Lustre Pearl East — Restaurant in Austin

Ici, tout est bon.

I love this bar. Lustre Pearl is perfect for those nights that you don't want to go downtown and be greeted by a bunch of 20-year-olds dancing on a bar or for those nights that you don't want to go crazy and want a chill, yet great night. I've had many a fun night at Lustre Pearl and I think the atmosphere of the bar definitely contributes. You walk in and you see a great patio with friendly dogs (yes! you can bring your dog!), hula hoops, table tennis, and a ton of benches to sit, chat, and relax. It's super chill and really cozy.

The bar mainly has a variety beer and various staple cocktails, but it's definitely not your "specialty cocktail" type of bar. The inside part of the bar is definitely my favorite. It has a great ambiance and has very limited seating, so grab a Shiner, and grab a seat! I do wish Lustre Pearl carried more seasonal beers (Shiner Ruby Red is my new fave), but regardless their drinks are a pretty good price so I can't complain. Parking is a bit difficult so make sure you're either a terrific parallel parker or you're willing to pay a bit for parking that is available in a nearby lot (I believe it's $5).

Lustre Pearl also hosts a ton of events that are really cool, and I've been to a few, namely their SXSW showcases and their Crawfish Boil. I'm also going to review those for people who plan on going in the future.

I have nothing but great things to say about their SXSW showcases. I went on two different days to see various bands I was excited about, and I actually got in!! During SXSW, we all know what a pain lines can be, but Lustre Pearl did a great job managing the lines and actually letting people in (which I can't say for many of the other bars I went to). Also, because it's a smaller venue, you can get really close to the stage and have a great view of the entire performance. Lustre Pearl was definitely one of the best SXSW venues I went to.

Sadly, I can't say the same thing about their Crawfish Boil. For $15/plate (cash only!) you get about 3 pounds of bland, unimpressive, overboiled, underseasoned, so-not-worth-it crawfish. Oh, and a measly piece of corn and a potato. Believe me, I loveeee me some of those mudbugs but these were such a disappointment. Because Lustre Pearl doesn't prepare the crawfish themselves, I really can't blame them, but I really wish they had a better crawfish company providing the crawfish at their events. Currently, they use Austin Crawfish Company to cater the crawfish at their crawfish boils, so until they change who makes the crawfish, I will sadly not be going back for their...

As the spectre of being hospitalized by COVID continues to ease, I've enjoyed revisiting my favorite Austin hangouts; especially those with outdoor spaces. The Geeks Who Drink trivia night on Tuesdays at Lustre Pearl promises a fun time, yummy food, and tasty drinks.

What my group of friends didn't count on this past Tuesday was a female bartender's phone number scrawled on the receipt belonging to a married member of our party who had ordered food and drinks with his wife at his side. We also sat in plain view of bar staff for about 2 of hours and, although the married couple weren't all over one another like a couple of teenagers, the casual onlooker would easily see that they were together.

I love that Austin is very Texas friendly, and, who doesn't enjoy the flattery of getting the phone number of a young, attractive admirer? However, as a person working behind the bar, I figure this bartender also has to be observant and gauge many things about a customer: their age, sobriety level, with whom are they sitting, etc. The bar area wasn't very crowded this past Tuesday, so we can't attribute this paper proposition to a simple misunderstanding.

So, couples beware. You might be forced to have that awkward conversation with your partner a few days after one of you is handed a phone number by the person you bought drinks from at Lustre Pearl. The recipient of the phone number wanted to avoid creating a scene on Tuesday night (his wife would have likely had words with the female bartender), so had to hold his tongue for a few days before sharing his experience. Lustre Pearl: please talk to your staff about being more aware of your client's relationship status, or at least being respectful of it... especially if they're gonna jot their number down on a receipt.

Plus 4 stars for food and atmosphere; minus 3 for lack of awareness and creating an...

Went here one night after drinking with friends. One bartender poured some of us drinks and requested one of my friends to have water as she seemed drunk. My friend gladly accepted stating she could probably use the water as the rest of us continued to order drinks. The bartender aggressively asked another friend "how do I know you're not gonna give her your drink after I serve you?" And they got in a bit of a debate. My non-drunk friend who was paying for the round didn't like her attitude and said he was no longer going to pay if this is how she was going to treat us. We all walked away to find a table, where a different employee walked up and took everyone's drinks away stating they weren't paid for and left. My friends left angry and I went to talk to the bartender to see what had happened after I walked away. She got EXTREMELY defensive saying our friend refused to pay stating our friend being drunk, and would not let me get a word in edge-wise or even let me pay for my drink. I understand the TABC rules but there's no reason to be unprofessionally rude and disrespectful to customers.

What's upsetting is this place did seem like a cool place to chill especially since I love the rainey location as well as this location is near my home. I do not tolerate places that treat customers like trash and...