Elephant Room — Restaurant in Austin

EDIT FROM ONE STAR REVIEW!!!! (original review below) SO we emailed the owner and were offered his deepest apologies for our experience. I jumped on a phone call with him to give a few details about that night. I explained to him that, being in the service industry myself, I understand that on busy nights it can be hard to keep everyone happy always, however I felt that we had been mistreated and it had left a bad taste in our mouth. Aaron (the owner) profusely apologized and asked if we would give The Elephant Room another chance. I said we would be happy to and that I hoped I was wrong about the place.

Boy, was I wrong.

When we arrived the waitresses greeted us and invited us to sit anywhere. We ordered our first round of drinks and were enjoying the music when Aaron came over and apologized once again. Later on, the manager from that night ("door guy" in the original review) came over HIMSELF and apologized for how he dealt with the situation a few nights prior. I can honestly say I have NEVERRRR witnessed such humility from not only the owners but the staff as well from any establishment. They continually checked on our table and ensured we had the best experience possible (as they did with the other patrons). I am still floored by their humility and am so looking forward to going back. Drinks were great, and strong, music was incredible, and service (this time) was great!

I think the first night we went was a bad night for everyone involved, but they have made sure that wouldn't be the only experience we had. Note: they do not do reservations! I would try to get there early especially for the later evening shows, because they do fill up!

Thanks again Aaron and staff! I appreciate the hospitality and experience! ORIGINAL REVIEW! : Really rude staff. Normally don’t leave reviews but they were so rude. We asked to be seated for 5, and they only sat two of us. The table was shared and the people we joined were completely drunk and over served. The lady at the table was yelling, completely disturbing the music and when we went to complain to the staff member who was seating everyone he completely disregarded us and basically said “too bad.” The couple decided to leave shortly after, and since we had more ppl joining us, we told the man at the door, and he told us they couldn’t join us because there were other ppl in line (even though we asked to be seated for 5 from the beginning). We explained our party was outside waiting and he said “you can wait outside with them, or leave” so we left. I would understand if there are certain policies in place, but the way we were talked to was completely unwarranted and rude. Wouldn't go back....

I read a review that said “Come for the jazz, leave for the drinks” and I couldn’t agree more.

The Elephant Room is a basement jazz bar with music every night. Their daily hours and cover charge depend on the day of the week. They have a calendar of performers on their website. We got to see the Elias Haslanger Quintet, and they were absolutely wonderful. The music is not too loud, even with a relatively close seat.

We came on a Saturday a little after 9 pm (which is when the headliner was starting that night), and there was already a line out the door. We waited at least 30 minutes to be seated. The room itself has a non-ideal layout; it’s a long room with a bar that runs along the left side, and a small stage at the end of the room. The issue is, there are pillars that support the ceiling, which completely block your view of the performers if you’re seated anywhere near the bar or towards the back of the room. We were initially seated at the bar, but we were able to switch to a better table after seeing a group of people leaving.

As for the drinks, we tried the jazz juice (the description on the menu says it’s a traditional rum punch) and the placebo (a non-alcoholic cocktail, bartender’s choice). When I think of rum punch, I think of rum and fruit juices, and perhaps a sweetener. Unfortunately, this rum punch only had one flavor: anise/licorice. Licorice is an incredibly polarizing flavor - some people love it, but personally I find it incredibly off-putting. I really wish the description on their menu specified this ingredient; if it did, I would’ve known not to order it. Sadly, the placebo cocktail wasn’t any better. It was so sickly-sweet, my brother described it as “sugar water”.

My recommendation to anyone that wants to check out the Elephant Room would be to get there early (before the headliner is set to start) so you don’t have to stand in line too long. The music is...

Come for the jazz leave for the drinks. Elephant Room is a fantastic jazzy escape right on Congress Ave that is one of the greatest examples of Austin’s true love for music.

The setting is very intimate with low lighting throughout and a lot of tables aligning the path down to the stage. We were able to snag a table pretty close up but we would recommend getting there early as the place was decently full for a Thursday night (also to beat their cover that begins at 8; cover amount depends on the day of week). The service is friendly and quick with ordering and getting drinks.

Obviously with any jazz bar, the music is the main show and the band was great. They performed a few different styles of jazz and it all sounded fantastic with funny little skits in between their sets. It’s very easy to see why Elephant Room is a go to for many music lovers in the city. I will warn however that the drinks were not great. With a limited cocktail menu we went with familiar favorites of ours and none of us were very impressed with what we received. The Manhattan was very strong, even for a bourbon centric cocktail. The espresso martini was just alright but not as good as many other places. And lastly, the jazz juice just wasn’t as sweet and flavorful as other traditional rum punches. They do have a decent wine and beer selection so maybe stick to those.

You can’t go wrong with great music and that’s exactly what Elephant Room provides. Although the drinks were a miss, the atmosphere and setting are a can’t miss and we highly recommend anyone looking for a casual date night to...