Ross Collins from San Diego wheeled his suitcase into the Mean-Eyed Cat shortly before noon on an average weekday in September. His Airbnb accommodations wouldn’t be ready until 3 pm so he grabbed a stool and ordered a pint of Guinness. Ross intended to pass the afternoon—peacefully—with a couple of beers, until the mysterious stranger at the end of the bar spoke up.
“Looks like you just got off the bus. You new in town?”
Ross shook off the stranger’s gaze and, looking around at all the familiar Johnny Cash paraphernalia on the walls, explained he’d been to the bar and Austin several times.
“Yeah. Sure. But you don’t know as much about this bar as you think you do.”
That’d be a great opening scene for a horror film, especially if the audience was already aware that the friendly neighborhood bar, just west of downtown in historic Clarksville, held secrets of which even some of its most ardent admirers remain unaware.
Everyone already knows that Mean Eyed Cat is the best Johnny Cash tribute bar this side of heaven. Opened in 2004 and named after a rollicking Cash song from 1955, the rockabilly shack is plastered with posters, photos, song lyrics, and other Cash tangibles, including a quaint shrine outside the front door. Even the specialty cocktails—A Drink Named Sue (vodka, citrus, soda, ginger beer, cranberry juice) and Man in Black (frozen espresso martini)—affirm the popular bumper sticker wisdom: “God Bless Johnny Cash.”
This time of year, however, cinephile pilgrims make their way to Mean-Eyed Cat because it once stood as an honest-to-goodness chainsaw store—“Ah, yeah. I wondered about that,” Ross said, glancing around at the chainsaw dangling from the ceiling, circular blades on the walls, and other toothy tools adorning the rooms among all that great JC stuff. And long before it was a bar, the building left an indelible mark on Hollywood.
In a critical and thoroughly entertaining scene from 1986’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, “Boude ‘Lefty’ Enright,” a former Texas Ranger played by mid-career Dennis Hopper, stops by the Cut-Rite Chainsaw store and he is agitated. Lefty’s also kin to two victims from the first Chainsaw movie and seeks the right weapons to battle the infamous “Leatherface.” After Lefty’s exhausting demonstration of his raw, choppy, stabby, sawing technique, it really looks like he needs a cold beer.
Ross does, too, so the mysterious stranger buys him a Guinness and points his attention to the screen in the corner of the room showing that very movie scene on an endless loop.
Before taking his leave, the mysterious stranger heads to the dog-friendly patio stretching toward Fifth Street and he pays respects to the magnificent live oak tree that’s been around far longer than Austin itself. He whispers the tree’s secret name (wouldn’t you like to know?) with great respect and then disappears into the bright, muggy afternoon.
Anyone planning to visit the Mean-Eyed Cat during this bewitching season, especially those with a particular affinity for Leatherface, should be advised that the management does not allow outside chainsaws in the bar.
It also goes without saying that the mysterious stranger might always be lurking about, keeping a watchful eye on things, especially the tree with the secret name, which casts lifesaving shade upon the patio during happy hour (weekdays 4 pm-8 pm).
1621 W. Fifth St. Open daily 11 a.m. to 2. a.m.
The Deep End regularly spotlights the dive bars that keep Austin buzzing. Anthony Head co-authored the bestselling Texas Dives: Enduring Neighborhood Bars of the Lone Star State with photographer Kirk Weddle and has been documenting neighborhood hangouts in Texas for over 16 years.
Great Job Anthony Head & the Team @ Austin Monthly Magazine Source link for sharing this story.
