Bon Appétit Names Austin's Equipment Room Best New Bar in the Country

Tucked away in the basement of the Magdalena Hotel at 1101 Music Lane, just off South Congress Avenue, in a space that once served as equipment storage, is the Transportation Equipment Room, a beautiful and elegant to the style and tastes of Japan.

The cocktails are impressive, from classics like a Vieux Carré stout to original and creative cocktails like the Texas Sun, a pineapple-infused gin made with Cocchi Americano, tiki bitters and aged white tea.

But what sets Equipment Room apart from other upscale cocktail bars in town is its wood-heavy midcentury design and commitment to high-fidelity vinyl sounds, both inspired by the kissa jazz bars of 20th-century Japan. Enter through the stealthy hallway passageway on any given night and you can hear everyone from John Coltrane to Willie Nelson, the rich textures of their music pouring through a pristine sound system outfitted with Klipsch speakers.

Conversations in the space rumble in hushed tones, but if you want to commune directly with the melodies, grab a pair of noise-cancelling headphones placed throughout the dimly lit bar and enjoy your own private listening session while you munch on a menu of dishes Japanese-inspired offerings including chicken karaage and an okonomiyaki waffle.

Would you like the DJ in the corner of the bar to only play one album all night? Then you might want to dive into one of Equipment Room’s “vinyl omakase sessions,” where the bar, in collaboration with partners Breakaway Records, plays an entire album – perhaps Joni Mitchell’s “Blue” or “Midnight Marauders” by A Tribe Called Quest – while featuring conversations about the album and themed cocktails.

Intimate experiences feel like you want to keep it a secret, but the secret isn’t out. Bon Appétit is the latest out-of-town media outlet to take note of the bar located on the Bunkhouse property near South Congress Avenue. The publication recently named it one of the best news bars in America. Equipment Room was the only Texas representative on the list of 11 bars that stretches from Seattle to Miami.

“The menu is also two-pronged, offering A Sides—classics including a Martinez and a New York Sour—and B Sides—inspired cocktails incorporating ingredients like green plantain and aged white tea,” writes Bon App’s Elazar Sontag. “These drinks are carried across the room and presented with panache: a smoldering piece of palo santo to accompany one, a cloud of mesquite smoke dedicating another. It’s easy to forget your hushed surroundings while all this plays out and let an audible gasp escape.”

Reservations for the equipment room can be made on Resy.