Great, surprisingly welcoming spot with Buffalo Trace as the House Bourbon, and some outdoor seating.

Had a bartender with curly brown hair in a ponytail who was clearly having a bad night and decided to take it out on my friend. Cut him off even though he was not drunk and then continued to get him kicked out completely unprovoked. The gentlemen who asked him to leave didn't even have an answer when we asked him why. Really disappointed to see this kind of treatment from a bar I've loved for years. read more

The Grackle is one of the best bars in Austin. They have an amazing, rotating craft beer selection and an array of whiskeys that is mind boggling. Pretty easy parking most of the time, super friendly and appreciative staff. It's 21+ and you have to have a valid ID to get in, like all bars in Austin, so don't take it personally if the door person does their job and asks to see yours. They have 3 or 4 dartboards and a billiards table if you get antsy. Did I mention the great, diverse whiskey selection? Come for the drinks, stay for the ambiance! It's Grack-tacular! read more

The stench from the bathroom, as well as the missing covers on the back of the toilet totally put me off. Unfortunately this was my first impression. Aside from this, there seemed to be a lot of chaos going on outside , and the manager seemed unwilling, or unequipped to handle it. I totally love the East Side and will support it as much as I can, but this was out of control and will look elsewhere East before this option. Yikes!! read more

Not a chill place. If you want to get harassed and breathe in stale air in a dimly lit cave, this is the place for you. Arlo's is in the parking lot, but I suggest you head across the street to Zilker or else stay outside. Or yellow jacket if you want divey. read more

If you're looking for a shitty bartender who's attitude is worse than his pour, this is the place for you. I asked for a whiskey shot, chilled, and was told they don't keep that whiskey in a cooler. Well, duhhh. I asked him if he had a shaker and ice to be able chill it for me and I received some pretty fierce hipster attitude back including an eye roll and ignoring me for 20 minutes the next time I tried order a drink (after I tipped $5 on the previous $9 round). This place is full of unappreciative hipsters. If you're looking for a legit Austin bar, I suggest you run. Run far, far away. read more

I love this place. I'm a day time regular and the staff is awesome. I'm not vegan, but Arlo's is super tasty and they have a food truck on site. It's kind of a dive, which I like a lot. The art on the wall is awesome. Great place for a work meeting or somewhere to sit with a group of friends and actually be able to hear each other speak. The music is always on point. The only complaint I have, and I'm not gonna dock them a star for this, is they don't have public WiFi. I tether my laptop to my phones hotspot but I don't always have enough data to keep that going, so I don't come in as often as I'd like. All in all, an awesome joint. read more

The girl with the glasses serving drinks was in a terrible mood the whole night. I'm not sure what was going on, but I won't be taking my business back. The liquor selection was limited as well - rather than explaining that, she simply said "we don't do that [drink]". The male bartender explained the selection instead. Not a great experience. read more

I love this bar because the drinks are always well-made, quick, and they have a lovely variety of liquor and beer. I frequent this bar in hopes that the folks that left negative reviews will in fact not be coming back. read more

DUDE! This is THE Eastside bar for me. I love how it's smaller, never totally crowded, amazing jukebox, great beer selection, even better bourbon selection (seriously like 3-4 small batch small distilleries) and even better, East Side Kings! The ESK here is probably my favorite just b/c of the pork belly. I had friends in town from NOLA and the wife ate the pork belly at least 3 times in 2 days! The bartenders are always friendly and it's just got the hole neighborhood vibe down pat! read more

I know there are thousands of hipsters/Austinites, that love this place, but for me... it's just not that cool. The bathrooms are disgusting, the bartender lacked any flair or excitement, and the place could use a bath. I'm sorry folks, I just don't get the excitement here. read more

Stopped in while walking around in the area. cool place. pretty drark inside. I sat at a gallaga arcade table. but didn't have any change, so it was mostly just a light up table. I had a few draft beers and was on my way. read more

Wow!!!!!! D-bags to the max!!!!!'nnnn do not spend money here. I bought drinks here and I got trapped in the rain so I delayed coming back and then they tow my car!!! Losers, wow. Lame-ass bar. read more

Easy going East 6th, bar. Food option of East Side Kings is the best....

They let me in even though I did not have: beard, facial hair, ironic T-shirt or tats. I was just visiting and we went in to shoot pool and drink for a couple hours. It was dark. It had lots of drinks to offer. If I wanted to escape the world and get shtty I would return to the Grackle. read more

Nice bar on East 6th. Good selections of local beers on tap. Good music a little bit of punk and older rock. Would try this place again for sure. read more

Divey. But wonderful. Great service and laid back and fun! definitely added to our Austin bar crawl experience. not pretentious and yummy beers. Patio is simple but does the trick, something special about sitting at the picnic tables at night under the stung lights with friends. read more

Stop. There's so many fabulous places around do not go here. Dive bar is a severe understatement and they were out of nearly every beer on tap. read more

Perfect neighborhood dive bar, free from bros and basics and plenty of dart boards so we can always get a round in. Love the Grackle!

