The Creekside Lounge

i love (d) creekside.
i heard it was closed?
*phone number is disconnected

This was my first favorite bar when I moved to Austin 4 years ago and its still my favorite bar! Awesome crowd, good music, great alcohol selection, great prices. Best of all, this is where I met my husband!
the owner is super cool and has a few other bars around South Austin. This place is a yes for me!

Time of evolution of a cool bar into a bro joint = 2 years
(see previous review date)

As you walk in the front door, you’ll wonder what all the fuss is about? Very smallish interior with some crazy art, a Family Guy pinball machine and a bar. Not much going on in here. We almost left right away, but then I noticed a back door. As you make your way out the back, you’ll find a decent largish wood deck and all the people. DJs or bands out here and another bar pouring strong drinks (albeit in plastic cups, which is pretty lame). The DJ was especially good on Friday and had the place hoppin.
Not really creekside — more of storm-​sewer side, but still better than many patios on 6^th street. I’m surprised the cops don’t give them a hard time about noise — the police station is right across the «creek». If they do ever fix up the sewer thing (yeah, I know they’ve been talking about it for years), this place will be in a seriously prime location.

I had high hopes for the Creekside and stopped in last night, but I doubt I’ll be back. It reminded me of a crappy bar I used to go to when I was 17 because they didn’t card anyone. Big open space, odd light, sparse back patio, somewhat surly staff. Actually, now that I think of it the door guy didn’t even respond when we said bye while leaving. Lame.
I’ll temper my review by saying that I’m probably a bit too old for this place. That said, a couple of years ago I would have had all the same complaints, so that’s only so much of a factor. There are definitely better places around. All over, in fact.

It is extremely rare that I rate a bar that is not off west 6^th or dirty 6^th with a one star but this place has gone down hill so badly I could not stand it. When I walked up to the door I right away knew this was going to be a bad night because the music was blaring, the DJ inside and it looked as the crowd from dirty 6^th had wondered into the bar. I shrugged and went in.
I found the normal crowd out back smoking and away from the horrible dirty 6^th tumor that had some how lodged itself onto Creekside. When someone accidentally turned off the heater while trying to turn it up we could not get it back on. We asked the bar back to assist us to which he replied «Its out of gas». We informed him it was working fine we just turned it the wrong way to which he replied «I TOLD YOU IT WAS OUT OF GAS!» Everyone just stared at him as he just walked away.
I went in to get a drink with friends and it took 4 attempts for the bartender to get our drink correct. I mean I could understand if we were ordering more than 5 items or 4 things that were not the same or something but we ordered 3 of the same drinks and 1 long island. When he finished with our order he yelled «is their anything else you people want.» Now I am a friendly person and usually stick to Shangri-​la or Liberty or Side Bar. In no way were we rude about the 3 mistakes on our drinks.
We stayed for a little bit grabbed one more round from another bartender who was so much friendlier and walked out. My friends then decided they wanted to go back in. I stated I would wait outside since «this place is not my cup of tea». Thats all I said word for word. As I said this a girl walks out and yells «of course it isnt you F@&». I was shocked and looked at her as the door guys sat their and laughed about it.
If I could give this bar zero stars I would, no no maybe .5 because the girl who served me my drink was extremely friendly. Overall I guess I will stick to my side of I-​35 because it seems the Red River and 7^th st has been lost to the wrong crowd.

This lounge exudes an unpretentious, down home, smokey bar atmosphere where the beer comes cheap (starting at $ 3) and there’s even a pinball machine for you to pass time on. The tiny dance floor out in the back patio was super crowded and the only outside seating comprised of uncomfortable steel chairs and was located to the side of the building with a view of the garage at the back. Pot smokers are welcome, but drinking and driving is not encouraged. (although, apparently drinking and biking is ok, as evidenced by the bike rack near the steel fence)

I’ve always enjoyed The Creekside Lounge: its no frills, laid back vibe (replete with stiff pours if you’re into that kinda thing, rock-​solid brew selection if you’re not) usually makes this spot a fine one to wind down after all the commotion of your regularly scheduled evening has begun to wane. Lately it seems they’ve been hosting more bands out on the back patio, and that’s just fine by me. It’s got character sans pretense, and I couldn’t be much happier with the handful of stops I’ve made here.
Others have mentioned that there’s some pinball at play, a side room for expanded whatnot, and that the service here is pretty friendly as bartenders go. And when you’re focus is firmly on spending time with friends, each of those things come in handy. All the more reason to linger.

