Spill Bar

Spill spilt out the drugs, too?
For shame.

It was the promise of $ 1 beers and $ 2 drinks* on a Wednesday night that lurred us in, it was The Space Rockers (
) that kept us there.
Now I’m not sure if it was mistake, but the $ 2 Jack Daniels on the rocks was the best deal we found on 6^th Street that night. Had I known the prices would go up as we worked our way west, we would have stayed put here.
Plus we were highly entertained by the band and the large group of people that clearly know their material. We heard some other good music on this night, but noting as entertaiing as The Space Rockers.
* This does not seem to be the same specials as listed on the website, nor what I read in other reviews, but I’m pretty sure it’s what were heard… And we definitely were paying $ 2 a drink for our Jack on the rocks (or maybe we were paying an extra buck for the call?).

We started going to Spill several years ago when it first opened because a friend was a bartender there. We’ve continued stopping by there over the years because they have strong drinks, a decent dancing area, and they play hip-​hop that we can stand.
We were downtown barhopping to celebrate a friend’s 21^st birthday. We had all been inside for a few minutes when I realized that one of my friends was missing. I walked back toward the door to try to find her. She was still outside. The bouncer wouldn’t let her in because her attire didn’t accord with their «dress code.» I was wearing jeans and tennis shoes and got in with no problem. When I confronted the bouncer, he said my friend couldn’t come in because she was wearing cargo pants. I told him that my husband was wearing cargo pants and that he’d just let him in. The bouncer ignored my accusations of discrimination and told me to either get inside or go away. I went back inside and told the rest of our group what had happened. We all chugged our drinks and left immediately.
My friend who was turned away was not dressed improperly at all, and the fact that she’s a lesbian didn’t help our feelings about the situation. There was absolutely no reason for her to be turned away. She’s not the poster girl for cute little bimbos, but neither am I. The difference is, I was wearing jeans that showed the curves of my ass. Her cargo pants weren’t quite tight enough, which evidently makes her an outcast. It seems to me that dress codes should be posted, and not left to the discretion of a biased man. We will never return to Spill.

I’ve had many great times dancing the night away here. I think they have the most awesomest dance music of any club on East 6^th. I’ve also never had a problem finding a dance partner. They have $ 2 – 3 drinks specials depending on which night you go, check out their site

Get here by 1 am or there will be a line! It’s not really trendy, just a casual atmosphere. It has that old dance hall feel with wooden floors. At least there’s plenty of space to hang out. Space is limited on the dance floor though.
Spill seems to be the theme here, for me at least. Everytime I come Im either spilling my drink or ‘spilling’ off the dance floor cuz I forget there’s a step, lol Sorry, guess you had to be there…

I was excluded from my friends and pushed out the door.
Friends were straight. but I needed lipstick and high heels to enter.
I was dressed better than some of the guys that were with me.
Just letting the queers know they are not welcome. (although I doubt we would even come within 10 feet of the place anyways). I know I won’t ever again!

DO NOT GO HERE. I went here a year ago and have refused to go back since. Entire bar staff is rude. When I went to close my tab, they lost my credit card and told me that it was my fault because I could remember which bartender I opened my tab with. When have you ever been asked to know the bartender’s name when you open a tab? I had to ask 3 different bartenders before demanding to see a manager. He was the rudest one out of them all! He asked me again which person I opened my tab with. When I said I didn’t know he asked, «Did they have tits??» (referring to the one female bartender in the place). When he finally managed to find my card he acted like he had done me a huge favor. When I said that I had never been treated so rudely in my life he told me to «Get the f**k out.» Will never be going back here. Glad to see so much agreement among the other reviewers.

This was our first stop on Saturday. The drinks were ok. The music was pretty good. I don’t think I will be back here, but it was a nice bar to kick off a crazy night!

Its a dance bar, they have events here like costume parties and other stuff.
Pro: No line, cheap drinks.
Con: Douchebag count is high. When its dead its dead, DNR get your shot and get out.

