Every single weekday there comes a moment when you’ve either finished all your to-dos or read the entire internet. When that time arrives, you deserve to get yourself to the nearest establishment serving drinks priced at what you actually deserve to pay for them. And while alcohol is always good, the superior Happy Hour involves deals on both good drinks and good food. Luckily, Austin has many of them. This is our guide to the best Happy Hours in town that’ll get you through the work week (and sometimes even the weekend).
THE SPOTS
When: Wed-Fri 4-6pm
The Deal: $0.35 peel ‘n’ eat shrimp, $2 Modelos
Quality Seafood is an Austin institution, operating as equal-parts seafood market and restaurant since the 1930s. And if you find a better way to spend $0.35 on a weekday than on their peel ‘n’ eat shrimp, send us an email ASAP. A pound of shrimp will set you back about $5, and $2 Modelos are hard to pass up. Grab a seat at the bar and get comfy, there aren’t many better places to be at 4pm on a Wednesday afternoon.
When: Mon-Fri 3-6pm
The Deal: $6 cocktails, half off beer and wine, $5 small bites
Habana, a Cuban restaurant near St. Edward’s, offers one of the best Happy Hour deals on South Congress. On weekdays from 3-6pm they knock the price down on most of their cocktails to $6—including their signature mango-infused habanatini and more classic mojitos—plus half off all beer and wine. There’s also a handful of bites that get the value price treatment, like wings, ceviches, and empanadas, but you’ll still have to pay full price for their excellent Cuban sandwich.
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When: Tue-Sat 4-5:30pm
The Deal: Half off all bottles of wine under $100, $10 smash burger with fries
Nothing screams “living your best life” quite like enjoying half-priced bottles of wine and discounted smash burgers at 4pm on a Tuesday. And whenever you’re ready to make that a reality, head over to Aviary Wine & Kitchen, where all bottles under $100 (and smash burgers) get that discount treatment from 4-5:30. The wine list leans natural, and the burgers are solid—the kind that combines a super thin and griddled patty with a big, fluffy brioche bun.
We’ve talked a lot about the fabled $5 margarita, but head to La Mancha during Happy Hour and you can witness something even rarer—$3 house margs (or $4 flavored). Most of the drink menu gets the discount treatment as well, so make sure to order plenty of enchiladas to soak everything up if you don’t want a rough start at work tomorrow morning.
When: Mon-Thurs 3-6pm
The Deal: $3 house margaritas ($4 flavored), $2 domestics, $3 imports, $4 wells, $6 Mexican Martinis
We’re big fans of the Asian-fusion tacos, snacks, and burgers at The Peached Tortilla in Allandale, but we’re even bigger fans of them during “social hour” on the patio from 5-7pm, especially when the weather is nice. The drink menu also gets the discount treatment, including a variety of local brews, rotating wines, and classic cocktails with little twists (like a habanero and thai basil margarita).
When: Tues-Sun 5-7pm (patio only)
The Deal: $5-$7 beer, wine, and cocktails, $4.50 tacos, $6 snacks, $9 burgers
When: Tue-Fri 4-6pm
The Deal: $6 house red, white, rose, and bubbles; $3 beer; discounted select appetizers
Asti Trattoria in Hyde Park functions equally well as a simple place for a bowl of rigatoni amatriciana at the bar, or as a people watching spot on their chill patio with a bottle of wine. Wherever you choose to sit, Happy Hour is an especially good time here with $6 glasses of house wine and discounted appetizers. The crispy and tender fried artichokes with lemon aioli, normally $16, are priced at $8, which is a great reason to skip out of work early to take your cat for a last second appointment at the vet.
When: Tue-Fri 5-7pm; all night Sunday & Monday
The Deal: Half off select food and $6 cocktails
Péché in the warehouse district is one of our favorite spots in town for Happy Hour, with plenty of cocktails and menu items discounted heavily for a few hours every night, and all day Sunday and Monday, when they can get pretty busy. Grab a cocktail or some absinthe—they have one of the biggest selections in town—then saunter over to a dark corner of the always-full dining room and order some classic French comfort foods.
