Central Austin happy hours
Central Austin starts earlier than the rest of the city. More of the windows we track up here open at 3 PM than at 4, and a handful open at seven in the morning. Between the campus district, Hyde Park and the length of Burnet Road, this is also where the cheapest food in Austin turns up: thirty-five cent shrimp and fifty cent wings are both Central Austin numbers.
Where to start
11 of the 100+ we track, chosen for a reason rather than a rating. Hours below come straight from our database, not from this article.
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Photo: Quality Seafood Market via Google Maps 01 · The cheapest thing to eat on any happy hour menu in Austin
- Wed–Sat 11 AM–8 PM
- Sat 11:30 AM–8 PM
- Sat 12–8 PM
- Wed–Fri 4–6 PM
Thirty-five cent peel-and-eat shrimp and gulf oysters not much over a dollar: no food we track in the city goes lower. It is a fish counter with tables rather than a restaurant, and the shellfish is what people come back for, crawfish especially when it is in season.
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Photo: Jungsu Byun via Google Maps 02 · Fifty-cent wings, and it opens at seven
- Mon–Thu 7 AM–10 PM
- Sat, Sun 8 AM–10 PM
- Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri 3–6 PM
Boneless wings at fifty cents, regular at a dollar, in a room open from breakfast to late. It functions as a neighborhood brunch spot as much as a bar, and the prices hold up across both.
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Photo: C Q via Google Maps 03 · The best board at the top of the price range
Uchiko
$$$$- Daily 4–6 PM
40+ deals, unusual for a restaurant at this level: happy hour is how you eat at Uchiko without the full ticket. It is one of the highest-regarded rooms in the city and the bar seats go early; treat the start of the window as the arrival time.
See Uchiko's deals in Zappy → Checked -
Photo: Clark's Oyster Bar - Austin via Google Maps 04 · Half-price burgers and martinis
- Mon–Fri 3–5 PM
A short weekday window and a very short list: burgers at half price, martinis at half price, a discount on oysters. The room is a large part of the appeal. It is a nicer setting than the prices during that hour suggest.
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Photo: Easy Tiger - The Linc via Google Maps 05 · Half off pints, wine and the coffee
- Mon–Fri 4–6 PM
Pints, glasses of wine and coffee all at half price, with two dollars off pretzels, deviled eggs and lil' smokies. The coffee is the tell that this works as an afternoon rather than only an evening, and the bakery side is why people are there in the first place.
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Photo: Foreign & Domestic via Google Maps 06 · Dollar oysters until they run out
- Wed–Sun 5–6 PM
- Tue 5–9 PM
East coast oysters at a dollar, plus half off apps, drinks and bottles of wine under a hundred. The oysters last as long as they last, which is the whole planning consideration.
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Photo: Steamies Dumplings via Google Maps 07 · A dollar a dumpling
- Mon–Fri 3–6 PM
Potstickers at a dollar and soup dumplings at a dollar fifty, minimum six per order. Small, well liked, and the fruit drinks get mentioned nearly as often as the dumplings.
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Photo: Joel Chapa via Google Maps 08 · The campus standard
- Daily 11–2 AM
- Daily 2–7 PM
20+ deals on a window that runs every day of the week, and it has been on the same corner for decades. Come for the beer, the patio and the jukebox rather than the kitchen; regulars are blunt about that distinction.
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Photo: Hopfields via Google Maps 09 · Half off oysters and the wine list
- Mon–Thu 4–6 PM
Bottles, glasses, bubbles, pints and oysters all at half price: the rare happy hour where the wine discount reaches the bottle list rather than stopping at the house pour. A French bistro, and the fries get singled out.
See Hopfields's deals in Zappy → Checked -
Photo: Tweedy's Bar via Google Maps 10 · Noon until two, every day
- Daily 12 PM–2 AM
- Mon–Fri 3–6 PM
30+ deals on a window that runs fourteen hours a day, seven days a week, with a second discount layered in during the afternoon. Cheap pitchers, a neighborhood crowd, and one of the few $-tier rooms in Central Austin open that long.
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Photo: Better Half Coffee & Cocktails via Google Maps 11 · Coffee in the morning, cocktails at night
- Tue 8 AM–10 PM
- Tue–Fri 3–6 PM
- Tue–Sat 9–10 PM
One of the few rooms in town whose window covers both ends of the day, with a late cocktail window as well. Counter service, a big patio, and busy enough that a table is worth arriving early for.
When Central Austin happy hour actually happens
Three o’clock is the Central Austin hour. Three is the most common opening by a clear margin, ahead of four, and six is the most common close. If you are used to a 4-to-6 city, this part of town gives you an extra hour at the front.
The other thing that separates Central is the all-day room. A café with a coffee discount in the morning and a beer discount in the afternoon shows up here more than anywhere else: Waterloo on Burnet, Better Half, the Violet Crown, Kerbey Lane. That is a different kind of useful from a two-hour evening window.
What Central Austin is cheap at
Two thirds of the places up here put food on happy hour, and the bottom of the price range is genuinely low: shrimp, oysters, wings and dumplings all turn up under two dollars. Close to forty of the venues are $-tier, a higher share than downtown, though well behind Southeast Austin.
Just over thirty venues also discount something by half, which in Central Austin skews toward wine and oysters rather than cocktails.
Around campus
The Drag and the campus district sit inside this area, which is why the list runs from a thirty-five cent shrimp to a forty-seven-item board at Uchiko without much in between. Both are Central Austin; they are just aimed at different weeks of the month.
All 100+, sorted by what's live
This page is 11 places and an opinion. The app has every Central Austin happy hour we track (900+ deals) on a map, filtered by the day, the time and what you actually want to eat.
Common questions
What time does happy hour start in Central Austin?
Central Austin skews earlier than the rest of the city: more windows start at 3 PM than at 4 PM, which is unusual. Most end at 6 PM. A small number of cafés and all-day rooms open a window as early as 7 AM.
Where is the cheapest happy hour in Central Austin?
The cheapest individual items we track in Central Austin are at Quality Seafood Market (35-cent peel-and-eat shrimp) and Waterloo Ice House on Burnet (50-cent boneless wings). Close to forty Central Austin venues are $-tier.
How many Central Austin places have a happy hour?
Zappy tracks 100+ Central Austin venues with a happy hour and 900+ deals between them. Nineteen of those run a window every day of the week.
Are there happy hours near UT Austin?
Yes, the campus district and the Drag are part of Central Austin, and include long-running spots like Crown & Anchor Pub and Tweedy's Bar. You can filter by area in the Zappy app to see everything within walking distance of campus.