Located in downtown San Marcos in the very heart of "college town, USA," Shade offers a picturesque rooftop view of downtown and surprisingly good adult beverages with modest prices all in a safe environment. I wasn't told about this establishment, rather I happened upon it while meandering about aimlessly on a Saturday afternoon in April. All the other bars at 2am seemed dead, so I saw the sign and decided to ascend the "stairway to drinks" in the easily overlooked front entrance. After hitting the top of the stairs, the place opens up to a very interesting experience. There are two main covered areas, a thought to keep in mind as it was rigorously sprinkling when I visited. First there's a well-stocked open bar area under a makeshift roof with TVs there to grab the attention if the phone isn't working. Sorry, that's a pet peeve of mine as so many people go out nowadays to bars and sit on a phone rather than socialize. What's the point!? Ok, lets get back to the review shall we? While the bar has a 270 degree seating area, there are some open tables without a roof. This yields to the largest area with a shack like roof covering picknick tables, benches all not exactly the most comfortable seating but cozy nonetheless. The fellow patrons were extremely nice and represented all spectrums of life. As for the drinks the bartender was extremely helpful in suggesting drinks of the day while being fast in severing over 30 people by himself. Kudos to slinging suds at a lightspeed pace. I don't fault the establishment for only having one person scheduled as 2pm isn't normally busy but when an impromptu bridal shower shows up, Shade showed out (meaning they handled it well)! My bourbon cocktail was perfectly balanced while their special drinks weren't overpowering yet had enough alcohol to kick start a motor into 5th gear after sitting idle for too long. Overall, I love this joint as it's everything one could realistically want in a bar. Even though their cocktails varieties are somewhat limited, sorry I wasn't ordering a "pickle-rita" they're very good and reasonably priced. The view is great no matter where which seat is selected and the people are fun and delightful. I highly suggest giving this place a shot as it checks all the boxes on an impromptu list. The only pause would be if it's raining hard, let it end before heading up the stairs. read more

Shade Rooftop Patio - Bars Near Me - San Marcos, Texas

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Bartenders like to overcharge and say the drink menus are "not up-to-date." Double check your tab, it's happened three times by different bartenders. read more

a good vibe safe place and drinks are great staff is really cool and chill! Me and my girl had a ball plus everything well a lot of stuff. The drinks are strong. read more

Love this bar and the staff. Was so happy that they sold Happy Dad here! Had a great time with friends on the rooftop and the vibes were immaculate. Will come back here again to enjoy another Happy Dad with the boys! read more

This place is terrible. I came here to try it for the first time. I tried to order a round for my table and got told I could order it even though I'm wasn't drunk. My friend ended up ordering the round and we got kicked out. Would not recommend read more

I went for st paddy's day for a couple drinks. first off the drinks were $8+. Out the gate the bouncer with the blue eyes was already having an attitude with me when he checked my id. I was over 21 so he let me in. I was going to the bar to get my 3rd drink when he ran up on me asked for my id again. When I gave him my legal id I asked why are you sussing me out and without hesitation he said your gone with this snarky attitude. Like I asked a valid question. Why? You already checked me. It felt like he had some prior experience with me but it was my first time there. It felt like there was something more to it like than just asking why. Not sure if it was because I'm gay or if he got offended because I asked why I'm getting kicked out. l didn't care enough to buy another $8 drink so I took my table full of people ready to drink to a neighboring bar. read more

I went for 4 drinks and paid it and when I looked at my transactions the next day I was charged again for $18. I lost trust in this place. Never coming back read more

I had such a great time at the Black Rabbit! Kara greeted us, and directed us into a drink we would enjoy! Thank you so much!

kick people out after being 21 and just ordering one drink there and not even being drunk

Shade Rooftop Bar. Only there's no shade. Nice. Not a bad place. Not too many college kids this Sunday night so it was a nice atmosphere. Has potential. Would be a better place if they had bar snacks. Yes, I understand the Tap Room is just below and they offer food but why make your patrons leave your place to grab a bite to eat when you could easily offer some pub grub/appetizers. Think: chips & queso, peanuts, something. read more

Shade Rooftop Patio - Bars Near Me - San Marcos, Texas

The outdoor patio is awesome. It has a great ambiance and view of San Marcos. They make mix drinks. It seemed like most of the bars downtown didn't make cocktails, so the mixed drinks were a treat. I would definitely recommend! read more

