The Hole In the Wall

One time I woke up behind this spot, at 8am in the morning. I still had my wallet, my truck had not been towed, and there was a fresh breakfast taco in my right hand. This area is clearly amazing. Wild nights for sure.

Grate place but door guy sucks would not let me back in the over some stupid shit that went on between to dogs that did not belong to me I nothing to do with he told me it was guilty of socialism I could not believe it.

Lots of great music. Has 3 separate bars. 2 in the main building and one out back. Great drink specials, service and décor. Theres a jukebox outside the back bar which has a lot of old texas jukebox standards. Young UT crowd.
Loses one star for lack of parking and nasty ass bathrooms

Not really my scene. Went here the first two nights I was in town for SXSW as it was walking distance from my Airbnb and they had bands play. Got a guilt trip for not pitching in money for the bands beefore I even entered the door even though I was just there to have a beer. The place was just too divey for me. Nothing super wrong with the place, but I’d rather go somewhere else.

The staff is so horribly rude!
Let me go on record by stating that I used to love going to this bar and even recommended it to friends on several occasions, never again.
I stopped by last week to pick up a friend and decided to go in for ONE drink before heading to where we were going, big mistake. As soon as I walked in I noticed the door guy and proceeded, as usual, to take my ID out as I look really young and get carded every single place I go. I was about to walk away when he said oh it’s a $ 5 cover tonight. Perplexed, I look around to the quite empty venue and ask if there’s a band playing or something and he said there would be but about an hour or so later.
I say alright and take my wallet back out only to realize I don’t have any cash so I turn over to him and tell him as such and ask if I could just join my friend for a drink before we leave as we would not be staying for the show (not because I’m stingy, because I am not). He was very rude and said no and directed me to the nearest ATM. I say ok and then asked if it was possible to get a drink with my card and get some cash back to pay, he said yea that’s cool. I walked over to the bar and talk to the bartender about it and she very rudely tells me I just can’t do that so I told her the door guy said it was okay, they discuss it in front of me and tell me to go to the ATM or send me to the ‘back bar’
I walk out and approach the ATM only to find out it was or of service. I walk back into the bar and tell him and he just kept being so rude about it all and now directs me to the ⁷⁄₁₁ down the street.
I say fuck it, approach my friend and tell him what’s going on, he closed his tab and we took our business elsewhere.
The staff in this place clearly doesn’t know how to treat customers. Management should be on top of it as I’m sure this will drive other people away as it drove us away.

Hole in The Wall will always be a pretty cool little venue to me, with lots of history I don’t completely appreciate, probably. I know some really big names played there. I think it was a blues bar. So all those Townes Van Zandt/​SRV types I think played there. Maybe even Joplin. When I moved to town, it was a bit of a cowpunk bar. I saw acts like Clyde and Clem’s Whiskey Business and The Beaumonts there.
But now that that crowd has moved over to the White Horse on the East side, Hole has become a hipster venue. Lot of folksy, independent performers. Kinda ‘Portlandia 1890’s’ almost…
I still dig the place. It’s always relaxing to go there and listen to the acts that play. I feel like this could become a big hippie place if hippies started trusting it again. The back is a kinda fru-​fru restaurant, too… There’s 2 stages and I’ve seen them both used at once. I’ve seen that place packed before, actually. Kinda sad to see what it is now, but it could totally come back. I also love the sideyard with its picnic bench-​tables, semi-​outdoor pool table, and jukebox! Great place to socialize, actually…

Happened to be near here the other night after a visit to the ER for stitches. After that ordeal, my partner and I needed a drink (soda for me), so we stopped in here after being enticed by the sign out front for «live women.» While we discovered ourselves to be the only live women in the bar, we dug the vibe.
The front room has a small stage and tables, while the back room has a larger stage and standing area. We wandered outside and found a cool patio and another back room that the bartender says is being turned into a restaurant. There were only a few dozen people there when we visited at midnight on Tuesday, but we’ll be back to check out the scene and listen to some music.
They have pool, foosball, and some other table games, and they do karaōke, bingo, and movie nights, too. We look forward to checking those out!
The staff was friendly and the drinks were good.

Overall this was a fun spot to chill at. The live music is cool and it seems like a classic dive bar in the Austin music scene. This place has been around a long time and seems like a fun place to chill out and have a good time at.

