The Tiniest Bar in Texas

© Janet Jay / RumBum.com

The Tiniest Bar in Texas is – guess what! – the tiniest bar in Texas. Technically this is true: the “bar” itself is inside a small building with a few tables and big-screen TVs. Customers queue single-file at a small window to get their drinks, but usually venture outside to Tiny Bar’s huge patio, passing the time by time drinking and conversing, sitting at number of wooden picnic tables and often bringing their dogs. You can smoke on the patio too, if you’re so inclined.

More than anything, it feels like you’re drinking in the backyard of a friend's house. Unlike your friend’s house, though, it’s located in the Market District on 5th Street, so the patio is a very enjoyable place to sit, have a beer, and watch the world go by as day fades into night and the workday fades into Austin’s buzzing nightlife.

On the whole, Tiny Bar does a good job of embracing Austin’s community and culture. “Keep Austin Weird” is the mantra of this city, and Tiny Bar attracts its fair share of weirdos. There’s an outdoor stage for musical acts, and on most Wednesdays Tiny Bar hosts Austin fire performers who hoop and spin poi. The bar hosts charities, fundraisers and functions (wedding receptions, class reunions, and other parties). They’re planning to add coffee and WiFi in the near future, and hungry patrons are lucky enough to have a Whole Foods and the Me So Hungry trailer just around the corner.

One of Tiny Bar’s drawbacks is its single-stall bathrooms and, yes, its tiny bar. The lines for both of them can get pretty lengthy on busy nights. The area in front of the stage isn’t covered, so rainy days aren’t wonderful for performances, and the outside patio is furnished with the not-super-comfortable wooden picnic tables we all know and grew up with. They do have water misters set up for hot days, though, which are much appreciated in the Texas summer. All in all, the Tiniest Bar In Texas is a good example of an Austin bar: relaxed and unpretentious with a healthy dash of weird.