The Eastern

I only had a gin and tonic, so I can’t comment on what it’s like at night during busy times with the live music. I came in during HH when the drink was $ 2, which I could live with. I chatted with the bartender and his friend and chilled for a bit and left. The history of this building/​area seems interesting, since back in the day I realize it was an industrial area and wasn’t always the nicest area (allegedly). Not sure if the late-​night music scene would be for me here, but I do like coming at HH/​when it’s light out.

Me & my friends will not be coming to this bar anymore until Corey Davenport is fired. He is a transmisogynist and thinks bashing trans women is acceptable behavior. I no longer feel safe at the Eastern and neither do a lot of other trans folks in Austin. I encourage other LGBTQ folks and allies to steer clear of this establishment until his employment is terminated, otherwise it will be known that the Eastern only serves straight cismen and doesn’t prioritize the safety of their trans patrons. His behavior WILL NOT be tolerated.

I saw some guy named Corey spit in a drink before serving it to someone.

Every 1^st Saturday night, DJ Q and other cool DJs play real house music, not EDM, Real house music There is nothing wrong with EDM though… If you’re a real house music fan, here is the place to dance & share your energy! Bartenders are nice and cool as well!

Slow night but the bartender Corey was awesome. If I lived in Austin I would come here more. Metalhead atmosphere which is just my style. I’ll be back again.

The only time ive been there, it was completely empty except 1 creepy guy sitting in the corner. The 2 «bartenders» were lounging on a sofa watching tv and were extremely unfriendly and unapproachable… they looked like punks/​bikers with a terrible attitude and played really heavy, thrashy type music. It was way too dark inside and felt dirty. I ordered a whiskey and coke and he told me itd be 2 bucks until 9 in which case it becomes 3 bucks, but the one i ordered would stay at 2 because it was before 9… well obviously i didn’t order another drink because i wanted to get the fuck out of there, so when i went to cash out, they charged me 4 bucks for it? What kind of terrible service is this? As i was paying, the girl i was with tried to talk with the other «bartender» laying back watching tv and he just pointed at the tv, like brushing her off saying he was busy… we had to drive all the way to Moontower to get the terrible experience of this place out of our minds…1 star is being generous. Dont waste your time with this joke of a bar.

We stumbled on this bar while strolling around Austin before our flight back to Denver. The bar is located off a side road and isn’t super flashy to immediately catch your eye but we saw a patio, some couches, and ice cold beer so we figured we’d give it a try.
The owner hung out with us, as this was during the day and not too many people were coming and going. He was entertaining, provided great service, and kept our Lone Stars coming. Honestly, what more could you want in a bar?
Yes, this is a hole in the wall bar. No, this isn’t a pristine bar but that’s the charm that comes with it. You know you’re supporting a local business that is the passion of the person who had the vision of what they wanted and that is exactly what this is.
Great beer, casual environment, and comfortable couches. Definitely a spot we’d day drink at again when visiting Austin.

The Eastern: Small, Cramped Bar Area that runs into the Men’s room. An indoor area by the bar that you feel like you are always in the way of people trying to get to the bar. A dance floor that feels like you are dancing in someone’s garage. A patio that is a nice place to meet people.
This bar is not memorable in any way but it is a nice pit stop between the White Horse and another bar.
The End.

came here on a Friday night on Memorial day weekend. They played some ratchet hip hop all night. me and my friend loveddd it. totally welcomed it after going to all country style music places.
small sweaty room, but everyone was dancing and having a great time.

I really liked The Eastern and went there frequently to dance to good music on weekends. However, after my last experience, I will not return to The Eastern nor continue to advertise it to friends as a cool place to go.
A group of Latino friends and I showed up a couple Saturdays ago to dance near the bar area. A blonde, tattooed guy that claimed to be co-​owner started to get a little rowdy, took his shirt off, and moshed in our dance circle, knocking a couple tables over and causing a couple of us to spill our drinks on ourselves. One of our friends tried to block him from moshing against the girls, at which point I’m assuming the co-owner’s friend put our friend in a choke-​hold and started beating him to the floor. Although we did not start the fight, the co-​owner kicked us out.
I went back into the bar to ask if me and my friend could use the bathroom before our long bike ride home, but one of the co-owner’s friends said, «You people can go pee outside like animals.»
I was very offended at this experience and disappointed that a place I once enjoyed and advertised turned out to be pretty unwelcoming, especially coming from management.

Quite hipster. I mean I’m standing here listening to the dj play Nicki Minaj at 130 AM amongst a crowd that would give willy wonka a run for his money. It’s insane seeing the change from 2004 to 2014 here on the east side of Austin.
So what makes this unique among the many dive bars in the vicinity? 1990’s hip hop is ever present at the «Fuck me fuck me Fridays.» As someone who looks likes Snoop Dogg cut off his dreads I can appreciate the style of music. It’s the catchy music that me and most of their patrons of the establishment grew up with so the dance parties can get wild.
The problem is when the 1990’s hip hop bleeds into hideous 2000’s and 2010’s rap. I find songs such as «No Flex Zone» deeply hilarious and usually laugh when someone plays them. Unfortunately the dj seems fond of playing such bad rap so I rarely stay for long

Only complaint is how hot it gets on the dance floor, need some working fans! Great place to dance and drink on Fridays, $ 3 wells are also a big plus.

Great dive bar with awesome bartender! If you are looking for a chill spot that isn’t too crowded check this place out. Thank you Darren for hooking us up for our progressive dinner party!

