Swan Dive — Local services in Austin

HAUNTED TAVERN POP UP EXPERIENCE review Only:

Swan Dive rents out their venue to the yearly HAUNTED TAVERN POP-UP EXPERIENCE (Fever App).  I went on 9/17/22 and paid $55 per person ($110 total) for two tickets.   The experience was said to include: entertainment, 4 cocktails and last about an hour to an hour and a half.  The marketing I saw on the Fever app and on Social Media hyped up the experience.  Any photos you see on the marketing end, are NOT what you see at the actual event.  The 4 cocktails were terrible.  The first cocktail that was brought out was literally the size of a Nyquil medicine cap tiny cup. The kind you get at your dentist to rinse your mouth out with fluoride.  NOT joking.  The other 3 cocktails were so over-the-top sweet, you couldn't taste the alcohol. If anyone has a peanut allergy you wouldn't be able to enjoy the final drink which the host did warn contains peanuts in it. The performances were 4 short stories, and while the performers were indeed lively and there were some humorous parts, I was bored to death.  In the end, the performers stand at the front exit with buckets waiting to collect tips as you leave which is very uncomfortable. If I remember correctly the advertising said the cost of the ticket included the entertainment, so why am I having to tip on top of the ticket cost?  The pop-up is not worth $55 (more like $20) and I would not recommend or attend again.  It's heavily marketed on IG, FB, and Fever app. Again, any photos you see marketed for this event are not the actual venue or what you see at the event, it's just clever marketing hype. I would skip this one.  The only scary thing was the ticket...

Swan dive, a delightful, primarily music venue, and bar. They have lots of great local musicians and some from out of town. You can consistently go here and see good live music.

Drink and cover price: The bar beer/ drink prices are reasonably priced compared to a lot of other places in similar areas in Austin. The cover for bands at Swan dive is usually $5 to $10, and sometimes free.

Atmosphere: Another cool thing about Swan dive is that it shares a nice big back patio with Barbarella, so one cover (98% of the time) will get you into both. Barbarella is one of our great local dance clubs. So you can go see some live music and then go dance afterwards, if that's the kind of thing...

This is great venue for live music but have very deceptive tipping policy if you pay by credit or debit card. They automatically charge 22% gratuity. Then below the "paid amount" which is the drink amount, tax and tip in much larger font they put "+ ADD'L Tip" __ and below that Total. I worked in the industry for years and nobody charges 22% automatically on EVERY ticket and then puts an "Add'l Tip line on the receipt. Illegal? No....Deceptive? Absolutely! Do...