Rack Daddy’s

This place is a dump. Don’t get me wrong… I love dive bars, but this place is awful. I was about to walk in and some guy approaches me with an overly-​eager greeting (he looked like trouble, gangster-​ish). I didn’t respond to him and watched my back. He follows me in. I’m about to order, when the bartender told him he was banned. He stands there asking why, she had to call the owner/​manager to ask. This went on forever. He was eventually asked to leave. This place has illegal gambling machines. The crowd is super sketchy. Seedy… the only way to describe this place. Very ethnic, with no charm. Bartender was on the phone the ENTIRE time I was there. There’s a huge criminal element in this place. This was my second visit. Since it’s in the hood, I thought I’d give it another try. Last time I was here I was approached by a patron as well. She was a prostitute. She needs to look into another career. Filthy. The only redeeming quality is the location, but that’s a stretch. Shit hole.

Blatant drug dealing and your local coke whore prostitute brought to you by the guy with his underwear showing. The owners/​Managers/​Bouncer must know and be a part of the drug distribution cause it was obvious and completely sloppy. Drinks are weak bartender was a snippy cunt and got upset when I didn’t tip her on my card even though we put a 5 in her tip jar when she poured our 1^st round. So I told these asshats they can go fuck themselves. Rack daddy’s up north is sooooo much better. I would rather drive the 15 minutes then even lay eyes on this shit hole again. Ashley the waitress was cool though. Nothing against her. Just fuck this place. Capital Fuck

What a shithole. Riverside trash. Overrun by the so called minority.
Bartenders play favorites and I’m turn become slutty and cliché. Touch tunes is the only reason for 1 star otherwise these cliché individuals play the usual top 40. Sheeple disguised with coke whores in the Bathroom.

Good: Great in the daytime. Good people, service and cheap drinks. Pool, gambling games, darts, karaōke. Parking is never an issue. Great location. Fairly safe, considering the area, believe it or not.
Bad: the bathroom needs remodeling, and regular cleaning. Ghetto as hell at nighttime. Some of the night bartenders, who are experienced and should know better, stick glassware in the ice bin to scoop ice for cocktails. Major health code violation and unsafe! Also its been very difficult to find cocaine here compared to what it used to be since some of the «bad element» here are in various phases of the judicial system, and a couple employees who dealt in this were let go as well.

I came here with my friend to karaōke on Friday night. The DJ looked miserable and it started an hour late. The stage looks like a coffin covered in carpet. It is TINY. The drinks were good but the crowd seemed almost hostile that karaōke existed. I left the bar for a moment to use my phone and patrons outside were yelling and being obnoxious. To be honest, it’s trashy. I wouldn’t recommend it.

The neighborhood may be a tad shady, but they keep it pretty under control with the security guard (who is a giant). Drinks are cheap, especially during happy hour (11am-​7pm). But no matter what time you go it’s cheaper than downtown. There’s a nice juke box with a pretty endless selection of songs.
The pool tables have been mediocre at best before but they just redid four of them and from what I understand are going to have them all re done. They play like a dream now :)

If you are looking for a semi-​seedy spot to shoot some pool and get some drinks on the cheap, then this is your spot. Apparently they are trying to change the «atmosphere» of the place. This basically = more hipsters types… at least from what I seen inside. Tables are pretty dirty felt wise and the sticks seriously need to be replaced. My visit included some drunk girl trying to drop-​kick her boyfriend which led to her falling down, they argued some more, and he left. She hung at the bar. Then on the way to my car (6pm) ish… was met by a «lovely» crack w**#! who needed a ride to… Seattle. But, she did offer me her half gallon jug of eggnog… so that was nice of her. I do love me some Eggnog!
That said, I would recommend some other spots, maybe Clicks Billiards instead. Come here during the day only if you must, night time… I would venture to other spots, for safety reasons.

Sure, the neighborhood is sketchy, and sure, the beer selection ain’t all that, and sure, the cue sticks may be a little crooked and the tables may be a little off-​balance, but if you want a cheap pool hall with cheap beer and a full selection of liquor, come here.
So, sketchy neighborhood? Riverside across the street from HEB. I know you are scared, but get over it. Park under a light in the parking lot and you’ll be fine.
Beer selection is mostly Miller and Bud products, with Lone Star and PBR bringing up the rear. I goofed up getting Leinenkugel Amber for my first round, but was happy to see they actually had New Belgium, so that kept me happy. They have a $ 10 minimum on credit/​debit cards. I wound up spending $ 8 on two beers and a shot. I’m not entirely sure of the math for that equation, but that’s a good deal anywhere in Austin. I’m sure they do mixed drinks too, but I’m sure the bartenders will like you more if you stick to beer and shots. It’s that type of place.
Cheap pool? Try free! Not every night, so plan accordingly. Tuesdays, at least, if you buy drinks, pool is free. You can’t beat that in Austin (except for the other places that have free pool night, but I’m keeping mum on those because those places only have 1 or 2 tables, compared to the dozen or so at Rack Daddy’s).
The tables actually aren’t that bad — the felt is in good shape, the tables are balanced (I tested it, convinced I wasn’t THAT bad at sinking my shots the night I went), and I only had to set 2 bad sticks aside before finding one I found suitable enough.
If you are hungry, there’s a pizza place a couple doors down. I saw people coming in with pizzas, so they don’t seem to mind outside food.
Clientele — mix of sharks (so watch yourself before you accept a friendly game with the guys and gals who walk in with their own sticks), people like me with little skill but enjoy the game every once in a while, and people who just sit at the bar drinking while they contemplate their existence.
By all appearances, it’s remarkably hipster-​free. Not too sure how long that’ll last, so get there while you can.

