South Austin happy hours
South Austin (South Lamar and everything below Ben White) is where the deals get blunt. Fifty-cent wings, dollar tacos, a dollar margarita that runs to midnight. All but one of the places we track down here are $ or $$, and thirteen of the windows run past midnight, which is more than any part of town except East Austin and downtown. It is not a subtle neighborhood and the happy hours match.
Where to start
11 of the 50+ 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: Dmitry K via Google Maps 01 · Fifty-cent wings
- Sat, Sun 11 AM–4 PM
- Tue, Wed 11–12 AM
- Fri 4–8 PM
- Mon 8 PM–12 AM
The cheapest wings we track in South Austin and among the cheapest anywhere in the city. A sports pub with darts and dollar pool: the food is made to order and better than the price suggests.
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Photo: Warehouse Billiard Bar via Google Maps 02 · Fifty-cent Lone Star
- Mon–Fri 12–8 PM
- Mon 12–11 PM
- Thu, Sun 12 PM–2 AM
- Tue 8–11 PM
Half a dollar for a beer, 10+ deals, and windows that stretch to two in the morning. Pool hall first, bar second, and the regulars are loyal to the staff.
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Photo: Glen A. Jackson via Google Maps 03 · The dollar margarita, eleven to midnight, every day
- Daily 11 AM–11:59 PM
The Dollarita is a dollar, the window is thirteen hours, it runs seven days a week. Nobody is claiming this is a good restaurant and the reviews will tell you as much; it is on this list purely because no other happy hour in Austin is open that long for that little.
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Photo: Umi Sushi Bar & Grill via Google Maps 04 · The biggest board in South Austin
- Daily 4–6 PM
- Thu 9:30–11 PM
- Fri, Sat 9:30 PM–12 AM
60+ deals running daily: the widest choice for the money down here. Ask the servers what to order; the recommendations get mentioned as often as the fish does.
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Photo: Doc's Backyard Grill via Google Maps 05 · Dollar tacos, 50+ deals
- Mon–Fri, Sun 11 AM–10 PM
- Sat 11 AM–11 PM
- Mon–Wed, Fri 3–7 PM
Crispy tacos at a dollar on a board that runs to eleven at night, one of the few places in South Austin doing cheap and late at once. The patio is the reason to pick it over the alternatives.
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Photo: Waterloo Ice House Southpark Meadows via Google Maps 06 · Fifty-cent wings, from eight in the morning
- Mon–Wed, Sat, Sun 8 AM–10 PM
- Thu 8 AM–11 PM
- Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri 3–6 PM
The southern sibling of the Burnet Road room, same fifty-cent boneless wings, same very long window. Portions run smaller than the north location, which matters less at these prices.
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Photo: The Far Out Lounge & Stage via Google Maps 07 · Half off bottles of wine, daily
- Daily 4–6 PM
A daily window and a bottle discount, in a room known for the yard and the live music rather than the wine list. Eat before you go. That advice comes up repeatedly and the prices are the reason people don't mind.
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Photo: Viridiana Zequeida Suastegui via Google Maps 08 · Half-price palomas
Lulu’s
$$- Sun 12–10 PM
- Tue 3–10 PM
- Thu 3 PM–12 AM
- Tue–Fri 4–7 PM
- Fri 10 PM–2 AM
Small palomas at half price. Short and specific, which is often the more useful kind of happy hour, and a big half-covered patio to drink them on.
See Lulu’s's deals in Zappy → Checked -
Photo: Johnny Carino's via Google Maps 09 · Fifty-nine cent wings
- Mon–Thu, Sun 11:30 AM–9:30 PM
- Fri, Sat 11:30 AM–10 PM
Boneless wings at fifty-nine cents, limit ten a person, on a window that runs most of the day every day. About as unfussy as it sounds.
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Photo: Moreno Burger Co via Google Maps 10 · Dollar wings, recently confirmed
- Mon 11 AM–8 PM
- Mon–Fri 3–6 PM
Also a dollar, and one of the more recently checked listings we hold in South Austin, worth weighing when choosing between two similar deals. Small, family-run, and very well regarded by the people who have found it.
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Photo: Jo's Coffee – South Austin via Google Maps 11 · Two-for-one iced turbos
- Tue 2–7 PM
- Mon–Fri 4–7 PM
- Sat 5–7 PM
Coffee rather than booze, and two-for-one rather than a percentage, with chips and queso at half price alongside. Counter service that gets slow at peak: a fine afternoon, a frustrating rush hour.
When South Austin happy hour actually happens
The distribution here is different from the rest of the city. Three is the most common opening, but 11 AM is a close second, a near-tie that no other part of Austin produces. South Austin has more all-day rooms than it has conventional after-work ones.
The back end is stretched too. Seven is the most common close, then six, but a dozen run to midnight and about as many to 2 AM. Between the lunchtime openings and the small-hours closings, this is the part of town where “is anything still on?” most often has a yes.
Cheap, and not pretending otherwise
All but one are $ or $$. Around half the venues put food on happy hour and eight discount something by half, a smaller share than East or Central, because South Austin tends to price low outright rather than discount from high.
The result is that the good deals here are absolute rather than relative. A fifty-cent wing is a fifty-cent wing; there is no regular price to compare it against and no need for one.
If you’re starting late
South Austin and downtown are the two parts of town where an evening that starts at nine is still workable. The difference is that downtown does it with second windows at expensive bars, and South Austin does it by never closing the first one. The full late list is in Austin happy hours that run late.
All 50+, sorted by what's live
This page is 11 places and an opinion. The app has every South Austin happy hour we track (700+ deals) on a map, filtered by the day, the time and what you actually want to eat.
Common questions
Where are the cheapest happy hour deals in South Austin?
The lowest prices we track in South Austin are 50-cent wings at Rusty Cannon Pub and Waterloo Ice House (Southpark Meadows), 50-cent Lone Star at Warehouse Billiard Bar, and the $1 Dollarita at Applebee's. All but one of the South Austin venues we track are $ or $$.
Which South Austin happy hours run late?
A dozen of the windows we track in South Austin end at midnight and about as many run to 2 AM, a higher share of venues with a late window than anywhere outside downtown. Doc's Backyard Grill, Warehouse Billiard Bar and BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse all run late.
How many South Austin bars and restaurants have happy hour?
Zappy tracks 50+ South Austin venues with 700+ deals between them. Ten of those run a window every day of the week and close to two thirds have a weekend window.
What time does happy hour start in South Austin?
3 PM is the most common start in South Austin, but 11 AM is a close second; this part of town has an unusual number of all-day windows. Most end at 6 or 7 PM, with a long tail running to midnight.