Mama Dearest

Naming a cocktail on your menu the “Sister Fister” feels like the type of move done to stoke a fire. But once you take a look around Mama Dearest at 6th and Pedernales in East Austin—a bar decorated with taxidermied animals, vintage Playboy magazines, and a giant Arkansas flag on the ceiling—the backwoods theme becomes abundantly clear. Well, that and the fact that it’s named after 1980s cult classic Mommie Dearest that contains a lot of overlapping themes. Are the draped rawhide lamp shades and baby dolls hanging from the walls unsettling? Maybe a little. But they do help contribute to the immersive atmosphere that makes you feel far more removed from the HEB Digital office across the street than physical distance would lead you to believe. This is a bar that’s simply having a good time. Grab a Tickle Fight—basically a Mountain Dew-based margarita—or the #PURPLEDRANK that comes served in a styrofoam cup, then go for a quick bounce on the animal spring rides out back. Just don’t look too close at the decor inside.

photo credit: Holly Dirks