There are few things I like better than a dance party where I get to pick most of the songs, especially when the people I’m with choose the remaining songs. And so, Spill on a Tuesday night was not a bad place to be for me, not by a long shot.
When I first came into this bar there were maybe 3 other people there besides Connie C and Jessica T who came in with me. We immediately went to the bar to order drinks ($ 2 tall boys and $ 1 wells were the specials the night I was there) and followed that with a trip to the DJ booth to request songs.
Perhaps because of our song choices, perhaps because we wouldn’t dance with anyone else, or maybe just because it was time to leave soon there weren’t any people in the bar except us. And that was when the DJ played literally every song we asked for. I’m talking Mariah Carey, Next, Keith Sweat, Lady Gaga, the Pony song twice, Salt and Pepa, and so many more.
The rest of our group joined us an hour or so later and that’s when the dance party got *slightly* crazy, but it was all in good fun. I’d say the DJ might have regretted playing our requests and the bartenders might have regretted serving everyone shots, but little did they know our dancing would have been the same even if they didn’t play their part.
As for regular nights I can only imagine what goes on in here. Mostly because a few times throughout the night boys passing by looked in, saw girls dancing, came in and tried to grind on them, and left immediately upon rejection. That says a lot to me about the expectations of Spill on a normal night so I’d probably avoid it on the weekends or if ever there was a hint of a crowd. But, I have to give kudos to the DJ and the friendly bar staff for helping us create one memorable evening in Austin.

I stumbled my way in to this dance club hot on the trail of a group of co-​workers in search of a dance floor. A dance floor we found… an empty one, with music blasting as the VJ was spinning top-​40 tunes (or whatever we requested, really) over the speakers as a corresponding video played on the giant video screen over the dance floor.
Ok, so what is it with VJ’s in Austin’s clubs? What happened to good old fashioned DJ’ing? Why is it that every club on 6^th street and the immediate vicinity have exactly the same setup — with VJ’s playing top-​40 videos over the dance floor? It’s like sensory overload.
That said, it didn’t stop our soused group from making the most of the situation and getting our drunken robot Broback dance groove on. In cowboy hats. To Genuwine’s Pony. It was drunken robot bro-​pony.
Yup, it happened. And the DJ was just as confused as you are right now.
I would never have set foot in here were it not for a large group of people I really wanted to hang out with being in there, and yes, I always make the best of a bad situation. As Atmosphere said, when life gives you lemons, you paint that shit gold.
Pure gold.
If this place is packed and you’re looking for a club to get yer freak on to top-​40 and maybe hook up, I’m sure it serves its purpose. For a guy like me, it’s not my speed at all. But that doesn’t mean epic stories can’t be made.
All the stars are for the DJ, who took requests and put up with our group — because hey, we were partying to his music.

There was one point — at Spill this past week — when we were literally the only people in the place. Moving to Whitney Houston’s «I Just Want to Dance with Somebody» on the wide wooden stage, backlit by the default grinding — cowboy adorned naked lady silhouette grinding video — on their massive projection screen.
Our perma-​grins lasted throughout the night — as the place became more and more sparsely populated. Some might — have taken that as a sign — that Spill is not the happening place to be on a Tuesday — but to us — it just meant — that we had that much more bartender attention (I got water refills all night) — and that we had that many more DJ song requests played.
As far as deco — Spill doesn’t have much. It’s vast — with tall wooden chairs surrounding smallish high tables, a long wooden bar, big wide windows — perfect for watching 6^th Street, and of course that big stage. That beautiful big stage.
Spill is by no means a destination spot in any respect. There isn’t much character here. And I don’t really remember the crowd — due to there being an absence of it.
But what I do remember is the DJ — in between cranking out normal top 40 stuff — to an empty room — play all our song requests. From Mariah Carey, to Next, to Salt-​N-​Pepa, to Lady Ga-​Ga.
He even played Genuine’s Pony — twice — so the dynamic Broback Mountain Duo — could dominate the empty stage with such unparalleled dance moves — that even Brad — the DJ — had to give them a shout-​out.
And perhaps the most heart resonating moment of the night was hearing the lyrics «I know I got what you want right here baby, so what you wanna do,» fill up the place, and pour out into 6^th Steet — after an earlier awkward turned down Keith Sweat request
I couldn’t stop yelling thank-​yous to the DJ as I sang along to every word.
Trust

Horrible.
We went in there and ordered two Blue Hawaiians. Bartender made it wrong. We told him it was wrong. Refused to remake it. It was missing coconut. Told him that, he made us purchase a shot in order to have coconut in our drinks.
We took it to the manager, who tasted our drinks and did say it was wrong. Remade them for us.
Also ordered X-​Rated and Sprite. Had random things floating in the cup.
Probably not going back.

