Barbarella

You might see some decent reviews for this place, but don’t be swayed. The bouncer/​chick that manned the door was definitely feeling like she was bigger than her britches. They took my friends money from him and wouldn’t give it back after they didn’t let me in. I barely drink. They like the power trip. Not a good bar

Door guy doesn’t bargain tried to pull the olé 2 for 15 deal, but inside they got after hour juices, topo chickos, and just a great place to learn the latest dance moves. #barbarellas

No amount of bad smell can take away from the party this place hosts on Saturdays. Drinks aren’t difficult if you know how to approach the bar. The back porch plays the best hip hop mix in Austin. Great place to party!

Decent drink prices, but a little too dirty, even for downtown Austin.

Finally had the priveledge of experiencing Barbarella on a Tuesgay… and it went up.
Truthfully, I’ve needed to do this for a while. I consider it to be an Austinite right of passage, like sighting your first man bun, or sighting your first man bun with a side braid. You know what I mean.
The time was right, the drinks were flowing and the music was hot. I had on these killer red heels and I thought I was going to die, but I was busting moves like Elvis meets MIchael J anyway. Best of times were had by all and I will definitely celebrate here again if the mood strikes. I’ll bring my dancing shoes next time though ;)
Get there before ¹¹⁄₁₂ (I cant remember which) and you won’t have to pay a cover. I got there literally 1 minute after the cutoff and paid to get in. Paying a cover is ridiculous, especially if youre cute. ;)

One of my favorite places. They stop serving drinks at 2 but stay open till 3 on weekend nights. Totally a great bar with an even better vibe.

Fun place to dance but the bartender is awful. I read old reviews and hoped maybe she was new and would either shape up or get the boot– nope, doesn’t look like she’s going anywhere. Anyway, I got three beers (bottled…) for $ 3 each. Tipped every time in cash. Went to close out my tab and she charges me $ 33? I ask for an itemized receipt because I was NOT drunk enough to order $ 30+ of drinks without noticing it. Turns out one of the bartenders charged a round of shots to my card. Whatever, mistakes happen. I tell her I didn’t order those and ask for a refund. She gets pissed (as if I’m supposed to willingly pay 3x my bill?) but doesn’t argue so she probably knows I’m right. Unfortunately, charging/​refunding/​charging again tied up my card for possible fraud so she shoves my card back at me and tells me I owe her $ 12 in cash (nice of her to include her own tip, huh?). I just wanna get out of there at this point as my normally high tolerance for rude service is wearing thin. I’m counting out cash and she is standing there rolling her eyes and yells after me «thanks for that!» when I’m walking away.
It gets busy. Whatever. But you’re out of your f’in mind if you think your TIPPING customers are going to let you overcharge them by $ 20. I considered solving it the next morning but was already very aware of the reviews claiming they add tips if you leave the card overnight. Which, by the way, happened to my roommates boyfriend the SAME night…
Sadly I’ll probably be back for Tuezgayz but won’t be paying for anything with a card.

Hella good time. Especially TuesGayz. You don’t have to be gay or bi just love shaking your thang. Come here if you want to have a sweaty good time dancing your ass off.

Steph or ashley (the blonde bartender who refused to give her real name) thinks she has it all figured out and therefore is entitled to treat customers with the least amount of respect. Big deal, you can pour a drink. It is sad that you can’t be a decent person. I’ve read countless reviews. Looks like nothing changes.

First, I have to say it is one of the best places to dance in town.
The 1 star review is because the manager was a complete jerk to me (it wasn’t Harvey, some other dude). I had left my CC from the night before and came back the next night for it. I was there at 9pm and they officially opened at 10. He told me to come back in an hour. I said, «I understand, I thought it might be easier to catch you before the rush… and I could really use the card». It’d already been closed out the night before, I saw it on my statement, so all he had to do was walk 20 feet to get the card from behind the bar. «We’re not open! Come back in an hour!» He said like an angry drunk. «It would mean a lot to me because I…». «Get the f*ck out of here!» he yelled all aggressively.

