Bar 601

Excellent service and amazing views of San Antonio. We tried the Port of Manhattan infusion… AMAZING!

Bar 601 kicked off the wife and my cocktail bar crawl. As far as scenic views go, Bar 601 atop the Tower of the Americas was hard to beat. Bar 601 is the restaurant bar overlooking the Chart House a floor below it. Its drinks were interesting sounding enough and priced in line with what I expected for a «tourist trap» location. I had the Bold Manhattan ($ 12) made with Jim Beam Devil’s Cut bourbon, Monin agave nectar, and chocolate bitters. It really wasn’t much of a Manhattan as it lacked the sweet vermouth notes, but it wasn’t half bad. We decided to move on after gazing out the windows at the San Antonio skyline and finishing our drinks. In our estimation, having a drink at the bar wasn’t all that much more expensive than the ticket price to go up tower’s observation deck ($ 10.95/adult) and a lot less expensive than an overpriced, unremarkable meal at a national chain seafood restaurant. My advice? If you want to see city from the highest point in town, skip the observation deck or a meal at the restaurant and just have a round at Bar 601. 3.5 stars for the drinks, rounded up to 4 stars for the view.

This place was awesome with an awesome view of Texas. To be able to dine and get the kind of view of Texas that you do is just spectacular. We dined here while at Tower of the Americas. We were here around lunch time. We stopped here after seeing the 4D movie about Texas which might I add was just awesome. I had the steak sliders and the firecracker shrimp. Both items were just delicious. I can’t remember the name of the drink that I had while there but, what I can tell you is it too was good also. Service was average.

Great weekday happy hour (4:30−7pm) menu ranging from $ 3-​$ 7 for apps and drinks. Plus you’ll save the $ 11 elevator ride to top of the observation deck.

Best view in San Antonio! Once you see it, you’ll know what I mean. The staff was friendly and fast. And the drinks were great! This place gives you the best in people watching, too! We’ll for sure come back and try the restaurant. The prices are comparable to the Riverwalk, and the service was way better than I’ve EVER had on the Riverwalk.

Happy Hour (M-​F) is a must when you visit San Antonio. Tasty food with nicely priced drinks, comfy seats and a stellar view. What’s not to like? Much better than that smoke filled over priced crowded River Walk where the packs of people bump you around. Up here you kick back, relax your sore feet and get taken care of by an excellent staff. I just had four stars but after writing this, I’m bumping this up to 5 stars just because the River Walk can not compare to the quality of this experience.

Great place to see the city and grab a few drinks. Happy hour prices are reasonable, and the ambiance is great. Appetizers were average, but priced accordingly. Definitely a great place to stop for a laid back happy hour. Will return when in town again

I love coming to this bar! It’s classy, you only get the best drinks and appetizers and you get the best view of SA you can ask for! It is pricy but but its worth the experience… plus you don’t have to pay a fee for going up to see the tower if your going up to the bar or restaurant! People from SA that frequent this bar are very elitist so your treated with a lot of respect by the staff & the manager is always ready to cater to your needs!

We learned the secret of going up to the top of the Tower of Americas for free! Just say you’re going to the bar, and they let you right up.
The seating is varied, and it’s almost as good as the restaurant seating (it just doesn’t spin around).
Their happy hour options are pretty stellar, too. We tried a few of the appetizers on the HH menu, and although I would skip their hummus trio, the plaintain chips are great. The truffle fries are delicious, as are most truffle fries, but cheap as well. I didn’t try any of the cocktails, but the domestic beer prices are reasonable.
Service was pretty terrible when we went, though. We waited quite awhile for our ticket.
Overall, it’s a pretty cool place to go if you’re in SA! Don’t miss the happy hour!

