From the middle of February until Fat Tuesday (March 5), a portion of Austin will be trying its best to imitate the French Quarter in New Orleans.
The bar Craftsman plans on transforming its location on Cesar Chavez Street in Austin into a location that has more in common with the French Quarter during Mardi Gras. The bar is redecorating itself to imitate the Big Easy. It will also transform its drink menu during the next few weeks, placing a focus on cocktails that originally come from New Orleans.
Among the drinks making an appearance on the bar's Mardi Gras-themed cocktail menu is the Sazerac, a mixture of whiskey, Peychaud's bitters, herbsaint (an anise liqueur), sugar and lemon oil.
Also on the cocktail list is Pat O'Brien's, named for the bar in NOLA that popularized the hurricane cocktail. Pat O'Brien's will have light and dark rum, lime, passionfruit, orange and Luxardo liqueur.
Restaurants and bars that have plans to open temporary pop-ups can use poster printing to spread the word and to create atmosphere in the space.
In addition to creating a New Orleans-inspired cocktail list, Craftsman will also be offering some classic NOLA street food options, such as beignets and shrimp po-boys.
A big band will play at the pop-up bar on Friday and Saturday nights starting at 9pm. The Boss Street Brass Band plays New Orleans' inspired music.
The Mardi Gras pop-up will be open weekdays from 4pm until 2am and on Fridays and Saturdays from 2pm until 2am.