Betsy’s Bar

Overall this is a cool bar, awesome décor, nice seating and the bartenders are typically pretty nice and quick to get your drink (highly important to me, I came to hang with my people not at the bar waiting for a drink)
One thing I really don’t like is that over this last summer they joined up with the bar next door… which is like it’s really dumbwitted cousin. It’s a bunch of loud hiphop/​rap music and the people that attend are anything but chill.
Betsy’s is really chill and normally has awesome live music on the weekends. Also you can find parking relaly easy here, something any frequent DTer loves! All and All I’d say this is a great bar for a chill night and conversation, or a good place to meet up before hitting up west 6^th, not a far walk at all.
Cheers!

Skeeball leagues and $ 2 lone star! What else can I say?

Unique little spot in downtown. Good for a quick stop in but I don’t know about drinking the whole night away at this place. First of all there a couple of bartenders in there that are complete jerks. Never smiles and just seems really annoyed that you’re bothering him to pour you a drink. When he does pour you a shot it’s super tiny. You have to drink it quickly or it’ll evaporate into thin air. They have board games and skeeball but you never really see anyone playing them. They have couches strewn all over the place but they seem really worn out and dirty. Definitely not my favorite watering hole downtown, not even close actually.

Amazing music and a great place to hang out

A home away from home, a great place to party with friends with out feeling the pretentious nature of people you usually find at bars. The prices rocked, the music was awesome and the staff made us feeling so welcome. I will definitely be visiting again very soon !!!

Love the connect four and the jenga, couches are super low but very homey looking, total hipster vibe here and it is juxtaposed next to a bar very different from that, which leads to an interesting crowd coming over to use the bathroom. I will leave it at that.
But here is where the 3 stars come in 5 DOLLAR BOTTLED BUD LIGHTS… Lone Star is $ 2 but still to have a domestic that expensive in a bottle, get real.
Definitely nice for catching up with a friend since the space is not as loud while still being intimate enough.

hahaha I don’t have a single bad thing to say about this bar… except maybe that I didn’t feel safe in the bathroom due to some illicit drug use… but that’s beside the point.
For $ 15 on New Year’s Eve we got to see two bands, have a bottle of champagne, and get drunk enough to call it a good night.
I was really glad we found this place because the rest of 6^th Street was really not our scene. I mean, 19 year olds chilling in the street while the big bad 21 year olds enjoy their first Jagerbombs at over priced bars? Yeah, I could have gotten that anywhere. I wish the Skeeball hadn’t been out of order because that sounded like it would have been a lot of fun.

Was in here again last night for skeeball. I want to love this bar but the music last night was atrocious. I discovered the secret to their musical madness is someone’s iPod. Now, I’m not against the iPod/​iTunes DJs at bars, they’re very cost effective but when the music sucks on your iPod you shouldn’t subject the rest of us to your horrible musical taste.
Here’s a sampling of the music (in order): Far East Movement — «Like a G6», Counting Crows — «Long December», Kenny Loggins — «Footloose» and it just got worst.
You are officially being downgraded because of this.

I’ve had a love affair with Betsys ever since we had a kickball party here waaaaaay back in the day. The wide planked floors, clean bathrooms, deep couches and funky signs everywhere means that you can just chill and have a bevvie (or 25) and not worry bout a thing.
While there arent atari tournaments any more, there are skeeball machines and challenging someone to skeeball and kicking their butt is one of my fave past times. Recently tried their pickle back and a spicy michelada and they were both great starter drinks. Especially if you’ve had more than one pickle back. As in, four. And joined the pickle backers. But that’s a whole ‘nother story.
So, succinctly: Somewhere in the land between dirty sixth and douchey sixth, there exists a mini oasis where the worlds collide into a place of comfort and beverages and easy conversations — that place is called Betsys.

Betsy’s bar is a chill place with good drinks, good music, and erotic photo hunt. I came here with my friend when we were visiting Austin back in December. If I lived in Austin I would probably be at Betsy’s all the time.