This is a decent dive bar as far as Austin bars go but there are definitely better ones around. I think they have things kinda hard most nights because of Red 7 being right across the street.
The bartenders are definitely cool but they sure have to do something about the caliber of dudes working the front door. Just basically immature guys with creepy attitudes who can’t get dates on their own I guess. Nasty and mad at the world vibe big time. I recently went there with my sister and the front door guy didn’t realize she and I were there together. Ok I get it. You need to be 21. No problem.
She is 19 and the creepy part was that he was willing to let her inside if she gave him a «favor». Fill in the blanks on that one. And noooo. He wasn’t kidding! That is just not at all cool and I certainly did speak my mind about it to him. The guy was tall and he could tell I was not happy about his attitude.
He gives me this look like «and what are you going to do about it?» But shoot, I guess it’s been working out for him. AS A JOKE, I offered the «favor» to him on behalf of my sis and he DID skip a beat I guess to think about it, lol.
To hell with going inside, no worries. He can’t expect to make those trade deals with the ladies. Just wrong is so many ways. Anyway, she and I left and went to Red Eyed Fly and had an awesome time. They were very happy to take our $ 100+ total for our drinks.
Also, I feel kind of bad for the bands that play there. Either Creekside’s system is crap or the sound guys don’t know what they are doing. I’ve heard two different bands play there and they sounded lame. These same bands sounded much better at other clubs.
Also some people at work said Creekside isn’t really too excited about attracting the 30 something crowd. They said if you go there its basically full of much younger people and you sort of get the evil eye. One gal at my office told me (who is 27 btw) she didn’t get a good vibe and felt out of place.
It’s a barely ok place and, in my opinion, not worth dealing with the front door dudes. I only go if I’m there to hear certain bands. I’ve recently heard they have problems with a lot of underage kids trying to get in which is no fun for the club owners. But for the door dudes???
I’m just sayin…

This is a great dive bar! They have an awesome projector in the main room and it almost always has something good on it. You can watch adult swim here or even sometimes enter video game tournaments. I’ve never been harassed by any of the staff they are always friendly and deliver great service. The drink prices can be a little high at times but if you drink well drinks the prices are average. The patio is also very nice and I’m one to appreciate a good patio. I actually think I may prefer Creekside over the much more popular sidebar. The only thing I can say negative about the place is that the bartenders could use a bit more experience the drink quality is only average and you seldom get a drink and marvel at how well made it is. Go here you wont regret it.

Oh, Creekside. I can never leave your door without being completely sloshed. Thank you cheap ass, strong ass drinks. I celebrated my 29^th birthday here, we ended NYE here, and been here many, many times over the last year. The patio is fantastic to get your drink and smoke on, and the music is fun! I can come here and dance on DJ nights without having to deal with a stuffy club.
It’s probably best to start or end the night here, because otherwise you might end up falling on your ass, like I did on my birthday. It’s a tradition though, and was glad to continue it at Creekside!

Is Beauty Bar ever open?
Not that I’m a huge loyalist by any means, but I’m a DJ and have had the luxury of hitting the San Diego, Las Vegas and Los Angeles locations – so I figured, WTF? Let’s hit the BB in Austin!
No dice. Three nights in a row, and all I got was some dude spraying Windex and mopping the floor. Slightly disappointed, I walked directly across the street to Creekside for a drink.
I think the thing I really dig about bars in Austin is that they remind me of bars in Tijuana. They all seem to have these wacky themes going on. I wouldn’t necessarily say this place is wacky, but it definitely had it’s own thing going on. I must have ripped though $ 10 playing pinball. I haven’t seen four pinball machines situated side-​to-​side like that since hanging at arcades as a wee beeb. It was pretty cool! In a day in age where X-​Box rules the world, it’s nice to take a step back in time and play with an arcade game that features real moving parts.
The drinks were cheap and they were showing America’s Most Wanted on a projection screen. Can’t say I’ve experienced an AMW viewing party in my days of bouncing around bars, so I gotta give them love for thinking outside the bun. I’m not even sure if the show is still on, but that move gave birth to a new bar night idea I want to pull off here in San Diego.
Ready?
To Catch a Predator night featuring $ 1 Jaeger shots while Chris Hanson busts horny i.t. guys in Central Florida. Who’s with me?

I had originally come here to pay respects to Camron for surviving another year. He seemed happy. I asked him if he felt any older and he offered me a ticket to the Toadies show at Stubbs. I didn’t really feel like going, too loud, too something. That’s when I realized I was the old one.
I ran into some old friends outside on the back patio. Jeff Pinkus from the now defunct Butthole Surfers and Jimmy Bradshaw from the now defunct Squat Thrust were chilling on the back patio before their show at the stage side of the bar.
«I didn’t know Creekside had another side.»
«Yes it’s beside creekside.»
«Wouldn’t that make it the creek?»
«you’re stupid.»
Anyway, Jeff and I talked about how I looked all growned up and Jimmy said the same. I laughed a little, but this was another example of how I was getting old. We told stories of how we saw a UFO whilst in an altered state one day, and Wonderfish, and how much of a freak I used to be. I began counting how many years that had been, and again I felt old.
Nice bar, stiff drinks, same bartender as was here the last couple of times I’ve come here.
After a good and proper lubing, everyone decided to go to the Beauty Bar and dance. Great, as if I didn’t feel old enough. I’m sure that i will fit right in wearing flip flops and a hawaiian shirt.
Old.

