Deep Eddy Cabaret

When a friend recently had a birthday party here I was excited to celebrate her special day at this Austin staple that I had yet to experience.
There are so many things to love about this place. Close to my heart this has a small town bar feel with bright signage, cold beer, juke box, oldish video games, sports on the TVs, pool tables and décor that proves they have not updated anytime recently. They are no longer cash only but I wouldn’t doubt cash is appreciated. Another stand out about DEC is you can bring some foods and the fact if you want to stay away from downtown they are just across the highway on Lake Austin Blvd.
The drinks:
Full bar with one specialty drink listed that I could see. The beer selection is well rounded with ciders, domestic beers and some nice TX brews that are nicely priced. The «DEC Fancy Wine» List (yup they named this not me) consists of 5 wines and I went with the Block Nine Pinot Noir which I enjoyed along with a Topo Chico.
If you are looking for a comfortable non-​pretentious chill place put Deep Eddy Cabaret on your list!

Always a great pit stop on the way home from date night or ACL fest. And now they serve liquor! The bare essentials, Makers, Crown, Titos, a rum, and a hand full of others! Been hitting deep eddy since we moved here in 1998 & I hope this place goes on another couple hundred years and never changes!!! A few added benefits in addition to the liquor is that credit cards are now accepted! This place is nothing fancy, but a great place to grab a beer!

Best bar in Austin. I live down the street so I can walk too. Family atmosphere. This is the Cheers of Austin where everyone knows your name.

Great dive bar! Lots of fun, great atmosphere! Has been around for well over 60 years! Is just an amazing place! Fun people hanging out, having a good time! Join the group of chill with amazing people.

This is one of my favorite Austin dive bars to date! Neon lights, ancient furniture, old-​timey décor. Couldn’t ask for much more.
After trying 2 other places that ended up being closed on a Sunday night, we finally stumbled upon deep Eddy — they were open! Took a seat at the bar and the bar tender got to us fairly quickly. Really enjoyed the ambiance and it wasn’t too noisy. It was a really chill place and a good spot to grab a drink w a friend and have a nice conversation.

I’ve bumped this place up to 3 stars since the owner seems to really care, and it has a good location. And if you like dive bars, and this place is 100% Divey (maybe more so than any other place I’ve been in Austin), then you will really love this place. In the dive bar category, it gets 4 stars. It comes complete with all the usual dive bar favorites that regulars celebrate: stale beer/​mold smell, smell of smoke from the days of yore (or maybe after hours smoking?), dark murdery interior, and of course the dilapidated men’s bathroom complete with a dignified trough to urinate shoulder to shoulder with a drunken stranger while onlookers from outside the bathroom can choose to watch, and walls that have been half eaten by perhaps mold or urine over the last half century.
Don’t expect much on interior design… some neon lights, an old pool table, some old furniture. When you enter the very small establishment from the outside, once your eyes have adjusted to the dark dimly lit bar, you will be greeted by what I assume are the regulars… mostly made up of a motley group of older gentlemen in their 50s and 60s at the bar, mostly drinking heartily by themselves… but I’m sure they occasionally will take the time to hit on a inebriated young lady or coed, maybe get into the fun spirited altercation.
Personally I’ve never understood the appeal of dive bars… I’ve gone to many, and many of the patrons seems to like them just for the novelty. This place is 100% a dive bar… and if it works for their business model and clientele, and they deem renovations and minor improvements unnecessary, then more power to them.

I love dive bars so this might be slightly tilted. We went on a Fri night maybe 9−10ish and it wasn’t packed. Sometimes it worries me. Did the cops just raided the place? Is this the night where the bike gangs come to beat people up?
Neither. It’s just an o’ neighborhood bar with jukebox and cheap beer. The cash only policy might also be good to keep out hipsters.

This is my first Unilocal review, but my experience Saturday night was life changing (as in I now have an awesome bar I can walk to from home). I hadn’t been back to Deep Eddy Cabaret since college because it is beer and cash — two things I usually don’t want or have. I went last weekend and found out they are now selling liquor and taking credit cards.
Hoping that is a permanent thing though — and not just for ACL (I would assume not…).

Awesome place! Cold beer and one of the last REAL American bars! This was the perfect pit stop for a cold pitcher of beer before heading to ACL!

This is the only real dive bar I’ve ever found in Austin that would meet the definition of dive bar as we use it in New Orleans. Lots of old school regulars, cheap drink prices, great jukebox and cash only. So far I’ve seen few to no hipsters in this joint over the years so that gives it a huge bonus in my book.