When: Mon-Fri 4-6pm
The Deal: Half off wines by the glass and burgers, $2 off draft beers
A few blocks removed from the busiest part of South Congress, The Meteor is one of our favorite places in town for drinking wine. And it’s a spot that only gets better during Happy Hour, when you can get all of their wines by the glass (and burgers) for half off. Cheap wine and a burger sounds like a weeknight jam.
photo credit: District Kitchen
District Kitchen + Cocktails
When: Mon-Sat 3:30-7pm, Sunday 3:30-9pm
The Deal: $3 domestic pints, $5 house wine by the glass, half off select bottles of wine, $6-8 cocktails, $6-9 bites
District Kitchen has two locations in town—one on Slaughter Lane, the other on Anderson Lane—and both offer a pretty great Happy Hour with a little something for everyone. The food falls into that “New American” category, which includes a mix of steaks, burgers, and random dishes from around the world, like fesenjoon or Moroccan lamb kabobs. Come for Happy Hour and you can grab a domestic pint or a glass of wine, and some karaage and shishitos, all at discounted prices.
photo credit: Nicolai McCrary
Plank Seafood Provisions
When: Mon-Fri 3-6pm
The Deal: $3-4 beers, $7 glasses of wine, $8 cocktails, $1 off oysters, and $6-10 menu items.
The next time you’re out shopping at The Domain, try planning your day around Plank’s Happy Hour, when you can get $1 off their whole menu of oysters, plus a small menu of food items for under $10. There’s also beer, wine, and cocktails if you need a little post-shopping wind down. And if you happen to live at The Domain, well, you’re just a short walk away all the time.
When: Weekdays 3-6:30pm
The Deal: Half off all appetizers; $1 off all drinks
There are three locations of the crowd-pleasing Jack Allen’s Kitchen in Austin (and also one in Round Rock and one in Cedar Park), and they all do half off appetizers during Happy Hour, which is a very good deal. Whether it’s a late lunch or early dinner, you can make a very solid full meal out of appetizers like smashed guacamole, chicken nachitos, and smoked barbacoa quesadillas.
When: Tue-Sat 5-6:30pm
The Deal: Half off wine by the glass and Austin beers; $8 cheeseburger; $6 zeppole; $4 onion rings and popovers
During dinner at Foreign & Domestic, a burger and fries is $18, but the Happy Hour burger is only $8. Math is hard, but that’s basically $10 for French fries, which means you can and should spend that $10 you just saved by ordering zeppole and onion rings instead, and still somehow come out ahead. Also on Tuesdays, Foreign & Domestic does $1 oysters and 50% off chilled wine all night. The oysters tend to sell out, so you can reserve up to six oysters per guest on a reservation.
When: Mon-Sat 5-7pm
The Deal: All food items from the bar & lounge menu are $10
Vince Young Steakhouse might not offer much in the way of daily cheap drinks, but their Happy Hour food discounts alone are worth a visit. Grab a seat at the bar and enjoy everything from fried calamari and crab cakes, to wagyu brisket burgers and steak frites, all for just $10. Most of these items typically come in around $20-30, making this one of the best Happy Hour food deals in town—if it were any cheaper, we’d be worried.
photo credit: DK Maria's
DK Maria's Legendary Tex-Mex
When: 3:30-6:30pm daily
The Deal: Half off select apps, $5 margaritas, $1 off draft beers
DK Maria’s has been serving up Tex-Mex classics out of a well-decorated strip mall location in South Austin for a few years now, but the best time to visit is from 3:30-6:30pm when they offer half off a handful of appetizers and $5 margaritas. The fabled $5 margarita has become something of a rarity in Austin these days, but the dream lives on at DK Maria’s.
