the side bar — Restaurant in Austin

Downtown Red River dive bar? Yes please.

Punk rock, yes please.

This is not a super classy joint so don't go in there expecting that West 6th / Rainey Street Vibe. Go in there expecting Sin city. The rough and tough and the dirty, and you're going to have a good time. It's going to be great.

They have a pool table, often occupied; indoors is kind of dark and chill, and then there's a big back patio where there's a lot of picnicky kind of tables.

This is probably going to be some of the least expensive beverages you get in the Red River / downtown / Dirty 6th area. You can usually get out with a mixed beverage for somewhere between 6 and 12 bucks. Compared to the much more expensive drinks elsewhere, this is a good deal for Austin/ the area. That said, if you get a beer, they'll be maybe cheaper than elsewhere but not drastically so. I would stick with the mixed drinks, at this venue, even though I normally tend to drink beer.

If you get a one-in-one, like a rum and coke, or whiskey and ginger, that's really where the value is. You can get very inexpensive well-mixed drinks by good bartenders here.

They do not have food, But there are a lot of food trucks generally in the area.

The atmosphere is very much a dive. The men's bathroom doesn't have mirrors, never been in the women's. But somehow I doubt it. 😂 You might even call it kind of dirty, but in a not so bad, and in a punk rock kind of way.

You can go into Elysium and actually look over the back patio of side bar.

Parking is the same as anywhere downtown, street parking or wherever you can get. No provided parking but par for...

I've been to Side Bar in two separate contexts: festival time and normal time. Festival time, Side Bar is a great venue with a cool outside area that lends itself to fun chillwave bands or whoever gets booked there. Normal time, it's a great off-6th bar that caters itself to alcoholic cognoscenti that appreciate their incredibly stiff drinks for an affordable price - a $3 G&T here is worth at least a double anywhere else.

The crowd is worth a few points alone. Since it's an entire street off the beaten path it attracts a slightly different crowd than your typical bar - get ready for the kind of offbeat conversation with strangers you normally have to go to east 6th for. I don't think this bar is in anyone's normal rotation, but if you need a punishingly heavy series of mixed drinks to end the night after being lured downtown, you almost can't do...

If you're in the Austin area looking for a bar to hangout at. I would highly advise AGAINST the side bar. Food is reasonable and the atmosphere is like any other spot in Austin. For the regular person this could be a good choice, but I fair warn against a specific bartender that was working this past Friday. My group and myself had to leave because we were asked to without much reasoning. All the other bartenders seemed quite cool and socialable, but this individual must have something against the world, due to the lack of service, no conversation and the outright dissspointment of being forced to look for another spot, only because this bartender may have been having a bad day. As i said, chill spot, good drinks and seating, but if you're looking for a warm welcome and good service, i highly recommend you choose...