[Adam Moroz Photography]

The first thing you see when you walk into Drink.Well in Austin’s North Loop neighborhood is a brick wall covered in a graffiti-styled image of Superman and Wonder Woman. With its warm wood paneling and black concrete bar top, “Drink.Well has always reminded me of a slightly nicer Brooklyn dive bar,” says owner Jessica Sanders. She opened Drink.Well with her husband in 2012 with a vision to build a neighborhood bar that also serves excellent cocktails (she’s since taken over full ownership). “There was this idea that, to have a neighborhood bar, you couldn’t have a true cocktail program,” says Sanders. “And bars that were very much cocktail bars lacked the approachability and camaraderie you would get from a neighborhood bar.”

The drink list changes seasonally and carries a conversational tone, focusing on flavors rather than ingredients. “Instead of walking in and you have no idea what anything on the page is, you’re more empowered to order a drink that’s out of your comfort zone,” says Sanders. Like a true neighborhood bar, Drink.Well fills up with regulars from the North Loop neighborhood, “everyone from the 21-year-old who’s new to cocktails, to people in their 70s,” says Sanders. Unlike upscale cocktail bars in downtown Austin, the vibe here is casual and homey—flip flops are welcomed.

That casual comfort extends to the cocktail menu. Summer is tiki season—“one of my passion points is pulling off really good tiki drinks that use spirits other than rum,” says Sanders. Try the Ocean City Swizzle ($12), inspired by summers that Sanders spent on the Jersey Shore. “It has all the touchpoints of a tiki cocktail, but it’s more on the savory side,” says Sanders.

“We don’t shy away from saying we’re a cocktail bar, we just happen to be in a neighborhood space,” says Sanders. “But that shouldn’t change the quality of the products were offering.”

 

[Adam Moroz Photography]

Ocean City Swizzle

1.5 oz Plymouth Gin

3/4 oz Chareau Aloe Liqueur

3/4 oz Fresh Pineapple Juice

1/2 oz Fresh Lemon Juice

1/4 oz Suze

1/2 oz Orgeat

Pinch of Sea Salt

 

Swizzle with crushed ice in a tiki mug and pack the mug with additional crushed ice. Garnish with two pineapple fronds and saltwater taffy on a skewer (optional).

 

Drink.Well

207 E. 53rd Street

Austin, TX 78751

512-614-6683