When: Wed-Sun 5-6pm
The Deal: Half off bottles of wine under $80 (outside only); discounted beer and cocktails; $5 house-made pullman bread and $10 fennel-cured butternut squash
Lenoir’s awesome backyard wine bar - with the Live Oaks and twinkly lights - is a special place to hang out with your friends. Friends are cool and all, but the real reason you bring people here during Happy Hour is so that you can order whole bottles of wine for half off.
When: Sun + Tues-Fri 3-6pm
The Deal: $6 cheeseburgers, $6 sangrias, $2.50 High Life, $3 St. Elmo Kölsch
Based on how busy Better Half is during the day, you’ll often wonder if people in Austin even have jobs. Maybe the draw is the nice backyard, or maybe it’s the $6 cheeseburgers during Happy Hour. Better Half also has a reverse Happy Hour with $6 draft cocktails 9pm-close, and $6 burgers 9-10pm 7 days a week. Also on Tuesdays, bottles of wine are half off.
When: Weekdays 2-5pm
The Deal: $5 boozy slushies; half off beer and wine; select menu items $6-9
The set-up at Loro is ideal for work Happy Hours, so snag a picnic table for your whole team and spend most of the time on a secret Slack channel furtively and furiously talking about Sharon’s double-dipping habit. It’s also the only time of day you can order certain menu items - like the $9 cheeseburger and chicken karaage - which makes all of the double-dipping bearable.
When: Weekdays 3-6pm
The Deal: $3 drafts, $4 well drinks, $5 wine and frozen cocktails, $6 snacks; free popcorn
Things we’re grateful for at a Happy Hour: enough seating for all of the coworkers/friends you actually like and free popcorn because snacks are what make us happiest. Order the wings and sit out in the patio to remind you that the sun still exists even if you don’t see it all day.
When: Daily (Wed-Sun), 4-5:30pm
The Deal: Half off all pizzas; $5 house wine and draft beers; half off all bottles of wine under $100
If it’s too early for dinner, grab a snack at Bufalina and order a bottle of wine normally reserved for a celebration - but for half off. And then promptly get some pizza afterward.
When: Daily 4-6pm
The Deal: 25% off all food; half off all sparkling wine; $2 off all other drinks
During June’s Happy Hour, everything on the menu - from fried chicken sandwiches to steak tartare - is 25% off. And the champagne is half off, which means you can have a proper toast to your new favorite Happy Hour in town. Sparkling wines are half off all night on Mondays, too.
When: All night Monday; Tuesday-Sunday 4:30-5:30pm
The Deal: 25% off select food; $2 off all drinks; only at the bar
Unless you’re really going all-out, dinner at Jeffrey’s is a little expensive for a casual weeknight. But their daily Happy Hour is a great time to grab a few drinks and discount food at the bar like crispy fried gulf oysters or the Wagyu cheeseburger, and see who goes out for $50 risotto on a Wednesday. There’s also 50% off bottles of wine every Sunday.
When: Daily 5-6pm
The Deal: Half-price large format beer and bottles of wine (under $100); $7 draft cocktails; $1 off all beer
Odd Duck has a nice patio, but the best place to sit is at the bar, during Happy Hour, with a $7 draft cocktail or some half-price wine. And lucky for you, the burger, which changes often, is now on the regular dinner menu.
When: Daily, 4-6:30pm
The Deal: $3-12 dishes; $4-18 sake, wine, and beer
Uchi is best known for their sushi, but what they should actually be best known for is their “sake social,” the daily Happy Hour during which you can sample excellent rolls and classic Uchi bites for a fraction of the price. If you haven’t been, you’re doing things all wrong. P.S. this happens at their sister restaurant Uchiko, too.
When: Daily, 3-5pm
The Deal: Weekdays: 50 cents off oysters; half off burgers and martinis; $5 oyster shooters. Weekends: 50 cents off oysters; half-price bottles of wine; $5 oyster shooters
We love oysters. You love oysters. But everyone loves them more when they’re not so expensive. You’ll go to Clark’s for their Happy Hour-priced oysters, but you’ll stay for the burger (half-off has never looked so good) and the patio.
