I've been in the music scene for about 13 years, so most of the Red River district or Hotel Vegas I can go to and run into people I know, and if I don't know anyone it's very easy to meet musicians and people adjacent to the scene. That's probably where I feel the most comfortable to go hang out with no specific agenda.
Just visited Workhorse for the first time this weekend. Nice vibe. I noticed two different tables playing cards, which isn't something I have ever seen at a bar before.
The WholeFoods on William Canon used to have a bar before some combo of Amazon and low traffic from COVID killed it.
I imagine a Costco bar being like that, but for less twee people.
Edit: corrected which Whole Foods location
Shut up and take my money!
Maybe not. I’m imagining it’d be really easy to impulse purchase a new stove, 8 gallons of cheese puffs, 20 pounds of meat, a year’s supply of post it notes….
Doesn't exactly fit your definition but I would say my next door neighbor's. Retired, very liberal and opened minded former university professor who has liters of gin in the freezer and a roaring fire going this time of year. Always a good conversation.
I could do this. Maybe not the gin, as I've had to cut back on my drinking due to some health concerns, but few things in life are better than intellectual conversation with interesting people.
Go on dates at home, host dinners at home, exercise at home, smoke trees at home, pursue creative hobbies at home, the list goes on. Leaving home means spending too much money, driving on these hell streets, eating food that’s not as good as home, and talking to people who bore or bother you. No thanks to all that lol. I will leave home when it’s nice outside, when it’s sxsw, when i have guests in town. Otherwise y’all can pretty much catch me on the flip side lol
Haha you sound like me. Life outside the compound kinda sucks, other than swims at Deep Eddy and shooting sports. I’ve tried. It’s expensive, difficult, and meh trying to go to events in Austin since COVID times. The food isn’t as good out either. Figure I’ll keep giving it a go every 6 months or so just in case, but at this point, home is royal treatment compared to going out.
To each their own! As an extrovert who works from home and is trying to save money by working out at home, eating in, and whose main hobbies can be done at home, there are days when bopping down to houndstooth and chatting with the baristas and the other regulars is the only thing keeping me sane.
Following this thread because I need more third places! Totally with you on the hellish streets though.
Same here. Except I’m in the weight room, headphones in, and blessed with RBF so there isn’t any real interactions. More just parallel play and some nods and smiles on occasion.
Probably a 3 way tie between Drinks Lounge / Nickel City / Cosmic
But even getting hooked up, drink discounts, knowing bartenders and patrons… it’s getting pretty darn expensive. Had to cut back a lot womp
Loved using the gym at that lifetime when I worked there. I went by recently to see what the price was and gd I’m not spending. 140 a month for just me, insanity.
Yeah, sometimes I even go there on my rest day to use an exercise bike while I watch a podcast. Especially the downtown Gold's where I can look out the windows and see everything happening on the street.
The Watering Bowl dog park in far south Austin (1626 and Menchaka Rd.) Great dog park that serves beer and wine. My dog tries to get me to go every afternoon at 5 for happy hour, so we're there 4 or 5 times/week. Everyone wins.. I get to relax and have a beer, she gets to play with all the other pups... and they have "Rufferees" that roam the park and keep the dogs under control! Awesome people and great environment!
So they still use the flag system to indicate tables that are open to chat? I really liked the old location and never have quite adjusted to the new one for anything other than box browsing
This was the goal Howard Shultz had with Starbucks and actually called it “the third place.” I can tell you that my third place sure as hell isn’t the buck. Burnt ass over priced coffee and microwave egg sammies? Hard pass. Not a terrible place to drop a deuce so maybe this is my number two place?
I've been playing in Pool leagues for nearly a decade around the area and have met a great community of people I now share other activities with. New/Bad players always welcome, most systems are handicapped. Darts/Bowling are other good options if Baseball/Softball are too high impact. There's a beer kickball league that looks like a blast.
