Texas Villuns - help a friend of mine

[Plinko]

Hi folks, I know a lot of y'all are Texans, by blood or transplant.

A pal of mine is in the process of moving from Alaska to Texas (San Antonio, specifically). He's married with 1 child, he's in the army band (I believe trombone player), pretty geeky but not really a big gamer. He's into music/bands (I know he's a massive ska fan), beer (he's from WI, so duh) and Sci Fi.

Anyway, I know TX is a big place but I think his interests will overlap with some of y'all, so any shoutouts as to bars/clubs/venues/events to go hang out in S.A. or Austin would be much appreciated!

[LadeeeDuke]

I will ask around, I like in North Texas, so I will have to ask.

[John Doe]

I think KRG is in SA, but you dont want your friend scarred for life do you?

[booner]

There are a bunch of bars around the Riverwalk, like Polly Esther's, Rive, Mad Dog's, Swig, etc... outside the downtown area there are way more, but I've only been on the north side to Dolce and Club Rio.

--edit--
Oh yeah, these are all in San Antonio.

[mr_s]

wow thats a big move....

-20 C to 40+ C....

i wonder if he'll go back


hope the vilunzes find out

[Un4GiveN]

I live in Austin and 4th St. located downtown is full of classy clubs/bars for a more mature audience. Let me know if you have any questions. Austin is the place to be

[KRG]

Viva and I are 20 minutes south of Austin now but we both lived in SA for many years, on different sides of town.

A lot of this will depend on what part of SA he is living in.

The Riverwalk is a tourist mecca. It's cool to see once, visit the Alamo, Mexican Market and all that, but generally avoid that area like the plague. Everything is way overpriced and geared towards tourists.

He won't find a ton of ska in SA, maybe at the White Rabbit here and there but they're mostly metal/punk. Sunset Station usually has good shows but again, a bit on the tourist end. SA is largely a metal/country town. There is some diversity but nothing like Austin. For truly diverse musical genres/clubs, he'll have to venture into Austin about 1 hour away. I recommend Black Cat Lounge or Emo's for ska in Austin, Emo's is nicer. Fishbone just came through recently, I bet he'd be pissed he missed that! Viva and I are into live jazz, we recommend The Elephant Room in Austin for that.

As far as bars go. . .the options are many anywhere in Texas. I always prefer the old school Texas bars to modern sports bars or "classy" bars so it's a matter of personal tastes. There are bars on virtually every corner. lol

For the best/authentic Mexican food in SA, we highly recommend: http://www.lafogata.com In Austin: http://www.babyacapulco.com/ off Lamar.

SA has a decent Zoo, Japanese Tea Garden and Witte Museum, all places worth checking out. It is a very easy city to learn. With two highways that loop the entire city, (1604 and 410) it's fairly simple to learn your way around. Though it may seem large at first, the longer you live there, the smaller it becomes.

[Avar]

http://www.aclfestival.com/default.aspx

[KRG]

ACL always falls in Sept/Oct which is my busiest season at work.

I've always had to schedule employees around that event, knowing that I can't go!

[Hamese]

I can't believe that KRG didn't mention this, but your friend shall soon find out about Shiner and Ziegenbach beers. People love them or hate them, but they are the two biggest beers associated with Texas as they are not widely available outside the state.

[Plinko]

Thanks KRG/all for the tips, I'll e-mail him as much. I know it's tough to find cool places to hang out when you move to a new city across the country.

Shiner is good, I drink that on occassion. Never had Ziegenbach but if I see it, I'll give it a try.

[KRG]

[quote="Hamese";p="170806"]I can't believe that KRG didn't mention this, but your friend shall soon find out about Shiner and Ziegenbach beers. People love them or hate them, but they are the two biggest beers associated with Texas as they are not widely available outside the state.[/quote]

***facepalm***

Never fails, every time I'm in a bar in a different state, I ask for a Shiner out of habit and the bartender says, "what?". Doh!

Shiner and Ziegenbach is pretty much all I drink.

[jim beam]

Yes but you can buy shiner in other states but you can only buy ziegen in the great state of Texas!

[Red Seal]

KRG is shiner the same as shiner bauk if so its pretty good stuff , ive spent some time in San Antonio and there are plenty of bars there if i recall there was one that made its own brew, they also have a flying saucer which is a great bar it has over 200 different beers from around the world in arkansas its keep the glass night on wensday of the house beer not sure there though, also im sure his wife will like the river walk there you can walk it or ride in a boat, it leads up to the mall and not to far away is San Marcus a great shopping mini mall

[booner]

[quote="Red Seal";p="170935"]KRG is shiner the same as shiner bauk if so its pretty good stuff , ive spent some time in San Antonio and there are plenty of bars there if i recall there was one that made its own brew,[/quote]
Yep, Shiner Bock is one of their beers.