A view of Christie’s Seafood Restaurant, which occupied the south shore of the lake near Barton Springs Road from the late 1960s until the construction of the Hyatt Regency hotel at this site in 1980. Image: Austin History Center
Historically speaking, the most important cocktail ever poured in Austin isn’t the Mexican Martini, the Ranch Water, or even the Mad Dog Margarita. By some overly peevish definitions, it wasn’t even a cocktail at all. But when Woody Elder bellied up to the bar at Christie’s Seafood Restaurant on Barton Springs Road shortly after noon on Tuesday, June 1, 1971, 53 years ago this month, what he ordered would become the first mixed drink legally served at a public establishment in Austin for 51 years.
An AP wire photo of Woody ordering the city’s first legal mixed drink at Christie’s Seafood in 1971. Image: Austin History Center
Though the Prohibition era officially ended for most of the country with the repeal of the 18th Amendment in 1933, the state-level prohibition amendment approved by Texas voters in 1919 continued preventing the sale of mixed drinks here for 38 more years, with restaurants and bars only allowed to sell beer and wine alongside “setups” — mixers provided for customers who brought their own bottles. A push for legislation legalizing the public sale of “liquor by the drink” finally kicked off in the late 1960s, with increasing public support pushing against the thunderous objections of numerous Baptists and ultimately concluding with the legislature permitting a local option for mixed beverage sales in 1971. (This requirement to opt into alcohol sales by public majority vote is why Texas still has a handful of fully dry counties.)
Once voters approved the liquor legislation in 46 counties, Texas bar owners couldn’t just start pouring right away. To legally begin selling mixed drinks, applicants had to secure local government approval and pay a $2,000 license fee to the newly-formed Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission — that’s about $15,000, adjusted for inflation. Beverage permits were processed and issued via mail, with the first 30 applicants across the state receiving their licenses during that historic Tuesday. The first restaurant to receive its license was the Branding Iron Steakhouse in El Paso, with manager Neil Franklin downing the state’s first legal drink since 1919, a double bourbon on the rocks, at 10 a.m. But Christie’s was the only Austin applicant to secure its permit that day, the document delivered by hand in front of a yearning crowd:
James Cargal, district supervisor for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (ABC), delivered the letter of authority to Christie’s manager Carroll Marcus and owner Christie Sarris at about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday. A large, enthusiastic crowd of thirsty Texans streamed in from the restaurant to the bar after the anxiously awaited delivery of the license.
— Austin American-Statesman
Elder, who now lives in Rockport, explains that he’s not much of a drinker. Christie’s management chose him to receive the honor of Austin’s first legal drink, he says, because he had recently helped the restaurant install an electronic bar sales system. So what was Woody’s order, the historic mixed beverage that would mark the dawn of a new era in Austin? Bourbon and water. Not soda water, regular tap water. He doesn’t even recall which bourbon was in the glass — “just a well drink,” he says. It was free.
News coverage of Elder’s historic cocktail and the issuing of state liquor permits in the Austin American-Statesman. Elder says the photo seen here was actually taken prior to the delivery of the liquor license to Christie’s, so the paper could make its deadline — meaning that’s just Coca-Cola in his glass. Image: Austin History Center
Sure, it’s not the most exciting choice, but the historical significance of Elder’s bourbon and water is clear just the same. Legalizing liquor by the drink paved the way for an entire nightlife and entertainment industry in Austin, with local alcohol sales now topping $1 billion every year and keeping many of the city’s most cherished cultural institutions afloat. Without shaking off this last vestige of prohibition, it’s fair to say that Austin just wouldn’t be Austin. So consider making a toast to legal liquor in Woody’s honor this month — but if you’d like to copy his drink order, we’d recommend trying something from a little higher up on the shelf.
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