ALL. RIGHT.
There’s been a lot of crying about the Boom Boom Room at Union Park being gone, but no one seemed in any hurry to rectify the utter LACK OF BOOTY DANCING IN AUSTIN. Not a soul.
But you know what: I’m not afraid to sweat. Yeah, I said it. If you don’t like me dance-​sweaty, you don’t deserve me other-​sweaty. So I hit up the non-​air-​conditioned (and in fact, a fainting hazard) outside room at the Eastern, where:
1. DJ ulovei (Miguel Angel) spins booty-​drop music on Fridays, the likes of which will make your knees quiver and joint replacement doctors everywhere squeal with delight;
2. HIP HOP vs REGGAE NIGHT happened last Saturday. I’m sorry, I’m saying it again and not yelling so you can fully appreciate the critical nature of my words: hip hop. VERSUS. reggae. See if you can keep a straight face from the ecstasy of Beyonce mixed with Beenie Man. Good luck with that.
Upon reading this, did all of your worries melt away like the pounds of makeup, hairspray, and cupcakes did from my very person last weekend? I might as well sleep over on the disgusting, hipster-​tainted, broke-​ass couches at this place from Friday night through Sunday morning.

Pros:
The only bar on the Eastside where you can hear French Montana and Dipset (on a Friday night of course). I give negative 5 fucks about your Pitchfork-​ass jukebox. The shit looks like a substitute teacher’s ipod.
People watching. You got hipsters that just recently discovered rap but play it like they’ve been listening to Cam’Ron since Confessions of Fire, the homies that literally look like the Homies collectible toys that sold outside of grocery stores, and the kids that normally don’t come this far east so everything that’s normal and shitty about every eastside bar are «so gritty and real».
Cons:
The bar layout. You got one bar situated next to the men’s room and another by the dance floor. If you’re 3 Lone Star tall boys deep and there are 20 people shoulder to shoulder queued up to get a vodka soda, you’re gonna have a hard time trying to accomplish that piss, pal.
Dance floor bar won’t work either unless you manage to get right in front of the cash register which would be obstructed by the dancing crowd at this point in the evening.
It gets too crowded. I just want my drink and my two step, my drink and my two step. I’m not gonna be able to do either when capacity reaches fire hazard.

Stopped in during «Cinco de Drinko,» & the bar was nice & quiet Inside! The bar itself is very rustic. I am not sure what was there before it but I assume it was another dive bar. The Eastern is dark & cold inside, a perfect escape from the hot Texas sun. Restrooms were ok by dive-​bar standards & their outdoor patio is HUGE! The day crew were very nice & helpful, & they have a good bottled-​beer selection.
Next time I’m on East-​6^th, I plan on stopping by again, but maybe in the evening when it’s lively.

Oh The Eastern. My favorite place to day drink by far, for many reasons
1. The lovely bartender, Savannah (and the rest of the staff!)
2. The wonderful people passing through
3. A dog friendly patio (though I am dogless), so I can pet furry animals
4. Awesome happy hour deals and low prices the rest of the time
5. Proximity to Tamale House (for a drunken snack)
Definitely check it out if you’re looking for somewhere to grab a drink on the patio and meet some nice people

I wandered here the other day after a long job interview. I had about forty minutes to kill before getting a bang trim at method. across the street. I spotted a patio out back, but what made me walk in was the chalkboard sign on the fence that said, «Eat a bag of dicks and then come in for a drink. We wouldn’t want you to drink on an empty stomach.» That’s funny. I like funny stuff and funny people, and I like booze, so the Eastern seemed like a decent place.
It was beautifully sunny, so after the friendly bartendress gave me my vodka soda ($ 2 for well vodka. What?), I went out and sat at a picnic table on the patio. It’s nice and spacious out there. Well, «nice» is subjective. It’s kind of a shit hole, but I LOVE shit holes. It’s a cool shit hole, if you will. The bartender was playing good tunes and my drink was cold and that was all that mattered to me.
Place was empty, so it was hard to get a feel for what it would be like to hang out there at night, but I can tell you that I do look forward to going back. I’ll stop somewhere for a bag of dicks beforehand, for sure.

On a Friday night, the DJ here holds it down with the best old school Hip Hop I’ve heard in ages. I’m talkin’ about Wreckx n Effect, «Rump Shaker» old. I was fist-​pumpin’, I was pop and lockin’, I was moving like I hadn’t in forevs (except no droppin’ it like it’s hot, girlfriend’s gotta be mindful of the knee).
If this place weren’t crawling with the most ridiculous of hipsters I’d make this a regular Friday night spot. (Like I go out enough on Fridays to be a regular anywhere — ha!) Big patio full of smokers, only one girl’s restroom which gets pretty gross by the end of the night., but two bars to serve up your strong drinks all night.
Go for the music, go to people watch, go to drop it like it’s as hot as your bad old knees will let you… guaranteed to be a fun Friday.

So i ran into a friend on the street coming out of Takoba and he’s all «what are you doing?» and I’m all «going to check out all the new east side bars» and he’s all «can i join?» and that started off a long and dutiful night of bar crawling.
After hitting up the Volstead, we dropped into Eastern. Really large patio, tiny inside but really super and super nice barman Noah. My drink was hellfire strong and he told us not to mind the regular taking a nap on one of the outside couches. Turns out they’re a new spot for DJ dancin’ but without that gross kind of club feel that a lot of the other DJ spots have.
It’s outside heavy, relaxed, easily accessible (right behind ciscos) and a place that I’ll head back to on a Thurs or a Sat night to see what rockin beats those guys are pumping out. DJs arent normally my scene but they totally could be if the bars are this comfortably hip and unconcerned