Cactus Cafe

I'm not into live music, but I AM into good drinks and a good place to drink them. That being said, I enjoy stopping in to the Cactus Cafe. I would never order a margarita at a bar, but the margaritas here are super tasty. The ambiance is good, the bartenders are fun, and it's convenient to my workplace (I don't even have to find a parking spot!).And my goodness, they have hand-crafted shakes made with real Blue Bell ice cream and actual ingredients. Mocha is my favorite, but they also have a pumpkin pie and dreamsicle depending on the time of year (outside of your typical vanilla and chocolate). They may also be able to make 'em boozy but I haven't tried that yet myself.From what I hear, they have a great live music lineup and the schedule can be found on their web site at cactuscafe.org. So find a show you like, grab a drink, and have a chill evening.

The Cactus Cafe is such a cool bar on the UT campus! It is only open during shows. I came here for jazz night, and my friend and I were the only college students. Everyone else was very old. The venue is very intimate with chairs surrounding a tiny stage. It was a fun time, and I had a delicious ruby drop cocktail for $9. The bartenders were really nice, and mine helped me pick a drink that I would like.

First time here and it was a semi-decent experience.Environment: I went here for a free blue grass concert and had no idea what I was walking into. This place is very very very small place, dark, and loud.Drinks: they have a full bar at semi decent prices for being on campus.Staff: the two female bartenders were very nice, but the male/seem like the manager was a different story. We were Literally sitting in the back of the room and he came from behind the bar and asked us to stop talking. Normally I would Understand this, but we were literally in the very back of the room, he was behind the bar, and the music was extremely loud. I could barely even hear my friends while we talked brief when I first got the, so I know he couldn't hear us, he must of just seen our actions, and took advantage of the opportunity. Overall: this was definitely not what I expected when a buddy told me "you need to watch a show at Cactus Cafe". Pretty disappointed in this experience.

The Cactus is part of the Student Union building on the UT campus, and it's been there since before I can remember. It's in the very front of the building, closest to Guadalupe (The Drag), where "Commons" is engraved on the limestone above a fancy door intended for several generations of students past. But you actually enter at the next set of doors. The metal and glass ones.As a true music listening room, it's been the inspiration for other intimate venues such as Strange Brew Lounge. If you're lucky enough to get tickets to see an artist here, it will feel like seeing them in someone's home. Granted, their fairly large home, but it's that sort of personal experience. The acoustics are great, the sound is mixed perfectly, and the seating varies depending on the number of tickets sold: tables or seminar style rows.FYI: It's not a party-style atmosphere. They expect total silence except for applause while artists are performing. It feels almost like church at times, except for the alcohol.They're open during the day for coffee and drinks, as well. If you're planning to see a band/artist here, I advise buying tickets online instead of chancing their availability at the door. While you're standing in line to enter, check out the wall of posters to your left, and you'll see a sampling of shows you wish you'd been lucky enough to see over the years. And since it's campus, if you're driving there, parking is a problem. Watch for limiting street signs and prepare to walk several blocks. There are on-campus parking garages if you don't want to take your chances on the streets of West Campus.

Knowing that this place still exists pleases me to no end, even if I rarely get the chance to enjoy it in person any more. When I was a student at UT throughout the 90s, I spent many happy evenings here in the smoke-free environment (this was before Austin's smoking ban) listening to amazing acoustic performances in a perfect space for true music lovers to be up close & personal with the performers.Just this week, I had the great pleasure to hear Chip Taylor (acoustic guitar) and Carrie Rodriguez (fiddle), along with their friends playing upright bass, electric guitar, and pedal steel. The crowd (all ages, but heavily skewed to the baby boomer set on this night) was pleasant & engaged, the acoustics were amazing, and the bar served some stout cocktails at a very cheap price. It was a wonderful evening, and we were on our way home by 11:30pm, extra nice on a school night.We had decided on the spur of the moment to attend this 8:30pm show on a Wednesday night and we were pretty lucky to get in. When we arrived at 7:45, there was a line at the door, and we nabbed the very last two chairs in the house right before they cut off entry. Next time, we'll plan ahead and make sure we're there by 7:15. Good to know:Many Cactus shows do not offer advance tickets, and doors open 30 minutes before showtime. It's on the UT campus, just about directly east of the University Co-op store, so you must park wherever you can find a space in the adjacent area. We paid $8 to park at the UT garage on San Antonio by Whole Earth Provisions and then came in the back entrance of the Union off 24th.UT students showing ID get $3-5 off the ticket price, generally $15 for touring acts, $10 for local acts, and (gasp) *free* for some events.Join the email list to get advance notice of upcoming shows here http://www.utexas.edu/universityunions/texas-union/scene/cactus-cafe-musicThis link provides the advance ticket sales http://cactuscafe.thundertix.com/