This place kind of reminds me of the basement in that 70’s show, complete with grandma’s old sofa, that has been sat on so much, you cannot get out if it once you fall into, uh, I mean, sit down in it.
The place it kitschy and cool with lots of character, a wall that opens up to the outside patio, friendly bartenders and cheap drinks.
Don’t know if they have Prosecco on their list, don’t care, because this is the kind of place where you get funky shots like a pickle back, Betsy’s Spicy Micheladas, Coconut water mixed with whipped cream vodka (ZInc Drink) and beer in a bottle. Based on that, not sure I would be here all the time, but it is definitely a cool comfortable spot to sit around the coffee table like you were in your parent’s basement or garage. Back when you would sneak drink concoctions that you weren’t supposed to.

I had a flippin’ good Bloody Mary here. Yep, it was a Saturday afternoon with plans to hang around here for four or so hours, and nothing sounded more appetizing than a tall, cold glass of my favorite morning elixir. It was so good I tipped the bartender $ 600 bucks. Okay, that was more the «tip-​out» for an event we had there. But you get the jest. The drink was flavorful with a kick, and it was served with a cute smile.
If I come back for a visit, I’ll probably tuck away in the back. The Vintage sofa and homey décor make for a perfect night of listening to some local acts.

Wandered in here on a Friday night and thought it would be very country based on the appearance. It seems to be attached to the club next door and played their same (too loud, weirdly-​remixed) music most of the night. People filtered in and out to use the restrooms or order a drink but for the most part it was close to empty.
A band set up and played at about 10pm which was cool. They have $ 2 Lonestar tall boys. When my BF asked about getting a free birthday drink the bartender just said, «Maybe». Huh. There is Skee ball but no price listed. The ladies’ restroom seems to have mirrors in each stall which was cool. It was alright.

I went to Betsy’s Bar last Wednesday for the first time-​it was great! I loved the laid back vibe and the old games they had. The music was great and the people there seemed cool.
On Wednesday nights Betsy’s has a skeeball league that plays there-​those folks got rowdy and it seemed like a blast!!!

Hey, guess what. It’s a bar. You go, listen to good music, get good deals on drinks, and get drunk.
There are places to sit, places to smoke, places to piss, places to play pool.
It’s so so so very relaxed. I’ve never met anyone here who i thought were idiots or assholes (as in, it’s not the kind of place for you to go and meet horrible people). Save that for home.

