The Pastry War

Had a great time here and enjoyed the drinks! Bartenders were pretty friendly.
We had the habanero and strawberry margerita and chose the stronger proof tequila. You can add various condiments to your drink which makes it kind of fun. For one of our drinks, we had pineapples and grasshoppers — the bartender added lime juice and seasonings to help it taste better (tried one and didn’t have anymore!) and even ate one with us. We had the pork and chicken tamales which weren’t bad, chicken is a bit spicier.
Would like to come back for happy hour. Pretty cool scene.

Awesome margaritas and tamales. The bar can get over crowded but it’s worth the wait. Plenty of seating and AC blasting. The strawberry basil margarita is my fav here. Pastry war is conveniently located near all the bars on main if you’re bar hopping. Definitely a good one to stop by.

Came here on a Friday night and it was pretty crowded by the bar and all the seats were taken. The décor is awesome with the comic strip walls in the bathroom and I could see this place as a «let’s hang out after work and chill». I also loved the lights above the pool tables and that blue car hanging around.
I am only rating based on my experience coming here on a Friday night, took at least 30 minutes to get margaritas, which were extra sour and salty and not as delicious to drink, the whole time I was cringing. They put too much of something, and probably not as much tequila. Can’t say this is the best place for margaritas. The wait time was ridiculous so you’re just hanging at the bar the whole time, waiting and waiting.
Definitely needs more bartenders on busy nights. They probably had about 2 – 3 working from what I saw? We left after we got our margaritas since we weren’t down to wait another 30 minutes for more drinks.
I’d love to check this place out though during the evening before the night time crowd comes!

This place is nice and very unique. their drinks are really good but a little pricey. They definitely need more bar tenders because it takes a little while to get your drinks. Pay close attention to the menu because at the end of the night you might accidentally take a $ 25 shot.

Short and sweet! Cute and fun bar off of main st. Tamales and tequila! Woo-​hoo!!! You’ve gotta check it out, plenty of bars to walk to after as well.

Ok so if you’re doing a night of drinking and had already been on whiskey it’s not in your best judgment to switch to Tequila! Don’t worry your pretty wittle livers, the bartenders here know their ish!!! A sweet lil bartender whipped me up something off the menu that had peach schnapps and bourbon in it and other magical ingredients that created a master piece! MY GAWDDD! I slupred 2 of those bad boys down so quickly! The bad thing is I’ll never know the name of b/​c it’s not on the menu! I’m crossing two fingers, toes and liver that the next time I visit the «bartender w/​the cool glasses» is there
I’ve been here other times and had the gringo star which is a fav! Their margaritas always make me feel like I’m El Chapo!

Phenomenal drinks, phenomenal place, phenomenal service but an average name for a topnotch bar. Why? Lol
Wide bevrage options. Price is so right that it’s surprising to have a bigger glass size.
Cheers for the wonderful interior design, for the awesome people working around, and for an overall great night experience.
Mates, make sure to come early as possible every Friday and Saturday nights. See you!

The drink menu and options are to die for. If you’re a tequila enthusiast and have experienced the many variations of it and plethora of drinks that can be made with it, this place will not let you down. Service was fast even though it was packed, and the bartenders know their drinks. We didn’t see palomas listed on the menu and we asked if they could make it. Tastiest Paloma I’ve had in America.
The crowd is a bit weird. You can immediately tell who only goes for margaritas and who knows their stuff. 5 stars because the crowd isn’t your fault at all.

Summary– nice cocktail bar with focus on tequila.
Drinks were amazing, both regular and overproof margarita were fantastic, the overproof was maybe the best margarita I have ever had.
Also had a green iguana, which was excellent although I couldn’t tell if there was any booze in it all, so it just kinda felt weak even if it wasn’t. I could drink about 30 of these on a hot day.
Very cool atmosphere with bonus pool tables in back.
Service was excellent and friendly.