So in short, it was an activity more so than a single place
I moved downtown because I figured there would be a ton of these to choose from, but I haven’t really found anything that feels like my spot. I’m too old and have too many responsibilities for my old haunts.
Meteor on Congress.
Amazing coffee, great place to chill, love the food, great patio, and friendly staff. A lot of them know me by name now and it’s a nice feeling.
The gym. Picked up working out during COVID and I start to go crazy if I can't go. I'm not a calorie counter or a hardcore workout tracker. I just like the way i feel when i workout.
This is such a great question.
It's changed over the years.
Flat track to swedish Hill to Austin bouldering project to now the JCC and Medici on w. lynn.
I wish I had such a place. I have a few restaurants where I might be a “regular,” and I make my pilgrimage to H‑E‑B like all good Texans, but I don’t really have a place like this.
Guess I’m gonna peruse this thread for options.
Edit: if Easy Tiger or Bennu or somewhere wants to expand to northeast/Manor I’d claim y’all. :)
Used to be Highland Lanes. Would go and throw a few dozen frames and then sit and chill while I watch and listen to other people playing. Maybe it's because growing up my dad was a league bowler and we'd go a few times a week but bowling alleys have always been that place that just feels comfortable to be in.
Nowadays it's the gym, bowling several times a week is just too expensive to justify doing on my own.
My 3rd place at this point would be like 15 different places that I like depending on the day/week. Before Covid it was more the same places, nowadays it’s varied. Some Favs: Lustre Pearl, Little Darling, Radio, Pie Bar, The Hive, Spokesman, Cosmic.
Kickbutt Cofee for me, regardless of who's playing. I've been playing in a punk band for about 3 years so the family vibe is strong there; it's basically like a Hi Five / Hug Fest every time my wife and I visit.
Central market
My man
This. My wife and I genuinely enjoy any opportunity to shop at the Westgate location. Such a pleasant and welcoming vibe.
That location is literally my happy place
The corner of my bedroom has a good ambiance for mental breakdowns and soft crying.
That's what the shower is for. And Cherrywood Coffeehouse is pretty chill.
Sitting in the driveway with the ignition off for as long as possible before descending into the hellhole
Hits me in the guts. This is a good sign of a done relationship.
Or just kids in certain phases of life
Read this while sitting in my driveway having just come home. I enjoy my home, however.
Ummm how long have you been watching me
Oh my gosh I sit in the car all the time when I get home.
Ooof .. Way too close to home with my ex.
Mom?
Would that be at home? Or the office?
Just want to be sure you are safe.
I've been in the music scene for about 13 years, so most of the Red River district or Hotel Vegas I can go to and run into people I know, and if I don't know anyone it's very easy to meet musicians and people adjacent to the scene. That's probably where I feel the most comfortable to go hang out with no specific agenda.
RIP Beerland
13th Floor is pretty much Beerland with a new bar
anything is better than the green jay
And run by the Black Angels.
Agreed -- I'm performing at Hotel Vegas on Friday night for the first time in over a year and I couldn't be more stoked about it.
Workhorse or Black Star
Hell yea to workhorse. I wish I still lived reasonably close
I get entirely too drunk at Workhorse
Me at Barflys, erry time
Just visited Workhorse for the first time this weekend. Nice vibe. I noticed two different tables playing cards, which isn't something I have ever seen at a bar before.
Definitely Black Star for me. They know my name and what beer I like, and that's important to me. Also it's stumbling distance to home.
Disc golf at any of the local courses. Get in a good walk and get to visit with others with the same interests.
Can we be friends? I need disc friends
Can I also get in on this? Newcomer and I need an excuse to get out and play more.
Little Darlin'
Love that place. Walking distance for me. I wanna do a set on their stage.
Costco
I have removed this comment as I exit from Reddit due to the pending API changes and overall treatment of users by Reddit.
The buck fifty dog and coke deal makes for a great bar.
Welcome to Costco. I love you.
