from RealClear Books & Culture
Meerkats and Warthogs
At Austin’s Best Dive Bar
A text: “I’m here.”
A volley of additional texts. Finally, my friend and I figured out why we couldn’t find one another. He was idling in the parking lot of my apartment complex, having misinterpreted my original injunction to “meet at back lot,” while I had gone on directly to the aforenamed dive bar.
It’s true. The decidedly unglamorous drinking hole, plopped next to an auto body shop and a feminist witch-themed pole dance studio, is exactly the type of establishment one might mix up with a parking area. Cornered by an expanse of gravel, its faded yellow paint recalls the “millennial mustard” of Buttigieg’s campaign website—and is just as likely overlooked.
But woe to anyone who overlooks it. Back Lot is the best dive bar in Austin, and it’s not even close.