Best dive bar I’ve been to so far in Austin!

A defiantly old-​school outpost of dive-​ness perched on the hill above Deep Eddy Pool, across Mopac from the rapid mutations of development downtown, Deep Eddy Cabaret is where you go when you don’t want to deal with the changes that are sweeping over Austin.
The first barrier they place to the outside world is that they don’t take cards. I read complaints sometimes from people upset that this or that new trailer doesn’t take cards. Well, Deep Eddy Cabaret was not taking cards before they were born! There’s an ATM inside if you didn’t think ahead.
The second barrier is the large amount of regulars, which makes it hard to break in. The old dude I was playing pool against the other night was born in the 30s, and he basically owned that table. The staff will chat up the patrons like they were old friends, because often enough, they are.
The third barrier is the interior. It might not actually be that small, but it feels small, and something about the layout always gives off a cramped, crowded vibe. Every square inch of the walls is coated in UT memorabilia, which doesn’t entice outsiders. There’s a patio outside, but it’s not very spacious either.
But if you can get past those, it’s great. Absurdly cheap beer ($ 9 pitchers), multiple pool tables, rad jukebox, a few TVs for sports or what have you, and you have what the 1950s considered a perfect bar. For long-​term Austinites, that kind of continuing dedication is still good enough.

New upgrades are greatly appreciated.

For me Deep Eddy has been a decades old respite from the crowd. It get’s discovered from time to time by folks, but then it is forgotten. For this I am happy. While sitting with the wifey on an early Saturday afternoon, we both just sat quietly looking around. I was checking out the newspapers from 1995 taped to the walls from our National Championship year for the Longhorns and reminiscing the bar and how much fun it must of been to be there for that. The little tiny TV on the fridge seems to be gone now, but they still have a plasma in the corner… looks a little out of place and as usual the Longhorn basketball game was on. The bartender recognized me and flashed a little smile and asked how we were doing. Someone walked in and realized it’s cash only and left. Suzie went over to the Jukebox and fired up some of our favorites and this Jukebox has many of those. The pool tables were being played and the regulars were all laughing and cutting loose. You almost always forget they have a little patio area for smokers around the corner and one video game which will send you back years. I really love Deep Eddy or the tornado bar as we call it. Time has passed it by and that is fine by me. Unfortunately, there are rumors that these days may be coming to an end soon, I hope that is exactly what these are… rumors. Another little bit of old Austin will die if that happens, I must be getting really old… sigh.

Best bar in Austin if you like dive bars like me! Cheap beer, not for beer snobs, and I believe they offer wine. Best jukebox ever!!! Bring cash and stay awhile! Really fun after a day at deep eddy pool in the hot summer.

What can I say?! A true Austin institution!
This isn’t your mom’s bar… or is it? One of the last «great dive bars» of Austin that will never change. No, you won’t come here for ambience, hipsters or top shelf liquor. You come here for a strong contender of the best dive bar in Austin.
The jukebox has the best tunes and the location makes this place somewhat «off the beaten path.» I’m sure in the summer though, this place is packed with folks that just got done at Deep Eddy pool or Barton Springs pool.
I don’t come here often, but I love coming here. Can’t wait to hit up the pool again and have a post-​swim drink (hurry up again, summer!)

Day drinking continues! It’s like midnight inside ;)
This has got to be the best dive bar in Austin. Full of true Austinite old-​timers, no windows, wood-​paneling and beer signs everywhere, and finally a kick as music selection on the jukebox.
I don’t recommend going here to get rowdy but great for a good beer and a football game.
FYI, beer and wine is all they serve and it’s cash only. But there is plenty of parking behind the bar on the street near the pool.

Deep Eddy Cabaret. Come for the cheap beer, stay for the amazing Jukebox!
I love this place. My favorite dive in Austin.
Unilocal math:
Dive Bar + Cheap Booze + Killer Jukebox = 5starz.

Deep Eddy Cabaret only serves beer and wine and is cash only. But if you’re looking for a cool dive bar that isn’t too crowded and noisy like most of the Austin bars downtown, this place is pretty cool. The Golden Tee game and pool table in the back offer plenty to do when your having a drink with some friends.

One word sums up this place perfectly:
Beer
Plain and simple. No fancy signature cocktails. No infused vodka. No pulled pork sliders. Hell all mighty, they don’t even take credit cards. So, saddle up to the bar, bring cash, order a bag of Fritos and a nice cold beer. They have plenty to go around. If you’re lucky, someone will tell you an embarrasing story about Bob Bullock while you’re there.