Anvil be warned, you have some competition. After visiting The Pastry War for the first time, this bar has quickly made it’s way into my top three bars in Houston. Think of Anvil with the craft cocktails and give it a twist with some Mexican flavor and you have The Pastry War. As you walk in, you see stunning murals with dia de los muertos. They are known for their margaritas and have a good amount of options and add-​ins to mix it up. As this is a Mexican bar, tequila is where it’s at but they have a selection of non-​tequila cocktails, beer, etc.
If pool is your thing, there are a couple tables in the back. There is even half of a car where you can sit solo and hang out. Pretty hilarious. Rumor is you can pay with pesos here, not sure if that’s true or not but that’s pretty cool if true. The Pastry War was voted the best bar to feel like you’re in Mexico. If the ladies in Mexico look like the ladies I saw at The Pastry War, it’s time for me to book a flight. You’ve got a big fan of me The Pastry War though I don’t really understand what your name means. I was hoping to see a cupcake in a sombrero in a gun fight with a churro with a mustache but no luck.

Strange name for a very solid bar.
The Pastry War was the first place that we hit on our mini tour of Texas and it also earned the honor as the first place to serve us the famous and highly touted, Texas queso. What’s significant about this? Not only was it the first queso that we tried but it was also the best.
Paired up with a few stiff cocktails and a few of their tamales, we didn’t need much else. There was plenty of seating and we always knew that our server was close by just in case we needed another round.
Katie B mentioned that they also take payments in Mexican Pesos. This is true and guess who actually had a wallet full of pesos? This guy!

Things you should know:
They accept payment in the form of pesos*. Really. Honestly. Truly.
*In addition to the regular forms of payment you’d expect.
This is not just a cocktail bar (and by cocktail bar, I mean a margarita/​mezcal/​michelada bar, as those are really the only three things you should be drinking here based on the menu); they serve chips and queso and tamales, and you should 100% order both. in fact, order more tamales than you think you want, because those suckers are delicious as all get out and you’ll inevitably want more.
Seating is first come, first serve. If you’re just drinking, I highly recommend leaving the seats for folks that want a little grub.
Once your card has been taken (if you’re not paying with pesos, that is), you can order from any staff member, which is very convenient if you’re not seated, and a bonus when you’re seated but realize you can get a drink faster from the bar instead of waiting for the cocktail server.
There’s a room in the back with pool tables.

A cool place in Houston that serves up some pretty decent queso! But don’t go in there with expectations of getting any sort of pastries… they don’t serve them, they do however take pesos as payment though, just in case you have a few of them sitting in your wallet.
Seating is on the first-​come basis and it gets pretty crowded on Friday and Saturday nights. I saw peeps just standing with their cocktails and food if you get desperate enough to do so.
Besides the cheese and chips, we ordered a round of tamales. I wasn’t expecting much, but they were actually pretty delicious. The chicken were mild temperature while the pork were my faves and served up some heat with every bite. If that wasn’t enough, it came accompanied by a green sauce to kick it up just a little bit more.
I got the Strawberry Balsamic margarita in blended form for my cocktail and thought it was pretty delicious. Their alcohol was masked, so it snuck up on me pretty fast. I seriously had no gripes or complaints as their house version cocktails (like this one) was only $ 8 for a pretty generous cup size. Next time I’ll try their Habanero and Serrano. I like spicy drinks in frozen form.
The ambiance was nice and the service was friendly. I’d definitely come back the next time I’m in Houston!

I love how Downtown is really building up its bar scene. I’ve been to The Pastry War three times now and each time has been better than the last.
This bar offers a wonderful tequila selection with innovative cocktails infused with a Mexican attitude. I always order the Peyote Diaz which is a rum-​based cocktail that tastes like an alcoholic version of the mango candy you can get in Mexico. Also, I love how they liberally use tamarindo and chamoy to flavor their cocktails. These are under-​used spices, in my opinion, adding a sweet and salty edge to Pastry War’s basic margarita.
As the sign says as you walk in, this bar doesn’t serve pastries! They do however offer chips and salsa, queso, and other snacky bar food. The interior is really dark and romantic with a cantina-​esque feel. Their is plenty of seating both inside and outside, with a billiards room in the back.