Carley has extreme sense of urgency when it comes to a full bar! She pours drinks and manages every aspect of customer service flawlessly! Her sense of humor carried us along all night. If you want a good time and great service, Carley is the reason you come to HOLE IN THE WALL! She is able to multitask and keep a calm demeanour in any situation. Thank you will be back!

If I lived in Austin then I think I would have made Hole in the Wall a staple of my bar scene. As it stands I’ve only been there once. It was for a few hours after a conference on UT Austin’s campus ended. So, keep in mind that the data that I am using to base my opinion is severely limited. Quintessential dive bar — which are, by far, my favorite types — with two bars (one in the front and one in the back) and ample stage space. Good choice of music to boot. My whiskey sour was delicious, and they gave me extra cherries without even having to ask :-*

It could be a normal weeknight. It could be the most boring of days. But on a day or a night where I find myself at Hole in the Wall, it turns into a party night.
I hear people older than me saying, «Man, that place was old when I was in school…», and I love it. The Hole in the Wall means tradition, it means crusty, it means Austin, and it means the world to those who frequent it.
Friendly faces, good local music, dingy bathrooms, and somehow, GREAT DRINKS.
I will always love this place. Giving it a point-​by-​point review just doesn’t seem right. Just go here before it closes.

Best bar on that side of the river. I’ve never had so much fun in my life. If you’re looking for a place with a great atmosphere and awesome staff this is it. If you swing in there make sure to say hi to cam for me. One of the best bartenders I’ve ever had.

Super cool spot with great drink specials. I love that they have an East Side king attached to it as well. Seems like it would be a great place to see a live show as well. I went in on a Wednesday during happy hour and it was pretty empty but the vibe was super cool and they have really cool art in the place. Im not sure if I would brave this place on a weekend night since its on the drag but during weekdays this seems like a great spot to have a drink and down some Ramen

Enjoying a smooth Sunday night with my girl waiting to here McHone at Hole in the Wall…
As I try to buy a local brew before the show the Bar Keep tells me my ID is an obvious fake. I am 23 and have been to hole in the wall a half a dozen times. I show him 4 forms of identification including blue cross and AAA… to no avail. Granted I just moved here from Florida and they are not used to the out of staties, but geez I only wanted to see Carson McHone and her immaculate voice. Staff refused to serve me due to the validity of my identification thus forcing my girlfriend and I out before Carson started. Hope it was a good show… smh

This is such an Austin staple! They have live music more often than not and it feels like a dive bar but it has so much more to offer. They have a great draught list, a lot of local stuff. That’s pretty ideal. Also, they have this drink called the Shitty Lemonade. Its amazing! They press the lemons each time they make the drink. Its phenomenal.
Also, the bartenders are always pretty nice which is great. They are connected to East Side King so you can enjoy that awesome food while you are there. Anyways, I love this place and wish I went there more often.

The Hole is one of the few pre-​boom Austin bars that’s still alive and living in the same place where it was born in 1974, right across from the UT College of Communications on the Drag. And yes, it’s a dive bar and has never been updated. This is part of its charm. Some people have been coming here for years, because we’re UT alums.
It looks tiny from the outside, but actually only the front bar area is small. They put bands in the window during Happy Hour (4 – 7), which can also be misleading, and it’s always loud unless they’re acoustic. There are plenty of tables in the front area. Happy hour specials are limited, but drinks are fairly cheap anyway, so I never go with the specials.
The back room is much larger and has its own bar, and shows back there start at 8. Bring earplugs. There’s room to stand or dance. Since Austin doesn’t allow smoking indoors, smokers will duck out back onto the patio. That pretty much ruins the fresh air experience you may have been expecting.
If you continue farther though, past the smoking area, you’ll come to East Side King restaurant. The bar area allows food back inside, so you can grab something to eat and return if you want. We usually go back and forth regularly. If you paid a cover, make sure your hand is stamped before you go out, because people try to sneak in through the back entrance, and they’ll check.
Bathrooms are a bit dicey and so is parking, but that’s to be expected in this area. There’s a tiny parking lot in back but there are towing signs and I’m never exactly sure what the rules are, so we just hunt on the nearby streets until we find an open space without a parking restriction. Read nearby signs carefully to avoid tickets.
Shows at the Hole are advertised on the marquis and chalkboard outside, but also on the Calendar page on their website. You can also read about some of their history on the «Inside the Hole link,» which is fairly entertaining. Happy 40^th to the Hole this year. Here’s to 40 more.

