Zelicks

Very nice bar ! The atmosphere was great!…read moreGood drinks! Music is on point! I would highly recommend bringing your friends and giving it a shot. I will definitely be coming back.

Hot, sweaty, and crowded…read more The best part bout Mayloos are the Gameface's. If you're visiting san mo with friends I strongly recommend you try them. it's Redbull and watermelon Liquer... idk what else is in it tho haha. -On the negatives idk what is going on but the outside part is always insanely crowded- it's like being a sardine in a can. Service can be treacherously long at the bar as well. This place just seems a bit gross- and the bathrooms are... in need of a makeover or something because they're insanely tiny. Overall, This place is only great if your insanely wasted- otherwise.... head to bazaar or something.

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Gameface drink

Shade Rooftop Patio

3.5(32 reviews)

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

Located in downtown San Marcos in the very heart of "college town, USA," Shade offers a picturesque…read morerooftop 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.

Craft cocktails and cold beer under the twinkling lights...

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Ruby Slipper

Showdown

4.1(80 reviews)

It has been awhile since I've been here. Great place to get a beer for sure. Also great place to…read morerun into people you haven't seen in a few years. There's a pool table, and plenty of seating, at the bar, tables, upstairs as well. Found out that they have food, which I didn't know. We got some burgers, to make sure they were good. And they were. Just good. I did love the fries, done week done, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I had onion rings with my burger, they were just alright. The service is good, plenty of bartenders. Super nice and helpful and patient, took me awhile to order. The bar has a mug system, not sure how it works, but they have discounts daily for mug owners. Pretty cool idea. Plenty of TVs on, music was playing.

Attentive bar tenders. Low key locals ( went 6ish on a Thursday the week after parents dropped off…read morestudents) crowd probably much different hours later& weekends. Didn't eat. Only had a few drinks. It's dive bar vibes.

Decor

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2.15.25

The Porch

3.3(31 reviews)

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This used to be a fun an unique spot in San Marcos to hang out and grab a drink. But it has issues…read more Let me first start out with the good. The staff is FANTASTIC and very friendly. The bartenders are lead by the awesome Rene(i hope i'm spelling that right) and Miguel. I haven't learned the names of the others yet but I have never had an issue with any of them and they are always so polite. You can drink at the bar and even order food from the Taproom. Now for the bad or what needs to improve. The Porch used to have a nice outside 'porch' area with nice chairs and even porch swings. That I always felt was the selling point of this place as when sitting outside i would constantly hear passers by comment on the swings and even come in to sit on them. These have been replaced by very cheap metal chairs most of which are broken now and for some reason an elevated table with barstools which isn't in the porch motif. The interior used to have nice comfortable couches and chairs but pool tables have replaced those. Its fine I mean business change with new owners but it lost a little of what it was. I would be fine with all of that, except the outdoor chairs, if it wasn't so hot inside. The AC barely works if at all and half of the fans do not work so there is no air circulation and in Texas during the summer you want a nice cool place to relax. They need to fix the fans, cool off the interior and put some fans on the exterior. In the spring time, fall and winter its a great place to hang out, but until they fix the summer issues, I can't say. It is better than when they tried to be a disco club during the pandemic lol.

It was 100 degrees and needed a place to hangout and have a nice cold drink. This place is a bar…read moreand has that western appeal mixed with a sports pub. You can sit facing the street, inside with both a street view and TVs, or in the back where there are more TVs but a bit darker. The bar is smack in the middle with a cool circular projection screen above it. I ordered a Deep Eddy Grapefruit with Sprite and watched the FIFA World Cup. The bartender was cool. It is definitely a cool bar with great drinks.

Blah... Where's the Texas beers?

Bar

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Nephews

3.1(29 reviews)

0.2 mi

This place is lowkey a nightmare. It was a good time when we first got in, but as we got closer to…read more2 a.m. and it got tighter inside, it just became overcrowded and hellish. I will admit that my social battery corroded while here, so the last bit of time, I was just done. I know I am rapidly aging out of college bars and that atmosphere, but the most questionable people here were clearly older than me. There's a lot of space in Nephew's. The leftmost room seems pretty open, the middle is the dance floor where the DJs work out of, and the right room has all the photo op spaces. I spent most of my time in the middle. The DJs were great, playing all the club heaters everyone wants to hear. The variety from classic and new hip-hop to reggaeton was appreciated by all except this one white guy with a combover who lost all his sauce when it was a song with lyrics he couldn't understand. There was a guy with his partner who was trying to start dance circles. It was weird because his buddy in the Looney Tunes beanie reached over to grab my friend's drink twice. Like back up, buddy, no free handouts. The bottle service here seems a little out of control because the people ordering it were so unreasonably drunk that we got to watch two basically create a baby and another person shake their bones because they had nothing to really shake. I don't really believe in bottle service as a concept, especially at a college bar. Other fond memories were of me watching a three-person grind line. I wanted to join, but I was nervous to ask. As a whole, the place is just a mess of drunkenness. The floor is confusingly sticky and the people are confusingly sticky too. It made for great people watching. RIYL: Degeneracy

