OPEN:
Mon Fri
Sat sun
HAPPY HOUR
Mon fri
sat sun
Seven Days a Week
4pm 2am
2pm 2am
4pm 7pm
2pm 5pm
The bar, located in the heart of the iconic East Sixth neighborhood, is nestled inside a preserved grain storage site dating back to 1917, with all original stone and wood. We use this as a stage to craft the most unique cocktails in town, while still honoring the history of the Chicano neighborhood. We create four seasonal cocktail menus a year, each with their own unique story and visual aesthetic.
CURRENT MENU
interval
winter 2025
our shortest menu of the year, in accordance with the brief winter we experience in Austin - interval is our chance to experiment without a theme, and to present our misfit creations from the year past
THE ARCHIVE
WHISLER'S ARCANA
fall 2024
Taking the Visconti-Sforza Tarot deck as inspiration we created 12 new cards each with a corresponding drink and tarot interpretation.
ITALIAN SUMMER
SUMMER 2024
The cocktails were created in accordance with a 14 line Italian Sonnet that we wrote telling a coming of age story during an Italian summer vacation.
JOURNAL FROM AN
UNKNOWN AUTHOR
SPRING 2024
After finding a buried journal during a large patio renovation the previous summer, we created cocktails based on each journal entry.
THE Classics
fall - winter 2023 - 24
Each cocktail is a reimagined classic from Cinema, music, literature, and art.
THE WHISLER'S STORY
RABBIT'S LOUNGE - THE COLDEST BEER IN TEXAS
In 1969 Rosalio "Rabbit" Duran opened Rabbit's Lounge on East Six Street. The bar became a hub for Chicano political activism in the early seventies, with patrons who worked together to create change in their East Austin community. Among the group was Barrientos, elected to the Texas House in 1974; John Treviño, who became Austin's first Hispanic City Council member in 1975; and Richard Moya, elected the first Mexican American Travis County commissioner in 1970. Numerous campaign operations were run out of the upstairs office, which currently is home to Mezcaleria Tobala. In 2011 Rabbit retired.
SCRANTON TWOHEY
OWNER, TOP DOG, TONE SETTER
Scranton got his start at 14 shucking oysters at a neighborhood bar in New Orleans, Louisiana. He spent his twenties working odd service jobs while traveling the world, living in Europe and South Africa before becoming a staple behind the bar at Uchi in its heyday. Scranton eventually left to build Rainey Street, opening Lustre Pearl, Clive Bar, Bar 96, and Container Bar. The Rainey neighborhood was Austin's hottest spot for nightlife in the 2010’s. Scranton switched his attention to his East Side home and began cooking up the idea for a cocktail bar in the Saltillo Neighborhood. One Summer night while sitting on the patio with his two young sons, Rabbit, and a few friends, Scranton proposed his idea for Whisler’s.
Always eccentric, and pushing boundaries, the big boss keeps us forever on point. He had a vision for the most raucous cocktail bar in Austin, serving the most imaginative cocktails, with a warm atmosphere and the least pretentious bartenders in town, we work tirelessly to live up to his vision. Scranton is the standard bearer for work ethic and creativity.
MATT WENGER
GM, MR. Fix IT, the glue
Hailing from Virginia, Matt is the fastest gunslinger this side of the Mississippi, getting his start in speed bars downtown. He took over as General Manager 7 years ago and expanded the cocktail program beyond what we could have imagined. A perfectionist, tough negotiator, and beloved leader, Matt makes running Austin’s busiest cocktail bar look easy. He is incredibly diligent and committed to helping us execute every wild idea we pursue.
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SEAN SVARKA
arbiter of agave, the og, el Jeffe
Sean began his career at the most prestigious cocktail programs in New Orleans and Portland before settling in Austin and joining Whisler's. Sean has been with the crew since the very beginning, curating the selection of agave spirits for mezcaleria tobala. Sean considers himself a guide, not an encyclopedia. He is the curator of each mezcal story our guests experience upstairs at mezcaleria tobala.
WILLIAM SCHWEIGERT
CREATIVE + Beverage DIRECTOR, dude
William hails from Atlanta, Georgia and came to Austin by way of Chicago. A former Professor of Theory and Practice in the Department of Fine Arts at The University of Texas at Austin, He has exhibited work nationally and internationally while also bartending for the last 15 years. William runs the beverage program and the creative direction for all our menus and social media.
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THE TEAM
tastemakers and adrenaline junkies
The Whisler's Crew is comprised of the most experienced bartenders in the city, an infinitely creative bunch of adrenaline junkies obsessed with booze. the team is responsible for producing four seasonal cocktail menus a year. Each week they meet for RND where they develop new techniques and experiment with exciting flavor combinations. they face a challenge few bars in the world are lucky enough to experience, how to create cocktails that push the limits of contemporary cocktail culture, and produce them at a scale that keeps up with our volume. There are so many curated moments to experience at Whisler's - the music - the architecture - the cocktails - the palo Santo - the candle light - but most importantly it's seeing a small team of professionals pump out out expertly crafted drinks at speed to the party does not stop.
