The Volstead Lounge

1500 East 6th Street
Austin, TX 78702

EntertainmentBars

7 Reviews

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You’ll see a line around the corner to get into Hotel Vegas/Volstead Lounge… It is worth the wait.

Vegas has an incredible music venue inside.
Volstead is one of the best places to go dancing in Austin.
If you don’t like watching live music or dancing to a DJ, don’t worry – there’s a huge back yard area with plenty of picknic tables, 2 bars and a food truck. Something for everyone
Mike M. , 7 years ago
This is one of my favorite bars. It has every type of music, multiple bars, a back yard and dance floor. No cover to enter unless you go in the house for a specific band
Linda I. , 7 years ago
Went this past Friday Night – the DJ inside knows what’s up! Great mix of music – couldn’t get away from the dance floor because every song was great! They actually have a pretty decent frozen marg also – not too sweet. Also a good place to go to sit and chill.
Morgan S. , 8 years ago
Volstead is my new favorite bar on E. 6th. It’s mostly because of the comfort I feel when I’m there. I used to be partial to the country/western bar down the street until they started charging cover on weekends, and there’s two other bars I’m big fans of in the district, but Volstead takes the cake for ambiance/scene/great music/diverse set of people. Let’s break it down:

Hipster Factor (on a scale of 1 to Portland): 47.
You will find a few, but there’s really a great mix of people. I moved from Houston 11 years ago and this is a rare place that gives me the diverse feeling again. Not like West 6th that’s overrun by douchenozzles, not like Rainey where you literally have to choose between the 30+ crowd, the racist crowd (if you go to Unbarlievable we will fight when I meet you), the douche crowd or the live music crowd (granted there’s a couple places that are ok), and not like Dirty where I feel like Brad Pitt running through (underage or tourist) zombies in World War Z on a Saturday night. (Portland=infinity, btw)

Dallas Factor (on a scale of 1 to The Domain): 1.
This place is not The Domain, so it is not Dallas douche/yuppie/daddy’s money factory. Everybody is pretty chill, nobody wearing blazers, casual/good-looking people chilling on the weekend.

East Austin Factor (on a scale of Westlake to East Austin): Still East Austin.
This place is still trying hard to keep it real. The hip-hop they play is usually from the era that East Austin was still largely hip-hop. The cumbias they play is also reminiscent of the times when East Austin was still largely cumbia. The free kickback event they host on Sunday nights is also pretty clutch, but I refuse to give you details because I swear if you put the ‘T’ word in an event the entire city shows up, take a breath y’all, there’s enough flour and corn t______s in this town for us all.

Cons: It does get hot and crowded inside (back patio is great though), and the drink prices are beat by a couple spots on East, but can’t complain.

Overall (on a scale of ‘This place sucks let’s leave NOW’ to ‘Another beer?’): You’re almost certainly ordering a 2nd or 3rd drink here.

Just a cool place where a diverse mix of people are minding their business with their friends and everyone always appears to be having a good time 60% of the time. Which ain’t bad really. The most uncomfortable I’ve ever felt here is seeing white people try to dance cumbias like they learned at their 30-minute salsa lesson, but all in all if that’s the most uncomfortable part of the night it’s a pretty fun time.
David V. , 8 years ago
I had an AMAZING time on a Friday night. I’m not an ATX local but I was digging the setup. It was annoying to have to wait to get inside, but I understand the method to the madness. The backyard was amazing and I always enjoy an area with great lighting. The bathrooms were extremely small but the indoor room made up for everything. The drinks were great and the dj was solid. He had me hyped up the entire time with my friends. I would definitely come back here anytime I visited ATX.
Courtney C. , 9 years ago
Super fun dance spot for a Friday night. It is absolutely packed! And I thought East 6th was a well kept secret 😉 Clearly Im not the only one aware of this side of Austin! Really big gathering area outside the bar to talk and eat at the food truck which serves a good selection of vegan/vegetarian options if youre into that. DJ inside the bar is mixing it up like crazy and can be really awesome, although I think some of the later choices were odd, but I wasnt drinking enough to really get sweaty and go all out on the dance floor.
Paige H. , 10 years ago
I’ve been here probably 50 plus times. It’s definitely one of the top spots on east 6th to get a great cocktail. We used to come here all the time, because we get the same drinks EVERY TIME. He gets the Old Fashioned and I get the French 75. I love classic cocktails made right, and it just doesn’t happen anywhere. I first started frequenting Volstead regularly in early 2012 and this was not the hot spot to go out to. Often it was dead, with great music. Volstead has had its ups and downs with me. I did not go back for a very long time because I was so pissed off at this one bartender who refused to take the time to make me a cocktail. I knew I should have waited for my typical guy with the hipster mustache. While I saw others who did have cocktails in their hands. Needless to say, I was offended and took it personally.

Over the years, I’ve seen this place morph into THE place to go on east 6th. Often they’ve got a DJ and some great mixes coming out, along with dancing which tends to make it difficult to move inside. The back patio is also connected to Hotel Vegas and there is a huge outdoor space. I like Volstead a lot and am happy for their success, just don’t expect to get a fancy cocktail if its hoppin’ that night. For me, this is more of a starter bar so we can get the drinks we like at an earlier more manageable time.
Ashley S. , 10 years ago

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