We visit Toy Joy every single time we are in Austin. They have cool vintage toys and miniature…read moreversions of toys from our childhood. They sell shirts with their logo and my husband buys the latest shirt every time we are in town. I like that they've rearranged the store and moved the register and aisles. The place is really opened up now and more easily accessible. Yum Joy is worth checking out when you are in the area too. They sell candy and ice cream and vintage sodas.

As soon as we walked in, they made a strong effort to tell us that they close in 5 mins. Every min…read moreafter, they reminded us that they were closing. We were in the store for less than 5 minutes and got a minimum of 5 reminders that they were closing in that short span.

The Elephant Room is one of Austin's most widely known jazz venues. It is located below street…read morelevel on Congress Avenue. If you are claustrophobic, this might not be the best place for you. From the street level, you walk down steps to enter the club. This basement club delivers an authentic jazz experience. The dim lighting, narrow long room, and close seating create an intimate atmosphere. Live jazz musicians are hosted every night of the week, often with multiple sets, featuring a mix of local musicians, rotating house bands, and visiting musicians. Because of the tight space, you are always close to the stage. Tonight's headliner was the Concept Orchestra. Cover tonight was $7. Cocktails range $14-16. The room was pretty tightly packed creating positive vibes.

Elephant Room in Austin is a cozy basement bar that keeps you cool while you listen to shades of…read moresmooth jazz and blues. It is a fun little place with nice folks working there. The stage is a little weird angled relative to the audience but I guess that's a space constraint. While they do not serve food, that I know of, they have a standard selection of well drinks and cocktails to enjoy. You are coming here for the live music and underground vibes. If you are looking for a relaxed spot in Austin to beat the heat, grab a drink, and catch some amazing live tunes, Elephant Room is a fantastic place to spend an evening.

This was my first time at a speakeasy and they sure set the bar high! They really are as secret as…read moreit seems. My sister-in-law made reservations and we walked down the busy 6th Street to get there until we stopped at an unassuming and unlabeled door. When you walk in, it's a very dark and moody interior with small tables. They led us to a private room in the back which perfectly fit the six of us. Their menu is very creative, with unique names and unique ingredients. I don't like alcohol, so I was super happy to see an entire section dedicated to zero proof mocktails. I ordered the 5 AM somewhere which was a matcha based mocktail. It still had a bitter taste to it, perhaps from the Lyres Rosso. But the entire experience was so creative, led by our server/bartender Martin. He was a lot of fun and made the experience that much better. He was personable and funny and felt like we were hanging out with an old friend. Highly recommend if you're looking for a more chill vibe on 6th Street!

What a nice cool little spot! I've been to Austin many times…read moreand to fifth street, this was my first time coming to this bar. I had to a make a reservation beforehand because that's the only place they'll let you in, and i understand why, its a very intimate bar and the whole vibe would not be the same if the place was packed, so i appreciate the atmosphere. We tried a couple of recommendations the staff gave us, they had 2 of our drinks prepared right in front of our table explaining the type of liquor they were using, their menu is really interesting with different flavor and mixes, and like the one i tried with banana and other herbs that just make sense. We had a really good night enjoying there i like that the place is dimlight and so different from the vibe right outside on 5th street!

Great selection of Simpsons stuff, particularly the Tree House of Horrors. We picked up a Kidrobot…read morefigure of Blinky and it's awesome! 10/10 would recommend

I went to Monkey See Monkey Do for fun with my family. We parked in the parking lot and went in…read more The store had a lot of stuff that was reminiscent of my childhood. They had some fun squishy items, dolls, action figures, and other collectibles. I felt like a kid in that store. I told my husband that I had to get out of there or I would buy everything. It was a cool store to visit and I will return to buy more fun nostalgic items.

8/29/26: Sad news. 710 Red River has been sold and Valhalla is being forced out. Their last day…read morehere will be somewhere around 10/26/26. Another fantastic venue taken away. Boo to developers.

Valhalla is the nightmare to pretty princesses like myself. It's a grungy, unsterile dive bar where…read moreI'm genuinely afraid to touch or even look at most things. Inside, it's dark with zero sunlight. As soon as you walk in, you're immediately met with the bar and a pool table, and if you continue down the path, you'll end up in a back room where bands play, with this caged upstairs area overlooking it.