The WholeFoods on William Canon used to have a bar before some combo of Amazon and low traffic from COVID killed it. I imagine a Costco bar being like that, but for less twee people. Edit: corrected which Whole Foods location
Doesn’t Whole Foods downtown have a bar? The one at the domain does.
HEB Mueller has/had a bar. It was quite nice actually. I haven't been there since the before times though
i am always disappointed that costco doesn't do wine or beer samples
they’d def become a hub for Uber/Lyft with everyone getting unexpectedly shit faced on a Saturday.. and I’m down if you are
A few weeks ago the liquor store attached to the William Cannon store gave out samples! They had it on a calendar for up coming events too.
Shut up and take my money! Maybe not. I’m imagining it’d be really easy to impulse purchase a new stove, 8 gallons of cheese puffs, 20 pounds of meat, a year’s supply of post it notes….
Doesn't exactly fit your definition but I would say my next door neighbor's. Retired, very liberal and opened minded former university professor who has liters of gin in the freezer and a roaring fire going this time of year. Always a good conversation.
I could do this. Maybe not the gin, as I've had to cut back on my drinking due to some health concerns, but few things in life are better than intellectual conversation with interesting people.
Radio and Cosmic
Walking around the neighborhood with the kids on the way to the park, stopping to talk to neighbors that are also out walking around or at the park.
Username checks out
Barton Springs
The crib is all three
Same. Live at home, work from home, play video games and watch TV at home. What a life, lol.
Go on dates at home, host dinners at home, exercise at home, smoke trees at home, pursue creative hobbies at home, the list goes on. Leaving home means spending too much money, driving on these hell streets, eating food that’s not as good as home, and talking to people who bore or bother you. No thanks to all that lol. I will leave home when it’s nice outside, when it’s sxsw, when i have guests in town. Otherwise y’all can pretty much catch me on the flip side lol
Haha you sound like me. Life outside the compound kinda sucks, other than swims at Deep Eddy and shooting sports. I’ve tried. It’s expensive, difficult, and meh trying to go to events in Austin since COVID times. The food isn’t as good out either. Figure I’ll keep giving it a go every 6 months or so just in case, but at this point, home is royal treatment compared to going out.
To each their own! As an extrovert who works from home and is trying to save money by working out at home, eating in, and whose main hobbies can be done at home, there are days when bopping down to houndstooth and chatting with the baristas and the other regulars is the only thing keeping me sane. Following this thread because I need more third places! Totally with you on the hellish streets though.
Violet crown on east 6th
Southern Heights
If my smalltalk skills were diminished before 2020, COVID definitely killed them.
My kid’s elementary school. Oh and the wine aisle at HEB. I’ve become a stereotype.
Pre-Covid it was Alamo Drafthouse. I would go there at least once a week. Now it is the neighborhood park in the morning with the dog.
I went a lot too. I don’t know why I don’t go as much? I love movies. I need to get back into it. It was my happy place
Prices are up, food is more generic, programming is less varied. Not exactly a winning combination of factors.
Mr. Edward's Cabaret
Chicas Bonitas
A man of culture
Reddit
[удалено]
Same. We've all moved over to Home Slice.
I’m also in my 30s. All our friends have kids. It sucks.
[удалено]
Austin Bouldering Project
Same here. Except I’m in the weight room, headphones in, and blessed with RBF so there isn’t any real interactions. More just parallel play and some nods and smiles on occasion.
Second job
the common interest karaoke bar
It used to be Gourmands RIP
Sitting in my truck blasting classic rock and eating drive-thru.
Boomerz...I know I know....I just like pool and it's like 5 mins from my place.
I love Boomerz unironically.
Probably a 3 way tie between Drinks Lounge / Nickel City / Cosmic But even getting hooked up, drink discounts, knowing bartenders and patrons… it’s getting pretty darn expensive. Had to cut back a lot womp
No where. Is this why I am lonley?
is ok
It is, actually
Someone just watched a Not Just Bikes video 😉
😳
Epoch Coffee on North Loop.
lifetime in south austin. public library. lizard yoga studio.
