Having attended Fantastic Fest since 2007, it's been amazing to see The Highball evolve. For the first few years, one of the biggest problems facing the fest was the lack of a convenient, on-site location for drinking and socializing. When you have this many movie geeks who can drink this much beer, it is fundamentally unwise to force them to venture outward to accomplish their imbibing. Then in 2009, Alamo founder/operator Tim League purchased a piece of property within the shopping center adjoining Alamo Drafthouse that used to be a Salvation Army. At first, we weren’t sure why, but during Fantastic Fest 5, we were introduced to the wonder that is The Highball.

The Highball is more than a simple watering hole: It is an amazing lounge offering a wealth of beers on tap as well as traditional cocktails, including their own signature infused vodkas. As if that weren’t enough, The Highball also boasts multiple lanes of bowling, private karaoke rooms, full restaurant service and a dance floor. It’s like Chuck E. Cheese if it were run by boozehounds. This simile being especially apt if the aforementioned boozehounds were also the cast of Mad Men. The Highball is decked out in 1960s decorum that runs from the casino-style carpets to the Sputnik-shaped chandeliers. Red and gold prevail throughout the main lobby and the patterns on the chairs and booths are reminiscent of your grandparent’s rec room. One could easily imagine Don Draper sitting at the bar, nursing an expensive scotch.

The Highball’s soft opening was actually during Fantastic Fest in 2009. Thus, the first patrons of the lounge were festival attendees who wandered in. I remember timidly entering the front doors for the first time, not convinced the place was even open. For that week, we owned the place. It was a haven from the blazing Texas heat and the perfect place to unwind after a long day of watching film. We felt like the bar had been built especially for us, and we took no small advantage of its various facilities. We toasted round after round, even as the last ceiling tiles were being installed.

The Highball’s opening also coincided with my first Fantastic Fest as a journalist. Prior to that, I attended merely as a cinephile. Having no concept of the pressures and arduousness of covering a major film festival, I could not have anticipated the saving grace this kitschy throwback saloon would provide—a place with cushy chairs, quiet corner booths and free, reliable wifi. Had it not been for The Highball, I would have written all of my articles on the unforgiving metal picnic tables outside the Drafthouse. What I discovered is that there existed a direct correlation between comfort level while writing and writing productivity. My experience is not at all isolated but instead a microcosm of the overall journalistic advantage of The Highball. Walk through those doors at any point during Fantastic Fest now, and you will find the dining room packed to the rafters with bloggers hard at work.

But The Highball has informed the growth of the festival in much larger ways as well. Prior to its inception, all parties and special events that accompanied the festival had to be held within the confines of the empty theaters of the Drafthouse. This meant waiting until one of the six theaters was free, no small feat considering the number of films shown on a daily basis, and even then, these events could only cater comfortably to a finite number of guests. The Highball has not only allowed for the inclusion of more attendees to these special events, but also given the festival space to expand and refine these events. Karaoke parties that used to involve one old machine hooked haphazardly into the theater’s sound system now boast live band accompaniment and have been dubbed Karaokepocalypse.

In just two years time, The Highball has changed the entire landscape of Fantastic Fest. There is now an incredibly cool place for us to work, to play and to meet new friends. The Alamo Drafthouse continues to utilize the space throughout the year as one of the hippest nightspots in Austin. For those of us who are local, it’s nice to be able to capture a small part of that Fantastic Fest magic year-round. Cheers.