Usually really fun, buts last night my friends and I were walking through and inch deep of mystery…read moreliquid. That's actually gross needs to be fixed

Bacardi

Shot City

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DJ RAINE Saturday Nights!!

Rooftop on the Square

2.2(36 reviews)

They didn't let my friend in because he was wearing crocs, but they allowed another man inside who…read morewas wearing crocs because "he's a friend." Could be a coincidence that the person they didn't let in was a part of the LGBTQ+ community. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Went there and there was throw up all over the women's bathroom, Sink was full and so were toilets…read moreof throw up and other things. To many underage people asking if you can buy them a drink.

Menu. I like how everything has "fresh" in front of it.

Main bar

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Back of the menu nasty and dirty.

Black Rabbit Saloon

2.5(48 reviews)

•$$

fav bar ever elijah the best bartender ever! def coming back here! can yall start sell hotdogs plsread more

this was the best eggplant parmigiana I've had at any restaurant, Why was it so tasty? I think it…read morewas the homemade tomato sauce and that it had not only parmesan and mozzarella cheeses but also burrata, which give the entre and creamy, magnificent taste. That, with a draft Stone Vanilla bean Porter beer made for a memorable dinner. Service was exceptional and the ambience was good. I'm going to order the eggplant again.

10 rotating beer taps, including seasonal and local brews!

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Full-service back bar in the game room as well.

Freddy C's Lounge

3.7(17 reviews)

Met up with an old friend. Just happens San Marcos is our half way point to meet. Neither of us…read morehave been to Freddy C's. The bar is like split in two. Not sure if the other half is the same bar or a different bar. But I walked straight in and sat at the bar. While I was waiting for him I ordered a drink. I said anything sweet and vodka based. He said do you like strawberry, I said, I love strawberry. Then he said he would fix me something nice. And he was right. Strawberry lemonade. The drink has a mellow strawberry flavor, so it's actually not too sweet. Had like 4 drinks. The bar was pretty quiet for a Saturday night. It's in the heart of down town San Marcos I would imagine. Looked like the town hall was across the street. There was a group of people that came in, maybe a dad and his son, and son's friends. Maybe a birthday celebration. they actually were doing shots and they ordered one too many and offered it to me. Thank you kind Sir! Sweet of you. No idea what the shot was when I joined their toast. Down the shot went and I was like, no way did I just do that. Like is this really a thing? Pickle juice? Seriously? Haha. Well, just popped my cherry, pickle back shot. Had a great night catching up. Laughs, drinks, memories, and well, it was just nice to step away for a short time. Parking situation. It's all street parking. Didn't have a difficult time finding a spot. And pretty much everything is walkable.

Left my purse at the bar, when I asked if I left it a lady told me she'd would go look and never…read morecame back to give me an update. I noticed all the bartenders were at the end of the bar laughing and joking so I left. As I'm walking out they walk out with my purse. Everything was there but my wallet with $100 cash, a vintage heart locket necklace, my debit and credit cards and my student ID was definitely stolen. When I tried to act upset about it they harassed me, laughed at me and shined a bright flashlight in my face. Not sure if it was the bartenders or another customer but they just handled the situation horribly, will not be coming back.

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Taken from Facebook page

Axis

3.2(13 reviews)

Bouncers have developed a reputation for taking ids and only returning them for a cash fee. My…read moredaughter's real, government issued id was taken and they wouldn't return it without another proof of id. (Which of course she didn't carry much with her when going out.) They claimed not to believe she was as tall as her id stated. Police were called, but it was going to be a while before they would arrive. They did this to several women while she stood there waiting for the police. One paid $70 to get her id back. My daughter's friend paid $40 to get it back and be done with the situation. I am livid at the fact that these guys would take advantage of potential customers and blackmail them for extra cash! Management needs to know the scam the door guys are working.

He was amazing. Bartender af. Made me a tequila sunrise instead of a tequila soda and told me I…read morebetter like it. I did. 20/10 recommend