Horseshoe Lounge

Dive bar. Like, high-​dive type dive bar. Very divey.
It’s open until 2 am which is later than some of the other nearby bars. I’ve had my share of final-​finals over at the U after some fun nights when I wasn’t quite ready to head home.
I may have been drunk (who am I kidding, I was definitely drunk) but I’m pretty sure this joint is cash only. Just saying. I don’t really carry cash on me but I wasn’t mad that my buddy had to buy me a few brews.
Check this place out while you still can — they are set to relocate down to riverside sometime in the foreseeable future.

Perhaps one reason why I’m more open to change than the average Austinite is because I’ve been here longer than the average person complaining about the changes. Not only did I move here as a very young teenager, but also spent summers, spring breaks and most holidays here my whole life. Thus, I probably have at least one, and usually many, strong memories about most places and things in this town, especially on the south side.
I made it over to HS on Valentine’s 2014, the second to last night at the south Lamar location and, in addition to making some new memories, I remembered some of the things that make Horseshoe Horseshoe.
Drinking so many $ 2 Tecates on Tuesdays with my brother in law that I can’t stomach even the smell or sight of a Tecate now. Dancing with strangers to the jukebox. Hard fought games of shuffle board. Using the men’s room cause the line for the women’s is usually ridiculous. Smoking cigarettes in the alley on the side, drinking beers with friends and to token know-​it-​all-​friend saying, «only in Austin will we pay to drink beers and smoke in someone’s alley.» Yep. And we hope to be doing exactly that for many years to come at the new location of Horseshoe.

In my five years of being a bar patron, I have never experienced such horrifying and unjust service – and from the bar’s owner, no less.
Two saturdays past, my seven guests and I went to the horseshoe lounge around 6 pm, where we sat ourselves around a card table and ordered a few two dollar beers. The first indication of how the night was going to go was when the bartender/​owner greeted us with annoyance when we moved two chairs over to our table to accommodate our guests. After they had arrived, my friend ordered ten beers and the she refused to give him more than eight. She scolded us for touching the lamp next to our table, discouraged us from talking to the other patrons in the bar, and we actively caught her bad-​mouthing our table to the customers seated around the bar. We began to play a game of soundless sliding quarters when the bar owner came hurrying over to shout at us that «this is a grown up bar» and promptly made us stop.
Being a crowd that likes to be entertained with other activities while drinking, and given that cards is always an acceptable game while at a bar, we honored her request for us to stop and pulled out a deck of cards to begin playing another game. No vegas-​style gambling, no noisiness, just a quiet game of cards. Again, she quickly whipped around the bar, and through the literal most condescending smile I have ever seen someone muster in my life (seriously, it chilled my spine), told us that there are no cards to be played in her bar, only dominos were allowed. As my guest was putting the cards back in the box, she snapped at her to hurry or she would have to confiscate them immediately. My guests asked twice for her to point us in the direction of some dominos, and both times she replied with «I understand if you don’t feel comfortable here, you’re welcome to leave,» and disappeared behind the bar. From that point on, she refused to serve us. Actually, she denied us any more drinks even though we were all the soberest bunch in the entire bar. Clearly she had declared hatred on us when we walked through the door, and it only downward spiraled from there. By the time we left, we understood that the Horseshoe Lounge is not a place to play games, laugh too loud, order more than what the bartender thinks you’re allowed at once, or touch things in her bar.
Let me also state that my guests and I can sometimes be a wild crowd. But during the aforementioned situation, we were quiet, respectful, and upstanding patrons throughout. Several of my friends from the evening mentioned that they do not have a Unilocal profile, but were so profoundly affected by this terrible experience that they would consider activating one just to warn others from stepping foot in this place. And quite frankly, I am now embarrassed just to be associated enough with the Horseshoe Lounge as much as rating it one star on my page.
I would have loved to have met this wonderful Dixie that everyone has ranted and raved about on the Horseshoe Lounge’s page. But unfortunately, we were met with an extremely unwelcoming and dictatorial woman who in my opinion had no inclination about what the «austin dive bar» thing is about.
*Also, if you’re going to have a list of rules as long as the bible, a word of the wise to print them out and paste them somewhere in your bar, so that we and anyone else who wants to have a unwind and have a good time on a Friday night can stay away.
(Did I mention they only take cash, assume tip, and don’t serve liquor?)

