BAR REVIEW: Nickel City
As much as I downplay other Texas cities' culinary scenes when compared to Houston (which is BY FAR the best in the state when it comes to food and drink), I'll begrudgingly admit that Austin (Uchi/Uchiko/Loro, Hopdoddy, Pluckers) and even very occasionally Dallas (Rodeo Goat) have exported some noteworthy spots to our town. Nickel City's original location, just east of downtown Austin on E 11th Street, has won a surprising amount of awards for a neighborhood bar, culminating with an almost nice spot on North America's 100 Best Bars this year (#70).
After considerable delays, the Houston outpost opened in EaDo in 2024 to great fanfare. It's a laid-back bar with lots of reds in the color palate, from the walls to the checkerboard floor. The space is rather cavernous, so even though there were a healthy amount of people in attendance on a Friday night, it didn't feel crowded at all due to the large expanse. Bartenders were quite friendly - one shook my hand on three different occasions for some reason - and exhibited some serious technique when it came to mixology. Due to the casual neighborhood nature I was expecting pretty standard fare as far as cocktails were concerned, but there are actually some really interesting and complex drinks on the menu. The "mixed drinks" section is divided into Well Known, Lesser Known, and Unknown, with the selections becoming more unusual and esoteric the further down that spectrum you venture. There are also highballs, tropical drinks, and a few frozens, shooters, and tap cocktails to go along with a pretty impressive whiskey portfolio ("over 200 choices!", the menu boasts).
If you know me at all, you'll recognize that I jumped right to the Unknown portion of the menu. The amount of ingredients in some of these drinks might make one's head spin. My "Lucky Rabbit" included sarsaparilla-infused Rabbit Hole bourbon, Giffard Banane du Brésil (a French liqueur made with Brazilian bananas), amaro, oleo saccharum (aka lemon syrup), vanilla, cardamom, cream, and "bubbly water", which seems to be included in a lot of items here but I guess is just club soda. I'm not sure what kind of mad scientist-mixologist came up with this concoction, but I'll be damned if it wasn't delicious: plenty of sweetness but a nice bite from the bourbon and some citrus and bitterness from the amaro, plus a bit of tingly carbonation. Essentially this tasted like a boozy banana root beer float... I challenge you to come up with something that sounds more mouthwatering than that. Plus it was topped with a caramelized orange slice for some bonus flavor if you chose to chew on it. This also came with a fun twisty straw and, more importantly, a custom scratch-off lottery ticket that could win prizes if you matched three of the same symbol! Devastatingly, I did not win, and my gambling impulse nearly forced me to order another of the same to try to win that sweet sweet prize (whatever it was), except for the fact that my demanding audience expects me to try more than one beverage, and also that I would never ever order the same thing twice, blog or not.
Next I turned to the Tropical Drinks section for the "Corn N' Oil" (one can't help but think of Guns N' Roses with this syntax), with brown butter-washed Flor de Caña rum, Nixta corn liqueur, sweet vermouth, Lustau Amontillado sherry, roasted corn oleo saccharum, root beer bitters, lemon, and saline. This was not your dad's tiki drink... plenty of that sweet, starchy corn flavor, plus some acidity and a hint of saltiness, inexplicably served in a branded coffee mug (???), which apparently you can keep for $12 if you're so inclined (I was not). They really mined the Hispanic alcohol diaspora here, with liquors from Spain, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Pretty interesting cocktail, though I'm probably going to stick to The Toasted Coconut if I want tropical beverages.
A marquee over the bar indicated that there was a competition with the Austin and Dallas branches over which one served the most highballs, so we had to contribute to the cause. "Karaoke Knife Fight" was a backup choice after the exquisitely-named "Pandanmonium" was not available, but it ended up being a very solid alternative. It was composed of cherry-infused Iichiko Saiten (a modern sochu), Luxardo Maraschino, Velvet Falernum (a syrup liqueur that is similar to orgeat but with more spice), lemongrass, mango, and more of that bubbly water that seems to pop up everywhere at Nickel City. As you might imagine, this was quite cherry-forward, sweeter than your typical highball, but a bit more complex as well with ginger notes and some grassy undertones. I often find highballs a bit dull, but this was probably the second best one I've ever had.
A quick sentence about one of the shooters... "Mexican Candy" was a festive mixture of tequila, Aperol, watermelon shrub, chamoy, and Tajín around the rim. Spicy watermelon is a combination that absolutely should be used in more drinks, because it works so well together (Prairie's Spicy Watermelon Girlfriend is a beer that utilizes this exact amalgamation to great success), and tequila is the perfect pairing to round it out. The beer selection was not much to write home about, but the whiskey list was quite impressive, including several Nickel City select single barrel options. I didn't order any food, but their in-house Delray Cafe served pretty yummy-sounding bar bites at quite reasonable prices.
Overall, while I always prefer a Houston-based establishment, I'm pretty happy that this Austin bar made its way to our city. Relaxed, but with seriously impressive cocktails, I would certainly return again, even if it takes 30 minutes to get there from my house.
RANKING UPDATE: I'm doing a bit of a revamp to my Houston Drinking Guide, as I felt that having all cocktail bars lumped into a catch-all top 20 wasn't really fair or representative. Therefore, I am going to create new categories to stratify things a bit better (Fancy, Mid-Range, Casual, and Dive), while still keeping an overall top list to cross-compare. Nickel City jumps right in at #4 in the Best Casual Cocktail Bars list, and #17 on the overall Best Cocktail Bars rankings.
Casual Cocktail Bars:
- Better Luck Tomorrow
- Johnny’s Gold Brick
- Wooster’s Garden
- Nickel City
- Jethro’s
- Eight Row Flint
- Double Trouble Caffeine & Cocktails
- Heights & Co.
- EZ’s Liquor Lounge
- Loose Cannon
The other lists will be revealed soon!
NEXT UP: A new-school Montrose Tex-Mex establishment with allegedly killer margaritas.
ALSO! I am now including this obnoxious sign-up banner at the bottom of new posts, in case it was too difficult to subscribe through the home page. And I PROMISE I am going to have a new name for the site very soon, like no later than the next (summer) Olympics.