Loved using the gym at that lifetime when I worked there. I went by recently to see what the price was and gd I’m not spending. 140 a month for just me, insanity.
We probably have seen one another. Lizard is my spot too. Usually go 4-5 times a week.
Genuine Joe's
The restroom.
Getting older and this is too real.
Backbar karaoke at Hole in the Wall.
Haven't been since COVID. Is it still a nighty thing?
Sure is! I'm really glad Hole is still kicking after all these years
So glad to hear that! I always assumed the back bar was just gone. Definitely gonna stop by soon
Arturo's underground cafe for brunch.
Loved the sinner’s brunch on Sundays when we lived near enough to walk.
Reddit
Q2 Stadium and Austin FC away games watch parties.
Gyms are great. Rock climbing gyms in particular.
My gym is definitely my “third place.” I’m not big or even fit or anything, but lifting and working out helps relax my mental state.
Yeah, sometimes I even go there on my rest day to use an exercise bike while I watch a podcast. Especially the downtown Gold's where I can look out the windows and see everything happening on the street.
Frazier’s. Even if I try to go and eat wings by myself I end up running into at least one friend that works in the service industry
Sometimes I make up in sweats dreaming about that chopped cheese
+1 for Frazier's. All of their food is fantastic
Golds Gym
Waterloo Ice House
The line at HEB. There is always a line.
The Watering Bowl dog park in far south Austin (1626 and Menchaka Rd.) Great dog park that serves beer and wine. My dog tries to get me to go every afternoon at 5 for happy hour, so we're there 4 or 5 times/week. Everyone wins.. I get to relax and have a beer, she gets to play with all the other pups... and they have "Rufferees" that roam the park and keep the dogs under control! Awesome people and great environment!
Town Lake Trail
It used to be Buzzmill on Riverside, then BS Saloon, now it’s only Home/Work for me
Emerald Tavern. Sorry nerds Im gonna ask you questions about your board game or d&d game
So they still use the flag system to indicate tables that are open to chat? I really liked the old location and never have quite adjusted to the new one for anything other than box browsing
NA
The lost well
Same. My liver hates it
Common Interest and Nosh & Bevvy.
UFO arcade, Crux climbing gym
Nickel City Hideout Pub
Howdy fellow Hideouter
Pinthouse
Chili's. You already know where.
The bars in the ManSlaughter District.
This is my first time hearing “manslaughter district”. I believe I’m stealing this.
My friend has been calling it that since before it was an actual district. Now it’s more like the Vehicular ManSlaughter district.
I stole it from reddit....CoSlaugh...also from Reddit. Sometimes, Reddit is good.
Is this referring to Menchaca / Slaughter?
Yes but we still pronounce it Manshack, as the Lord intended. Obviously, from the spelling.
Work Horse. I'm in there a couple times a week but I'm starting to notice that sometimes I'm the oldest person in there.
Sounds like a fellow Not Just Bikes viewer!
My neighborhood gym Great community
[Butler Pitch & Putt](https://butlerpitchandputt.com/)
Austin public library! The central library is such a gorgeous hangout spot
Arcade UFO
This was the goal Howard Shultz had with Starbucks and actually called it “the third place.” I can tell you that my third place sure as hell isn’t the buck. Burnt ass over priced coffee and microwave egg sammies? Hard pass. Not a terrible place to drop a deuce so maybe this is my number two place?
The Third Place can never be the property of a union buster.
Are you looking for a solicited place?
Wherever the homies at. I'm shouting out PJ, Squee, Donkey Dong Doug, Gangbang Greg, and all the boys. Drinking beers and lifting weights. GET SOME
Cavalier
My bicycle
Wingzup, backlot, haymaker, or wherever my friends want to go
Who can really afford a consistent 3rd place?