OOOOOOOOOOOOOH YEAAH! «The Shoe» is where its at! Nice little spot with an awesome outside scene if you wander out the back door. Sometimes there are bands and it is so cozy that it feels like you’re at a livingroom concert. The Shoe is clean and has plenty of tables for people to sit, relax and hang out for a while. I have met super nice people there and had some really great conversations. Somehow, it just seems that The Shoe draws good people.

Dixie at The Horseshoe Lounge is the nicest bartender in town. Over the years, she has lead numerous Horseshoe Yipees for birthdays, given me free beer when the ATM wouldn’t work with my bank card, Horseshoe Yipeed me and Molly the night before our wedding, and tonight she asked if we would be hanging out past happy hour, cause if we were, we could pay the cheap price for a couple beers now and she would keep them in fridge for us til we were ready for them. She is the best.
A dive in a good way. Texas to the bone. Great jukebox too.

The Horseshoe and Dixie are the BEST in Austin. Do yourselves a favor and get down to S. Lamar and join the party!

Let me preface this by stating I wish I could give HSL a superlative score above ⁵⁄₅. This is my favourite bar in town.
I moved to Austin four years ago and hopped into an unassuming dive in my neighborhood, HSL. Aesthetically this bar is flawless for me. Bleak, minimal from the outside: stone-​walled and country decorated on the inside, with a large horseshoe shaped bar.
The signage is layers of rad. Though banned now thanks to some narc’s at city hall or whatever, you used to (Until Feb. of 2011) be able to bring up to a pint of whiskey so long as you didn’t share. This attracted an authentic clientele of old-​timers and blue-​hairs that came to play cards, order 50 cent frito bags and sip corn whiskey. Killer.
The unofficial rules of the cash-​only oasis don’t stunt the overall flavor. Hit a ball off the pool table? You gotta go put a dollar in the rip-​your-​heart-​out-​country-​western-​selections jukebox. Standing on the other side of the median during a shuffleboard match? The fun-​lovin’ gals behind the bar will tell you about it.
The caliber of shuffleboard play deserves mention as well. I went back not long after my first trip upon moving with friends and signed up to play shuffleboard. An old cowboy looked me dead in the eye and dryly stated, more than inquired: «you ever play here? you’re gonna lose.»
The closest i’ve ever gotten against regulars at a shuffleboard win is a 15 – 12 loss where we were ahead for a minute.
It’s cash only. It’s a dive. If you don’t like Texas vibes or require a buzzing bar this ain’t for you. But the beer is cold and the patrons are good people. The open mic nights will have some dad bust out his guitar for an all Blaze Foley set while a blue-​haired gal in a custom denim vest with «Washboard Jenny» on the back plays the board.
Happy Jack used to sell roadkill jerky until he passed away. Today he is memorialized with an annual December shuffleboard tournament. His previous tribute perhaps best encapsulates the spirit of the HSL.
One day I went in and there was a laminated microsoft word printout that read in bold, black letters: «Rest in Peace, Happy Jack. Beloved Jerky Salesman and Frequent Shuffleboard Winner.»
Jesus. May we all leave an impact like that one day?

Beer only.
Cheap beers, great jukebox, funny bartenders that make you feel right at home.
Divey but not dirty. I honestly like the ghetto frito pie they sometimes serve too.

Top 3 best bars in Austin! Hope it sticks around forever and is not quietly closed with the condo additions all down on south Lamar. If I ever go out, the horseshoe is the only place I ever really want to go. Not for people who don’t drink beer or are beer snobs! Who wants to be with those folks anyways?! Great jukebox and love the bartenders. Cozy on up and forget the time at the Horseshoe Lounge!

Came here to wait a couple hours for Barley Swine on a Friday night. This place is a Texas dive-​bar, through and through. Super cheap beers, especially during happy hour. Cash only. Friendly bartenders. You’ll have to compete for parking with all the other patrons in the little shopping area.

