Hal’s Landing

2.5÷5
I’m generally reviewing about the nighttime bar/​club scene of Hal’s as opposed to the actual restaurant part.
Since Laredo has a limited nightlife, Hal’s is usually everyone’s go-​to in the city, so if you’re trying to avoid certain people, Hal’s is most likely not the place for you because I swear you will see people you haven’t seen in years, or even just your neighbor. EVERYONE and ANYONE comes here (granted as long as they’re 21+) lol.
Bar area is in a square shape and tends to be highly congested, so if you’re ok with waiting a while for your drink, then you have nothing to worry about. Sometimes they make their drinks stronger than usual, which is a plus, and their beers and wells tend to be pretty cheap.
This place is insanely huge, that even if the parking lot is crazy crowded, you’ll be suprised to find that the inside is actually pretty roomy because it’s unnaturally big.
There’s a dance floor at the far back of the bar, which I don’t even know if people use, but it’s there for dancing to music.
Pool table areas, a patio area with a live band, and a bunch of booths and tables.
I guess people come here when there’s nothing else to do or nowhere else to go.
Nonetheless, it’s still Laredo’s tried and true bar spot.

Food is great. Especially the fajitas. Drinks are about the Cheapest in the city! Music is great on the weekends, lots of arcade games and pool tables! One of the best places in town to have fun !

It’s pretty sad that this is nearly every Laredoan’s «Go-​To» place on the weekends.
Setting: Dirty and Raunchy
Service: Even «Pathetic» would say «That’s Pathetic!»
Music: Ghetto and Loud
Crowd: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This place is HUGE!
This is my first time going here and I’m sorry the services was great, maybe I went in before nine. But it was great, they greeted my friends and I, asked what we like to drink and I asked what kind of fruity drinks do they recommend and he gave us at least six drinks names but we chose something blue (I’ll posted up the picture) and food was pretty good. I got the sports samplers and Hal’s Supreme Pizza (FUCKING GOOD PIZZA)
There were a few people when I got there around nine but by ten o’clock it was getting crowded and music was LOUD. I couldn’t even talk to my friends, I was basically yelling so they could hear I was talking about.
Great for parties, hang out and just a place to have fun. I don’t recommend sitting at the bar, people tend to hover to the bartender and it’s just plain awkward and weird. Get a table or a booth, more space or at least it avoids arms reaching for a drinks.
Will be coming back here with my friends again, I like this place and reminds me of Dave’s & Busters.

This place is fine I assume during the day!!! What a let down when the DJ took over Friday night. What is this a mexican cantina? Has a great sports theme going on but what is up with the trashy mexican music? I feel like I’m in a bad soap opera. Never coming back for sure lol!

OMG, where do I begin? This place is AWFUL. Unilocal,can I please give this place 0 stars? I will compare just having dinner and clubbing separately:
Dinner: Every single time I have an early dinner, the servers take F.O.R.E.V.E.R. to bring appetizers, drinks, refills, alcoholic drinks, entrees, and the check. If possible, try to order everything you want in one go because they won’t be back for another 15 to 20 minutes every time. Obviously, they are not very attentive.
The pizza is not good. The pastas are okay. The fried pickles, wings, and breaded shrimp are tasty. DO NOT order anything with chicken. YOU WILL get food poisoning. It happened to two of my coworkers and myself. We all took a sick day at work the next day. Why would we return to a place with awful service? My coworkers like the cheap drinks, but trust me, they are not worth it… which leads to my next point…
Clubbing: I usually don’t drink, and am not into clubbing, but I did my best to keep an open mind. Most of the time, I will be the designated driver. It takes F.O.R.E.V.E.R. to get any bar tender’s attention. They need to open up more bar sections to accommodate all the people they have. Maybe they would get more customers that way? Since I was the D.D., I wanted a Dr. Pepper, but the restaurant was closed, so I asked the bartender for one. She gave me a nasty look and took off. I was confused and just waited for her another bar tender’s attention. She eventually came back with a pitcher of soda. I didn’t realize that they don’t have soda at the bar, and wanted to tip her; too bad she never said a word and completely ignored me. Oh, well, at least it was free?
The $ 3 drinks they make are very weak, and every time I ask for a specific one, it takes them as least two times to get it right. You get what you pay for I suppose? It is definitely over crowded and not very classy. But then again, it is a club. I guess it’s just not my cup of tea– or beer? The restrooms are atrocious. My friends sometimes get a couple of bottled beers, but I don’t see how that is cheaper then buying beer at a grocery store.
Misc: The arcade section is not too great and a bit overpriced. I feel that this place is trying to be a D&B but failing.
In short, I would have a better and cheaper time buying beer and experimenting on drinks with my blender and hanging out in my apartment with my friends than coming here. I have regretted going here every single time, and I will NOT be returning.

The only things this place has going for it are:
1. It’s HUGE and 2. the $ 3 drink specials (beer too).
AVOID the bar on the weekends if you want to have a chance of getting the servers’ attention or even the bartenders’. If you do go on the weekends, show up early, and find your seat at the bar. You will also avoid the metal detectors and ID check if you show up early.
They have a huge patio space that they recently «upgraded,» but quite frankly, I think it looked better before. This area is also overly packed with people on the weekends.
The food really is good; and the restaurant service is pretty average/​fair. Nothing exceptional.
The inside, to me, smells kinda’ like a wet rag; which makes me fearful of the kitchen and its overall cleanliness, and half-​way cancels out how good the food may taste.
From the outside, it looks a bit neglected. Back in its hey-​day, there was pretty good upkeep of the landscaping. Not so much anymore.

Drinks were really cheap — but watered down. Service was a little slow. The video game room made up for its other shortcomings. Dance Dance Revolution (knockoff)!

Really? Seriously? This is a sports bar?
I know that Laredo is «Cowboy country» but this is a sports bar. Sports include football and football include OTHER teams besides the Cowboys. This huge/​spacious establishment was EMPTY during the noon game on a Sunday. What is worse is that there were several fans from other teams who came in to try to see their game. MANAGEMENT would not change any TVs to anything other than the Cowboys. Get real!!! There was nobody THERE for a noon kickoff!!!
Only TWO TVs are «allowed» to be changed– somewhere in the back & if you are not one of the first two nonCowboy fan there then you are s-​outta luck.
MIND you the place was EMPTY– and the «manager» was a the bar drinking watching the Cowboys game— all this to say that nonCowboy fans left so this «Sports bar» prefer to lose paying customers than change TV stations– can’t image in this economy that ANYONE would turn customers away, well this is such place… will NEVER be back in this place.
As a weird comment– the walk to the restrooms are CREEPY!!!

Very rarely have a bad time here. Bar can be a little busy though, so be prepared to wait if you don’t have a pack of hotties in your group.

Ridiculous excuse for a sports bar – Laredo is worthy of better. The beer was warm, the food was greasy, and the sports? You better not be wanting to see a game because they will change the game on you. Me and my brother-​in-​law were there to enjoy the Texas Longhorns play basketball – three times they changed the channel on us WITHOUT asking us if it would be a bother. The manager came over and, with all the articulate skills of a neaderthal, explained to us that other customers needed to be taken into account. All we wanted was ONE TV tuned to the ‘horns – but NOOOOOOOOOOOO, all, ALL, ALL 30 plasma screens were tuned to ONE NBA game.
Sigh. Stay home and buy a six and give Hal’s a miss.

Sort of a local take on Dave & Busters. Reasonably good food and beverages, but service can be lackadaisical.