only patron there for some reason, I was able to chat with the bartender for a long time about what it meant to have a more Hispanic-oriented bar on this stretch of Sixth, and how places like Medusa might differ from the other new Mexican bars like Chupito's on Dirty Sixth, to say nothing of the older stalwarts like Cisco's or La Perla on East Sixth. As we were discussing the sadly-departed Rabbit's Lounge that sits in the building now occupied by Whisler's, it was worth reflecting on how while patrons make the bar, bars also shape their patrons, and it's conceivable that Medusa might carve its own place into the history books someday if everything works out. Here's hoping.