The Driskill is a historic hotel located in downtown Austin, Texas. Opened in 1886, it is one of the oldest operating hotels in Texas and a significant landmark in the city. The hotel was built by Colonel Jesse Driskill, a wealthy cattle baron who wanted to create a luxurious hotel to showcase his success and provide a place for prominent visitors to stay. The Driskill is known for its Romanesque architecture, which features marble floors, arched doorways, columns, and detailed stonework.

• Hauntings & Ghost Stories: The Driskill is also famous for its ghost stories and is considered one of the most haunted hotels in the United States. Guests and staff have reported various paranormal activities, including sightings of Colonel Driskill himself, a little girl holding a ball, and the spirit of a woman in white.
• Cultural Significance: The hotel has been a popular gathering place for politicians, celebrities, and artists. It has hosted several important events, including political campaigns and inaugural balls. President Lyndon B. Johnson even watched the results of his Senate election at The Driskill in 1948.
• Dining: The Driskill is home to The Driskill Grill, a fine dining restaurant known for its Texas-inspired cuisine. The 1886 Café & Bakery offers a more casual dining experience brunch has a Texas shaped waffle with berries on top – so god! It’s also where the afternoon tea experience comes from.

The Experience

• Cost is about $100pp for adults and $50 for children
• Takes place in the lobby area outside the Cafe 1886 – check in right at the entrance, pick up your name plate and then sit at your table
• Tables are already set up upon arrival with:
  • Plate setting with flowers
  • Clotted cream, lemon curd and mango marmalade – rotates seasonally
• Welcome you with a glass of prosecco – unlimited prosecco was included! I had 3 glasses during this two hour experience and i could have had more! They kept asking me if i wanted more prosecco. 
• Every afternoon tea does it a little different – The Driskill doesn’t let you choose your own pot of tea like a lot of places – it has a prie fixe menu with 3 teas that are brought out with each of the three course. 
• Yes, courses are brought out on the tiered tray, but there’s way more too!

Afternoon Tea at The Driskill – Episode Transcript

0:35

And get ready to embark on a new adventure with us around the globe.

Hey Squaddies, Travel Squad Podcast is back with Just the Tip, our Friday mini episode series where we give you quick travel stories, hacks and recommendations to set you off into the weekend.

0:51

Today you just have me at Kim for a solo episode to share my luxurious experience at the Driskill Afternoon Tea.

If you’ve been listening to this podcast for a while, you know that we absolutely love afternoon tea.

We’ve done it at Shanghai Disney in Denver, in Bangkok, and all over the world.

1:11

We absolutely love it, and we’re going to break down this experience because it’s one of Austin’s most iconic hotels and afternoon tea experiences.

This afternoon tea takes place at the Driscoll, which is a historic hotel in downtown Austin.

1:26

It’s right on 6th Street downtown.

It opened originally in 1886.

It’s one of the oldest operating hotels in all of Texas.

And it’s very significant because of its history, right?

It was built by Colonel Jesse Driscoll.

1:41

He was a wealthy cattle Baron who wanted to build this extremely luxurious hotel, really to flaunt his wealth.

And it still stands today and does just that.

It has this Romanesque architecture, marble floors, these towering columns and much doorways and detailed stonework.

2:00

It’s a very, very beautiful building.

Even if you’re just visiting Austin, you should go inside and check it out, maybe get a drink at the lobby bar, maybe stay the night if you dare.

Because there are a lot of stories around town that is haunted, that there’s been ghost sightings, that Colonel Driscoll has even been seen himself or a little girl holding a ball.

2:21

Why is it always a little girl holding a ball at all these haunted hotels, right?

It’s very cultural though, outside of just being haunted.

Hotel and a beautiful hotel.

It served as the gathering place for politicians, celebrities, artists, tons of important events and political events.

2:38

President Lyndon B Johnson watch the results of his Senate election at the Driscoll Hotel in 1948.

So it’s got a lot of history and it’s very, very beautiful.

There are a few different places you can dine in this hotel, The Driscoll Grill to fine dining restaurant.

2:54

They also have the 1886 Cafe and Bakery.

I’ve had brunch here before.

Got a Texas shaped waffle with this delicious whipped cream and berries on top.

Really really good.

The 1886 Cafe and bakeries.

Also the restaurant that puts on the afternoon tea.

3:11

The afternoon tea actually situates you in the beautiful lobby, but it is brought out from the 1886 bakery.

So let’s get into the experience a little bit.

When you show up, you have already prepaid for your afternoon tea experience.

3:26

You do want to book well in advance because it does sell out most of the time.

It’s about $100 for adults and $50.00 for children.

Like I said, it takes place in the lobby.

So when you show up, you will go to Cafe 1886.

There will be a check in station right there.

3:42

You’ll see your name on a little nameplate you can pick, and then they’ll escort you to which table has been reserved for you.

The tables are already set up beautifully when you show up, so you can see that all around the lobby there’s people dressed to the nines in their afternoon tea outfits, and when you sit down at your table, you’re going to see a beautiful setup.

4:03

Everything they bring out has fresh flowers with it, so there’s flowers all over the table.

There’s gorgeous plate seedings.

Your menu is there.

Your glasses are set up nicely.

They already have the clotted cream, lemon curd and mango marmalade on the table.

4:18

That does rotate seasonally, but when I went over the summer, that’s what they had and it was gorgeous.

The one thing about this afternoon tea that really surprised me that I was not expecting is unlimited Prosecco is included.

4:34

So I said it was about $100 per adult.