This place is an old and dirty dive bar. The parking lot is just pure gravel and not much fun to park in. The inside is dirty and tacky and unkempt. I wouldn’t order anything in here other than a bottled beer, personally because I wouldn’t trust the glassware. The bartenders are always nice the 2 – 3 times I’ve been there, so that’s one good thing to say about it.

Horseshoe Lounge is the best dive bar I have ever been to! Stop in and say hi to Dixie!

Cheap, cheap beers.
Divey.
This is a good place to kill some time if you are waiting for a table at Barley Swine.

As Austin dive bars go, there’s nothing super unique about the Horseshoe Lounge. Well except for the horseshoe-​shaped bar. It’s your standard lack-​of-​parking, cash only, bottled beer, neon-​lit, west campus filled, neighborhood dive.
For some reason though, I found myself liking this place. Maybe it was the clean bathroom…

I like dives, but…
We got the eyeball from all five patrons when we walked in. They serve both kinds of beer, Lonestar and Lonestar Light. The interior is that out of a late 70’s pornstars basement, minus the wall-​to-​wall shag carpet. That being said, the beer was cold and cheap and the patrons finally started talking to us as we were getting ready to leave. Obviously a «friendly neighborhood bar», except we weren’t from the neighborhood.

Ummm… I’m really surprised by how high of a rating this bar has but this is Austin and I guess not many people are as picky as I am. However, if you like the following things, you’ll probably dislike this place:
–Liquor
–Wine
–Paying with Credit Card
–Happy People
–Nice Atmosphere
That is all…

Certainly the best dive bar in Austin! You pull up and it really doesn’t look like much… sketchy at best. But the bar is shaped in a horseshoe shape so you’re forced to look at people sitting around the bar… which is my favorite as that always seems to force people to interact with each other.
I met a lot of old timer regulars there and had some lovely evenings. Although I don’t remember my favorite bartender’s name, he was tall and had dark hair… super nice guy. He gave me lots of ideas for other places to check out that I might enjoy while in Austin and in other parts of Texas.
There’s a shuffleboard table on one side of the bar and good happy hour deals. No pictures allowed in the bar, which annoys me since I love taking pictures of everywhere I go, but I’m sure they have some sort of good reasoning?

i miss you, horseshoe lounge.
Years ago, I stumbled up to a threatening looking man, made a fool of myself, and we got married six months later. Thank you for that, Horseshoe.
For years, I would go to Horseshoe, meet people, have too many Lone Stars, and always have a great time. «Back in my 20s,» I would come here at least twice a week, and probably more. It was a great dive bar with a great crowd, and had bartenders with the worst attitudes in town.
Then something changed. The crowd changed, the regulars changed, the bartenders changed. Maybe it was me?
Where did Happy go, the million year old man who always wanted to kiss my cheeks? Where are the tamale sellers?
I loved Horseshoe back in the day, but again, something has changed about it, and now it just seems sad.

I have stuck with Horseshoe for years, and I realize it is nondescript in so many ways. There have been times when my friends and I boycotted Horseshoe because it was too smoky and the bartender was rude, but then we would go back to it because bartenders change and some nights the no smoking is actually enforced.
There is one reason we go to Horseshoe of all the dive bars in town: to shoot the shit with strangers. The crowd can be hit or miss because there is usually such a variety of patrons: different ages, different occupations, different stories. Usually, everyone is friendly and it is nice to just talk.
Some nights are a complete bust. However, most every time I go, I leave with a great story or hilarious picture. For example, how many bars will be cool with having a piñata guzzle beer and dominate at shuffleboard? Or, how many bartenders have told you that you look like trouble and they will have to keep an eye on you? Okay, well, this happens to me a lot. But, at Horseshoe it is out of affection.

Shlitz! In bottles!!! God bless the Horseshoe!
What’s not to dig about this place?! I’m perplexed by the terrible reviews. The staff has always been cool to me and my friends. I think if you go in any place with a douchey attitude, people will respond in kind. This is the type of place you go to chill and hang with your friends. It’s not a place to «be seen». The patrons range from older displaced cow-​folk to tatted and pierced old school Austinites. You gotta love a bar that considers Shiner a «premium» beer!
An added bonus… Barleyswine around the corner! Grab a bite or six, then pop over to Horseshoe for a nightcap!
Oh, did I mention… Shlitz in bottles!!!