The Ghost Room

Hmmm… I’m going to have to give this place another try.
Seems like a GREAT listening room – great acoustics, high ceilings, etc. But there’s a lack of places to sit (bar stools, etc.), unless you’re going to hang in the biergarten. And you’re not going to be listening to the bands if you’re in the biergarten!
The drink prices were fair – probably a little better than the bars in the surrounding blocks.
I’m going to have to keep tabs on upcoming shows there, to see if there’s an artist that I want to check out. Neat place, but it’s just missing something… can’t quite put my finger on it, but it’s missing something.

Really lame, went here with a girlfriend after a fun night on the town… lame o. Waited a while for service, very superficial here, judged on the way we looked. Boring, bad service, and nothing to make a person want to come back again.

I really like Ghost Bar, nice atmosphere, dark saloon style décor with chandeliers and great lighting. Really nice, spacious patio with big tables, city views and trees!

This is a fantastic venue. Great vibe — great crowd.
But … people go to listen to music on a Friday night not to listen to music and sip on lemonade, right?
That’s where the less than stellar review comes in — the bar tenders sucked! I understand that things can get busy & overwhelming. But come on — this is the entertainment district of Austin … and a good bar tender has to know how to put on a smile and have a bit of personality.
I don’t know about yall … but i don’t want someone with a pinched face handing me a drink making me feel as if i went to the principal’s office!
Oh well … Ghost Room manager — if you are reading this: hire some bar tenders who know what they are doing and with some personality.

Great staff, great music, loyal clientele.
My first visit to the Ghost Room was for music trivia last Sunday. My girl and I met up with a friend that we met at their sister location The Ginger Man (which I will review later). The staff is really friendly and some of them know us for frequenting both bars’ trivia nights. The Who Wants A Dollar trivia team also deserve a 5 star rating because we might not have walked in the door if they weren’t there.
The décor of the ghost room is also pretty cool. It, like most bars in Austin has a western-​saloon type feel. It also includes a pool table and a good jukebox (I remember hearing old Blur and Built To Spill when I was inside). On the patio they usually grill something and give it out for free to the trivia faithful.
This is a Sunday ritual that I could get used to.

My boyfriend and I met a friend here last weekend. Our friend swears by this place so we wanted to see what all the fuss is about.
I am definitely a fan of the Ghost Room. The inside is dark, with a kind of old west meets gothic feel. There were regulars at the bar, and a few people chilling with their lap tops. The backyard is a great place to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon. It’s got a great «neighborhoody» vibe downtown. People were grilling hot dogs… sharing brownies that my friend brought, relaxing in the shade with their dog and a cold beer. The music trivia is really fun and if you win, you get $$ towards you bar tab. You probably won’t win though if my team is there :).
The bartenders are super friendly and unpretentious. I can definitely see this being a hang out type of place.
I haven’t been during a show yet, but look forward to it! Thanks Ghost Room for a super fun Sunday afternoon!

my friend brought us here for some beers in a relaxed space. we sat outside by the patio. we drank few vodkas, more than a few. bartenders were nice and the prices were good. smokers hang out in the patio. no frills.

Really enjoyed this venue. Great spot for intimate shows and hanging with friends. Like it that i can sit outside on the deck and enjoy my pipe.

I am a fan of how this place has been slightly turned around for a music venue. My boyfriend and I saw Sarah Jaffe there last night and we were extremely impressed with the sound quality– of both the artist and the acoustics. There are many music venues in Austin that have ruined perfectly good shows b/​c of crappy acoustics. I like the benches that have been added for people to sit and enjoy the shows. It’s also neat how the front area was kept the same with the cozy seating and darts.
The beer selections were good and I really appreciate the water cooler– also kept full of ice cold water!
We will be back for sure!

Great place to listen to great music. Saw Guns of Navarrone here on Saturday and they were awesome.

So this is the old Ginger Man. The patio is pretty much the same. The bar is also pretty much the same just without all the taps. The décor has changed. The pricing is about above average but they usually have decent specials. I just love the vibe of an old building and this one has it. I have no idea what the crowd is here as I went to see a friends’ band play. It was nice that night though.

In town for SXSW and ended up at this place for a few of the day shows. The bands were great but the staff and atmoshere were even better. I will definitly be checking back in to the Ghost Room next time im in town. Oh… No Kitchen but they were Izzoz Tacos was catering a few of the shows and they were LEGIT too.

Sometimes the only factor necessary to weigh a drinking establishment is the human one.
What a friendly, fun group of people running this place. Like the dank darkness better than a lot of spaces in this part of town, too. Decent beer selections. Guessing this place will be packed every night in a few months. The open space lends itself to mingling, not sectioned conversation (unlike the place that used to be in here).
I’ll be back at the venue for 20X2 during SXSW. Meet me there, won’t you?

