Austin is known for it's live music and venues seem to be all over town for it. King Bee Lounge isn't necessarily close to the main drag where lots of live music venues are downtown but when we were going to look at other shops and passed by it we knew right away that we needed to swing by here for a drink later. The atmosphere caught us that easily by simply gazing in. We did swing by as we told ourselves we would. The cocktails were very good and we sat close to probably where some live music occurs sometimes (the stage) but it was early so none of that was going on yet. The atmosphere is quirky and fun. A skeleton is sitting at a piano, there is a ball gag in another prop's mouth and all kinds of photo booth photos stuck near the restrooms. It was totally my vibe for the oddity of it and the drinks were good as I mentioned. I could have had another one but it we had other sights to see while we were out and about. King Bee Lounge if you are in the neighborhood or even if you're not is definitely a place to swing by and visit! read more

See all

This place is my favorite hidden cocktail bar gem. It has a good size patio with fans. Dogs are welcome. There is parking in the neighborhood and across the street unfortunately they used to have a food truck as of right now they do not but after a certain time, the bar itself serves hotdogs. Service is great and knowledgeable. Big selection of alcohol. They have open mic music, a pool table and one video game booth. read more

King Bee Lounge - Outside patio - Bars Near Me - Austin, Texas

Great little dark and moody bar on the East side. $8 cocktails on happy hour and a nice punk playlist go great together. I'm not over here this much, but I'll go out of the way to swing by which I don't say about many ba read more

King Bee Lounge - Their take on a Manhattan - Bars Near Me - Austin, Texas

This dive has a great vibe! Good music and lots of folks from the neighborhood having a good time. Their cocktails are really well made. I tried gin and tonic riff, so good! They have billiards too. Food offering is extensive with lots of sushi. I didn't try it, but it looked good. Definitely worth a visit. read more

King Bee Lounge - Great cocktails - Bars Near Me - Austin, Texas

See all

King Bee has earned its crown. Somehow it manages to be a dive bar, a pool hall, a karaoke bar, and a concert venue, with equal success. You can get a competently mixed cocktail or avail yourself to the wide selection of beers, in bottles and on tap. Prices are a steal, especially at happy hour. No one's going to shame you for your low-brow cravings here. The indoor space is moody but cozy, with booth seating that makes it feel more intimate. Outdoor, there's a nice patio area that's also dog-friendly, housing a great sushi truck for when you get hungry. It's a space where you're actually welcome to stay a while. Easy street parking within the neighborhood. Just don't be a dick and block driveways. read more

Digging this neighborhood watering hole. Super and I mean super nice staff! Cool layout and decor. Welcoming. Fair pricing with great happy hour deals. read more

King Bee Lounge - Bars Near Me - Austin, Texas

See all

First review for King Bee Lounge in 14 months! That's like an FTR... almost. Thanks, pandemic! Only discovered this place as they re-opened with my favorite pop-up turned food truck, Golden Castle. Amazing sliders, but we're not here to talk about that. Damn, this bar is cool. Nice staff and affordable drinks. $5 beers when everyone else in the neighborhood charges $7 or $8 even. Cool little outside patio, can't wait to see the inside popping off. read more

King Bee Lounge - Drink menu 04/19/21 - Bars Near Me - Austin, Texas

Blues music night is why I came. Easy sign up at 7:30ish. Real easy and friendly space for jamming. Tonight there are saxophones, several guitarists. read more

King Bee Lounge - Where a woman can find some peace.....bathroom. Clean and spacious . - Bars Near Me - Austin, Texas

See all

Cute dive bar with decent amount of seating. It was pretty toasty in here on. July summer night. Clean restrooms were a plus. Frozen drink was down but a few minutes later I saw people getting served them. Margarita was wayyyy too sour. read more

Good vibe, friendly staff and nice cocktails. They have a good sense of music and as a bonus, they have a good truck I. Their backyard. read more

King Bee Lounge - a glass of wine on a wooden table - Bars Near Me - Austin, Texas

Literally best bar in the United States. It's classic - good drinks, good service and good atmosphere. If I could get my ashes scattered here I would read more

Great, dark dive bar with good drinks, pool table, and a nice patio outside with a food truck. Chill place to grab a cold one.