FOUR PICTURES?THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN:50,000 Graduate & Undergrad students25,000 Faculty & StaffAND Cactus Cafe is open to the General Public, in a city of approx population of 750,000 inside the City Limits, about 1.5 Million total in Travis County.And FOUR PICTURES of the Historical, Legendary, Irreplaceable Cactus Cafe; that's ALL? What's wrong with this picture? NO pictures, that's what!So I 'm gonna help out a little, but not nearly enough; I NEED HELP OVER HERE!When I first moved to Austin, many moons ago, one of the first places I got taken to was The Cactus Cafe. The drummer of the band I was playing with at the time was a Professor of Musicology at UT (though not much of a drummer, to be honest), and we went to see another (band) project he was involved in. I LOVED THE PLACE. I was young, had never been to a College music venue before, and I was impressed.I never attended UT, which is why I probably didn't go to Cactus as much as I would have, had I been a student. You students, you are very lucky to be in such close proximity to such a wonderful place. I know you frequent the place, probably "frequently". SO TAKE SOME PICTURES, PLEASE!Actually, the entire Student Union complex is remarkable, and the Cactus Cafe is the crowning jewel of the whole thing, if you ask me. OK, OK, nobody did, nobody ever does, but that's what I'd tell 'em if they ever asked.Tonight, I THOUGHT I was going to Cindy Cashdollar's CD release party; slightly mis-informed by a friend of mine, I was (channeling Yoda now, I am). But in essence I WAS attending a "Cindy release" party. Tonight, Cindy performed with an all-female Country / Folk act called THE CARPER FAMILY. Cindy co-produced this, their second full-length CD, "Old Fashioned Gal", and performs on it as well, along with some other very talented sidemen. This review is about Cactus, so I won't delve into how talented a group The Carper Family are, with their perfect instrumentation, and precise three-part harmonies filling up the entire Universe, it would seem. But they are a PRIME EXAMPLE of the caliber of talent you'll get EVERY TIME you attend a performance at The Cactus Cafe.My cheap, stupid camera won't take good low-light pictures at all, and they weren't allowing flash to be used. My cell phone camera's even worse, they ALL are. Wouldn't have mattered anyway; I was too far back for the flash to carry in the first place. So the pictures I took inside the venue were not fit to post; sorry.What I DID capture are several framed groups of POSTERS from past shows, which are only a teeny, tiny FRACTION of the legendary musical acts that have graced the stage of the Cactus over the years and years and YEARS. You may not be able to see all of them in great detail, as Yelp doesn't allow very high-resolution pics to be uploaded. But you get the idea. Anyway, THAT'S what I'm posting, and it's a DAMN SIGHT BETTER than the pictures of empty chairs that are there right now. "Is this picture HELPFUL?"No, it's a CHAIR! But my additional shots are just a start; we need LOTS MORE PICTURES.I haven't been to Cactus Cafe in a long time; I'm ashamed to say how long. But every time I go, it's always been a wonderful experience. Last time, it was a Django Reinhardt Festival, several years back. I don't know if they've held it again, but if they have, I wasn't aware of it; I would've gone. And to any "Jaywalkers" out there: NO, Django Reinhardt has NOTHING to do with the recent "Django" movie. In fact, although I like Tarantino's movies (this one included) I think he's a real PUTZ for naming the movie that, unless it maybe gets some younger, uneducated, uninitiated individuals to stumble upon Django Reinhardt's music. That would be a GOOD thing.So c'mon Students; I KNOW there are some Yelpers among your ranks. Please start fillin' up the Cactus Cafe photo page with LOTS & LOTS of HELPFUL stuff, such as the myriad of performers that are playing there all the time. Start promoting one of UT's most wonderful features.And no more "empty-table-and-chair" pic's, PLEASE?And a total of only 42 reviews (not including mine) is pretty lame too. Any JOURNALISM MAJORS reading? You budding journalists do read and write? Right? So WRITE. Right now. It's your God-given RIGHT.OK, I think we've worn THAT out...The Cactus Cafe is an awesome place, one of the best Live Music venues in all of Austin.And oh yeah, UT's curriculum's nice too.WOW, THAT WAS SHORT! Or at least, SHORTER. Maybe the "Bet-For" treatments ARE working after all...larrythediner.

There's seldom a reason that I venture to campus, but when I do it's to see Views and Brews at the Cactus Cafe. The place is small, but adequate. It has a large floor that can sit a ton of people, plus a cool bar with an ok selection. This is a great place to catch a show. I sure wish I had something like it in college. UT, you're lucky. Keep this place alive.

Came here last week to see Shawn Mullins. What a great show! An intimate little venue that pours strong drinks. There is limited seating and people do arrive early for concerts. My husband and I were literally the only ones standing, so they brought out barstools so we could sit (they normally don't do this). It would have been a very long show otherwise. Next time we will know to arrive early. Can't wait to see who else plays here in the future.

I ventured onto the University of Texas campus to find the Cactus Cafe to watch a musical performance by the recently reformed celtic group - Clandestine.One should park in one of the parking garages just across the street from the University.The place is small - a lot of people turned out for the performance. The acoustics were quite good - I had a seat in the far right - second to last row (facing the stage).There is a small bar in here and they do a brisk business. I had a couple of hard ciders, and then bottled water. There was a a lot of beer, wine, and coffee flowing during the performance!

With a sorrowful heart, I write this review. Aside from holding events, the Cafe is often closed at the hours they claim; the ambiance is decent and pleasant. The $3 coffee is the best on their drinks menu, but anything after that will surely be under-poured. They cut my friend's real ID and were quite rude. I know it's a University "cafe." Still, I genuinely blame the management and policies that have made it the decrepit corpse in the University Union, only resurrected for paid events.