Backstage Lounge

My sister, friend, and I were right next door at The Lion and The Rose before Yelping a nearby place with a better atmosphere. Backstage Lounge popped up on my app and we decided to walk over after closing out our tab at TL&R. As we walked in, we noticed a dude sitting in a brown low lounge-y chair at the entrance. We ignored him, thinking he was a patron, and continued to walk in towards the bar. He stopped us and picked up his right hand making a square with his thumb and finger. I looked at him and looked away but quickly realized the dude on the lounge chair was no longer sitting but now he was STANDING AND furthermore, he was asking us to see our ID. Damn, sure fooled me - I thought you were a damn patron! Shit, bro! Stand up for your job, door dude!After being ID'ed we walked over the bar & looked for the first beer on draft. Guess what? NO BEERS ON DRAFT! "Damnit", was my thought. We all settled for a Shiner ($3) and decided we were going to sit in the nice couches close to the entrance so we could relax and catch up with one another. As we rounded the edges of the couches to sit, the door guy (who is SITTING down again in the damn brown lounge chair) notices us and tells us with his arms straight out "Ummm thats the VIP area. You can't sit there.". He got all little kids on the bus from Forrest Gump on us! We looked at him in a confused manner while my friend asked "Well, we can be VIP's and occupy the seats until someone does want to come and be VIPs". I asked what we needed to do to be able to sit in there. He didnt answer me but rather sat right back down in his brown chair. We scoffed and went outside to the patio to continue to have a decent conversation. We stayed for about 2 hours, mostly outside because of how deathly loud that music was bumping through the TouchTunes (whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy do bars have these!?!) inside, and enjoyed our evening chatting it up out in the fresh air. As we left, the bar tab was decent (under $30 for about 12 beers) but I couldn't help but notice the 'door guy' sitting back down in that same brown chair looking at people and gawking at lady patrons. Totally unprofessional.

This place could really be something great, despite the fact that it's a hair too buried downtown. Being a musician myself in the scene for maybe 15 years, the second I walked into a show here, it was very obvious that their main problem is that they need to sound treat the building to absorb the sound. It's all brick walls and the place is BIG which is great but the live sound gets washed out at the expense of the band. To be fair, I have not been there in maybe 2 years so they may have improved on this. The place has great potential however if the sound absorption issue is resolved.

Sorta struggling to find a good thing to say about a strip mall bar flanked by a BBQ and Breakfast eatery... but I'll try.Backstage Lounge has a few things going for it... It's spacious. It has great well drink prices if you happen to have a lot of time to kill before checking out a movie at the Alamo Draft House. It also happens to have a MyTouch Tunes jukebox - so you can program music to listen to without ever having to leave your bar stool.It sorta suffers from the rock n' roll "theme" that hangs heavily in the air. On my first (and likely last) visit to Backstage Lounge, my friend Elizabeth ordered a White Russian and was asked by the bartender - "what's in that?".Luckily the bartender knew what was in a Gin & Tonic...

I travel to San Antonio about twice a month and I never pass up the opportunity to stop by The Backstage Lounge. There are so many things I love about this place. Let me list the ways:1. Totally love the sunken bar!! It's not something you see often and is aesthetically pleasing.2. $2 alcohol (usually a type of vodka, a tequila/whiskey, and a type of beer-usually Budweiser family)3. The TVs are placed perfectly to sit at the table top bar and watch any sporting event comfortably.4. The patio is spacious and comfortable5. The music! It has an internet juke box so you can pick out any kind of music you're in the mood for. One minute Hypnotize by Notorious BIG, the next George Strait, some Sublime, you get the idea ;)6. Everyone is throwing a cool trip in their respective groups and mingling with others. Awesome time, every time!

This seems like a bar that'd be great to go to if you're staying at the hotel next door. Otherwise, I can't see much point in going here. The lounge smelled heavily of cleanser when we walked in. Pinesol isn't the most welcoming smell, but at least it didn't smell awful. It's funny, it kinda throws me off when they're in a sunken bar. You sit down, at a low bar, and they're below you. I was amused that they have bands' posters in a framed decoupage by the bar, that showcase bands that their clientele listen to. I was amused that among the clientele that they're attracting is people who enjoy Nickelback. They instantly lost a few stars for that. The bartender seemed rather clueless about the beers that they had, and they acted surprised when we asked about beers that aren't on the specials list. The beers on the specials list were shockingly cheap, so if you just wanna drink cheaply, this is a good place to go. However, the bar glassware was filthy. But you don't come here to drink fancy beers out of glasses. You come here for cheap ass cans of beer. Want clean glassware? Try ordering from a bottle instead. It seems like a laid back place to go and get some cheap drinks, but I wouldn't go out of my way to go here.

Backstage Lounge is included in the basic adventures of Friday nights in my world. This isn't a bad thing. Backstage is just a place that I happen to hit first on my evenings out from parenthood. Generally if you arrive any time after 7:30 you will expect to wait on your drinks. The drink specials are great before 9 pm. The crowds vary on what sort of events are happening around town. A lot of the "A Loft" tenants come here with their business groups. So you'll see a variety of people in the business class, the ghetto class and the international class. While their bathrooms are nice and neat before the peak, they often get rowdy with the toilet paper floors (not the bars fault). The outside patio is a nice little touch when the chairs are out, otherwise you can expect to stand when the wooden benches are taken. I like the sunken bar, which reminds me of the Southside. The TVs are perfectly placed as well. Now I'm thirsty!

The best happy hour specials I've ever had. I stayed at the hotel next to it so I walked over there several times throughout my stay. The bartenders are super friendly.

The drink prices are right: cheap beer and well specials. The actual bar area is pretty small and all of the seats were full on my visit. Our group decided to go outside where there was a nice sized patio with tables. The crowd seemed a bit on the hoochie side with a lot of girls in booty shorts and high heels. If you are a guy looking for some action I would say this is a great place to find that. If you just want to chill and have a beer head next door to Lion and Rose where there is plenty of seating and you don't have to listen to gangsta rap.

Cool place. Great vibe. All the staff are awesome...Mikki, Alex, Curtis, Wendy, etc... They always take great care of me! Prices can't be beat.

I went here on Sunday so my review maybe somewhat skewed. Service wise it was excellent. The bartenders are very attentive and social. Drink selection was pretty bad. They only had Bud Light on draft, and only 2 other domestics in bottle. They also only had 1 brand of tequila( a brand I have never in my life I heard before at that). If you like to drink in silence this is the place to be, because it was mute in there. There's no music playing, the tv was on the lowest possible volume setting, and overall it felt as if you had to whisper in there.