If you want to get to 6^th St early, don’t count on Betsy’s Bar to be there for you; they don’t open until 8pm or later.
And those rumors you heard about an in-​house Atari 2600 game system? Well, that’s no longer true.
I met a first date here on Friday night at 8pm. I stood atop the stairs leading to Betsy’s Bar, waiting for my date and 8 o’clock to arrive. I stared across the street at the Chase Bank building, nearly crying because I’d gotten laid off from my incredibly boring job in that very building only three hours earlier. I noted that Friday night would be my last night of free parking in that wonderfully located garage. Yep, tomorrow night at the Unilocal Elite event at Fado’s, I’ll be paying to park there.
My date arrived a few minutes after 8pm, and I tried to open the front door again, to no avail. My date peered into the window and said he didn’t see anyone inside. We stood on the stoop and chit-​chatted for a good twenty minutes, all the while the front door remained locked. On Friday night. You open at 8pm, huh? Such a lie. We knocked. No answer. My date finally suggested we head over to Peche.
After we had some drinks at Peche, we decided to give Betsy’s another chance. Oh mighty Neptune, they’re actually open! Took ‘em long enough. I was so excited, being that I’d read mere weeks before about Atari games being housed there. We walked in and I eyed every inch of the place. No Atari system in sight. And crappy music, too loud for talking, was playing. We went to the bar and asked about the games, and we were told they no longer do that. Bummer. «Okay, well, what have you got on tap?» I asked. «Nothing,» shrugged the bartender. «C’mon, really…» I smiled. He assured me they have nothing on tap. Weak.
I got a bottle of Curs Light, courtesy of my date, and he got some other bottled beer, and we settled into the vintage furniture. I don’t know if Betsy’s Bar came first, or if Rio Rita did, but one is copying the other with the vintage eclectic furnishings. It’s pretty nicely done at Rio Rita, but I wonder if Betsy just bought what she could afford (or grabbed what she could find in alleyways) in order to randomly fill up the space.
The date and I stayed there a lot longer than we wanted to. One of us would say, «Let’s go someplace else,» and the other would chatter off in a new direction and we’d collectively lose track of our desire to leave. That happened several times at Betsy’s Bar. As far as the music, we heard two different versions of «Hotel California», but only one was good (Eagles). Everything else they played was garbage.
A word of warning about the restrooms: They have no coat hangers in the stalls. So you’d better hope the lass who went in there before you didn’t miss the toilet when she squatted, ’cause you’ll have to put your jacket on the floor. I draped mine over the door but ended up with a huge-​ass dust bunny on it afterward.
The date asked me what I’m going to rate Betsy’s Bar. I really had trouble giving him an answer. He said he’d give it two stars. I was a bit more comfortable with three stars at the time. Now that I’m actually writing the review and remembering no Atari, no beers on tap, opening late, and crappy music, I’m more inclined to agree with my date whom I’ve not heard from since. We had a much better time at the other four bars we went to that night.

Hard to believe that this used to be the dance floor and VIP area at Oslo. The Tony Montana décor and overly tanned club dudes with their plastic dates are all gone, now replaced with décor that would appear to be from a wild West saloon and brothel. The concept works great and makes this place about as relaxed and chill as a bar downtown can be. Tons of chairs and couches to relax in and a front garage style door that opens up on nice nights and allows for some great people watching. Connected to District 301 via a door, you can walk back and forth between both bars if desired, although I don’t know why you would want to leave.
Tuesday nights are awesome — $ 2 any beer in the house, great discounts on well and call drinks, a DJ spinning tracks, and the beautiful & delightful Jaxx and Laura working the bar. Get’s crowded around 11PM, mainly service industry types.
This is my happy place #2.
Note that the Atari games are gone, now replaced with a couple of on bar multi-​game touch screen devices.

This is a fun place to go if you are totally cool.
Like I said, I always have fun there.
It’s not to snooty, and not too 18 years old’s with fake id’s ish.
Ladies night. Oh what a night.

I totally was expecting something different from this place before I walked in. Considering the location, I was expecting something along the norms of what the warehouse district has to offer, and Boy how I was wrong.
Walking in, first thing I notice was the DJ to the right when you walk in, and then several couches and seats, and plenty of charis going along side the bar. Next thing I notice, a couple people playing Dominos. I was like, «Wait, am I in the right place?» But the people that were playing were a couple friends of mine that I was meeting up with, so the answer was obvious. Sitting down on the couch I immediately sunk in and got myself in the game w/​beer in hand. I didn’t notice any of the video games that others have mentioned in their reviews, but they do have a pool table, and there was also a couple guys playing some boxing game on a console system there at the bar.
Being a Wednesday night, things were pretty calm and chill here @ Betsy’s. Well that was until Leslie walked in, short skirt & all w/​heels. Cuz we all know what kind of attention Leslie can rile up. Betsy’s definately is a cozy bar where one can just go, chill, relax, and mingle around w/​the regulars and be one’s self. And that my friends, is the type of bar I’m down for.

Not only does Betsy’s Bar have Atari games set up for people to play but they also have Atari tournaments every Sunday night.
What more do you need to know?
Ok, one thing… Betsy’s shares a space with Hi-​Lo so if you’re in the mood for a more relaxed atmosphere while your friend is looking for swanky you can kill two birds with one stone.