Submerged

I stopped in briefly during SXSW.
The place reeks of douche bags.
I’ll pass.

Great fun-​beautiful people! What more can you ask for. Also ask for their pizza (home made & delicious) perfect snack for the strong drinks! Awesome personal feel for customer service and satisfaction!
OOOHHHH YEEAAAHHH!

This bar is kind of strange. It’s in a weird location (2^nd St, in the midst of a few fine-​dining restaurants) for the type of bar it is. It’s kind of divey inside, but they have a VIP lounge and promote it like it’s an upscale bar. I didn’t really think anything was special about it except for the unisex bathrooms, which were cool. But if you’re a girl and you want to fix your makeup or hair (without people watching you), you only have about 2 inches of mirror in the bathroom stall to do it with. It doesn’t really bother me, but just throwing it out there.

Checked out this aquatic lounge last night for a meet up group event and found it to be pretty cool.
When you first walk in, there is a row of couches and tables along the right wall where our group gathered. Walk past the couches and the bar will be on your left. This is only half of the bar as the bar continues past this little wall that divides it. Across from the bar is this section that is a half step higher then the rest of the lounge populated with more couches and dim VIP area with a bed to relax on separated from the couches. VIP is only reserved for bottle service.
The trippy thing was the unisex bathroom. I have mix feelings because on one hand it was set up pretty cool with individual locked doors instead of stall doors on both the left and right wall and had modern sink troth with no actual sinks in the center of the bathroom. You’ll have to see it for yourself to understand what I’m describing.
Cons are that there is no door to enter the bathroom. You just briefly turn the small corner and are instantly faced with people and stalls. And I’m not so sure how thrilled I am to be reapplying my make-​up with another guy standing next to me at that sink. There are just some things that guys and girls should do in private without feeling like you’re on display ready to be judged. Ignorence is bliss right?
Bartender Michelle was nice. Can’t comment on her cocktail mixing skills cause I stuck with beer. Happy Hour prices are $ 3 wells and $ 3 domestic bottles. The only food served here is little tombstone pizzas that rang from $ 8-​$ 10. Nothing to write home about but it’ll do after a few drinks on an empty stomach.
FYI, there’s a patio for smokers. The music level was nice earlier in the evening so that you could still hear the person you were conversating with but that quickly changed after 7:30pm.
Not a bad place and I do expect to make a return possibly during SxSW since its right across the street from the convention center.

This place is great, but is way far off the beaten path. It’s too bad too, the bar tenders are great and can make some good drinks. There is NO cover and it’s a nice little swanky spot.
The only negative is the way the bathroom is set up, each is an individual stall and kind of difficult to get in and out of. :(
Please come out and support this place! I hear they are having a Halloween party on the 31^st!

Had to check this place out after reading the reviews and seeing that siren song «Free Happy Hour Buffet». Me and my 10 peeps showed up here around 5 and if we hadn’t been there, this place would have been empty. When we left a coupla hours later, I’m sure a vacuum was formed.
My inner mermaid has an affinity for places like this, with a cool, blue aqueous décor and a waterfall wall near the entrance and of course the mermaid mural on the patio wall. The bathrooms were modern and with a twist: a row of private uni-​sex «one-​seaters» lining each side of a large communal washing station, all slate and marble. Very sleek. And I can’t complain about having my sweet tea vodka in a real, tall iced tea glass for $ 5.
But as my friend kept saying, this place is trying too hard. I don’t think it’s quite gotten it’s identity placed yet. Is it a lounge (as it seems from it’s cool décor and couches), is it a live venue, is it a dance club? What is it? Yes they had the free apps, which they should either improve or do away with (yick, fatty chicken wings, little pre-​frozen quiches and cheese sticks). They had a guy singing early on, and while he wasn’t bad, the volume was so loud in that cavernous space, all of us made a mass exodus to the tiny «patio» so we could talk. My advice would be to put him either in the back room, or shut off the speakers in the back room so we can continue our conversations in comfort. Finally, when we passed back by here to our cars around 11 o’clock that nite, we heard thumping hip hop coming out and again, the joint was empty with a handful of a completely different crowd hangin outside texting and looking bored.
I know this area can be hard to make work and I’m sure the lease is super expensive (my friend owned Fuego’s next door and lost it within a year), but I think if you’re consistent and confident in your identity, people will come to love you and want to hang out there. I wish them luck!

First off I was never into the club scene. Never will be. But Submerged is a decent club venue that deserves to be given kudos. Unfortunately it never was crowded when I was there. All the other restaurants around the vicinity was packed. Unfortunately, Submerged wasn’t.
You know if it went to the way of a dive bar East of I-​35, I would definitely be a huge fan.

