Black Sheep Lodge — Restaurant in Austin

I came in yesterday 9/17/24 with a couple of friends. We had ordered some drinks and one friend asked for fried pickles and a menu. We had Christy as our server. I had scanned the QR code and clicked the wrong button when looking at their menu. My friends and I were laughing about it when Christy came back to the table and I said yeah the QR thing isn’t working and I can’t figure it out to see the food. He gave me a dirty look and said don’t need a menu. And we said yeah. Well before he goes to get a menu he gets a complete attitude with me and starts asking if I’m okay. I’m like yeah, I’m just ditsy normally and me and my friends laugh. He gets more rude and asks again if I’m okay. So I get serious and I’m like yeah I’m good I just can’t figure out the mobile menu.

This waiter proceeds to tell me I’m rude and me and my friends are taken aback and confused. So I apologized to him as that was never my intention and he went and grabbed our menu and brought it back.

Kristy then proceeds to the counter and is talking crap to someone else and then promptly switches with another waiter. Which honestly we were thankful for and he was SOOO much better than the first.

One of my friends with me only was drinking water and eating fried pickles and Jalepenos. She had to throw up and some waitress was in the stall next to hers. The waitress comes out and asks if she’s okay and then leaves the restroom she absolutely did not wash her hands AT ALL! Like ick. We come out and she’s telling our waiter about my friend throwing up. It’s like tf? Clearly our waiter let it go she was only drinking water.

Well me and one friend leave due to other obligations and one stayed behind. Kristy proceeded to run their mouth about me being “rude” to other people in this establishment. My friend confronted Kristy telling them that I clearly wasn’t and maybe he was just having a bad day. The waiter that was helping the three of us after Kristy provided horrible service told my friend not to worry about Kristy that they get like that.

I’ve been to this establishment before and have never had such crappy service from the wait staff.

The food was great and the drinks were but the 2 wait staff that clearly had issues was...

Every well-run bar tries to appeal to a certain kind of clientele. You've got your college bars like Crown & Anchor or Hole In the Wall, your sports bars like Third Base or Champions, your beer snob bars like Flying Saucer or Hopfields, your hopeless alcoholic/dive bars like Poodle Dog or The 04, your fun hangout/just-one-more-pitcher bars like Bender or Barflys... bars come in many archetypes, and the best bars try to incarnate themselves in one of those forms.

Except for Black Sheep Lodge, I guess, because I go there all the time and yet I'm not really sure what type of bar it aspires to be. It's a good place to watch sports, from your everyday NFL games to UEFA championships, but it doesn't have a "sports bar" vibe to it. It's too far from campus to be a college bar. Its beer selection is good, but not quite Flying Saucer good. The patrons have too many teeth, too much money, and too much liver function to even dream of putting it in the Poodle Dog bucket. And while I have begun many evenings there, it's never been my final, blurry stop of the night.

It's just a plain good bar with some of everything. Good (actually really good) burgers, good specials, a good patio, dog-friendly... it has many virtues and few faults. I will say that the one time I was able to grab the Primo Parking Spot in front right next to the patio was one of the happiest parking moments I've ever had, because usually you have to park in the back behind the sex shop and tattoo parlor, or across Kinney Ave. I felt like a boss, and I didn't even mind when the inevitable dude on a motorcycle ground all conversation on the patio to a halt when he took off.

Anyway, it's a friendly, relaxed, solid addition to the South Lamar bar scene, if you can call it a "scene", and you can't go wrong with it....

Black Sheep is one of my favorite go-to bars in South Austin. I especially love going on Thursdays when they feature $2 full-size margaritas and a short list of $2 premium shooters to add-in if you're looking for something a bit stronger. They've got a nice variety of bar games to play for free (darts, shuffleboard, etc.) as long as you're OK with leaving your driver's license with the bartender in exchange for the game pieces/equipment. The place is a good size with both indoor and outdoor covered patio space that's got plenty of seating and features fans/heaters to accommodate weather conditions year-round. They also do "adult snow cones" spiked with alcohol. I've never had one personally but have heard good things. You can bring your dog on the patio and ask for water in case he or she gets thirsty. I'd give this place 5 stars except for two reasons. They serve food but it's nothing to rave about, pretty standard bar food but not terrible. As with most places in Austin, the parking is almost always an issue and this place doesn't have much dedicated space available. However, many patrons park across the street at CVS, as this is not a tow-away zone and it's open 24 hours. However, you do still have to use the pedestrian crosswalk and walk across South Lamar which is often very busy and can be dangerous to cross, especially if you don't use the crosswalk button. Overall, great place to go with decently-priced drinks, free games &...