The location of the bar is great! Being on the second floor, they have a nice view during the day of the square in San Marcos. Great place to relax and play some jenga with friends! They have good happy hour drinks, some of the beers were $3.00 and my favorite which was the pickle shot vodka was also only $3.00. Great environment, with great genre of music, from regards to techno and with the hot weather they had water being sprayed from the top bar which was refreshing. The outside had several tables and jenga boxes. The bar tender was also great, very cool and fun! Advice is to go during the night, there is a much better view of the city rather than during the day. We went around 6 and the view was still nice but it was dead. Very fun environment, great place to relax, get a drink, have a nice view and have fun with friends. read more

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Great view. Comfortable decor. We came with a group of 5 for the pickle shots. I was asked to leave because they don't allow swim attire (they were flower print cargo shorts). The gentleman was polite in his arguing with me about weather or not it was swimwear. I will not be bringing the 30 plus people there following my wife's birthday river float. Really though. Who doesn't allow swimwear? (Can't roll my eyes hard enough) That's just elitist. I wish you business good luck. read more

Haley is the best! I love the service here and they have giant janga as well as giant connect4. I've never had a bad experience here. Would definitely recommend. 10/10 read more

Shade Rooftop Patio - Drinks - Bars Near Me - San Marcos, Texas

I'm glad this bar was still open, I had a friend visiting from out of town and wanted to visit someplace not so crowded. Great pickle shots and margaritas, we definitely enjoyed ourselves, good music too! read more

Came again for the $3 frosés (come before 9pm)! Took a bit to be served but it was understandable as they were pretty busy. We also came around 6 and it was HOT but the bar had plenty of fans and there was a continuous spray of mist that kept us cool, for the most part. read more

Check out the craft cocktail menu and great happy hour deals. Sundays mimosas are $2 and pitchers are $12.. don't miss out on this hidden gem in San Marcos you'll be glad you checked it out! read more

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We went here to celebrate Class Tattoo's 13th anniversary celebration. The atmosphere was lively, and not overly crowded - of course, the summer had just started - and students were (mostly) gone. The drinks were great - I highly recommend the Austin Iced Tea, made with sweet tea vodka. The giant oversized games were fun. The giant Jenga pieces with the written messages/dates were hilarious, and he giant Connect Four was a favorite (although they need to replaced a few missing discs). I'm not sure if the DJ there was regular, or just brought in for the special occasion, but he needs to complete songs before moving on to another! ;) Enjoyable place, and we would go back. read more

A drink with a view, please pour me another bartender! This bar is a diamond in the rough of the San Marcos bar scene. The Square gets rather hectic and packed on weekends and late nights and The Shade is the solution to this problem. I love coming here to unwind because it is the perfect mix between college fun and relaxation. Great selection and happy hour, just make sure you can make it down the stairs in one piece after your night out! read more

I was having a good time on a Sunday evening (my only night to go out) and I went to the restroom and I came back out and the strong aggressive egotistical man checking id's decided to check my id AGAIN and told me not to cause trouble when there was only 8 people at the bar and made me feel unwelcome and not wanted at all...I work on the square and that attitude should not be tolerated in the service industry...especially on a Sunday enjoy your night read more

Ashley takes care of everyone! She is fast and knows her alcohol! Always ask for her, she's the best bartender!

Ashley and Robbie give excellent service and this place always has a great selection of craft beers. It's a hidden gem but taking the stairs are worth it. They have decent prices and always have some kind of special going on. I would 100% recommend giving this place a try! read more

My friend & I were looking for a not so crowded place where we could just drink & talk & this seemed like the perfect place because of the nice weather, & it was except for the staff. The people (customers) were great, the placed looked really nice but the two guys that check id's kept asking us over & over again tp see our id's. It wasn't just us, they would ask you unnecessary questions & stare back & forth at your id & your face for like 3 minutes. I get it's their job but we thought it was a little excessive on a Wednesday night with like 12 people at the place. read more

Omg totes had the best time ever with the bartender Ashley. She was hands down the best bartender I've ever had in my life. Thanks shade for making my day day awesome. Drank soooooo many 2 dollar mimosas!!! read more

Nice spot, nice view. I intentionally came on a Wednesday evening to get a couple cocktails. Despite 5 patrons at the bar the bar tender was "out of mint" code word for I'm too lazy to make your cocktail even on a slow night, mean while I'm going to play a game on my phone. Needless to say I will not come back. I'm not exaggerating the guy was literally on a stool playing a game on his phone. Plastic cups aren't classy for an otherwise nice bar. read more

Sweet spot in the sun. Good views and pretty good selection of craft beers. If you're looking for an awesome patio, you've found it.