This place is a hole in the wall live I went to the bar to get a drink of wine the bartender gave me a dirty glass poured the wine in it and I said don’t you see the glass is dirty she got another class poured the wine from the dirty glass into the new glass I just left.

The bar looks nicer on the inside than it does on the outside. The bartenders are super nice and there is free pool on Mondays.

I love this place! You have to know what you’re getting into though to really appreciate it. You’re going to a strip mall in one of the most colorful parts of town, next to a lil caesar’s and a subway. If you can accept that you’re not going to have a classy, trendy, upscale night, and instead substitute it with hanging out with guys in tall tees, girls in clothes two sizes too small, and bartenders that don’t like you if you’re not super thug, you’re gonna have fun. It’s way better than it sounds!
We happened upon Rack Daddy’s cause it was close to our apartment and we were all dressed up with nowhere to go. Tons of pool tables, a couple of dart boards, and a karaōke machine. Some drinks are super cheap, but one of the barbacks (fondly referred to as G-​Man) happily bought me and me two friends drinks called «hurricane,» which he promised would have us drunk dialing our boyfriends within the hour. Instead, we went home and made some midnight pasta, but the drinks were still delicious.
They have specials throughout the week on pool and on drinks. They also have «Suductive Saturday» (not kidding). Some nights pool is completely free.
Idk. Would I go there on a weekly basis? No. But every now and then this place is good for a different form of entertainment.

Great music, table we had was wonky but still a load of fun.

Aside from the 14-​ish 8 foot pool tables I’m hard pressed to come up with anything notable about this place. It’s a dive bar. More beer lights than they know what to do with. $ 2.50 Ziegen Bock and Lone Stars with free pool on Tuesday? Sign me the hell up. But for regular by-​the-​hour rates I’m sticking with The Grand. Wait service, pool cues that haven’t been ground down to toothpicks, and 9 foot tables are where it’s at. Somebody else said that there is wait service at GD’s– musta been the fact that it was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
I like Tupac as much as the next 18 – 39 year old, but who paid for the entire greatest hits album on the jukebox? The music scene is kind of a car crash… corporate rock one minute, Slayer the next. I never thought I’d hear Marilyn Manson’s «Irresponsible Hate Anthem» at a pool bar in Texas, but there you go.
Edit: I’ve been here a few more times since writing the original review (yes, free Tuesday pool) and have bumped it up to 3 stars. Like I said before, it’s average at best. The tables are not maintained and the action on the balls is haphazard at best. That’s what she said.

Honestly, Rack Daddy’s is the only pool hall I will go to if my friends or I want to get into some serious pool games and have a good time. It is a large & the best neighborhood pool hall on the east side of Austin. If you want to experience a place where you won’t have too many people in your business as you play cheap pool $ 8/​hr max on Fridays & Saturdays (free pool Monday & Tuesday), well, this is it.
Not that good at pool (like me)? There is a Tornado foosball game right next to the bar and the iTunes jukebox. It’s 75 cents to play and if you’re cool enough the bartender, Drew, can play you a few rounds if you venture out to Rack Daddy’s on your lonesome (this happened to me).
Darts are always free to play (leave your ID at the bar) and the bar supplies pretty nice and new darts. You have to play at the front of the bar, where the darts are located, but this allows you to people watch and perhaps meet a few regulars there.
They also have an old school cigarette (with fresh cartridges) machine next to the ATM machine if you run out of smokes and the Cheron in front of the bar is closed already. Sometimes you can get 2 for 1 if you bang it a certain way ;)
Karaōke every Friday and Sunday night where you can go select some pretty awesome rap, rock, country, old school, hip hop, and alternative songs. It gets really packed on Friday nights for karaōke so take all of your friends and get there early to get a good spot at the bar.
The staff is always super friendly and all have worked there 4+ years. They all seem very happy and always have a smile and are attentive. Even on Fridays (their busiest) nights, your beer wait time is 1 – 3 minutes. Even Charlie, the sweetheart door guy, is friendly, attentive, and courteous. I see him always ask people who look seemingly drunk as they walk out who is driving them. He has called cabs for people trying to leave to drunk and drive without any arguments. Great, genuine people.
Drinks are cheap and there is always a shot and a beer special nightly. Mondays are usually Mexican beer specials (2.50), Tuesday are Texas Tuesdays ($ 2 Texas drafts), and specialty drink specials made and created by the bartenders. You can drink cheap here even with shots. Shots range between $ 2.75 — $ 7.
Also, note that minors are allowed to go to Rack Daddy’s even on Fridays & Saturdays however they do charge a cover for minors at $ 5.

I friggin’ love this place. Everything a pool hall should be: lots of tables, kareoke a couple nights a week, drink specials every day, Saturday night ladies’ pool night and other mid-​week pool specials. Oh, yeah, and it’s just a little bit dirty!
It seems like a whole lot of different kinds of people come here, which in my experience is what makes a pool hall really great. Rack Daddy’s gets extra hearts for not having bazillions of flat screens all over the place, which means I don’t have to listen to hordes of irritating football people screaming their heads off while I’m trying to line up a perfect shot. There is one flat-​screen behind the u-​shaped bar; excellent.
And there’s golden tee, megatouch, and a stand-​up boxing game. Yay for my neighborhood pool hall.

I was looking for a neighborhood pool hall, so a friend and I tried our luck here late one Sunday night. Rack Daddy’s offers a small bar, one foos-​ball table, plenty of tv screens and plenty of tables, charged a standard $ 7.00/hr. Their interior was decent, spacious, and had an overall friendly atmosphere with friendly people. Attentive waiters.
Extra: Karaōke Sunday and Friday nights! The dj really knows her country music. In addition to Guns n’ Roses of course.