Careful with the bill here. Random drinks showed up, and despite declining the «double upgrade,» all my drinks were billed as doubles. And I had just two drinks myself, so no booze goggles at fault.

This place gets so hot and crowded. If you’re looking for a place to dance, this is the place for you. But since it is 6^th Street, be careful of creepy guys! They will definitely take advantage of the close quarters.
Drink specials are pretty typical. They do have those test tube shots which can be fun if you’re into that.

This place used to be decent but not anymore.
I went here this past weekend and this place has totally gone downhill. There was literally no circulation it was super hot and humid inside, I thought I had went back to Houston.
I used to come here since there is an actual dance stage on the side. Since there aren’t many bars on 6^th where you can dance. But it was hard enough to breathe, let alone try to dance. Maybe I’ll be back when they get their air fixed.

Spill is a pretty good place for dancing, if that’s your thing. But I’m not sure if it’s worth it considering all of the really creepy guys! My friend and I were dancing here the other night and these two guys came over to us and said «Do you guys wanna dance with us?» after they had been sketchily watching us dance for about 15 minutes. I said «No, sorry, I have a boyfriend» he mumbled something back that I couldn’t hear because it was so loud in there so I said «He gets off work in 15 minutes. He’d be really mad if he saw me dancing with someone else!» (a lie, but girls, you know you do it!). My friend told the guy that had come up to her «I’m sorry, I’m married» (another lie). Then we proceeded to get out of there as fast as we could!
Spill was fun dancing in while it lasted, but I think the creep-​to-​female ratio is a little high.

I don’t go to 6^th street bars but I would just like to point out how ironic it is that Carla would cry foul over someone being racist then call all the people in that establishment «white trash».
…because, as she obviously knows, we can never build the perfect Aryan society unless all white people stop being trashy and recognize that they’re better than everyone else.

I think dear Carla below me is seeing what she wants to see.
Rules of Sixth Street (incomplete list):
1. Never get the bartenders attention. He will come to you. Attempting to get his attention is a sure way to NOT get served.
2. Never reach over, under, or around people without asking first. Women will assume you’re groping them, and so will men, which depending on where you are, can be either hilarious or problematic.
3. Never tell a bartender how wrong he is on a busy night. Save it for later or talk to the manager.
The incident had nothing to do with the fact that the guy was latino. It had everything to do with the fact that he leaned too close to other patrons and the fact that those patrons were attractive young women. Sounds to me like the only one who brought up race is Carla R.
That said — I rather like Spill. Overcrowded and the music isn’t my thing, but they’ll make a Flaming Doctor Pepper that’s actually flaming, the dancing is fun, and you’re definitely in the midst of the «cool crowd,» which is fun at times. Not an everyday destination, but an enjoyable one nonetheless.

Obviously on a busy night, Spill is great. However, even if you go on a slow night, you might be surprised at how much fun you can have. One of the perks is that they play a lot of oldies on the slower nights. It kind of is refreshing.
During the peak hours of the peak nights, this place gets packed. Usually there is a fast moving line but it goes out the door into the street. It can be 40 degrees outside but inside, Spill will get incredibly warm. When you come outside it’s really amazing at how much body heat can warm up a place.
It’s impossible not to dance at Spill.

On a good night this is my favorite dance club. But by a good night I mean Friday or Saturday, usually at about midnight. As dance clubs keep getting sleazier and dirtier, Spill remains semi classy. They play good music, the people are friendly and you can get your dance on in style. They have a slightly elevated stage for dancing, some high tables to drink on and a bar. Some drink specials.
I have come here many a night when it is dead however, and unless you are one of those that likes to dance alone to your own jam, I would skip this place unless its packed. Also, once and a while they have refused admittance to guys because of «dress code.» Now I’m not sure what exactly that means in 6^th street bar terms, but I would find out before you get turned away for having ripped jeans or something.
For a 21 and up joint with good music and a nice dance floor, check it out, you’ll find me shaking my bootie there a coupla times a month, for sure.