This is a great spot to go to either begin or end a night out downtown. I’ve never seen it overly crowded, the staff is friendly, the drinks are reasonable, and there’s plenty of seating in spread out areas. They will give you a free shot on your birthday.
They have a steady stream of special events, too.

In March of 2009 I was where any faithful music industry professional should rightly be, Austin, Texas for South By Southwest. Anyone who has spent any time in Austin or done their time in the chaos that calls itself South By Southwest knows that the most important place in Austin that week is the Pure Volume party. Previously it was the Pure Volume Ranch, but it now know as the Pure Volume House.
What this has to do with the bar Submerged is actually very little besides the fact that Submerged is blessed with sharing a wall with the Pure Volume site. Submerged was at one time called 90 Proof and has recently changed owners and staff to be reborn as an entirely new bar. This was one of my first stops during SXSW in 2009 as I waited to pick up my artist passes to the Pure Volume House next door.
The new owners and staff are very professional, fun loving and welcoming. The bar is conveniently located across from the convention center and a couple of high-​end swanky steak houses (to remain nameless). The location prevents the bar from becoming a wasteland of frat boy stupidity and helps it to remain more of a destination bar for people looking to get away from the inane worthlessness of Sixth Street.
The décor has not changed much, if at all, from the 90 Proof days and it still has much of the same vibe. The bathroom still remains one of my favorite in Austin and pretty much all of the nightlife world. I have not had the pleasure of being here when they have bands or DJ’s playing so I cannot comment on the music, I can tell you the drinks are fairly priced, poured well and the staff is exceptional. Also as a bonus to the smoking masses, they have a great deck patio for you to enjoy that is just barely outside, meaning you don’t have to hide around the corner by the dumpster in shame to enjoy your Camel.
Overall, Submerged is a great place to get away from the chaos of Sixth Street and try a new scene. It is also perfectly located to enjoy an after dinner drink after you blow the big bucks at any of the trendy nearby eateries. Good drinks, great vibe and smiling faces. Who could ask for anything more?

Please go here! Because I need this place to stay in business and unfortunately it seems to be in a jinxed location (across from the convention center, on East 2^nd, previous home to the ill-​fated Ninety Proof — which was also a great bar). The place retained a lot of Ninety Proof’s stylish décor but has added in the water theme, including plasma TVs displaying screen saver type aquariums and the ubiquitous wall waterfall. But I don’t really care what the décor looks like so long as the bar staff is as friendly, cool and capable as the folks at Submerged. We got there on a Friday night around 9 pm and were informed that they were serving up $ 3.00 «almost anything» drinks all night long, including potent margaritas and thrill providing Flaming Dr. Peppers.

Submerged is set away in it’s own section of downtown that is not considered 6^th, and is too far to be considered the Warehouse District. Instead, Submerged planted its roots on 2^nd & Trinity across from Roys & and Austin Convention Center. The location has potential being a hop, skip, and jump away from the convention center which brings in tons of out-​of-​towners week in & week out. And with SXSW coming up, I’m predicting Submerged to be an instant hit for those looking to grab a drink and a chill moment in between shows.
Being named Submerged, it is definately a water’d theme lounge/​bar, but you won’t find any sharks swimming around in the floors here. Décor includes alot of sea blues/​torquoise as one would image, and lounge couches and plenty of bar stools.
Also inside, you’ll find the bar running along one side, and divided into two sections, a short & long end. Both bars seem fully stocked w/​various flavors of alcohol spirits that one can think of, along w/​a good selection of bottled beers. And for the fans of draft beer, they do have a couple selections, I think like 4 from what I remember. It’s not a huge selection, but there are some available.
Opposite the bar are lounge couches which, I personally didn’t sit in, but did look extremely comfortable. Towards the middle section, there is a VIP room w/​lcd tv, a couple chairs, and a good sized bed for everybody to have their fun on. No really, there is a bed inside there… w/​pillows might I add. And for the smokers, there is a patio that backsides to the bar, and faces towards the convention center. It’s not excessively wide, but long enough to give people having a smoke break some room to chill outside. Only bummer is that being a narrow patio, there isn’t room for patio tables/​chairs to sit w/​a group and enjoy a nice afternoon. They instead have several tall barstools running along the patio.
Now as far as service, I do have to say that I am friends w/​one of the bartenders, so she automatically knew what I wanted, so she kept em flowing with no trouble. I was able to talk a bit w/​the bar manager, and personnel seems cool & open to meeting patrons coming in & out.
Friday, 1/​30, is the grand opening, so I’ll be making plans to see how this place does fully staffed and with a busy crowd attending. So far, this place has my attention and I’ll definately give be going back for some more rounds.