Parley
An Irish pub built by cocktail people, with the Guinness poured straight and the food coming out of the Korean kitchen next door.1
Why go
Parley took Bar of the Year at the 2026 Austin Tastemaker Awards, announced at Distribution Hall on 9 April 2026.1 Read that award for what it is: a panel of industry people picks the nominees, readers vote in at least one category. The result is announced at a ticketed tasting party. The description that came with it is the useful half. This is a neighborhood bar run on Irish pub instincts, with plain cocktails, Guinness on draft, and food from Oseyo, the Korean restaurant at the same East Cesar Chavez address.1
Order this / avoid
- The Guinness, and eat off the Oseyo side. The award write-up leads with both.1
What locals & experts say
- CultureMap Austin, naming it Bar of the Year in April 2026:
Parley is a new neighborhood bar taking Austin by storm with an Irish pub spirit, down-to-earth cocktails, Guinness on draft, and food from Oseyo's kitchen.
1 - Nobody else has reported the award. The publication that runs it is the only place I found it, which is why it stands here with its method attached.
Good to know
- Where it is: 1628 East Cesar Chavez, sharing the address with Oseyo.3
- Hygiene: nothing for the bar, and a clean record for the kitchen that feeds it. Austin Public Health holds no inspection for Parley. Oseyo, at the same street number, scored 85 on 7 August 2025 and 80 on 2 April 2025, both above the city's failing line of 70. That is a separate permit. It is the closest reading there is on what you will eat here.3
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "Rated bar of the year 2016." The year is a slip. Parley did not exist in 2016. The award behind it is the 2026 CultureMap Austin Tastemaker Bar of the Year.
Verdict
should-visit — Nobody takes a booking, so walk in, and eat while you drink because the food comes off a Korean kitchen and not a bar menu. I have not found a bylined critic who has written about the drinking here, so the award is the only outside judgment on it.