Great atmosphere in downtown. Decent selection of beers on tap, long happy hour, and great scenery. Great spot to grab an afternoon beer or a drink early in the night. Beautiful live plants make up the roof with large fans to cool you in the summer and heaters to warm you in the winter. There's usually a nice north wind and good view of the sunset against the campus and downtown buildings. XXL jenga sets are fun as well. Place is classy enough to bring your parents but cool enough to go with buddies. Definitely recommend. read more

This is by far the best bar in town. The bar tenders are not only amazing but friendly. Their drink specials blow the rest of the town out of the water. I recommend this bar to everyone I meet! Ashley and Robbie will blow you away with their knowledge of drinks and shots. Definitely worth stopping by! read more

I was having a great time this past weekend until I and a group of 3 friends went to Shade. To start, the doormen were extremely rude and examined each our IDs for at least 10 seconds, bending them and holding them up to the light as though he thought they were all fake. Then he proceeded to ask each of us aggressively if we were drunk, and to "look him in the fucking eyes" before he would let us in. It was only 11pm at the time, well before most people have had time to get sufficiently intoxicated, which we were not. Once we FINALLY made it in, the whiskey-cokes tasted like they had absolutely no alcohol in them. I went and bought the second round so that I could see for myself how much was going in. The bartender barely tipped the bottle into the cups so that each drink had only a tiny splash - there was probably 1 shot total for the 4 drinks. I asked her if she would mind topping them off, as we were looking to stay there for a while and have a good time. She told me that putting more alcohol in would cost extra. I ended up paying for the drinks that time but I will not waste my money at this place in the future. To top it all off, another doorman came up to us while we were playing Jenga (which the bar provided) and told us that we were being "too loud" and needed to leave. There were only about 10 people in the bar and as far as I could tell everyone else was enjoying themselves and didn't have any problems with us. I couldn't believe that we were getting kicked out simply for laughing and having a good time. I tried to talk to the guy and explain the situation, but he told me if we didn't leave in the next 60 seconds he was calling the cops. We didn't even get so much as a warning, just kicked out. I could not believe the appalling and embarrassing treatment we received. I can't understand how this bar has stayed open if they keep treating their customers like this - a business . Looking at some other reviews here it looks like there are several other people that have received similar treatment. PLEASE DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY BY GOING HERE!!! There are so many other bar options in San Marcos whose staff is not rude and whose bartenders pour proper drinks. read more

My husband and I came here this Saturday night with our daughter and her friend during our stay in San Marcos for the holidays and we had a wonderful time. The bartender Ashley was very knowledgeable about the cocktails and she even made up a shot for us that was delicious (and I am not a shot-taker). She was very entertaining and we ended up staying here most of the night. The door guy gave us no trouble - he was very welcoming - contrary to past reviews and the patio area was 80% covered. The view of the city was also a plus and I liked the music they had playing. We will definitely be back the next time we visit my daughter. Thank you Ashley! read more

Sad that I have to write a bad review about this place. I've been here a couple times and had no problems. Last time I was there the door guy was very rude. First when we got there he asked if we were drunk, we weren't stumbling or anything, it was 1:30 at that time of course we're feeling good. Later he accused my bf of throwing up in the bathroom (which he was not) and told him he needed to calm down and not cause trouble. There was maybe 10 people at the bar... It seemed to me that they just wanted there crowd there. Well maybe you should drink at your house then! Its a shame cause the bartenders are nice, but that door guy ruins the vibe. read more

Great place to watch the sunset and nice craft cocktail variety. Not too crowded and has a nice breeze. It's a nice atmosphere at night with the lights and trees! Cute, friendly staff and cheap half bottles of wine on Wednesdays, oh and get the sangria when they have it! They have had some live music nights and it's always an awesome show. It's a nice change of pace to get out of the stuffy bars. read more

I've been to this establishment about five times, all of them were great visits except for the last time. The bartenders are nice and the drinks are great. However there was a busboy going on a powertrip and just being down right rude trying to tell our tired friend that he had to leave because his head was down on the table. Our friend was tired, he had two drinks, was sipping a water, and was sitting with a group of four of us clearly conversing amongst ourselves and enjoying the atmosphere. The ridiculousness of the situation was not lost upon us and things became heated quickly. The busser was overly aggressive and looking to start something, had zero knowledge of how to politely or tactfully ask people to leave. Had zero knowledge of how to apply common sense to a situation and realize that this dude who is now talking to you telling you that he is just tired, not drunk out if his mind, is actually no issue whatsoever. He committed to continuing the farce and insisted we leave, and was the first to commit to bodily contact when it came to it. Hugely disappointing way to end what was an otherwise great night. read more

Great atmosphere for a big group or going on a date. Fun games, smoker friendly, and the bartenders are super nice!