In the old warehouse district of downtown Austin, you’ll find what I call Little Dallas. Although our sushi chef said “It’s not that bad”, he did pause for moment. Taco, our chef at the sushi bar inside of Imperia, thought about it for a moment and mentioned that we still have the capital and a strong live music scene. Dallas will never have that! But they are invading, as well as 10 thousand+ people moving in from east and west.
This rapid rise in population is actually the middle and upper class. Apparently the rest of the nation is suffering a loss of middle class, but here in Austin I’ve seen a rise in upper and middle class. What used to be a downtown warehouse district, which sat defunct for years and was actually a sketchy place to hang out, is now home to high class bars and restaurants.
But it’s here that you’ll find some of the freshest nigiri sushi in Austin! We sampled some Hamache (Yellowtail), Sake (Salmon), Unagi (Eel), and Red Snapper (Tai). For drink it was hot Lychee Sake and it was spot on! Plus, the environment was great. Our server was a crisp girl with dreads and an expensive full sleeve of tattoo work. And our chef at the sushi bar was an Austin native named Taco. Thankfully it was still Austin, even if the street was decorated like Dallas.
Just over to the east, about six blocks, you’ll find the 6th street area. The infamous stumbling strip of clubs and hole-in-the-wall bars has not been phased by the new growth of Austin population. It still gets as packed as ever and is engulfed in the sounds of live music jumping from club entrances. Even when it was a little big city, it was still the spot to drink.
One of the first drinking holes, just past congress, is Buffalo Billiards. But this isn’t the usual dark drinking hole. It’s full of pool tables, shuffleboard tables, and plenty of light. The buildings facade is a large amount of glass window, more than running the length of a shuffleboard table. People walking down sixth street are given a view of the first shuffleboard table’s action, and tonight we were on the spotlight!