Ghost Room gets my prize for hosting one of the most unexpected and pants-​poopingly-​drunk nights of my life. A friend and I had just an off night. We had gotten free tickets to a concert from a work friend of ours, and we weren’t too stoked about it, but, decided we had to take advantage. Brand New was playing, and I just didn’t want to flash back to 2003. Not this day. But we were going to go anyways just to be nice. So we showed up at the venue… had a remarkably easy time parking, and upon walking around the building twice, we realized something really unfortunate. We got the day wrong. We were there a day early. Crap. now what? Well, we couldn’t go home, we were already downtown. SO we decided to grab a quick drink at a bar nearby.
On our way to the Ghost Room, we discussed what to do with our tickets. Since we didnt give a crap about the show, we decided to put them on craigslist and try to sell them, then giving the money to the person who gave us the tickets (which she got for free). Fast forward 2 hours, and my friend Alberto N. and I are 60 dollars richer from the sale of the tickets, and over 100 dollars poorer from cheap well scotch wishkey at the bar. There was hardly anyone in there, save for maybe 5 or 6 other regular-​types. The place is a perfect throwback to gingerman. Bare bones liquor selection, super laid back staff that know what’s going on around the 3^rd street district, and solid wood furniture. There’s a stage and small ampi-​style riser seating in the far end of the bar, and that really is about it. Not a whole lot to the place, but I think it’s an excellent place for conversation and some basic libations. Kudos Ghost Room, thank you for taking my money and turning a blind eye to my BAC ;-)

i saw a show here on a friday night. it was an older crowd and the drink prices were decent.
i’d go back for sure

Cool décor. Okay bar selection.
I used to come here when it was Gingerman, and I miss that pub… mainly the reason I go back. I thought Gingerman sold so the location could be torn down due to High Rise Condo’s to be built in it’s place. I guess the plan changed. Too bad its not still Gingerman, but it IS a nice little place to go still!
So come on back! Check it out!

A cool place with some ghoulish décor and a nice back patio. Met up with the guys stop one on the «Manly Unilocal pub crawl». Nice staff and a pretty cool environment although they have a small draft selection. I’ll have to check it out when it’s in full swing.

Like an old friend who re-​emerges from the fog… but better. I can scarcely begin to tell you how excited I was to tour the latest incarnation of this room last night. Total dumb luck, sauntered in there on what apparently was the first Monday night that they’ve been open, and I very much like it. Did I mention that I like it? I’m a fan.
Gone are the gigantic booths that bisected this space (which admittedly were charming in their own right in their time), replaced by open space, a tidy stage in the corner, and a familiar if additionally appointed backyard. They’ve even set up a small VIP balcony for a bird’s eye view. I spoke with the folks here a little about some of what they have coming up, and I realized something along the way. When the Ginger Man moved down the street, I sort of figured that I’d let my attachment to this room drift: I mean, the room was going to be razed at some point (it seemed soon at that point… now maybe not), so what was to be gained by lamenting days gone by.
Then of course I walked in, and all the fun times I’ve had here had me grinning. Steve’s right: the expansive tap selection has been pared back to a count more mortal, and there are bottles and cans at the ready besides. And if you’re a traditionalist, it’s different, so your mileage may vary. But for my part I’ll most definitely be back, cobbling together many more memories to come.

It has re-​awakened.
The Ghost Room lives where the old Ginger Man (now re-​opened around the corner on Lavaca) once was. The historic building, slated for demolition and to be replaced by an apartment/​condo complex, has been spared due to the economic collapse which has made starting a new building too expensive. Saved by the bill, as it were.
The Ghost Room has transformed the great big train barn of a building that used to house the Austin Ginger Man into a cool live music venue with an excellent backyard.
Gone is the giant wall of taps, replaced by a more conventional selection of 6 supplemented by 14 bottles and 5 canned varieties. (CANS! How delightfully déclassé!). No darts, but the pool table remains, there’s a full bar (with liquor!) for the first time and a stage in the NW corner where the office used to be.
The feel is still there. The vibe is still there. The aroma of old wood and beer and great building remains. The glorious back yard is still resplendent with Live Oaks casting wonderful shade. The interior space is more open, much more conducive to live music, but cool funky touches still abound: the chandeliers are awesome, the lighting subtle and eclectic, and the collection of old Austin live music posters are a real trip down memory lane.
The bones in this one are good and solid. The staff is familiar, friendly, eager, excited for what’s next. The musical talent pool of Austin just needs to discover this cool new (old) venue.
There are more stars coming, I’m sure, as they shake off the dust of a brief hiatus, establish a band lineup and ease into a new life of cool tunes. I’m so happy to be back in this great building, with beer flowing and sound wafting high into the ceilings where ghosts once danced.