This is a cozy, intimate, little comedy room tucked into the back of Esther's Follies. It does have…read moreits own entrance though, and you don't need to go to an Esther's Follies show to come here; although, if you DO see an Esther's Follies show, you can watch comedy here for free immediately after the show via the connected entrance. It's also apparently the oldest comedy venue in Austin! I saw a handful of comics on a Saturday night, and overall had a great time. The host/MC was hilarious and fun. The first ~3 "openers" each did about a 7-minute set. None of them were great, but they were brief. The headliner (Tre Tutson) as well as the guy right before him (Kenjamin Alonzo) were great! Good at reading the room, lots of laughs. The bar wasn't crowded and we got drinks right away, which was awesome. They also have little QR codes on the tables, so you can order from the bar during the show without having to interrupt the set, and someone brings your drinks to the table. Also great! Seating is open if you have a ticket. You can choose your table. I definitely recommend coming here, whether you're with a date or a group of friends.

We came here after Esther's Follies, with the program from Esther's you get in free and just have…read moreto find a seat, we took seats on benches along the wall as most of the tables were taken as the stand up had already started. We caught the last joke or two of one of the openers then the headliner came on, TJ, On twitter as @tjstandup and has a special on Amazon called Weapon of White Destruction and a tour called The Colonizing America tour. Dude was incendiary (to use my wife's term) and funny, My wife and I were laughing for most of his set and the guy at a table in front of us almost never stopped laughing. The place is small and a long time fixture here in Austin, you order drinks from a QR code at the table but no minimums drink limits which is nice. It is a fun stop and you never know who you will see or what style of comedy you will get.

THIS IS A BLAST! So…read moreI was playing in another kickball league here in town (we'll call em WAKA) and it was one of the worst experiences I've had in a social sports community. So when I came to NAKID I was not expecting much different, but was stunned at how different and how much more fun I had! My team is the Awful Waffles which was a team in a different league, we were all so fed up with the competiveness of the other leagues. Where they cuss you out if you make a bad play, make a bad call as a ref, basically have no regard for sportsmanship, and to top it off the league is ran by douchebags.It was so refreshing to come to NAKID, its fun still competitive(in a good way) AWESOME TROPHYS, cute girls for you guys out there, as well as flip cup tournaments every week!!! (AHHH HEAVEN!!) You gotta give it a shot!