Such a cool place to grab a cocktail! I had no idea that you could come up here for free and just have a drink instead of paying huge sums of money on the elevator! Yea, the drink prices are a bit high, but you are the highest you can get in San Antonio! I like the fact that they serve the beers in really tall glasses, which goes well with the view. The bar is a bit dark, but the service was speedy and friendly. They offer a mediocre selection of beer. Maybe 6 different beers. No Lone Star Beer!

This is a great place to relax. Husband and I played San Antonio tourist yesterday and instead of paying to go to observation deck– just decided to have cold beers. Waiters were very friendly and we had a great view from the top! Beers were a little expensive — 2 shiners at $ 14 — but really enjoyed the experience.

The only that’s hit and miss here is the service. Sometimes it’s everything you expect, sometimes it isn’t. Other than that… view is awesome, happy hour prices are fantastic, food is great. Love to happy hour up in the sky. LOVE IT!

I was underwhelmed by Bar 601. Of course, we went toward the end of Friday Happy Hour, so our fellow patrons were already sauced and loud to boot. The drink specials were eh; my Ginger-​rita tasted like a normal margarita, only sweeter (and without any ginger). The Ahi Nachos were decent, but for $ 6 you think you’d get more than four chips and four tiny slivers of Ahi.
If you want to see the view from the Tower of Americas without paying the fee for the observation deck, then the bar is a good option. Otherwise? It’s nothing special.

The veiw was amazing, but the service was glacial. Granted it was happy hour, but still. Food took forever to arrive.
Good people watching as one might expect with all the tourists. We actually spoke to a family who lived in the same area as Alison back east. Pretty fun regardless.

My sister and I went here for the happy hour and to enjoy the sights. The drinks were nice and strong but a bit expensive and the happy hour food selection sounded excellent on the menu but when it came out it looked like something you could get from a last resort Chili’s restaurant. We couldn’t even finish what we ordered because the taste was not there and the tempura was soggy. It was difficult to get our servers attention. If you plan on going to happy hour get there early, there is limited seating. When we went it was about 102 degrees outside and we figured we would get some relief while at Bar 601 but it had to be 105 inside!!! We complained and were told that its always like that. If you want tasteless food, a sweat drenched experience, and a slight buzz come here!

Bar 601 you are the apple of my eye.
I love being a tourist in my own town. My boyfriend and I have frequented Bar 601 several times for several reasons. Sometimes we just want to sit on top of San Antonio and have a few cocktails. Sometimes we just want to devour some delicious bar food. Sometimes we like to wait for 45 minutes for the elevator to come to the top to pick us up. Ok, maybe that last part calls for a star deduction.
However, you’ll miss out by not checking Bar 601 out. Be sure to bring some money because it’s not your average bar.
Sneaky people of Unilocal be aware, you can get to the top of the tower without paying for a ticket (or waiting in that dreadful line outside) by having a $ 10 cocktail at the bar then maybe sneak to the other parts of the tower. Just saying!

The view was great, the experience was fun. and the food, was quite memorable. Memorable in a sad way that is…
This still doesn’t take away the experience I had at Bar 601, I still had a rather good (and cheap) time, but I just can’t get over how bad the food really is. For the food alone I would probably give it just 1 star. But for the price, I guess you get what you pay for, 2 star it is.
Calamari and friends: ¹⁄₅
this has to be a pretty funny joke. on the surface calamari and friends sounds not too shabby, but it is just the restaurant’s way of cutting cost and replacing seafood with cheap veggies. The unfresh calmari was thickly battered and fried, along with random veggies throughout the plate. No thank you.
Ahi Nachos: 1.5÷5
slightly better than the calamari and friends, slightly. You can tell the fish was also not fresh. and on a plate i think you get only 3 or 4 nachos with some rawfish slapped on top of it, no.
Prime Rib Slider: ²⁄₅
This was okay, not very memorable (that just mean it’s not so bad that I can remember its distinctive taste). I probably chomped one down before I realized how greasy it was.
Ambience: ⁴⁄₅
For the money we spent, I def enjoyed the view and good company. But I am not sure if I would come back here for the food ever again.

