Saxon Pub on South Lamar Blvd. in Austin Texas

About halfway between downtown Austin and the Broken Spoke there is a big suit of armor, made out of sheet metal, standing by the side of the road on South Lamar Boulevard, it is pretty hard to miss if you ever drive that route. When you see it you are at the Saxon Pub, a South Austin Institution. If you are like me and prefer your bars to be of the dark in the daytime variety, this is about as close to heaven as you can get. The bar owner turned up some of the lights so I could make a video and it still took some manipulation in the processing to brighten things up enough to be visible. Near darkness and video don't go well together but near darkness and cold beer get along just fine. This place has smaller suits of armor strategically placed around the place, and the sound system for live music is one of the best in the city. Speaking of live music, they sure have the bases covered with as many as four different bands in a single evening; starting around 6 p.m. and going late into the night. Many big names have graced the stage from Willie Nelson to Bonnie Raitt but they were just sitting in with the booked acts like Willie's daughter and Bonnie's old guitar player, Stephen Bruton. I've recorded some YouTube music videos in there myself, in the past, but my camera can't come close to the sound and feel of the live performances. It's just something you have to experience first hand. The place is pretty spacious, as far a neighborhood bars go, and although their parking lot isn't huge I've parked next door at Binswanger Glass, after they've closed for the day, and there has never been a problem or even a threat of being towed away. This is the kind of place that always has a few familiar faces at the bar and often plays host to international music fans from all over the world. It's a must visit during SXSW and you never know who might drop in and play a tune or two. I don't write reviews, but if I did this would be a five star joint. Oh, and what they say about no one under 21 permitted in the bar is a fact I can attest to. Actually, just being over 21 isn't enough, you had better be able to prove it and a New York State drivers license won't do unless you are already obviously well past 21. I know because I got kicked out of the bar, along with my 23 year old nephew, back in 2000. I guess you can't be too careful when your liquor license depends on it. Of course, it didn't stop me from going back by myself the next time I felt like it. Let the youngsters fend for themselves is what I say.

http://www.thesaxonpub.com/

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A82418

The Broken Spoke on South Lamar in Austin Texas

This world famous honky tonk has had more written about it than probably any other bar in the city of Austin. It was once out in the country but the city has expanded by ten miles in every direction since then. The entire bar and dancehall are like one big country and western museum, even though only a couple of small rooms are formally dedicated to that purpose. They have a shuffleboard and a couple of pool tables but the big draw is the music. On the weekends the place gets packed and they have early shows in the front room during the week. I can heartily recommend the chicken fried steak but you might want to think about a half order unless you can eat two huge slabs of meat. I can, and I have many times, but sometimes it's not that easy. Whether it is your first time in the place or you are a regular you can expect to be treated like an old friend they haven't seen in a while. The latest word is that they are going to build high rise residential housing with commercial property on the ground floor all around the Spoke and its caliche parking lot but leave it the way it is. I hope James White, the bar owner, has that in writing because we all know how good a developers word is. I believe the place is safe for now and I sure wouldn't want to be the person who gave the orders to tear it down, getting run out of town on a rail doesn't sound like much fun to me, but if you've never been in there this is a good time to change that. When you're talking about character, charm and musical history there is no better example anywhere than the last of the True Texas Dancehalls: The Broken Spoke. http://www.brokenspokeaustintx.com/

Players on MLK at Lavaca in Austin Texas

I've been wanting to blog about this place for a while but I always found myself in the wrong lane when I drove past it, until yesterday. I took off from work a little early to beat the traffic and made Players my destination. It is a nondescript, stand alone, little burger joint on a prime piece of real estate at the corner of MLK and Lavaca on the southern edge of the University of Texas at Austin. If UT had its way a few years back it would now be just a memory and there would be a convention and teaching center being built where it used to stand. The problem is that the University wanted to buy the land for fair market value and pay the owners of the business nothing for the twenty five years they had investing into making Players a thriving business. In other words they were supposed to start from scratch all over again. The public and students thought that was kind of a raw deal and so did the Texas Legislature who decided UT could get by with the land that they had already purchased from willing sellers. As a result, Players is now poised to be in an excellent position for walk in customers from the new hotel complex being built next door. I remember drinking beer in the beer garden behind the building with a bunch of housepainters, about thirty years ago, and that may well have been the only time I was ever in there other than this time. I liked it then and I like it now. I know it has a special spot in the hearts of many UT students, past and present, as well as lots of University employees who drop in for lunch on a regular basis. I'll have to try that myself sometime soon.