When: Daily 3-6pm
The Deal: $4 beers; $5 sangría; $6-8 margaritas; discounted appetizers
El Alma is home to one of the best patios in Austin, and somehow not everyone has figured out about it yet. Sit on the double-level roof under an umbrella, enjoy your Happy Hour margaritas and guacamole, and feel pretty damn good about your decisions.
When: Weekdays 5-6pm
The Deal: Half off all alcoholic beverages during the week
Austin has many, many margaritas. And La Condesa’s margarita is one of the best in town. During Happy Hour, you can get it for half off.
When: Tues-Fri, 4-6pm
The Deal: $6 cocktails and bites
Kick off a night on the East Side at Licha’s with $6 margaritas and food. The only possible downside is that you just might end up sticking around all evening.
When: Mon-Fri, 3-6pm
The Deal: $5-10 select margaritas and cocktails, $7-10 select wine, $5-12 appetizers
El Chile is always an excellent decision for a group outing with super shareable dishes for Happy Hour like nachos or queso flameado. What you won’t need to share are the margaritas (because they’re bigger than your head).
When: Tuesday-Friday, 5-6pm
The Deal: Half off beer and cocktails
Dining on Olive & June’s patio almost feels like you’re eating in a tree house, with a three-story patio built around a giant 200-year-old oak tree near 35th and MoPac. And during their Happy Hour, beer and cocktails are half-price. And that just means you have more money left over to spend on their excellent pastas (try the bucatini).
When: Daily, 4-6pm and 9-10pm
The Deal: $5 burger; half-price Lone Stars; $5 cocktails
Lou’s almost feels like it’s a patio first, and a restaurant second. The food is mostly rotisserie-based, but they also sell tacos, sandwiches, and a really tasty burger. Every day from 4-6pm (and 9-10pm for you late eaters) you can get the burger for $5, as well as half-price Lone Stars and $5 cocktails. Also, wine is half off on Tuesdays.
Hank’s
When: Daily 3-6:30pm
The Deal: $7 frozen and tap cocktails; $7 tap wine; $3 off appetizers; $1 off beer; half priced bottles of wine all day Tuesday.
At Hank’s during Happy Hour you can get all of their frozen and tap cocktails for just $7. The Happy Hour is available on their covered patio, their dining room, and importantly, for takeout via their drive-thru. We’ve been known to show up with a cooler full of ice so that we can take home frozen margaritas and palomas. Also on Tuesdays bottles of wine are half off.
When: Daily 5-6:30pm, patio only
The Deal: $7 draft cocktails and wine; $5 beers; $6 snacks; $4 tacos; $8 burger
Bar Peached is the bar-focused sister-restaurant of The Peached Tortilla, serving cocktails, tacos, and Asian-inspired comfort food. Their Happy Hour includes $6 snacks like edamame and Brussels sprouts as well as some heartier foods for $8 like a burger or spicy pork fries.
Waterloo Ice House
When: Weekdays 3-7pm, all day Wednesday, 9pm-close
The Deal: $3 frozen or rocks margaritas; $2 off cocktails and appetizers; $1 off draft beer, wine, and Texas vodka
Waterloo Ice House has become a bit of an Austin name over the years, with a footprint extending back almost 45 years. There are four locations across Austin, so chances are you’re probably not too far from one now.
When: Daily 4-6pm
The Deal: $2 off all drinks; 25% off selected items
Josephine House is the slightly more casual sister-restaurant of Jeffrey’s, right in the heart of Clarksville, with a focus on seasonal, New American fare. The 25% off Happy Hour deal only applies to selected appetizers, but lucky for you, since it includes both their cheese and their charcuterie boards.
