East Austin happy hours
The east side has more happy hours than anywhere else in Austin, and it is also the cheapest place to have one. Of the 100+ spots we track out here, all but a dozen sit in the $ or $$ range. That combination — density plus low prices — is why a night on the east side can be planned on foot and decided late.
Where to start
11 of the 100+ we track, chosen for a reason rather than a rating. Hours below come straight from our database, not from this article.
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01 · The cheapest thing to eat during happy hour
Nickel City
$$- Mon–Fri 12–6 PM
- Mon, Tue 6 PM–2 AM
Ninety-nine cent wings, as long as you're drinking something, on a window that runs noon to six. Reviewers turn up for the Simpsons tribute as much as the price — it is Moe's Tavern, played straight — and the cheese curds get named about as often as the wings do.
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02 · The one that runs every day
- Daily 3–6 PM
Daily 3 to 6, which on the east side fewer than twenty places manage. The happy hour is the thing regulars mention first: a six-dollar smash burger and a six-dollar paloma comes up again and again. Ask for the back patio if you want to hear the person opposite you.
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03 · Half off, on the whole list
Bufalina
$$- Daily 4–5:30 PM
Half off pizza and half off any bottle under a hundred dollars, daily from 4 to 5:30. The consistent advice from people who go is to arrive at four rather than five — the room is small, the deal is well known, and it fills.
See Bufalina's deals in Zappy → Checked -
04 · The biggest food board
Salty Sow
$$- Daily 4–6 PM
30+ deals daily from 4 to 6, weighted toward food rather than drinks, and one of the most recently confirmed listings we hold out here. Worth knowing the kitchen can run behind when the room is full; this is not the pick if you are eating against a clock.
See Salty Sow's deals in Zappy → Checked -
05 · The most deals of anywhere in East Austin
- Daily 11:30 AM–5 PM
- Mon–Thu, Sun 9–10:15 PM
100+ of them, by a distance the largest board in this part of town, plus a second window late in the evening. You grill at the table, which people either love or find like work — the garlic noodles come up most often in the first camp.
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06 · A twenty-five cent martini
- Fri 12–3 PM
- Mon 12 PM–12 AM
- Tue–Fri 3–5 PM
- Mon, Wed 5–10 PM
Mini martinis at a quarter, up to three, with a prime rib or a pork chop — the lowest price on any happy hour menu we track anywhere in Austin. Windows run most of Monday and again midweek. A long-standing LGBTQ+ room, and the service gets singled out more than the drinks do.
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07 · Where to go when someone's not drinking
Kalimotxo
$$$- Daily 3–5 PM
Daily 3 to 5, with the zero-proof options on the actual happy hour list rather than an afterthought, including a non-alcoholic version of the drink the bar is named for. The tequila shelf and the ice programme are what regulars talk about; the portions relative to price are the recurring complaint.
See Kalimotxo's deals in Zappy → Checked -
08 · More zero-proof, cheaper
- Sun 12–6 PM
- Wed–Fri 3–6 PM
- Mon, Tue 3 PM–1:45 AM
Six-dollar Peroni 0.0% at the same price as the real drafts. Barely a dozen places in East Austin discount anything non-alcoholic at all. It also stays comfortable when it is busy, which is not nothing on a street where most rooms don't.
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09 · Half off, at a sit-down restaurant
- Wed–Fri 3–5 PM
- Thu 3–10 PM
- Wed, Sun 5–10 PM
Several plates at half price Wednesday through Friday, 3 to 5, with longer evening windows later in the week. The mushroom pasta is the dish that comes up most, and the room — a restored 1950s pharmacy — is a large part of why people go.
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10 · The Sunday option
Holiday
$$- Tue–Sat 5–6 PM
- Sun 5–11 PM
Five to eleven on Sunday, six hours on the one night most happy hours don't exist, with martinis, frozen cocktails and fries at half price. The martinis are what it is known for; order accordingly.
See Holiday's deals in Zappy → Checked -
11 · Buy one slice, get one
- Wed 10 AM–7 PM
- Mon–Fri 11 AM–4 PM
- Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri 4–7 PM
Slices are buy-one-get-one with a dollar off cans and wine, split across a couple of weekday windows. Worth saying plainly that opinion on this one is more divided than anything else on this list — the deal is real, the pizza is not universally loved.
When East Austin happy hour actually happens
There is a clear shape to it. Four o’clock is the most common opening out here, with three not far behind; six is the most common close, then seven. If you remember nothing else, “three or four until six or seven” covers most of the neighborhood.
The exceptions are what make planning possible. A small number of places open a window at lunchtime, and a smaller number keep going until 10 or 11 at night. Those are the two ends to build an evening around — start somewhere with an early cutoff, finish somewhere that is still going.
It is not only drinks
Around three in five East Austin venues put food on happy hour, which is why the neighborhood works for an actual dinner rather than a stop before one. Twenty-plus discount something by half.
That said, the deals move. A bar drops an item, shortens a window, or quietly stops doing Mondays, and nothing announces it. Every venue below shows the month we last confirmed its listing, and the hours come straight from our database rather than from this article — but the only version that is current as you read it is the one in the app.
Making a night of it
The density is the point. East Austin is the easiest part of the city to do this on foot, which we have written about separately in how to plan an Austin bar crawl. The rule that matters: start at the place with the earliest cutoff and work toward the ones that stay open late, not the other way round.
All 100+, sorted by what's live
This page is 11 places and an opinion. The app has every East Austin happy hour we track — 1,000+ 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 East Austin?
Most East Austin happy hours start at 4 PM, with 3 PM the next most common. The bulk end at 6 or 7 PM, so the practical window is late afternoon into early evening. A handful start as early as noon and a few run past 10 PM.
Which East Austin happy hours run on weekends?
Half of the East Austin venues we track have a weekend window, and fewer than twenty run one every day of the week. Weekend hours are frequently different from weekday hours at the same place, so it is worth checking the specific day.
Is East Austin cheaper than the rest of Austin for happy hour?
Generally yes. Of the 100+ East Austin places we track, all but a dozen are in the $ or $$ price range — a higher share of budget-friendly venues than downtown.
Where can I find non-alcoholic happy hour deals in East Austin?
A dozen or so East Austin venues discount non-alcoholic drinks during happy hour, including Kalimotxo and Daydreamer. You can filter for zero-proof deals directly in the Zappy app.