Nice lounge and bar that has a very chill atmosphere, and great drinks! The bees knees is their signature drink, and it is really tasty! Kind of like a marg, but more honey lemon flavored and with gin! I would say even if you don't like gin to try the drink, it isn't super strong. There is a lot of seating, but some of the seating was a bit dirty. It is also really dark in there. I get the lounge laid back vibe, but I could barely see the people I was talking to that were less than a foot in front of me. A few mood lights or string lights to give a little bit of shine would make this place better. There wasn't any live music while we visited so I can't attest to that, but the space looked great for a solo artist or duo to perform comfortably. Cool lounge check out if your out late in Austin! read more

For starters, we usually love this bar but we had a very frustrating experience the last time we came in. My husband and I are doing a photobooth tour of Austin documenting our babies first year of life. Most bars have been very chill an allowing us to bring our daughter in to use their photobooths if it's before 7 pm. To be clear, we're aware bars are an adult activity so that is not my complain... although sue us for still trying to live our lives while being parents. anyway we walked through the door and the bartender was so aggressive and quick to tell us to get out. again we get it babies in a bar not the vibe, however, there was one singular person besides the bartender in there and it was 3:30 pm. She laid into us about not being able to bring babies into a bar before we could even say anything or explain ourselves. Her delivery was incredibly rude and unnecessary. i cannot stress it enough that we do not care that we were turned away for having a 5 month old, it was how rude she was and shameful she made us feel. no one ever deserves to be treated like that. read more

I came on a weeknight around 6 or 7. It was fairly empty and quiet, but I'm not complaining. My friend and I could hear each other talk and not wait for drinks. There was one group at the bar, and two tables being used, with some people on the back patio. They do have a pool table and a food truck out back. I liked this place. It was a dive bar, but a clean and well-kept dive bar. I did poke my head in one night around midnight on a Saturday, and it was still pretty dead. That's a good thing or a bad thing, depending on what you want on a Saturday night. read more

1x sparking water in a can 1x American Eagle draft pint Total = $12 Dude, I'm not f'in stupid. Wtf. Won't come back. Bartender: Young guy, brown hair with glasses. read more

It's rad. There's a pool table and food truck and a yard and it's dark inside and it doesn't too too nutty. Kind of a rocker dive, but not too grungy. read more

Dive bar vibes, pretty good cocktails - we all ordered Bees Knees. How could you not? Overall, nothing super special about this bar IMHO. I've heard they have live jazz some nights, but there wasn't anything going on when we were there. We ordered pizza, but it wasn't great either. We actually had a good amount left and nobody wanted to take it to go (which is saying a lot for broke ass college kids!!). 3/5 - it's the neighborhood bar you go to when you don't want to get too rowdy. read more

King Bee Lounge - Bars Near Me - Austin, Texas

Lovely little east side gem. The bartenders were attentive and make a damn good martini. Really enjoyed the Wednesday night stand up. I felt there was plenty of seating, the sound was good, and the crowd were laid back folk. I'll definitely be back. read more

King Bee Lounge - Snowy evening in the ATX - Bars Near Me - Austin, Texas

See all

Ordered a pizza, it had nuts in it, now I am in the hospital. The menu did not mention that the pizza I ordered (queen of hearts) had nuts in it (no pesto mentioned either). Nuts we're just a surprise ingredient! I will never return because of this. If you have food allergies watch out and ask before ordering anything, even something seemingly innocuous, like in my case: pizza. Thanks King Bee, for sending me to the hospital. read more