When: Mondays 3pm-close, Tuesday-Friday 3-6:30pm
The Deal: $6.50 signature margaritas; $9 “fancy margs”; $5 apps
Maudie’s has become a bit of an Austin institution, starting as a cafe back in the 1950s before pivoting to Tex-Mex in the early ’90s. They have a solid Happy Hour that includes signature margaritas for $6.50 or “fancy margs” like a Mexican Martini for $9. There’s also a menu of small bites - like queso, mini tacos, and guac - for $5 each. There are five locations across Austin, so you’re never too far from some margs.
When: Wed-Fri 3-5pm
The Deal: $5 select apps, cocktails, and house wine; $2 off draught beer
Scholz Garten isn’t just the oldest bar in Austin, it’s the oldest operating business in Texas. Which means that they’ve had more time to perfect their menu of classic German offerings. The Happy Hour has apps for $5, so while it’s not exactly 1866 pricing, it’s close enough.
When: Mon-Thu 4-7pm
The Deal: $2 domestic bottles; $3 tallboys (including Lone Star); $3 well drinks
At the dive bar Lala’s Little Nugget, the halls have been decked with boughs of holly for decades - it’s been continually and epically decorated for Christmas since the 1970s. Their “Jolly Hour” includes $3 tallboys of Lone Star, which sort of makes every day a little like Christmas.
When: Mon-Fri 5-6pm
The Deal: Half off beers, cocktails, and wines by the glass; $5 off appetizers and burgers
Housed inside (you guessed it) a converted laundromat, Launderette is probably the most attractive restaurant on the East Side. Fortunately, Launderette isn’t just trying to get by on looks - the food here is actually good. And during Happy Hour, you can get $5 off appetizers and one of the best burgers in the city.
When: Mon-Fri 3-6pm
The Deal: $7 select food items; $7 select cocktails; $1 off beer
The all-day spot Kinda Tropical is part cafe and part bar, with good coffee, cocktails, and a menu that has, well, kind-of-tropical things. The Happy Hour here is a three hour affair, featuring a $7 cheeseburger, a $7 vegetarian-friendly pulled jackfruit sandwich, and $7 cocktails, which includes all their frozen drinks.
When: Mon-Fri 4:30-6pm
The Deal: Half off select food items, select sake and wine; $1 off Central Texas beer
It’s worth pretending that you have a “dentist appointment” to hit up Lucky Robot’s Happy Hour, where you can get half off their contemporary sashimi, select kitchen menu items like dumplings and chicken karaage, as well as designated bottles of sake and wine. Going to the dentist never tasted so good.
When: Daily 4:30-6:30pm
The Deal: $2 off draft beer and craft cocktails, $6 rotating house wines ($24 bottles); discounted apps, $5 tacos, $7 fried chicken.
Every day during Happy Hour, Salty Sow knocks $2 off their drinks (including the house blood orange frozen margarita), but the star of this two-hour show is the honey rosemary dipped fried chicken that’ll turn first-timers into regulars. Enjoy it with some triple fried duck fat fries (then try saying it three times fast) or some chips and guac on their large patio right near Manor and I-35.
Sway Thai
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When: Mon-Fri 4-6pm
The Deal: Half off all cocktails, wine, beer, and sake
If you live anywhere in Austin, at some point you’ll find yourself in West Lake, probably for a doctor appointment. Or maybe you’re lucky enough to live there. Either way, for Happy Hour, it’s hard to beat Sway’s offering of half off all drinks.
When: Tues-Thurs 9pm-close
The Deal: Half-price pitchers; $5 burgers; $2 off pizza
Reverse Happy Hours are pretty rare in Austin, but lucky for you Central Machine Works on the East Side knows how to take care of the late night crowd, with half price pitchers and $5 burgers.
When: Tues-Sat 4-6pm
The Deal: Half off off all cocktails, beer, and wine by the glass or bottle
Il Brutto on East Sixth serves simple Italian food in a space that works great for everything from a double date to a birthday dinner (and there’s even a very nice patio shaded by an enormous oak tree). Another real draw here, however, is half off all drinks during Happy Hour.