This bar has the best margaritas in all of Houston, they also carry Pacifico which believe it or not is extremely hard to find at other Mexican bars and or restaurants! Their bar snacks are great too, I would recommend then chips with either salsa or queso (or both).
If you’re looking to have a quiet drinks between a few friends make sure to come earlier in the evening (7−9pm), it starts getting pretty busy and loud after that.

This is one of my favorite bars in the downtown area! It can get crowded and loud on weekends so I recommend going early and start your night here. My favorite drink here is the strawberry balsamic margarita. It doesn’t taste too strong and the strawberry and balsamic pair well together and the drink isn’t too sweet. I also tried the habanero one, and that had a very big kick to it… I personally didn’t enjoy it, but the people I was with did.
The bar also offers a huge selection of mezcals and tequila so if you’re a fan of either this is the place for you.

LOVE the décor. LOVE. But we both disliked our drinks. If I go back, I’m sticking with the simplest drinks, because I think the Pastry War suffers from making their drinks too complicated. But great décor and atmosphere — lighting hanging in the entrance, pool tables in the back room, cool bar area. Definitely a cool place to stop on your bar-​hop tour of downtown (don’t miss Moving Sidewalk, La Carafe, or Captain Foxheart’s Bad News Bar & Spirit Lounge).

This place has some of the best tequila here! We tried a tequila flight and it was good. The place was definitely not a true spot where you can eat, but the drinks were amazing! They crafted everything well. The bartender know his stuff. The inside of the bar was divey and dimly lite with fruits and Mexican décor through out. I am from NJ and was very happy how I was treated at this place. We were welcomed and the staff was very friendly and hospitable.

I went here as the first stop of the night with friends. First they brought us warm water… When we asked for ice he said, «we are conserving the ice»; what the heck does that mean? If you haven’t noticed it’s Houston and hot as hell! Smh, don’t be cheap with your customers.
The drinks were good, and the service was good after we got a new waiter helping us out. Ambience is decent, but it is definitely not a five star place in my opinion.
One major pro: they offer snacks past midnight.

Gross. Upon walking in this place smelled like a 21yr old’s b’day party… I’ll let you use your imagination on that one.
We came here as we made our way down Main St. and this was our third stop of the night. The place isn’t that wide but it does extent quite away back, leading this place to make you feel like you’re drinking in a hallway. Drinks were good and with as busy and packed as this place was getting, came out within a reasonable amount of time. Bartenders were nothing special-​not friendly but not rude. Between the meh atmosphere and the fact this place straight up smelled like the morning after at a frat house this is on my skip it list.

Cuando gringos regresan de vacaciones en México se traen recuerdos como este bar/​cantina. Pastry War aproxima una cantina tradicional. Se ponen películas clásicas como Cantinflas & música tradicional.
Sí quieres disfrutar mezcal y cócteles buenos hay que venir a este lugar en el centro de Houston. Esta zona tiene muchos bares buenos pegados adentro 5 cuadras. (A lo mejor dejas tu coche y usas el tren ligero para evitar problemas con los polis)
Siempre hay gente buena.
Muy recomendable!
(english)
When gringos return from vacations in Mexico, they bring back memories of a bar/​cantina. The Pastry War is a near faithful facsimile of La Patria.
If you want to enjoy mezcal and delicious cocktails, come on down to this spot in downtown Houston. There are quite a few bars packed together in about 5 square blocks. Ideally I would leave your car behind and take the light rail downtown so you don’t have to worry about being towed, ticketed or hassled by the MAN.
(deutsch)
Wann Amerikaner vom Ferien in Mexiko zurückkehren, bleibt ein Vorbild von einer solchen Cantina fest.
Falls du Houstons Innenstadt kennenlernen willst, gibt’s viele Bars usw. in der Umgebung. Die S-​Bahn fährt fast direkt davor.