That is somewhat steep for afternoon tea.

Usually there’s somewhere between 50 and 100, but because unlimited Prosecco is included with this afternoon tea, I really do think that price is justified.

4:50

So as soon as you sit down, your waitress will come over, she’ll ask if you like a glass of Prosecco.

She will come back multiple times throughout the afternoon tea.

So really pace yourself.

I ended up having three Prosecco during this two hour experience.

And you know, every afternoon tea does it a little bit differently.

5:07

And I think that’s why the travel squad really likes to experience them in different places, because if you go to London or Canada or Bangkok, they’re all going to be a little bit different.

And this one was.

And a lot of afternoon teas you can choose from their tea menu and you get your own personal pot of tea.

5:26

They don’t do that at the Driscoll.

They actually have a prefix menu with three teas that come out with each course of your experience, which I actually really liked.

They tell you about the tea, you get to try it, you only have one glass versus having a whole pot of the same thing.

5:41

If you have been listening to this podcast for a while, you would know that I am very partial to the three tiered Tray afternoon tea experience, which is why if you go back to our London episode, when we talk about afternoon tea there, Brittany and Jamal did not get the three tiered experience.

5:57

And I just I don’t think that it weighs up to what it could be.

The Driscoll does they come in right and you get the three trade experience and it is beautiful.

So let’s get into the menu of the afternoon tea during this summer experience that I went for.

6:12

And like I said, it rotates.

So this was summer.

The teas that they brought out were Iron Goddess of Mercy, which started as an iced tea which was really cool.

Usually don’t get iced tea at afternoon tea experiences.

It’s an oolong tea with honey and amber earthy flavors.

6:30

Fresh plum notes.

They also had on the table a couple of different syrups that you could add, a blueberry 1A hibiscus 1, so you can add those to your tea if you’d like.

And they also had honey as well.

So that came out with the first course.

And the first course was a Texas Peach stone.

6:48

You know, Texas in the summer.

We love our Peaches.

It was really, really good.

One of the best scones I’ve ever had, actually.

You of course had your mango marmalade, clotted cream, lemon curd and then you also had a delicious iced lemon poppy # cake.

7:04

I love starting afternoon tea with sweets.

It was amazing and it went really well with that tea on a hot summer day.

So that was already sitting on the table when we came out.

It was not on a three tiered tray.

I was a little bit worried like Oh no, maybe we’re not going to have it.

7:21

But alas, the second course really made-up for it, right?

So the second course, once you are ready for it, they would bring it out.

It’s on a three tiered tray and it includes egg salad sandwiches that have English mustard and a bowfin caviar.

7:37

Yes, I did eat the caviar.

There was a pimento cheese and crumbled sugar pecan bread, cucumber and sprouts toast.

On the original menu there was a shrimp salad, but I didn’t have that one because I don’t eat seafood.

And then, oh, they had a Helen Corbett’s chicken salad sandwich that was so, so good because it is a three tiered tray.

7:59

It was also brought out with the third course of desserts.

So the desserts included buttermilk pie, citrus buttermilk custard, butter crust.

It had a white chocolate Raspberry cheesecake with a Graham cooker crust.

It was so good.

A chocolate cake with bourbon frosting and roasted Texas pecans.

8:20

You know, Texas loves their pecans.

And then lastly, it had a strawberry sugar shortbread cookie.

All of them were really, really good.

By the time the third course came out, you’re full.

If you’ve ever been afternoon tea, you know, the servings are very small, but your eyes can be deceiving because by the end of it, you’re usually really full.

8:38

So the teas that came out with this one, for the second course with your sandwiches, there was a Ceylon black tea.

It was very bold.

It was intense, but it was also laid back.

It was really, really good.

And I love my black tea with a little cream and sugar, so I popped that in.

8:55

It was absolutely delicious to have with the sandwiches.

And then the third tea was a decaffeinated tea, which I kind of appreciated because by the time we finished our afternoon tea, it was getting to be about 5:00 and I didn’t need a third caffeinated tea at that point.

9:11

Texas Sweet Dreams decaffeinated tea.

It had rose lips, lemongrass, hibiscus, orange peel, lavender was sweetened with stevia, natural vanilla.

It was so, so good.

I did pour a little bit of the syrups in this one, get a little extra flavor in there.

9:27

I mean, it’s on your table, You might as well use it, right?

And everything with afternoon tea is so cute.

They’re a little serving spoon and a little pouring drink for the cream.

So you want to use everything on the table and, and we did and it was a really fun experience.

9:43

Now, of course, for the kids menu, kids are typically more picky and my niece who I was there with is a picky eater.

And so I really appreciated that these sandwiches were more tailored for kids.

There was one sandwich that they brought out that was a peanut butter and Jelly sandwich sliced sideways diagonally of course, and one of the diagonal sides was dipped in sprinkles.

10:06

It was so cute and she loved it of course.

So she enjoyed all of the items on the afternoon tea, which is very surprising considering how picky of an eater she was.

And I did say that they brought out Prosecco for the adults.

They also had sparkling cider for kids, which was a nice touch for her to, you know, feel included in drink out of the fancy glass.

10:27

All in all, we stayed about two hours.

We certainly could have extended it out longer or you could power through it and go a little shorter, but I think it was the perfect amount of time.

It was a beautiful setting.

The waitresses were absolutely amazing.

10:44

I would definitely come back and do afternoon tea here at the Driscoll.

Again, thanks for tuning into this week’s Just the Tip.

Make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and follow us on all the socials at Travel Squad Podcast and have fun traveling this weekend.