I moved to Austin a little over a month ago and have been told the campus bars are awful so I’ve been avoiding them. However, I really wanted to see a band that was playing here a couple weekends ago and I went. AND I’m really glad I did! The place has a front bar and room with a little stage and tables. In the back there is a bigger room with a bigger stage and another bar. If you continue down, you will end up in a decent sized patio area where smoking is allowed and you can look at some cool art on the walls. Continue even further and you are back indoors, in a restaurant! There is also a bar in there.
It was definitely bigger than I expected from what I saw from the street. The back room is pretty large but it’s small enough to make it an intimate show experience, which I love!

Nostalgia is what comes to mind when Mr. Smidgens thinks of the Hole in The Wall! I used come here in my younger days. Meeting up with friends and making new ones. Funny thing is, I do that to this day. Talking to strangers, especially if they have candy! *WINK*
Happy Hour is 4 to 7pm during the week and they have local artists playing the front stage whilst you drink your poison of choice.
You can hang out in the back and catch evening bands starting at 8pm. You can even get some tasty fried beets from East Side King who are housed inside! ! Yummers!!! I just blew your mind I know.
So, head on down to the Hole and you just might have a Mr. Smidgens sighting!
I’ll see you in your dreams..

Perhaps I am just too old to understand the Hole’s elusive charm. Many of my grad school friends rave about the place as if it were the Second Coming, and take every imaginable chance to patronize and promote it to new grad students. I think, on the other hand, that it’s about the fifth most likeable bar in the one-​mile stretch of the Drag in which it sits.
Ethos is too-​cool-​for-​school, as you might have guessed by the name. Über-​tattooed hipsters serve pitchers with the usual blasé indifference between cigarette breaks. The beer selection is merely alright, easily equaled or bettered by The Local, The Drag Bar, and Dog & Duck. Despite the fact that the building (again, the name says it all) clearly hasn’t been renovated since 1978, prices are some of the highest on the Drag, with happy hour specials limited to shitty beers and whiskey.
Yes, it has a patio, but it’s Austin, so so does everyplace else. Said patio is also regrettably situated so that the peak sun blasts down on it for hours in the afternoon, with umbrellas that can’t be adjusted and so might as well not exist. It is thus a perfect place to get a sunburn while drinking pitchers that instantly turn warm, smelling the overflowing ashtrays left behind by the chain-​smoking Marlboro Men who sat at the table before you.
As an added bonus, there are very often bands playing the front stage inside. Again, because it is Austin, they are usually terrible. Unlike other places in Austin, though, Hole likes to charge cover for their terrible bands, and if you just want to meet friends on the patio, you will be sent around back to the servants’ entrance and forced to order beers in the East Side Kings that shares the property (and probably has the same owners). Since ESK isn’t especially cheap or filling, it’s not even particularly well-​suited to binge drinking, so doesn’t really do much for the experience overall.
Hole in the Wall is serviceable enough if you want to drink near UT and can’t stand to be around undergrads (they don’t really hang out there). But again, that’s true of several nearby places with better selections, prices, food, and specials. Go to the Dog & Duck a half mile down the street instead, get yourself a Tuesday special craft brew, and chow down on some fish and chips. You’ll thank me later.

On one of my many trips to Austin, I came here to meet up with my friend Simon who flew all the way from Australia/​New Zealand to catch up! It was so nice to see and hear a familiar face and accent!
We decided to meet up here to start our Monday night off in Austin, yes; Monday night. Who goes out drinking till 2am on Monday you say? We Kiwis sure did.
I arrived way before my friend did, so I sat at the bar, ordered a glass of water and it wasn’t long until I had company from the bartender and the locals; free drinks! They were so friendly and got to talking about where I’m from.
1 hour later, my friend Simon decides to join and we sat at the back outside area where fairy lights lit the place up. We stayed here for awhile and caught up with each other and our travels around the USA/​world. While we caught up, we both had an epiphany where we both took deep breaths and soaked in the fact that ¾years ago we were sat next to each other in our Economics class at University or 1 year ago we were at some pretentious bar/​club in Britomart dancing the night away… and at present, there we were in Austin, TEXAS, of all places, halfway around the world having a drink at a dingy bar. It was nice.
We stayed at Hole in the Wall for awhile before heading to Dirty Six as the drinks were stinking cheap, especially on a Monday! If you’ve ever gone for a night out in Auckland, you’d find that you’d pay around $ 16-​$ 18 for a cocktail… at Hole in the Wall; we ordered 1 beer, 1 gin & tonic and 2 shots for a measly $ 15!
What a great time! We loved it!