This place rules! The Juke Box is the best I have ever seen. The beer selection is great, and the fact that my girlfriends can still order fancy cocktails makes it easy to please everybody. And the bartenders are pretty good on the eyes. That never hurts! It's my new favorite bar. read more

Not too divey, but totally low-key, this place has a steady crowd without being nuts to butts all night long. The juke box is eclectic and they've got a pool table inside. The patio is relatively large. It has plastic curtains, but I've never seen them down nor seen the patio heated or cooled. If you're looking for grub, they've got an East Side King trailer in the parking lot. Thumbs up. read more

This is one of my favorite places in Austin. Not only is it right around the corner from my house (awesome!), but it has one of the best, laid back atmospheres on E 6th. I can't say that I've been on a Friday or Saturday, but weeknights are great for grabbing a friend, a pint, and food from either Tacos Selene or East Side King. I've always been able to grab a seat on their awesome patio and the beer selection is carefully selected and very high quality. I'll be back. read more

It seems every 6 months or so, an E. 6th dive bar becomes the next trendy spot, and they seem to be moving further and further east. But I will say, the Grackle is the real deal. It's got a gritty dive bar atmosphere with friendly, laid-back staff, and cheap drinks to boot. Their happy hour prices are great. I have a feeling when the next big thing opens on E. 6th, I'll still be going to the Grackle. Plus, the East Side Kings food trailer is one of the best in town! read more

I stopped by here for the food trucks out front, and I while I didn't eat or drink at the bar I did use the bathroom. It was nice inside.

I really enjoy the grackle on most occasions... Great spot on the east side. However, I'm here right now... And while the Bloody Mary is spicy and potent, the bartender, Tim, is a real bum. Sorry you have to work on a Sunday buddy, but try smiling or being friendly and not a jerk. It will earn you a lot more than the zero dollar tip you are getting from us. read more

Vacationed in Austin and asked some locals for a good bar to go to. The Grackle was recommended by a bartender at a bar we were at. The Grackle has everything we were looking for: food trucks in the parking lot, outdoor seating (covered and uncovered), pool, darts, Pac-Man to list a few. The bartender we had was very friendly and knowledgeable about their products. If you are looking for a good place that isn't where every tourist is going to be this is the place to go. read more

We made our first visit to The Grackle today and we'll definitely be back. Can't speak for the evening vibe, but it sure was a great place to have a few afternoon cocktails. Both the bartender and Manager were good guys and took time to chat with us and made sure all was OK. We live in North Austin but will be making our way to the East side when we come downtown. Also there's some cool food trailers in their parking lot that stay open till 1:30am. A welcome addition to the Austin scene! read more

Pretty good beer selection with lots of outdoor seating. The bartender was also super nice and friendly. They also have a food truck, which is nice. However, the inside bar area smelled like pee, which was a major turn off! read more

Good: Well, the only good was the tacos at the food truck. Really would be so much better if they extended their patio and got rid of those bars. Who wants to sit in there? It's like a prison! read more

It's a bar. That's been my description to all my friends that ask about it. It's pretty nondescript in every facet. Jukebox is good, beer is reasonably priced and outdoor seating is always nice. It's a good place to go and chill and it's never been so busy I couldn't find a booth to sit at. You'll pass better bars on the eastside on your way there (Shangri La, Rio Rita, etc.) but it's still a nice edition to the neighborhood. read more

I love the grackle. The vibe on the patio is awesome, they have a pool table, and it's close to my house. But... Drinks have shot up to $4.50 for a well. Granted their wells are higher shelf liquors. I'll pay $4.50 for a dripping springs vodka any day but sometimes I just want a cheap $3 skoll or takaa drink. Dive bars are supposed to be a familiar place with cheap ass drinks. Grackles needs to have $$ in their yelp profile. read more

Nice atmosphere and we got food at arlos that was great, but the door guy that was working on 5/27/18 around 3pm had the wooooorst attitude. If you're in the service industry and you're the first person everyone is greeted by please at least act like you're having a good day. It's very distasteful. Sorry we made him repeat "ID" and when I asked him if everything was okay he sarcastically replied "well I'm hot?" Makes us not want to come back because we didn't seem welcomed there. read more

"Guys, I realize that having procreated doesn't make you love fun any less, and that just because you've had kids, you don't think you should have to stay home. But there's a time and place in your life for finding your fun at bars. And that's pre-child -- or when you have a sitter" This is someone else's opinion that I came across online and thought it was fitting. There are quite a few bars in town that are okay with you bringing your children but if there's an obvious sign and then you are approached about it don't be such an a** hat. Very immature I must say. Good luck kid.... Anyway, this is my favorite neighborhood bar!! I love how IFC is on the TV. read more

Impeccable service. Laid back atmosphere. Charming staff. Delicious food trucks. I love this place. read more

Every weekday at Four they put on Jeopardy! on the big screen outside. This. Is. Awesome. Cheap drinks and a long happy hour combined with nerding out? Yes please. read more