Mother Egans on West Sixth Street near Lamar in Austin Texas

I had only been in here one time before today and I thought it was a nice place. I was dragging a drum that I carried during a peace march, here in Austin, about four years ago or five, during SXSW on a Saturday morning and my ass was dragging. It was really hot for March and Mother Egan was, oh so nice to me. I've wanted to go back, I've planned to go back, a few times I almost went back and then today I went back. It's a whole lot nicer and a whole lot friendlier than I remember it because all I wanted that day was a beer and to be left alone. They have both bases covered in here, they'll talk to you or not, it's pretty much your choice. They also have comfortable furniture, potential privacy and a great selection of beer. They are a music venue as well, and it's music that I like so I have no excuse for not going here more often, and I might change that. During SXSW2008 and St. Patrick's Day they will be packed but somehow the bars in Austin always manage to provide enough of what people want to make it an enjoyable experience. Check it out and be sure to comment if you don't like it.

http://www.motheregans.com/

Waterloo Ice House at 38th and Medical Parkway in Austin

This is the second Waterloo Ice House in Austin. The original was on Congress Avenue in an area that is now too expensive for anything, let alone a bar. There are several other locations around town but this one is my favorite. I ordered some take out from this place the other night and it was the first time I ever had any food from here. I've had plenty of beers in the past but never got around to the menu. It's a burger, sandwich, salad, chicken fried steak sort of place but what's wrong with that? I love their fries and the onion rings were mighty decent too. The way people were shovelling the food in I have to assume that it is all pretty good. In fact I would bet on it. They have music on the weekends and I can assure you it will be hopping during SXSW2008. It's located one block west of Lamar on 38th Street at the corner of Medical Parkway. There is a pretty good sized parking lot right behind the place and street parking nearby if it is too full. They have a few video games for the kids, so if you've got them, bring them and the place has several different rooms if you crave some privacy. I don't go here with any regularity but I've been in the place at least a dozen times and never could find anything to complain about so I guess that would qualify as a recommendation. Tell them Wisegeorge sent you. They won't know what the hell you are talking about but it will be fun to see the look on their face. http://www.waterlooicehouse.com/

Billy's on Burnet Road at Hancock Drive in Austin

Billy's has a decent sized deck, it serves food and they have the Happiest Happy Hour in Town from 4-5p.m. Monday through Friday. For that one hour you can quench your thirst on dollar pints of domestic beer or spend an extra fifty cents for a premium brew, of which they have many. I'm not sure what this place was before it was Billy's but it looks older than the four years that it has been a bar. The table I sat at on the deck was about the wobbliest that I have ever experienced but I never spilled a drop. You just have to make adjustments. They have those outdoor heaters for the cold nights but we haven't had very many of them this year. Their parking lot only holds about a dozen cars but don't make the mistake of parking in the lot of a closed business nearby, the tow truck drivers are vultures. Instead, go on down Hancock about fifty yards and turn left on the street just past the Fire Station. There is lots of on street parking available. It was my first time in this place because I live at the other end of town, but I had heard good things about it and it looks like they were true. The same guy who owns this place runs the Dog and Duck Pub and used to run the Waterloo Brewpub Downtown, next to Gingerman. The rent priced him out of the area but it was my favorite beerjoint in Austin for a long time before they closed. If I lived closer to Billy's on Burnet it could easily fill the bill as my favorite new joint.
http://www.billysonburnet.com/

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/review?oid=oid%3A281893

Dry Creek Cafe and Boat Dock on Mount Bonnell Road in Austin Texas

If you've ever gone up to look off Mt. Bonell in Austin, Texas overlooking Lake Austin, chances are good that you climed to the top of the hill and when you came down you got into your car and drove straight back down the hill into town. That's what I've done many times over the years, but this evening I was in the passenger seat as my buddy Troy drove on past Mt. Bonnell another quarter of a mile and lo and behold I was back in 1975. Past the big stone walls and iron gates surrounding ridiculously expensive homes, there is a time warp and I visited it today. The Dry Creek Cafe and Boat Dock has not changed one iota in years. You might wonder how I know that since I have never been there before, but if you wiped the crud off of the jukebox, that I did so I could see the selections, you would be a believer too. The guys sitting inside the front door saw me with a camera and warned me that I had better be glad that Sara wasn't working and I immediately agreed and told them that's exactly what I was thinking. I've never met Sara but her reputation proceeds her and from what I have read there is a good chance I really wouldn't want to meet her, at least not while I had a video camera in my hand. I went up to the second floor, that I didn't even know was there, and there is a deck and another enclosed room that seems perfect for a rainy day of goofing off and drinking beer. The outside deck made me a little nervous but nobody else seemed concerned that it might collapse so maybe someone has been doing some work on it in recent years, or maybe not. It's hard to tell. This place has strange hours and hasn't served any food in the last twenty years, plus I don't know what the heck they are talking about as far as a boat dock since the lake is about a hundred and fifty feet straight down the cliff but it sure has a lot of character, albiet a few decades old. Check it out if you get the chance. I have a strong suspicion it won't be there forever. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=71927810