King Bee is a six star establishment. Everything they do is great from the food to the drink selection. The atmosphere is perfectly dark and they always seem to be playing perfect music for whatever mood I'm in. I love how they somehow managed to play up the dive bar feel of the joint and yet have everything you'd expect at a speak easy selling classic cocktails. The mescal selection is rad -af. I can never really get enough mescal in my life and the selection here is one of the largest in town. When it comes to signature cocktails they have this thing called the Bee's Knees that my wife and her friends really enjoy. I cant say enough good things about this bar or the neighborhood its in. If you are looking to have a fun evening and have some great drinks rush out right now and fly on over to King Bee. read more

When I heard LGWSwan was going away, I was so sadddddd. Blues night! Dark corners! Great food in the back with that guy that took forever! Billy has remained true to the feel of the spot and understands, respects and promotes its history. I dig the renovations. The space works much better now, with the bar up front and the band in back. It feels like all the pieces got put back where they were supposed to be. They're serving some darn good pizzas from the bar and I'll never turn away a frozen bees knees. I'm guessing as they get bigger, they'll put more staff behind that bar or put up a temporary spot in another party of King Bee. I can see lines getting pretty outta hand unless there are more folks to handle the more complicated drinks. Great spot, cool new-old look and I hear blues night is still happening. See ya monday? read more

See all

Me to the bartender: A Last Word cocktail is one of my favorites, but I swap out the gin for mezcal. How's your frozen Last Word? Bartender: It's pretty f&*#ing delicious Me: Cool, I'll get one. Me to the bartender upon closing out: You were right, your frozen Last Word is pretty f&*#ing delicious Bartender: Nice (big smile) King Bee Lounge could easily be seen as a dive bar (with a quintessential Austin patio in the back). It has all the signs of a dive bar and for all intents and purposes it is one and that's not a bad thing. It also happens to be one that makes some pretty tasty frozen cocktails which are dangerously refreshing during any Austin heat wave a.k.a. our 5 1/2 month summers. Though their frozen Bees Knees cocktail (probably their signature drink) had too much honey flavor for my liking and I like honey. However, the honey did taste like real honey and not artificial at all which is great. I hear their other cocktails are pretty good too. I plan on checking them out as well as repeating that f&*#ing delicious frozen Last Word on return visits. read more

See all

Everything about King Bee is to be savored or devoured, so pick your tempo and settle in for a fantastic evening of cocktails and pizza. The atmosphere is dark and cool inside, flanked with a sunny patio, perfect for a boisterous party outside. This makes going inside and back outside practically a psychedelic experience, so look out for sun spots and watch your step. Typically I stick to beer, but I could not stop myself from ordering the Bee's Knees, a frozen gin cocktail kissed with honey, topped with a fresh flower. Behind the bar the TV played Bill Nye's Netflix show on a low volume. The pizza is just so freakin good. Ours had mushrooms, mozzarella and fontina cheeses, and green peppers. It was melty, smooth, creamy, and earthy. I really appreciate the square cut applied on a round pie, which makes it perfect for sharing with a large group, and lets some slices be all cheesy middle, while others have more crust. I dream about the pizza and those Bee's Knees often. The next time I go I'm buying the t-shirt. read more

This place isn't in the best location but, there is street parking in front and a small lot across the street. They have a back patio area, bar seating, tables, stools and it looks like they host live music as well! The owners are extremely friendly! The gentleman slinging drinks is the owner and his wife cooks the food! If you are coming here for drinks order the Gin & Jam or the frozen drink with Gin & Honey!!! Both were delicious and highly creative! I also ordered the olives appetizer and the garden pizza with pepperoni! The olives are just kalamata olives and green olives (be careful the green ones have pits) in a bowl but, I had no complaints because I love olives whether they are simple or not. The pizza sauce was very spot on to some of the best sauces that I have had! The toppings were plentiful and the cheese was fresh! What a steal of a deal for the size of pizza that we received! I would definitely check this place out again during the daytime. Like I said, not the best location in town but, if you're smart and pay attention to your surroundings you will be fine. read more

