The Milonga Room (April 25, 2019)

What is this place in East Austin?  The Milonga Room, a throwback to the speakeasies of the 1920s.  First, you text Milo to make a reservation, good for only an hour and given up if you're 15 minutes late.  Second, Milo sends you a password.  Third, when you arrive, you ring the doorbell and a person slides open the little portal behind Papa Tom's shoulder and asks for the password.  Ours was "granuja," Spanish for "rogue."  Inside, you follow a guy dressed in black down concrete stairs, through thick curtains, into a room lighted with candles and dim globes and furnished with pink or red crushed velvet divans and chairs.

The Milonga Room is hidden beneath the Buenos Aires Cafe. Lucky us!  Empanadas are on the menu.