Frontier Bar

With Frontier Bar, you kind of have to take the bad with the good. It’s a dive bar on the far east side, across from the hipster hangout Gourmand’s. I went to FB with friends to watch another friend perform on a Friday night, and for a music space, it’s nice enough and I’ll probably come here to see more shows in the future.
If you’ve driven up Webberville Road north of 7^th, you’ve probably seen this and never thought about going in – it’s in a rather unassuming and nondescript building with barely-​visible signage out front.
There’s ample parking out front (if you get there early anyway — come later and you might have to park on the street and come back to who knows what). There’s a side patio for smoking, a pool table, a couple pinball machines, and a jukebox (though it was turned off when we went, replaced by a dj spinning records). There’s a house cat that walks around unmolested.
Beer selection is about what you’d expect from a dive bar — nothing special, nothing stands out, pretty standard fare. Friends complained about the cans of warm beer, but the beer on tap was cold. There’s a nice assortment of liquor. The vodka I had was expensive, but it was top shelf so perhaps wells are cheaper.
My check for the evening (pre-​tip, and bonus points for taking credit/​debit cards!) was $ 35, a bit pricey for an east side bar (especially an east side bar with ice in the communal bathroom trough), but it WAS well past happy hour so here’s hoping they have lower prices in the afternoon, the time I’d probably hit FB for a quick pint on the way home.
If there are repeated visits, I’m sure I could bump this review up a star. Depends on happy hour and a closer look at the beer selection.

Maybe I’m the only one who seems down about this bar. Every month or so, I am inevitably dragged to this bar in support of friends in bands who always get invited to play there. The bar and guys who run it seem to be trying pretty hard to legitimize it. There’s a cool bar cat, named Monkey, and a table that has a perpetually warm crock pot full of hot dogs for those who are brave enough and hungry enough.
But honestly, I can see the reason behind wanting to love a local and east side underdog bar like Frontier. But, theirs is a lousy beer selection that is almost room temp, there is virtually no seating inside unless you saddle up directly to the bar (never an empty seat-​the locals camp out here apparently), one lone table in the middle of the room, and a terrible sound system. Add to that the fact that it’s in a really bad area or webberville and kinda shady to park and walk to by yourself. Most come for a quick drink and a smoke, so their patio seems to suit these low-​maintenance people fine. However, I’ve been a handful of times now and no incident has ever made the bar worth visiting for me.
Well, except the cat.

Wow, dudes. $ 5 Shiner and $ 4 PBR? Keep up the good work.

Wednesday happy hour with Alysha! It’s fun, punk rock playing, cheap drinks, dog friendly, and laid back! Huge patio, ample parking, and not on 6^th st! yay!

Went in on a Wednesday night after their big re-​opening party. There were only about 4 beers left on draught, though you could see there were alot more spots on the tap where the beers ran out the night before. Left me and my pals with a small selection of beers. Eh, not a huge deal I always enjoy a Firemans. But the beers were also a little warm. Boo, by the time I was at the bottom of my pint my beer was totally room temp. I did not drink it slow either.
An off day, I suppose. There was different jukebox music playing inside the bar and a different system playing something else on the outside. From our table the music sounded a little overwhelming, listening to two totally different songs at once. Perhaps it would not have been as noticeable if the bar were a little more crowded.
Anyway, the staff was really friendly. I will totally be going back in hopes that there are more cold beers.

I luv this place and I haven’t even had a drink here yet because the doofus who said he would buy me a drink here stood me up.
it’s a lot bigger than it looks from the street. Fenced-​in patio with picnic tables. Killer punk rock inside, decent-​size stage, and a cool chick bartender.

This is one of my favorite places in Austin right now. It reminds me of the P.I. in Seattle, the bathrooms are cleaner than I expected, they have a lovely patio, and terrible, just awful, live music albeit a well stocked jukebox. It deserves a visit for the jukebox alone. They have taken more than a few of my coins.
That said, friendly but gruff bartender, (super duper) strong drinks, darts, two pool tables, and a smoker-​friendly patio aside, take care of yourself out there. I’ve lived up the street for the past few years and wouldn’t walk down Webberville for a cheap beer and the promise of Prince’s Greatest Hits. You’ll need a friend or four unless you like the hollerin’ of mechanics and barking of unleashed dogs. Although, there is a house across the street whose chickens never stay in the yard. They seem quite friendly.

A nice touch on a pretty virgin area of the farther East side and you can definitely see potential for this street to be pretty vibrant in the next few years… as long as you can put up with a little sketch in the meantime.
The place itself has nice service, affordable drinks, and a pretty kicking sound system… The White White Lights destroyed it here and the sound came from all directions, had plenty of punch, but also plenty of clarity.
Nice sized outside area with picnic tables is a good spot to chill.
Definitely worth a look and check the lineup of bands for a good live show experience in a friendly dive.
Update this with some better décor on inside and outside and you could have a go-​to spot in the near future.

El Cedro has been reborn as the newest white-​people bar in East Austin: Frontier. Bar. Luckily this no-​frills bar is large, has cheap beer, an outdoor patio, and a great jukebox. Dos Equis on tap for $ 2 and local microbrews on tap for $ 4! Supposedly there are burgers on Tuesdays and Fridays.
The owner’s a nice guy who has already installed bike racks, painted the building, moved the dart board away from front door (oh, El Cedro!), and replaced all the pool tables’ balls. The live performance I witnessed the other Friday night sucked so bad (a country band «straight from Hyde Park»…seriously) that the owner/​bartender came up to us and apologized beforehand. Further visits have revealed the venue hosts harder rock at very high decibels.

Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. Frontier bar isn’t a country bar and don’t let the mural out front throw you off either.
Friendly bartenders that keep you updated on what’s going on during the week, just in case new specials or events pop up. Excellent drink prices, and the best patio I’ve found this summer. Live music with plenty of genres to choose from, caught a terrific punk band one weekend and outstanding high energy country band another. When a live band isn’t on stage there is a good selection on the jukebox.
Dog and bicycle friendly, only a couple of bike racks out front but I’ve seen the neighborhood riders bring their bikes in through the bar to the patio. Back to the patio — It seems the perfect place for a gathering, from smokers lounge, going away party complete with balloons to one of the social bike rides complete with costumes that were traditional Frontier theme that were so much fun! I don’t play pool but noticed that free pool is sometimes offered. Tuesday $ 2 burger night has become something I look forward to every week and was happy to hear this week that they would be serving them on Friday if I happen to miss Tuesday.
Excellent atmosphere — all around. Feels very ‘Austin’ with an eclectic crowd. Totally worth the extra blocks drive off the beaten path.