King Bee Lounge - Mural - Bars Near Me - Austin, Texas

Thanks for the memories... The bartender is warm, friendly and doesn't hurry you into ordering a drink but man oh man those cocktails are soooo good. Light, tasty, and non-pretentious, whatsoever. I had the Bee Sting and the Gin and Jam. Both, super delicious and deceptively simple. My friend and I had a memorable time finding the place on the East Side and chilling out with some dranks on a Sunday night, watching Dragonheart 3; The Sorcerer's Curse play on the tv and listening to blues on the jukebox. read more

King Bee Lounge - Gin and Jam cocktail with a spoonful of strawberry jalapeno jam. - Bars Near Me - Austin, Texas

Some of the sweetest and best bartenders in Austin, and some of the best pizza too! Try the Supreme Beeing pizza and the delicious frozen Bees Knees. First Wednesday of every month is a free comedy night hosted by Chris Cubas, and every Sunday night is Jazz Night with the wonderful Michael Hale Trio featuring the very lively and captivating Mac McIntosh. read more

King Bee offers some of the best cocktails in Austin by one of the best bartenders in the state, delicious pizza, and blues night. Try the frozen bees knees (it's strong and comes decked out with a flower). The bartender at the King Bee also originated the gin and jam that's served at other bars around town, and I think his is the best. They also have an outdoor patio that's nice when the weather is cool. I wish more people would frequent this place because the service is always good and the cocktails are as good or better than Whisler's. It's also a low-key lounge bar, which I appreciate, and they let you do pizza take out. The pizza is Great by the way. read more

Drinks are cold and the pizzas are hot. They have a nice back patio with plenty of picnic tables if you're into drinking outside. Decor and service are awesome. Basically this is a reformed dive bar. Upcycled. All in all a good place to stop in anytime you want a relaxing drink with friends. read more

King Bee Lounge - Bars Near Me - Austin, Texas

The music was great and the bar in general was very cool. Great location. Great live jazz music. The bartenders seriously kicked us out for laughing too loudly at 1:15.. I'm a bartender on Rainey street. I get how things can escalate but by no means were we out of line. Super not cool. Bartenders are extremely rude and uptight. read more

My boyfriend and I visited King Bee last night for the first time. The bartenders were very very friendly, the place was isolated and very calm, and also very inexpensive. We had The Bees Knees (shown in photo) which is their honey infused frozen drink. Oh. My. God. So delicious!! Best frozen drink I've ever had in my life! My boyfriend and I always try to guess what the bill will be, we guessed $75 and it ended up being $45!!! Which is shocking bc we are always pretty spot on!! We asked the bartenders a few questions about the drinks and they gave very interesting, detailed explanations. Crowd was great. Many of the reviews say this place is great bc it is secret, I'm going to agree with those statements! We will defiantly be back, either way. It's definitely the bees knees ;) read more

King Bee Lounge - The bees knees is the most delicious frozen drink I have ever had in my life. And has two little flowers in it. Cute and delish. - Bars Near Me - Austin, Texas

This place used to be the White Swan. With a fresh and appropriate makeover, it's now the King Bee. Still the same live music on Mondays by the Little Elmore Reed blues band. The boyfriend's sister is the pizza maven here and the pies don't disappoint. Soon to come are some yummy panini sandwiches that are worth the wait (not on the opening menu). Local legend Billy Hankey hit the nail on the head with the frozen cocktails - especially in the Texas summer. Nice. read more

See all

King Bee is King Bae. I'm all for a nondescript dive bar on the East Side. King Bee pulls a Lulu Lemon with their logo sign with no actual words, but if you can find it, you're in for a good time. You wouldn't think of this place for their pizzas, but the pies are to die for. Goat cheese + tomato, sign me up. They are for one, huge and for another, incredibly packed with toppings. No skimping here. Something something, don't get stung by not coming here, bee pun, black and yellow. read more

