Crow Bar

Five stars for being an awesome neighborhood bar. I probably wouldn’t drive across town for it, but I can walk here, so that’s hard to beat. They have a decent selection of beers on tap and make some solid mixed drinks. They also have a jukebox with a pretty random but good selection and a nice patio out front. And the service has always been good and unpretentious.

Good drinks. They cost a fortune. Girls behind the bar have a rotten attitude. Despite this, the place looks pretty crowded from what I see every time I drive down the street. Guess they won’t be missing my business.

Pretty cool divey bar with good drinks at reasonable prices. Decent place to hang out with friends and have a few drinks before heading out for a night on the town.

You are «most welcome» to get fooled.
The management should take steps in teaching their employees on how to respect customers.
I have never seen a food counter outside the premises. The whole area is full of warning signs of theft and surveillance.

Im pretty down for crow bar.
Like many other reviews have stated, it really is pretty dive bar ish with a truly impressive mixture of people on any given night, I like this though because I think it really is a good representation of the neighborhood it’s in and makes any type of person feel welcomed.
The drinks, while rather expensive for my broke self, are REALLY well crafted and therefore well justified on the price. The specialty drink, «bull rider» is my favorite, spicy and taste great! The jalapeños they use always taste very fresh!
This is a great place to hang out with some friends on the patio and sip some drinks, this is not the place you go to take 9 285 402 790 shot and forget who you are or where you came from.
Casual, fun, relaxed and interesting, sums up this review pretty well.

Crow Bar is a great little local dive bar on S. Congress. The vibe is laid back with a mostly young crowd. With rock music playing on the juke box and a nice patio its a great spot to chill and meet friends.

Neighborhood bar with a lively patio and great Moscow Mules and local beer. Love the music and eclectic ambience. Perfect place to hang out and unwind. Great music but not so loud meaning you can actually have a conversation :)!

This place is a cool place to hang out — good prices, service, and patrons — but if you can’t stand being around cigarette smoke, you can’t take advantage of its best feature, the outdoor seating. Lots of smokers/​smoking out there. I live so close that this could’ve been my neighborhood bar, but the smokers/​smoking keeps me away.

Perfect patio. Great staff. A great place to go after a long day at work. Why can’t I just keep these reviews short? It’s a bar. The end.

I love Crow Bar. I have exhausted friends/​lovers on the idea of going to Crow Bar… it’s my go-​to suggestion. They roll their eyes at me but eventually agree, to appease my desires. Maybe it’s the geography factor… I lived down the street (literally three blocks) from the bar and found it a veritable safe haven for meeting new potential-​friends for drinks and meeting potential lovers for first dates. There’s something comforting about the atmosphere to me… a. staff is predictable — even if you only go once or twice a month, you’re guaranteed to see the same bartenders and the same bouncers. b. you’re guaranteed to hear Queen, Guns ‘n Roses, and/​or Black Sabbath at least once in a given night. c. the clientele is largely the same mix of people… mostly young adults of all breeds with the occasional older crowd, with some bikers thrown in. Customers are friendly… but maybe that’s because I let them bum cigarettes from me.
Down to the factors that matter: the house drinks can be expensive for my budget — like $ 10+, and I have yet to find one that I like. They’re acerbic and something tastes off in most of them… like, for a bit I ordered their version of a Moscow Mule and it didn’t taste like any rendition I’d ever had. The thing with the strawberries and lemonade is boring other than the fruit wedged at the bottom. Beer or well drinks are probably the way to go.
The atmosphere is murky. It’s dark and dimly lit. A total dive bar presentation. I liked that, but it’s not for everyone. There’s an outside section with equal, if not more, seating, that has some coverage from the elements. If you sit there, it’s very likely that bums from the street will yell at you. The bathrooms have the appropriate, expected level of graffiti, made possible by chalkboard paint walls. There are only two pool tables, which are usually occupied.
The bartenders are nice, with the exception of a male manager with glasses who has repeatedly belittled me and my guests. Am I an idiot? Do I not know how to properly order a cran-​vodka? Maybe. He rushes us with our orders and ALWAYS asks questions about the simplest of things. I don’t think he’s a nice dude. I get the impression he enjoys power-​tripping. But whatever… get your drink and move along.
And seriously… the only thing that truly annoyed me is that the graphic design is not unified. There is no consistent branding. The signs, the t-​shirts, the drink menus, and so on are not in the same font. The logos vary from document to document. There is no real theme. It annoyed me on principle.
I heart Crow Bar. It’s my go-​to. Give it a shot (heh) if you’re open to a low-​key, metal-​tinged experience.

This bar can be a lot of fun.
They do implement a minimum on credit card transactions. When I pointed out to the bartender that minimums and or surcharges on credit card transactions are non-​legally binding I was angrily told ‘then call the police.‘
The crowd is usually an eclectic cross section and there are multiple rooms, plus pool tables.
You should bring cash. They like to charge you surcharges upon exit.

I didn’t love the service/​attitude but that was just because one bartender. He rushed me and used hand gestures like «come on come on» which I found rude– especially since it wasn’t packed at all and no one else was really ordering. However, the spicy Bloody Mary was absolute perfection. I’m a Bloody Mary enthusiast and it was up there with some of the best I’ve had so far. Played some pool and hung out, I loved the atmosphere and the vibe. Just not that one bartender. even if his bloody Mary’s are killer.

