Haymaker — Restaurant in Austin

I went here for the first time last Friday with a friend after hearing the hype surrounding this place, most of which came from said friend since they are an Eastsider now.

First off, the parking here, like most places on the east side, is a mess! We ended up having to scout for street parking in the residential neighborhood behind and hoof it back. Usually, I don't mind, but it was a trek and it was hella hot & muggy.

We had initially come for their "Adult Sno-Cone" happy hour, which is $3, but ended up not getting any because apparently it isn't actually part of the restaurant and is a cash only situation, which I thought sucked since I am an active member of the "plastic toting" 21st Century and rarely, if ever, have cash on me, especially for a trendy east-side establishment such as this. There is an ATM, but with the fees to get the $3 I would need for the Adult Sno-Cone, the happy hour price becomes a moot point.

Now on to the food. My friend had been talking about the gruyere queso non-stop, so of course I had to try it. While it was delicious, it, to me, was nothing to get excited or mildly elated over. It is kind of like a high-end Velveeta, would be my best attempt at describing it?

I had the grilled cheese, which was good and the sweet potato waffle fries (again, which were highly touted by my friend and again I did not find extraordinary in the least). The food was fine, but honestly, a bit on the pricey side for what you get, imho. But, seems to be the trend of the up & coming East Side.

However, something they do incredibly right is the Poutine! Seriously, this stuff is the real deal! I haven't had poutine this good since Montreal!

I also had their beer-rita, since it was on special, which I was kind of disappointed in as well since it isn't the typical Marg w/a bottle stuck in it. It seems to be a marg on the rocks w/beer blended in it and a rim of chili salt. It was ok, but I personally prefer my beer-ritas frozen (swirled) w/a beer bottle.

All that being said, our server was fantastic and did a great job answering all my questions about the menu items and offering the day's specials. I'm glad I checked it out, but with so many other eastside options to explore I don't see myself purposely...

Visiting from out of town, really wanted to watch the only NFL game on Saturday night (Titans vs. Jaguars). Decided on Haymaker. Had to meet three friends there and I arrived before them. Walked in and sat at a table by myself and no server approached me for 15 minutes. When my buddies came in and sat down, still no server. A waitress had walked by me at least a dozen times, never said anything to me or to whatever server was supposed to be waiting on us. Eventually we had to flag her down and ask "No I'm not your server" was her answer but at least she finally flagged down the guy who was. Asked "Hey this is a sports bar, can we get audio for the giant TV here vs. the classic 70s music?" "Sorry no but you can go in the back room and we can turn on the audio there. Umm, fine. Went into the back room where the four of us (all 6'2" and taller) had to sit on tiny bench-seats with no backs for the entirety of the game.

Ordered teriyaki chicken "wings" and got a plate of what looked more like KFC with 90% crusted grease and 10% actual meat. Also the bowl they came it was soaked in teriyaki sauce and literally puddled at the bottom. Really the worst wings I've ever had.

Halfway thru the game I ordered a burger figuring they couldn't screw that up....WRONG. Got a very thin burger that somehow was red (not pink) on the inside, I don't know how you'd do that if you tried. The bun fell apart, really just horrendous food here.

I will say the service in the back room was fair. She did seem to check on us less and less as the night wore on but really no complaints there.

Felt compelled to write a review because of how bad this place was. Need to up your game with better chairs, better service and my God......better food! This is supposed to be a sports bar, not a place to listen to...

Recently, Three of us met at Haymaker to enjoy back-to-back NFL conference championship games...so we were at Haymaker for like over 7 hours. The place was packed with a great crowd and that contributed to a fun vibe. Now a playoff double header afforded plenty of time to sample a wide selection of draft beers, 6 shared appetizers and a main entree for each. Haymaker has a ton of beer choices, but I most stayed with British ales, and a nice nut brown ale in particular all day/evening. Meanwhile, my brother sampled 8 different beers and enjoyed each and all. On the food front, all was really good with each of us picking our favorites to share. There was strong consensus on chicken wings, sausage balls, and the pretzel bites...oh and the crazy good beer cheese as a dipping sauce for, well just about all things edible. Our order of poutine (traditional style) was pretty good, but maybe had a tad too much gravy...if that is possible. My brother thought the generous gravy was just right. And I guess, when getting a flight of appetizers at Haymaker, a order of Poutine just seems mandatory. The main food event for both guys was the excellent Pecan Street Blues Burger, while my wife had the Margherita Grilled Cheese (which I sampled too). We all were very happy with our choices. On previous visits I've tried other burger/sandwich choices and all have been quite enjoyable. Finally, there are lots of big screen TVs, so watching the games was easy. And they have a nice outside patio too when one needs a break from the crowds. This was my fourth trip to Haymaker and it is becoming a favorite for a sports bar and grill. I really think it's worth a try if you fancy a night in a sports bar, like lots of beverage choices, and like...