This place is actually quite nice. It has like 16 beers on tap and a bunch more in bottles. It has a great whiskey selection as well. But don't show up after spending the whole night drinking on the party bus you and your friends rented for your birthday...you won't get in. Then, you may be inclined to say, "If you don't let us in, all of us will write bad yelp reviews about this place." Then, you may do exactly that. You may claim that they discriminate against people who don't wear black (because this is junior high?!?) You may claim that the bathrooms stink, even though they are some of the nicest on the eastside (particularly the ladies'). You may say the manager couldn't deal with the chaos outside, even though the chaos was actually you and your friends creating a scene and making fools of yourselves, screaming insults at the door guy while all of us on the patio laughed at you until the police had to be called. Then you would run away to your bus and write all those nasty reviews just like you promised. Vindictive? Slanderous? Childish? Learn to hold your liquor and the Grackle will love you back. read more

The whiskey selection was outstanding, very knowledgeable bartender and great games. Where else can you for a triple hit on all of these? Highly recommended. read more

New staff has moved into the Grackle...you may have recognized a couple from Rio Ritas and before that,they were part of the sh*t staff that left Spiderhouse after new management wanted to have servers and bartenders that treated people half decent. One of which is Eric or Aaron...Idk, I never cared to remember his name but he is heavy set, usually wearing pearl snap shirt with some facial hair. Extremely unpleasant,self-loathing and miserable and of course therefore is an ass to anyone who is happier than him. Obviously was hired to be the on-call a-hole for belligerent customers. So last night, my 2 friends and I went there for maybe the last 45 minutes at the dart boards. Collectively spent over a bill in less than an hour and were trying to finish up our full glasses of blue moons before they closed at 2:10. A short small man in a green tank and cut-off jeans and facial hair with glasses walked around picking up drinks. We were gathering and gulping our things and beer till he made his way to us. After my friend handed him her half finished beer, she jokingly said, "Hey can I have that back." And he smugly said with small smirk..."Get the fuck out." And I turned around and immediately told him that she was kidding and that was completely uncalled for. So he yelled the on-call a-hole's name and said a-hole followed with a boisterous, "GET THE FUCK OUT!GET OUT!" (ps-not the first time this guy has inappropriately yelled at customers or the first place he's done it. He seems to think its okay to scream and curse at adults like dogs instead of communicating with them respectfully...its called "people skills" you will go far with them when you deal with humans on the daily) We were well paying customers who made no trouble and were in the process of leaving. I will never support that establishment again. The drinks were over priced, the service was AWFUL, and the atmosphere was dingy and drab. East 6th is just as pretentious and hipster as the west is superficial and overrated. Take your hard earned money to people who deserve it. Not to these jerkoffs who think its trendy to be d-bags. Its not acceptable in the customer service industry. I've already told all my friends to not go there and they all plan on not going. If you want to treat guests like crap, then you'll lose lots of customers because I'm a networkin' foo who knows a lot of people in the music, film, and promo industry. Don't uck around with people, because you might just be uckin with the wrong mutha ucka. read more

Went there the other evening with friends and my 14 year old son. We ordered some food at the East Side Kings trailer. I went in to grab a couple of beers. Did I say they were $5.50 for a pint? No biggie, if I had a trust fund like most of the patrons there... Is the extra .50 on top of a FIVER my "fuck you old guy fee"? Whatever... I pay and tip nicely anyhow and go to bring them outside to the picnic tables IN THE PARKING LOT. My wife meets me at the door and informs me we have to leave because our son is underage. SERIOUSLY? He wasn't IN the bar. we simply wanted to eat IN THE PARKING LOT, have a beer and go home. Surly door guy needed to flex his comic book "arm sleeve" muscle. I asked the bartender for a refund because we had to go. Was I annoyed? A little. I was more annoyed when she served up serious surly attitude. "The customer is always right" doesn't register with hipsters. Fine. One less mediocre, overpriced Eastside establishment I can walk to, but never will again. THANK GOD FOR GOURMANDS!!! ps. just because you can swing overpriced drinks and attitude during SXSW, doesn't mean you get to fuck over the locals the rest of the year. This BS is getting tired! read more

There's an awful lot of bars to choose from in Austin. Actually, there's an awful lot of them just within the few blocks of the Grackle. And yet, for me, the Grackle is the perfect one. Of course it depends on what you want but these are the things I want: outside seating - covered and not, awesome selection of whiskeys, darts, pool, laid-back atmosphere, diverse crowd, easy parking, fair prices, food nearby, knowledgeable (but not snarky) bartenders, jukebox, a bathroom without a line and a place to sit down. The Grackle has them all! Bar bliss for me. It's perfect for my work group, perfect after softball, perfect for drinks with my husband and perfect for my out of town visitors. I think they might have the best selection of whiskeys in town - bourbon to scotch at every price range and more than fairly priced. It's true that it isn't trendy, the bathrooms are not fancy, the bartenders are not sucking-up and it's probably not the best place to go for "something with vodka" but...hey, you say that like it's a bad thing? Plenty of those places in Austin...and on this block. Which is why I am so thankful for the Grackle. This is definitely one of those reviews I feel compelled to write but also worried about writing because I don't want there to be a line for the bathroom or no where to sit next time I go there. But as much as the bird it's named for...the Grackle probably isn't for everyone and I'll never understand why but am totally fine with it. read more