There are some business names that scream, "Try Me"! Like "G-spot Thrift Store",…read more "Bite Mi," "Mooseknuckle", or...NAKID Social Sports. Anyone who patronizes those businesses is bound to be the kind of person who doesn't take themselves or life too seriously. So, one star for the concept and creation of Austin's Chapter of NAKID and one star to the fun ppl I met during the 8 weekly showdowns of ball-kicking during the actual game and ass-kicking during the subsequent flip-cup games. The withheld stars speak to the management of the league, to the abundance of fluff in advertising, and lack of information given to players. The owner/mgr actually lives in DC and apparently that chapter does well--proof that actually being available during the games is a real bonus. Instead, he flies down for the first game to welcome everyone, for all of 15 minutes, and for the closing ceremonies of awarding the trophy. In between, he is not attentive during registration nor during the season. For example, Tshirt sizes requested were totally ignored...we got way too many smalls and not nearly enough medium and larges as ordered. We showed up for the first game, and I--a newbie--was dubbed Captain. NO rules, nada. Quickly downloaded the iphone ap. Presto, ready to go. There are other instances, but the most irritating was when he emailed to survey which of two given dates we wanted the playoffs. After the votes were in and the date set, he emailed to tell us that the date was being moved to a date (that didn't work for almost my entire team!) not before mentioned bc some players wanted to attend the UT football game. I'm an Orangeblood, but really....? As it turned out, many of us weren't able to attend the playoffs. Considering that many of the players were non-paying (solicited by NAKID friends so they'd have enough players to form a league), this was a rip-off. The fluff pertains to the amt of free alcohol that turned out to be quite limited. IF you are the reffing team that week, your team gets a $20 tab at Gibsons--not enough for one drink per player if all your players showed up. Our first trip into Gibson's found them surprised at our arrival. Apparently, there was no prior arrangement made and NAKID was assuming that last season's deals were still applicable. We ended up standing around until someone figured out what that arrangement was. by the way, Gibson's was fantastic about all this! The "partying" they advertised amounted to a bus trip for a winery tour, which looked fun for the 8 or so ppl who went. Too bad we weren't told about its impending possibility until too late. INcidentally, all 8 were from one team whose lead player picks up and brings the equipment to the games (an assistant? don't know, was never told--she is super nice though). As for information dissemination, they wanted us to sign up on meetup website, which I did. As a result, I got emails as well as meetup messages, almost none of which were redundant and yet neither one had full details. There was no go-to place for information. For ex, one week we showed up for the game to find no one there except for a few players from some other team (not our scheduled opponents). Apparently the games were moved to another field not in sight of where we were scheduled to play. A stroke of luck --contacting the roommate of one of the players in the know--got us to the correct fields and by the time games started, it was already becoming dark--not good for catching flying balls. IN kickball at least. I am glad to have experienced Gibson's (free, fun Bingo on Thurs nights), Luke's Inside Out (great food trailer), and Flip Cup (my college drinking game--quarters--is outdated). In sum, this league is not "a skid-mark on the underpants of society" (movie, Dodgeball), but I think I'd rather spend my time at Mooseknuckle, in my newly acquired hot pants from G-spot, playing Flip Cup and following it with nibbles at Bite Mi.

Been in Austin for a few years from Chicago, never knew there was a spot that for Chicago Bears…read moreFan... Great experience, Chicago dogs, fan base and vibe was lit. I'll be a regular going forward! Wait, and have the nerve to play house music.. ummm being from the west side of Chi.. that's a plus!

Always a staple on 6th street. I've been here a many times over the years and it's always a vibe…read more Decent drink prices, good music and plenty of space for dancing or standing. I always run into characters in here. And i love the hoops in the back.

I give my strongest recommendation to Mystica Fiora's belly dancing/flow arts classes and…read moreperformances. She is a skilled professional of the highest caliber and multitalented showcasing a wide variety of styles: fire flow arts (fans, poi, hoops, wands, hand candles, wings), belly dancing (Egyptian/Raqs Sharqi, fusion, Indian), mermaiding (swimming with tail), and clowning (balloon animals, face painting). She is also pleasant, kind, and cheerful. She is very professional and always on time and communicates well. She has both online and in person classes available and hybrid options. I have also seen her perform multiple times and she is stunning! Book her for your special events! I have been taking belly dancing and flow art classes with her since the pandemic (mid 2020). At first we met online and now we meet in person. When I began classes with her I was suffering from debilitating chronic pain and could only dance for 5 minutes before needing to take a break. She was happy to incorporate accommodations for me when my feet were hurting or injured, for instance, we would do a seated chair class and focus on chest and arm isolations instead of leg movements. She always found a way to incorporate movement while working around my health issues, injuries, or surgeries. Now I can dance for hours and am teaching my own dance classes. I highly recommend seeking Samantha out if you have any chronic health issues that would improve with low impact exercise. She is also highly educated in these different art forms and is able to discuss the history of belly dance. She has been trained in a variety of styles from across Africa to the Middle East to India, even having traveled abroad to learn from instructors in other countries.

Mystica is an amazing belly dance instructor! She is kind and encouraging, positive and…read moreprofessional. Her excitement and passion for the art form is out of her! I get very excited for every opportunity to take a lesson from her.

Good service and good items! Tons to choose from something for everybody !!! I would recommend to…read moreanyone dropping in from out of town.

Cool peeps that work here!!…read more The Smoking Caterpillar is not only a super smooth name, but a place where you can find all your smoke shop needs + bounds of valuable knowledge! It was my first time trying (or even hearing about) Delta 8, and the worker was so patient with helping me understand what it is and its benefits. Got some cool herbal smokes and gummies to try out at home!