Trona — Restaurant in Austin

This place is…weird. My partner and I went for our seven year anniversary, and he had made the reservation weeks prior, noting on the reservation that it was our anniversary. The tables are mostly 2-tops down a long hallway, clearly intended to provide an intimate experience which is why we wanted to try it out.

Despite the fact that when we arrived there were only two other parties in the whole place, we were seated at the bar kitty-corner to three loud patrons and got zero greeting from either of the two bartenders, despite the fact that they were inches away from us loudly shaking drinks.

I just couldn’t understand why we were sat there. I couldn’t face forward because the bartender was so close to me (very narrow bar) - genuinely wasn’t that much farther than my partner sitting next to me.

Eventually we placed an order, and the drinks were good. However, nothing really makes them stand out from other cocktails in town at a similar (high) price point.

Once we had our drinks we asked if we could move to one of the 2-top tables, and even let them know that we were only here for one pre-dinner drink and wouldn’t stay long.

The bartender still had to walk down the extremely long hallway to check with the host - I cannot stress enough how empty this place was, it was us, the loud trio to my immediate left, and one other couple at a 2-top table (how did they get that table!) with no less than 8-10 other tables fully empty between inside/outside (we were fine with either.)

We were eventually allowed to move to a table, but the whole thing was bizarre. In a town where nice cocktails are aplenty, the service and atmosphere are what drive repeat visits for me and this place just ain’t it.

Side note, the bathroom is pitch black. We watched two other people including my partner try to go in while we were there, and every single person needed to use their phone light. This is intentional, the light is on but the bulb is painted black. I can only imagine how dirty it really is in there since there’s no way staff can see it to clean well. At least it’s edgy...

I'm willing to cut a little slack since they just opened and give them an extra star, but if the service doesn't dramatically improve, there's honestly not a whole lot about this I'd recommend. This is a, "you have to enter through a back alley" speakeasy type situation, which I'm normally a huge sucker for, but maybe think it through a little better and don't do that if it means your entrance is right next to the dumpster, and DEFINITELY don't make people wait for 10 minutes by the dumpster because there's nobody there to open the door at the time of your reservation, and when an employee walks up to get in, you REALLY REALLY shouldn't have them tell the people who have been waiting by the dumpster for 10 minutes that they need to continue waiting by the dumpster for the host to let them in, which did eventually happen.

The ambience of the place is neat, it's stylish and understated, moody without feeling like it's trying too hard. That being said, they also have some of the tiniest tables and benches I've ever seen. We had a group of 4 relatively skinny people, and we just barely fit at the table we were given. If you're even on the slightly larger size, don't come here with a group.

After sitting down, things were going pretty well until about 40 minutes into our reservation, the waitress came up and said she was getting cut early (weird, because the place was packed) and we needed to close out and someone else would take over the table. Of course, nobody shows up, and after about 20 minutes we wave someone down and tell them we don't think we have have a server, they say they'll get someone and then another 10 minutes later someone finally shows up and we put in our second drink order, which takes another 15 minutes. We've been here almost an hour and 45 minutes and we just get our second drink. We ask to pay while she's dropping off the drinks and leave as soon as we're done.

As we leave, there's a line of 4 different groups in the alley, standing by the dumpster.

The drinks were pretty good! Absolutely not worth the pricing, but...

4.2024

3.8 stars.

We were invited back by management to give the place a second look. We really appreciated the outreach. The process is still a little weird because you get a password but no one asks for it. Instead you ring a doorbell and wait until someone lets you in.

The atmosphere is pretty cool and unique but I wish they did a little more to spice up the experience since it’s a long hallway. A projector or art on those long walls would go a long way.

It’s an excellent date spot and I still firmly believe the bar has long term staying potential. However, it has to do a bit more to draw people to it as a destination because of the location and relative pricing to other more centrally located cocktail bars in Austin. Service was friendly and attentive.

Based on the outreach and unique atmosphere I’m upgrading my review to 3.8 stars. Looking forward to seeing the 2024 menu.

3.2024 The atmosphere is amazing with dim lighting and a long hallway. It makes you feel as if you’ve been transported to Tokyo or NYC. However, the experience itself left a little to be desired. The pours were less than generous and expensive and our server never came back to check on us. Overall, this bar has potential, and I would recommend to check it out once and make up...