To kick off my weekend of freedom on Friday, I stopped by the Longbranch Inn for the Austinist Tax Day Happy Hour. I’ve seen quite a bit of positive press and word of mouth about the Longbranch, but hadn’t yet had a chance to check it out for myself. When I found out that fellow local-and-yet-nationally-affilated city blog site Austinist was having a shindig there, I figured it was a perfect opportunity to check out the bar and meet some more Austin bloggers.
The bar is owned and run by Jim Stockbauer and Kumbala, who was one of the original bartenders at Emo’s. I remember Kumbala from many trips to Emo’s past and some inter-bar football games that were staged at Pease Park in the mid-90’s, although he’s sporting a new hairdo that threw me a little bit. Stockbauer seems like a personable guy, although I’ve seen various comments that he has trouble deciding whether he’s an owner or a rowdy patron from time to time. If you search for Longbranch Inn on Google, the first hit is a good characterization of that. Stockbauer’s the one to the right in my crappy camphone photo.
The bar itself is relatively small. It seems like a great place for a happy hour drink. I could see myself hitting it for a beer or two after work. There’s a small side yard where I found the Austinist crowd was holding court.
I first ran into David Nunez, whom I’ve met at a few other functions in the past. He’s one of the organizers for EFF-Austin. We ended up talking about cell phones and features, etc. I talked briefly with the woman who runs In The Pink, but I’ve unfortunately forgotten her name. I also met Austist contributors Michael & Kristina Barnett, a nice couple who recently moved to South Austin from the DC area and Allen Chen, one of the many who attend UT at some point and find they can’t leave our fair city behind (including myself). I was the old timer in the bunch with nearly 16 years here (minus a two year stint in NYC). Finally, I had a chance to talk with Ben Brown, editor of Austinist. Not surprisingly, the conversation ranged over blogging and local issues, the perceived or real rivalry between our two parent entities, and how we might join forces for good…or at least another happy hour. Stay tuned.
One Response to “LongBranch Inn-ist”
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james stockbauer is a maniac. more charismatic than johnny knoxville, more outlandish than david cross, and the hairest son of bitch this side of Sasquatch!