From what I've read, this place used to be The White Swan (http://www.legendarywhiteswan.com/). They've preserved a sign from the swan in the back along with the matte black paint. There's even a junky upright piano that looks like something Jack White might have played in It Might Get Loud. In short, it has great bar atmosphere. When I went here they were playing The Craft on an tube T.V. and the bartender (owner?) told us about the first time he saw this movie in theaters. There's a CD jukebox in which I was surprised to find Death's album, which I only new about through the documentary on Netflix A Band Called Death. For drinks I had two of the 5 or 6 cocktails they had on the menu: the first I can't remember but the second was a vieux carre and it was perfect. They also have a decent number of select beers on draft. I've heard good things about the food but didn't have a chance to eat there. Check it out! read more

King Bee Lounge - Bars Near Me - Austin, Texas

See all

They don't make 'em like they used to, which is why King Bee Lounge is a nice breath of "old school" air. The couple that owns the place seem to be really cool, and very nice. They've purposely created an atmosphere that feels like you're hanging out in Austin "back in the day". Although the bar definitely encapsulates that ol' feeling from the dive bar days of yesteryear, you still can enjoy one of the more current-day Austin pleasures of fancy craft cocktails. I do like that a lot. I'm nostalgic about the olden days, but I would never want to part with special/ fancy/ boozey concoctions. I tried their twist on the Old Fashioned while I was there, and it was really great, and very different from the standard. The next time I hang out here I will make certain to try the delicious-smelling Louisiana cooking that's going on next door. Everybody raves about it, and I hear they're open late. read more

To drive home the point that's been made in the earlier reviews: BEST PIZZA AND BEST BAR IN ALL OF AUSTIN. The pizza is tavern-style: square cut, thin crust, slightly greasy, and toppings under the cheese. When I miss Chicagoland pizza, I come to King Bee. My favorite bar in Chicago from back in the day was California Clipper and to me this is the Clipper of Austin. It's dark, the drinks are delicious, and I come here for any occasion - to be alone, to have a long visit with a friend, or to celebrate with a lot of friends. It's just the best bar in all of Austin. We are so lucky to have it. WE LOVE YOU, BILLY. read more

This is definitely not my normal part of town but I was in the area because of the nearby Austin Panic Room and needed a drink beforehand to ease the nerves. So we fire up the Yelp app off to a bar we go! The place super spacious. Upon first glance it looks dark and divey but if you look closer, it's actually just loungey and mysterious. They have some good wine, interesting frozen drinks, and the best whiskey cocktail I've ever had. PS, the owner is adamantly against happy hour, don't even ask. read more

This place is sort of an upscale dive. By that I mean the prices are upscale, but everything else is dive. I thought the pizza was lackluster and overpriced. I had beer, so I can't really speak to the quality of the cocktails. I hear the Bees Knees is good, but it's not really my jam. The bartender wasn't super welcoming at all. There's lots of seating indoor and out if you want to bring a largish group or stay a while. read more

Monday nights = Little Elmore Reed Blues Band ($5@door) + Awesome Cocktails (check out the Mezcal!) + Yummy Pizza... My new favorite chill spot. This was my first visit and I was pleasantly surprised, especially since it felt super sketchy outside. I loved the layout of the bar and stage. The dark room was inviting. There's even a nice size oustide with seating. The bartenders/owners were happy to pass along knowledge about mezcal and very friendly. The pizza was thick with toppings and full of flavor. The Band was the cherry on top; the singer/harmonica player must have been reincarnated from some Muddy Waters type. I wish I could keep this place a secret but I don't want it to ever go away! After getting into that boozy blues mood, I also wish there was some kind of southern style food truck...;) Note: There's parking on the street and parking lot directly across the street. Be sure not to park in the Barbershop lot. read more

This is a whole review of yes. Pizza. Yes. Drinks. Yes. Patio. Yes. Dark corners. Yes. Bartenders/Owners. Yes. Parking. Yes. Old movies. Yes. Jukebox. Yes. Come here? Yes. read more