We took a ‘Trip’ to the Atlanta Café at SXSW
With season three of Atlanta upon us, what better time to visit The Trip at SXSW!
The Trip
The Trip: an Atlanta FX café was hosted at the popular Austin coffeeshop Higher Ground, a church-themed coffee house and bar. The two-story building accommodated the artistic vision of Donald Glover’s FX show Atlanta.
Portraits of characters, Earn, Alfred ‘Paper Boi,’ Darius and Van were displayed proudly on the front of the building as well as throughout the venue.
Entering the café, employees handed out an Atlanta-themed business card, which could be used at the upstairs bar for a tote, a bag of Dope coffee grounds (a Georgia based coffee company), and other fun prizes.
Fog machines pumped smoke throughout the venue with broken, sawed-off chairs, and multi-colored televisions stacked on top of each other in the entryway. Colorful lights lit the walls and hypnotic art pieces flashed across multiple flatscreen TV’s.
A Drug Induced Experience
The Trip, a double entendre, offered guests a drug induced experience, without having to take actual substances. Paper Boi, alongside Earn, and friends, will travel to Europe in the season three premiere for his upcoming European tour.
At the downstairs bar, guests were treated to a plethora of alcoholic beverages, a traditional Heineken beer, a red or white wine, or, if you preferred something stronger you could opt for the berry margarita or espresso martini.
The berry margarita combined the sweet natural flavors of a house made strawberry syrup with strong nuances of lime, tequila and a hint of the highly distilled spirit, absinthe.
The espresso martini offered a surprisingly smooth balance of vanilla vodka, and espresso liqueur, topped with a layer of froth and a single coffee bean.
Waitresses waltzed across the café offering potato croquettes made with prosciutto and cheese served with a house made sauce. These European croquettes were complimented by a basket of classic American shoestring French fries served with a dollop of ketchup.
A Dalmation?
Aside from decadent drinks and savory eats, the café offered visitors the opportunity to dance the day away alongside an upstairs DJ or visit the beautiful outdoor patio for a brief break from The Trip.
A man dressed as a Dalmatian, who was briefly featured in the season 3 promo, traversed across the dancefloor interacting with visitors and was seen vigorously dancing to the beat.
Some even speculated that the man could have been Donald Glover himself, but there was no confirmation.
Atlanta season 3 will premiere on Thursday, March 24th on FX.