I went to check out the bar, but I’ll go back to watch the hipsters dance.
First the good, I loved the back porch area. They had $ 2 canned beers and $ 2.50 gin and tonics back there if you paid in cash. You can sit back there comfortably and watch the hipsters do their version of Lord of the Dance. It was crazy. I’ve never seen anything like it. Later on I heard a couple of them who were the most entertaining mention that they were on coke and Oxycontin. That helps explain it.
Now for the bad, don’t plan on going to the bathroom here unless you want to be grossed out. The stalls were absolutely disgusting! They ran out of TP at some point during the night, so all the stalls were unable to flush because people started using the hand towel paper. GROSS! They were like portapotties in there!
More bad, there was no parking anywhere close, so be ready to pay at least $ 8.00 for parking.
In summation, you could easily skip this place and find much better, cleaner places to hang out.

Creekside vs Beauty Bar? Both have their virtues, here’s how I break it down:
Hipsters: A plethora of them can be found at both locations. I don’t mind ‘em, but if you do, stay away from Creekside, they seem edgier and maybe slightly moodier here. Skinny jeans and all are equally donned at both bars.
Dranks: If you’re gonna buy me, or yourself one, take note of these prices. Whereas Creekside will only set ya back $ 2 for a well and $ 5 for most shots, Beauty’s prices will make you cry: $ 5 wells and $ 7 premium shots. Ouch! Plus, credit card minimum at Creekside is only $ 10, Beauty’s is $ 20. Oh, and a word to the wise: Whether at Creekside or Beauty, order your drinks at the outside bar, you’ll cut your wait by about ten minutes.
Food: I’ve never been offered food at Beauty. The first time I went to Creekside, someone was frying up wings on the back patio. Although I myself didn’t partake, many people seemed to be enjoying them. For me, they just made the air kinda greasy.
Outdoor Patio: Creekside’s is very nice. They had wings, a DJ and a live band all going down at once on theirs. Lots of places to sit and stand without feeling sandwiched in. The trees offer a nice backdrop and I’m a sucker for well-​hung Christmas lights. Beauty’s outdoor patio is kinda cray and cramped. But, where else are you gonna find a pool outside a bar on a hot summer night? They so crazy!
Dance Dance: Here’s where the real difference is felt. Although Creekside’s outdoor DJ’s can spin a mean record, it’s hard to dance on that deck. Stiletto’s and spaces between deck slats just don’t mix, know what I’m sayin’. So, if you wanna get your dance on here, it’s best to wear flats. Beauty’s dance floor, on the other hand, will always hold a special place in my heart.
Bathrooms: Both will have a wait, Creekside’s slightly cleaner.
My suggestion: Go to Creekside early. Get wasted on their $ 2 drinks. Then go get funky at Beauty where you can dance til your heart’s content without putting the hurt on your precious heels.

The owner is super nice, the drinks are very cheap, and it’s almost always crowded (the later the fuller).
Sure, it’s a lot of the Beauty Bar crowd — and the later it gets the more you see overdressed 21 year olds ping ponging back and forth across the street, but who said that was such a bad thing?

Steve got me Stewie Pinball, twice!
We all played «Attack from Mars», which just threw me for 10 kinds of loops, and moved on to «Family Guy», with its miniature pinball — a game inside the game. The action wasn’t as complex, but man, hand me a beer and get me some quarters. I’ll be your gal at Creekside.
I just wish the décor was something more than Garage Sale meets Warehouse.

I went here with a big group of Unilocalers for one of them unofficial Unilocal events — after I had already done shots with Allison P. at another bar — which makes my recollection a little fuzzy.
I do remember heading out to the back patio to freeze my toes off. The back patio/​deck is a great downtown spot that manages to be secluded and crowded at the same time. I would make the following recommendations, however:
1. Paint all the walls so they match.
2. Plant more trees to hide the concrete jungle element of the deck.
I brought a non-​Yelper that I had just met along with me. Tobi told him if she wasn’t married she would totally be into his lumberjack thing and be sitting in his lap. He lit a lot of the other Unilocalers cigarettes while we talked sh*t about boys and clothes and Austin and Unilocal.I think we overwhelmed him a little.
Yay for crazy Unilocalers!
The drinks were all kinds of cheap — which is good unless you have to pay with a credit card and you have to spend at least $ 10.00 which means you end up with seventeen beers when all you really wanted was one.

This place reminds me of a more «alternative» version of the Ginger Man, like more ink and less grad student, with a nice backyard patio, and a slightly off the beaten trail downtown location.
I was here a few nights ago, and looked up to talk to my extremely tall friend when I realized there were a pair of fake hands, supposedly mutilated and bloody, hanging from a branch. I uploaded the picture into the Creekside photos, so check it out.
The night I went was after the Tattoo Convention was shutting down, and they had free beer. Free beer! Good ones too– you could choose between Fat Tire and Fireman’s. We had a great time out on the patio back here, despite being crammed in shoulder to shoulder. How nice of them to give out free beer!

A little bit of something for everyone. I’m not sure if there’s anything I can say that hasn’t already been said.
Great beer specials ($ 2.50 imports on Thursdays), friendly pinball-​loving staff, two pool tables, an awesomely spacious back patio, Adult Swim on a huge screen, and awesome rock music playing overhead.
Downsides, no draft beer and no Fat Tire.
MY. PERFECT. BAR. ALMOST.