Boring if you don't play pool.
Not a prime location if you do play pool.
Minimalist bar with weak execution.
Minimalist kitchen but the cooking is all right.
You can drown your sorrows in food.
* * *
The Coppertank is a former under-used event space that is now a present day somewhat more used pool hall.
Better to have people shooting pool and drinking beer than have the lights out and collect no revenue.
Nominally it is a pool hall and games place in the spirit of Dave and Busters.
But there aren't very many non-pool games.
The non-pool games they have are pretty boring. (Shoot baskets with a timer running.)
I was there on a semi-busy Friday night.
Zero people were playing the games.
That included me.
They also have Sports TV so they can be a sports bar.
All the channels except one were on one stupid hockey game - the Detroit Red Wings versus the San Jose Sharks.
All the Texans on Sixth Street are dying to see the Detroit Red Wings play the San Jose Sharks.
NOT !!!
Nobody was watching the hockey game except me.
I was only watching because there was nothing better to do.
I personally stink at pool.
(No hand to eye coordination.
Lousy depth of field focusing.
I can focus near or far but not both.)
But this is not a place for serious pool players any way.
Most of the people playing were missing their shots.
No one was running the table.
I saw two tough looking Vietnamese hombres who looked like they could be the guys to beat in a Saigon pool hall.
Except that the first guy was explaining to the second guy the difference between colored balls and striped balls.
They could have been trying to hustle up a game.
But given the lame quality of what was going on around them
AND the fact that nobody was gambling,
They probably really WERE rank amateurs.
(If you are looking for a serious game of pool,
Go to Betsy's Billiards in South Austin on tournament night.
Round Rock has major pool action at Skinny Bob's and Fast Eddie's. )
* * *
So with a stupid hockey game on TV, no games worth actually playing and no pool worth actually watching,
Entertainment came down to food and drink.
Skip the drinks.
They have eight kinds of beer with the eight including hard seltzer. Shiner Bock, Modelo, Coors, a few light beers and two IPAs if you absolutely insist on having something drinkable.
They offer eight different Sixth Street style shots.
I personally love me a Sixth Street style shot.
In one of my earlier lives, I must have been a sorority girl.
I will usually drink a string of these to get a wide range of flavors and experiences.
I did their "Trick Shot" - a curacao, peach schnapps and pineapple juice concoction.
If I was to ever have to go into rehab, I would want my last drink to be a Trick Shot.
It made me lose all interest whatsoever in alcohol.
* * *
Surprisingly, their kitchen is pretty good.
The options are limited - but what they do they do well.
I ordered a chicken tender and french fry plate.
Chicken tenders are a high risk proposition.
I have had some pretty awful chicken tenders in Austin.
That includes some places that specialize in fried chicken.
The chicken tenders at Copper Tank were top of the line.
I thoroughly enjoyed each and every bite.
Given the absolute lack of compelling distractions,
Those chicken fingers got 100% of my attention.
It was attention that paid off.
* * *
Am I eager to return to Copper Shot?
Hell No.
If I am on Sixth Street for serious music,
I want to go to the Mohawk.
If I am there to eat, I want the legendary burgers at Casino El Camino.
If I am drinking, I am probably sliding off Sixth Street to an institution of higher mixology such as the Roosevelt Room.
(Or I am paying top dollar for a premium mescal at Cockfight).
If I am there to dance, the Coconut Club is calling my name.
If I am with someone who really really really really wants to play pool,
The Copper Tank would not be a bad choice.
Even if I make a hash of 49 out of every 50 shots,
That would make me competitive with some of the other people in the room. read more