This place is amazing. When I walked in I was like OMFG and then I took a seat. I gave this place 3 stars because that’s how many are in the sky as I type this, looking out from the Crow Bars infuriatingly swanky and pedantic patio atmosphere. If someone came up to me and said «Avery, what do you think of the Crow Bar on Congress?» I would respond with one word; «it is smokin’!!» Because lots of people are smoking cigarettes here.
When I have children someday, stories of Crow Bar antics will ring through the house as I teach them how to have a good time in your 20’s in Austin. I often yell ‘Crow Bar!’ in my sleep because of how much fun I have there. Sometimes it also has to do with the dream I’m having though.

This place isn’t bad, but not great either. It’s a good typical dive bar… I think I may have felt more inclined to giving another star if they knew how to make a good Manhattan. I order my Manhattans with Bullit Rye up — but they don’t have luxardo cherries, and the bartender shook the hell out of it and used too much bitters. We ordered a glass of house wine for my fiancé that tasted stale, and the beer we got was a little warm.
We stayed for a bit and got different beers and had a shot with friends, and it got better over time (but I think the booze kicked in! Ha.)
Like I mentioned, not the best, but it’s a regular dive bar with those expectations. Order canned or bottled beer and your golden.

Crow Bar is 100% Austin, from before Austin become hipster. It has an unpretentious, divey atmosphere. When we showed up, 7ish on a Friday night, it was still fairly uncrowded, and there was only a short line at the bar. Service is walk-​up at the bar– not table service.
The cocktail list is creative and well crafted at Crow. The drinks with serrano/​jalapeño peppers are really spicy, unlike the whittled down versions some bars serve. The problem I had with these drinks was that they had a bit of a syrupy taste. Instead of the aroma of fresh watermelon, or pineapple, I felt like I was drinking something that had been processed, bottled and then used in my drink. It took away from how wonderful the drink sounded.
The bartender was quick and friendly — I enjoyed watching her mix our drinks. The patio was large and inviting, despite the number of people smoking. Sit upwind if you know the smell bothers you. Crow also suffers from having nothing to munch on. I know it is a drinks-​only place, but some nuts and chips would have been a welcome item on the menu while loading up on liquid calories.

Best Spicy Bloody Mary in Town! Wow. Came in the other night and experienced a life changing Blood Mary Experience… Serrano Bloody Mary
Beyond what the bar looks like, beyond what small things may stop you from walking into the front doors… Don’t overthink it!
Trust me. IF you want something with Some KICK. Walk in and say, «Yo barkeep, I wanna Serrano Bloody Mary!» Once you begin to feel the dark red/​brown fiery liquid seeping down your throat… BOOM your Life just Changed!
You’re welcome, I just helped change your life and burn the Hell out of your tastebuds!
BEYOND the Booze… the bar is Laid Back. Semi-​covered patio with heating lamps and tables. Inside Bar has tables and a pool table. Outside Bar has its own bar too!

About three years ago, I took my Dad to Crow Bar and, among discussions of applied calculus and popular science, I lamented my trouble with meeting a nice man. My Dad took a long sip of his beer and looked around and said, «well, yeah, if you hang out in places like this.» #ohsnap! Just then, one of my more Peter Panish friends walked up and give me an emphatic «hey, Missy» and hug. Maybe the old man had a point…
Then and there I gave up the dive bar scene and started going to more upscale bars, the gym, and even volunteering. It’s still not easy finding someone worthy but I recently returned to Crow Bar on a first date.
Advice to the dudes out there: this is not a good first date spot: it’s really loud, both the patrons and the music, it’s not easy to get a drink, there’s no food, and, some other dude might try to pick up your date if you leave her alone for more than 30 seconds. One thing I did notice, was there were a lot of guys there (probably ones smart enough to go with their guys friends and not dates) – so it might be a good spot to go trawling for Peter Pans with girlfriends? And they were playing some weird movie on the TV.
But if I want a dive bar on the south side, I’m going with Bender Bar, which has weird movies, cheap & easy drinks (served with bev napkins!), less obnoxious music and patrons, AND they have food. Luckily there are enough bars for everyone’s taste in Austin and I’m sure CB’s really does it for their loyal customers.

At first this place was kind of just «eh», but the more I went the more I found it to be a regular place to go.
All the bartenders are super friendly, and the specialty drinks are great. Prices are pretty decent compared to other places.
There’s a pool table, an outdoor courtyard with a bar, and an inside bar. There’s TVs to watch the games, and usually always a good crowd.
You’ll see me here every now and then.
Steve G-​that Lemon Lavender thing! Hah!

Boy do I love this place. There are a ton of craft cocktail «dive» bars these days, but Crow Bar remains my favorite, probably because of the staff. They are some of the nicest, friendliest folks around.
It may sound odd, but when you’re an obviously older person, as I am, its refreshing when you are at a bar full of younger, tatted hipster types and not made to feel out of place. The folks running Crow Bar are exceptional at making me feel welcome, and I notice and appreciate that.
I’m kind of bummed the Jamaican food trailer is no longer outside, I have yet to try the new one which is focused on sausage. Maybe next time.
If you’re down on far south Congress and in need of a drink in a comfortable, unassuming spot, drop in to Crow Bar and see if you find it as nice as I do.

Crow Bar’s major advantage is it’s location. It’s perfect when you’re too lazy to drive to Rainey Street or the East Side and you have no intention of bar hopping (there’s nothing else around.)
It’s kinda divey, there’s a pool table, and the drink prices are okay, but mostly there’s just nothing outstanding at Crow Bar. It’s perfect if you want to be left alone in a corner booth where you can actually talk to someone. That being said, it’s been a good spot for happy hour with a coworker and a casual date.