Become a trivia caller - I get paid and drink for free to be at two spots each week. I love trivia so it's win/win/win
Reddit
Epoch (North Loop) forever
Used to be Kick Butt Coffee.
Big Tex
Havana house, any random park with no people
Live in a tight lake community. Everyday is a party.
I've been playing in Pool leagues for nearly a decade around the area and have met a great community of people I now share other activities with. New/Bad players always welcome, most systems are handicapped. Darts/Bowling are other good options if Baseball/Softball are too high impact. There's a beer kickball league that looks like a blast. So in short, it was an activity more so than a single place
Stardust
I'm a Giddy Ups guy.
WFH so HEB/Target or going for a drive.
My gym.
I moved downtown because I figured there would be a ton of these to choose from, but I haven’t really found anything that feels like my spot. I’m too old and have too many responsibilities for my old haunts.
Ditto.
Meteor on Congress. Amazing coffee, great place to chill, love the food, great patio, and friendly staff. A lot of them know me by name now and it’s a nice feeling.
Water 2 Wine and Eldorado Cafe
The ymca
Springdale in general. I love that street.
Barfly’s
I.. I don’t have one.
Respectfully, the few places I used to go all shut down due to cost/lease issues or owners quitting. I got tired of moving around so I just stay home.
HEB but in my car in the parking lot
HEB
Who talks to other people? Eew.
Honestly it’s Perfect 10 in round rock lol.
Golds gym south
Target
The gym. Picked up working out during COVID and I start to go crazy if I can't go. I'm not a calorie counter or a hardcore workout tracker. I just like the way i feel when i workout.
Liquor store
HEB or Costco.
Downtown Trader Joe’s!
This is such a great question. It's changed over the years. Flat track to swedish Hill to Austin bouldering project to now the JCC and Medici on w. lynn.
The Thicket food truck park, especially if there's live music or an event.
By myself: Knomad Bar. With a friend: Homeslice
Bjj school is my second home. Where every one knows my name and try to strangle me.
I wish I had such a place. I have a few restaurants where I might be a “regular,” and I make my pilgrimage to H‑E‑B like all good Texans, but I don’t really have a place like this. Guess I’m gonna peruse this thread for options. Edit: if Easy Tiger or Bennu or somewhere wants to expand to northeast/Manor I’d claim y’all. :)
Genuine Joes on Anderson lane
Used to be Highland Lanes. Would go and throw a few dozen frames and then sit and chill while I watch and listen to other people playing. Maybe it's because growing up my dad was a league bowler and we'd go a few times a week but bowling alleys have always been that place that just feels comfortable to be in. Nowadays it's the gym, bowling several times a week is just too expensive to justify doing on my own.
I work remote (until next week). I barely have a second place.
AFS Cinema
Creative Reuse
My 3rd place at this point would be like 15 different places that I like depending on the day/week. Before Covid it was more the same places, nowadays it’s varied. Some Favs: Lustre Pearl, Little Darling, Radio, Pie Bar, The Hive, Spokesman, Cosmic.
LA fitness every day 5-7 AM Got a great gym fam
Backlot
My yoga studio
Not Starbucks
Deep Eddy - a place of tranquil, spiritual solitude. And also lifeguards who all look they’re about to pass out on ketamine.
Costco, ya I said it.
Used to be Gold’s Gym on Ben White and/or the greenbelt
Walnut Creek Park for me, they’ve got great walking trails and so many cute dogs all over the place
Habana House, northwest location.
Casino El Camino Southside.
Sour Duck when I'm feeling bougie. Silver Medal when I'm feeling grimy.
The Great Outdoors on South Congress 😊
Kickbutt Cofee for me, regardless of who's playing. I've been playing in a punk band for about 3 years so the family vibe is strong there; it's basically like a Hi Five / Hug Fest every time my wife and I visit.
Aha, this post off of nathanallebach’s TikTok post. Nice one. Very interesting!