“I don’t know about this…” The Bride whispered under her breath as we approached the Yellow Jacket Social Club. Looking like an abandoned Brutalist bar from Mad Max, the Club has an underworldly seedy sheen. We were there in fiery glory of a mid-afternoon August Saturday, and a couple regulars gave us the once over as we approached the bar. The bartender was friendly (everyone was, really), recommending this and that. We ordered and sat at one of the tables inside since it was 107 or so outside on the patio, although the hardcore nicotine fiends were braving the scorch.
I ordered a spicy watermelon frozen margarita while The Bride chose a blackberry frozen, both perfectly refreshing and flavorful and with enough buzz to ride out the afternoon. Despite her initial reservations, The Bride has been wanting to go back for another one blackberry since (me too!). I needed to have the song-identifying app Shazam at the ready since the afternoon’s soundtrack was simply excellent, introducing us to Turquoise Days and Testcard F. among old die hards from Red Lorry Yellow Lorry to Joy Division’s predecessor band, Warsaw.
The basket of Yellow Jacket Social Crackers, spicy (indeedingly so) saltines, was deep and delicious: salty, oily, and a chicken-pox of red pepper flakes ($4). The Bride enjoyed her Tuna Melt (Mediterranean tuna salad, gruyere, toasted on multi-grain; $8), although she would have liked a tomato. My Grilled Cheese (with fontina, havarti, and herbs, grilled on sourdough and served with a side of pickled jicama; $7) is something the Club is known for, and it was quite good. And the prices for these sammiches in this town, so close to downtown no less, are unheard of. The Club serves a number of other sandwiches (but not a club sandwich [although, technically, they are all club sandwiches). And they are known, even nationally, for their brunches, frito pies, and day drinking. And it is a glorious place for day drinking.
It’s good to know that a place like the Yellow Jacket Social Club still exists in deep central Austin. It exists in a singularity as a lo-fi dive bar with hi-fi food with outsider vibes outside the standard outsiders. We will be back!
Yellow Jacket Social Club, 1704 East 5th Street, Austin, Texas; www.yellowjacketsocialclub.com
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