We decided to give bar 601 a shot while in San Antonio after reading that you could go there without having to pay for the observation deck or having a big meal at the restaurant.
The first thing to know is that the bar, unlike the restaurant, does not rotate, so you will only get a view of the downtown. This wasn’t a huge deal in my opinion as most of the sights are off that way anyway.
Also, you could probably get in and take pictures without ordering anything, but why not take a short break and enjoy one of their cocktails?
We tried the two most Texas sounding items, the spiked sweet tea, and the agave nectar-​rita. Both were mixed very well and quite delicious. They helped refresh us after a day of walking around in the heat superbly. They also gave us time to savor the view and take in the city.
I’d definitely recommend the bar over the restaurant or observation deck for anyone trying to save time or money.

A four-​star view with three star food and two star service.
According to the Unilocal reviews, you can ride up to Bar 601 (the lounge in the Tower of the Americas), order food and drink, then travel up to the observation deck. I am here to tell you this is not true. According to the elevator staff member, you must eat at the RESTAURANT (not the lounge) in order to ride for free.
We ordered drinks and an appetizer, totaling over $ 30 (more than the cost of two tickets to the observation deck, btw). My drink was a bloody mary: watery, tasteless, weak drink. $ 8 for a single in a tumbler glass. My boyfriend ordered a beer, hard to mess that one up. For an apertif, we had the hummus trio. I’m a huge fan of the soybean/​wasabi hummus. The red pepper was decent and well and the original was, well, unoriginal and uninspiring. Bonus points for nice plating, including fried plaintain chips (similar to thick potato chips) and soft warm pita.
Restaurant portion rotates so you take in a 360 degree view of SA. Lounge portion does not.
EXTREMELY limited and cramped seating, mostly for parties of two. Be prepared to wait for a table if you do not wish to sit at the bar– not that there’s much room there anyways. Awkward chairs in which you sink deep and the table is up to your collarbone.
Service was slow to greet, slow to bring our drinks and food and quick to rush away. In addition, we had two servers waiting on us, which led to a lot of confusion when ordering and getting our checks. Nothing world-​class about this dining experience, which is what I would expect given the price and the location.
I would consider going back during Happy Hour, which is NOT available on weekends.

I was prepared for the worst from Bar 601. I expected it to be cheesy because it’s located in the 1968 Tower of the Americas, which is a tourist destination in San Antonio. But I was honestly pleasantly surprised by the entire experience – the place is contemporary, comfortable, has a great view and mixes fine drinks. It also features some appetizers, and we were quite happy with the snacks.
People complain about paying $ 8 for parking, but it didn’t seem like that bad an expense considering you don’t pay for the elevator ride to the top of the tower (provided you go the bar and not the observation deck.)
Service was good but not excellent – it seemed they needed a little more staff to handle the happy hour crowd the weeknight we were there.
My only complaint is that the tables are VERY odd ones considering the low chairs in the lounge. The tables were quite high, and we had to reach up from our chairs to put down drinks or get to the appetizers. If they sawed off the tables to half their current height, they’d probably be more comfortable and appropriate for the deep, comfy chairs at Bar 601.
My wife and I will definitely be back to enjoy the view, the drinks and the happy hour!
UPDATE: We visited again with a friend, and our second visit was not as positive as the first. The view is still great, the décor is nice and the service wasn’t bad. But this time both the drinks and the food were quite mediocre. The drinks just didn’t taste like they were mixed right, and our appetizers were really mediocre. The prime rib sliders were gristlely and not pleasant to eat, and the hummus on the hummus platter was quite tasteless. Since our first visit was so good and the view is excellent, we’ll be back, but I’m dropping my rating from four to three stars. Consistency matters!
ANOTHER UPDATE: Back again, and it again felt like a three-​star place. Food and service was mediocre. That’s too bad considering the view and interior décor are worth better than that!