where to drink

Where to drink in Austin right now: new happy hours and a pop-up bar

The Well is offering some matcha cocktails (and this mocktail).

From new happy hours to cocktail bar relocations, Austin is buzzing with fun bars, breweries, and distilleries. It can be hard to keep up with what's going on in Austin's bar scene, so we've rounded up the most refreshing releases, events, and news to help Austinites find their next favorite hangout spot or hidden gem cocktail.

New menus and specials

This March is all about matcha at The Well. The farm-to-table restaurant has added four new refreshing beverages to its menu, starting with the Berry Matcha with housemade organic milk and strawberries. Then there's the vanilla and coconut ice cream-based Matcha Milkshake, and the Butterfly Matcha made with housemade lemonade, butterfly pea flower, and agave. The fourth new drink on the menu is The Big 1 smoothie, created in partnership with AG1. The smoothie is made with frozen banana, frozen mango, spinach, and unsweetened coconut and almond milks.

South Austin traditional Mexican restaurantEl Naranjo is celebrating Michoacán all month long with new special menu offerings like the Mangazo, a Charanda and Nixta corn liqueur-based drink with mango puree, homemade chamoy, and agave in a chili-rimmed glass. Pair the Mangazo with the taco del mes (taco of the month) on a homemade corn tortilla topped with salsa verde, onion, cilantro, and lime.

Sports bar Cover 3 recently launched its new Social Hour menu at its Anderson Lane location from 3-7 pm, Mondays through Fridays. Diners can enjoy $4 Karbach Brewing and Ziegenbock beers on draft, $5 house margaritas, $6 cocktails, and $8 wines by the glass from Daou Vineyards. The latter includes a sauvignon blanc, a rosé chardonnay, and a cabernet sauvignon. The restaurant will also offer Social Hour-menu-only dishes for $7 each, which include deviled eggs, Nashville hot chicken sliders, corn ribs, and more. Reserve on OpenTable.

ICYMI: The CultureMap Tastemaker Awards are coming up in April, and we've got a first look at the 8 best local bars that were nominated this year, including Austin fan favorites Kitty Cohen's and The Roosevelt Room. We also learned that Emmer & Rye Hospitality group is shuffling its Spanish restaurant and bar Kalimotxo to a new location and replacing it with a new Hestia Bar. Meanwhile, Texas darling Topo Chico launched its new line of non-alcoholic mixers.

Events and pop-ups

There's still two weekends left in Women's History Month, and Japanese-style cocktail barWatertrade at the South Congress Hotel is celebrating by inviting Austin-based women mixologists and bartenders to take over the bar during the Ladybar pop-up series every Monday in March from 6-9 pm. Keila Cabrera of Sway Westlake and Taylor Burleigh of Tiki Tatsuya will take over on March 18, and Nickel City's Meghan Webb and SCH Lobby Bar's Deborah Johnson will lead the evening on March 25. One dollar for every specialty cocktail made during the Ladybar series will be donated to Safe Alliance. These events are walk-in only, no reservations are required.

Oaxacan-Japanese-inspired speakeasyTrona is celebrating the six-month anniversary of its opening with events throughout March. The bar will host a Fortaleza Tequila takeover beginning at 9 pm on March 20 with specialty cocktails all night long.

Greek Independence Day falls on March 25, and Yamas Greek Restaurant is celebrating with a fundraising campaign beginning March 18 benefiting Greek nonprofit the Hellenic Initiative. For every social media post between March 18-25 featuring a Kástra Elión Vodka specialty cocktail from Yamas, Kástra Elión will make a donation to the Hellenic Initiative to bring awareness for Greek businesses and causes in Greece. Social media posts must tag the vodka brand, the restaurant, and the charity. Reserve on OpenTable.

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Back to the Plow

Homey Austin jam and bake shop closing and returning to farmers market

Confituras/Instagram

Confituras Little Kitchen is closing its brick-and-mortar store, but feeling optimistic about the future.

A famers market find is returning to its natural environment after six years in a brick-and-mortar location. Confituras Little Kitchen, which specializes in locally sourced preserves, is closing its jam and biscuit shop after service on Sunday, December 22. However, it will continue selling goods at the Barton Creek Farmers Market and via retailers.

Confituras announced the change in a newsletter to its customers in December. The letter called the news "bittersweet."

"Although the brick and mortar will no longer be, the good news is that this will be a fresh new start for us – we are bursting with energy and creativity at the thought of being back out in the community where it all started for confituras," it said.

The kitchen is closing because the lease is up, and the team has decided to "give up the chase." The newsletter emphasized the ups-and-downs of business over the past several years — ones that were chaotic for just about any business, let alone a small, fairly niche food operation.

"So much has happened since we decided to open a brick + mortar – a wonderful kickstarter fundraiser, THE PANDEMIC, the AFTER-EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC, and an ever growing city," the letter says. "We tried so very hard but never really got our footing. We know we are not alone, many small business are in the same boat. We renewed our lease during the pandemic because we were hopeful we could make it work - the changing times had other ideas."

Finally, it shared how customers could keep enjoying Confituras creations:

The Barton Creek Farmers Market is open at 2901 S. Capital of Texas Hwy. every Saturday from 9 am to 1 pm.
A list on confituras.net compiles retailers including Royal Blue Grocery, Farmhouse Delivery, and Antonelli's Cheese Shop.
Jam share and Table22 subscription customers will have more instructions coming soon about picking up their goods in January at the same space, 2129 Goodrich Ave.
Customers may also reach out to inquire about continuing to order meals directly.

The kitchen also hosted frequent events and workshops, but the letter did not address this aspect of the business.

A shorter message shared on Instagram has inspired 63 comments so far, five days later. Customers eulogized the shop for its community feel and providing a sense of regularity during the height of the pandemic thanks to weekend pick-ups.