Love this place but fat white bouncer with black hair and a beard is an asshole :(threw my real ID on the ground BC he thought it was fake

Ugh. It’s a club. I hate clubs and therefor this may be a biased review.
It’s smelly, it’s dirty, it’s gross.
If you like men rubbing their you know whats against your you know what while doing you know what — then you’ll most likely like this place.
If you like to dance, you might even like this place, as long as you like a you know what in your you know what while you dance.
Don’t order a Blue Moon and expect draft, because you know what, t’s all bottles here. Boo.
But hey you know what? This is the #1 requested drop-​off spot for Über in Austin so they must be doing something right. I’ll admit, all the TVs and random 80s videos were kind of cool.

Small places and tight music. Tears for Fears and all that awesome 80’s magic we all love to hear. Everynight is a different theme but the music is consistently on point.
Pro Tip: Barb’s is connected to Swan Dive. If the line is long just slip through Swan to get to Barbs. Usually no cover before 11 so get here early if you can.

Best place in Austin to make bad decisions. I have never had a bad time at this club. If you go to barbs and aren’t dancing or having fun, it’s probably a personality flaw. This place is dirty, crowded and amazing. The music and people are fun and the drinks are cheap. If you find your Fitbit low on steps, head to barbs and dance and sweat the night away … And maybe make a bad decision or two in the process.

love the dancing. I totally go to tuesgayz as a straight heterosexual asian male who lifts heavy weights because i love the atmosphere. the drinks are fairly priced also. However people always front on me for some reason on the dance floor and they ALWAYS on that DYEL status.

Oh Barbs. This place is always an adventure. Every night is a different theme (music and people) but honestly, the only night that is worth it is Tuesday nights. It’s called «Tuesgayz» but honestly gay or straight… it is the most fun you will have downtown.
I hate/​refuse to come here on the weekend (Thurs-​Sat) just because the music and the crowd aren’t my thing.
Pros:
Huge dance floor
fun lights
fog machines
Tuesgayz
THREE bars
open until 3am
Cons:
Sassy bartenders
often weak drinks (where is the Whiskey in this Sprite???)
really crowded
this bar attracts more weirdos/​creeps than most downtown establishments
cover after midnight (boo!)

I’m a big fan of Houston Barbarella. So when I was in Austin, I had to check out the original location, right? Come on, it’s the Barbs!
Unlike the Houston location when Friday is new sound night and Saturday is 80’s night, this location is exactly the opposite. Friday night here is 80’s night and Saturday night is new sound. Well, I was here Saturday night so I got to experience the new sound night.
But before we go into all that, let’s talk about the basic stuff. I got here past midnight. There was a line outside of the Barbs for people to get in. However, the club next to it, Swan Dive, shares the same large back patio with the Barbs. So what you want to do, my friends, is to skip the line, get into Swan Dive and then enter the Barbs from the back. See? I’ve saved you some time already. Oh, there was a cover charge to get into Swan Dive (there was also a cover to get into Barbarella which I would assume was the same). I think it was $ 4 or $ 5? I can’t really remember.
When you enter through the back, you’ll see a bar. This back bar is definitely not as packed as the bar that’s out front. So this was my go-​to bar for the whole night. If you hate waiting for a bartender to get you a drink, I would recommend for you to go to the back bar as well. Thank me later.
The dance floor was packed, but not jammed-​packed. The music playing was equally awesome to the new sound night in Houston (I wonder if they use the same DJ?) Just like the Houston location, the people who came here didn’t seem douchy or pretentious. People were easy to talk to, the dance floor was big enough so we didn’t have to elbow each other; and drink prices were reasonable.
Let’s just say that I’m now a big fan of both the original Barbarella and the Houston Barbarella.
Let’s go to the Barbs!!!

I’m a pushover for 80s music so I was excited to check this place out when we landed in Austin on a Thursday.
Drinks were average — on the weaker side but not as bad as other bars.
We arrived before 11 — no cover at that point! — and there were already more than a dozen people warming up the dance floor. Everyone here was dressed casual, which was fine by me. No 4 inch heals and hottie dresses. Looks like everyone dressed to dance. Steadily after 11 people quickly filled the dance floor and by midnight it was packed. We could still move though. Move to what though was the issue.
Um, Mr. DJ, I’m so sorry (not sorry) but yes you have play the same popular 80s songs we all know and love and can dance to. I don’t care how many times you’ve heard the same songs, that’s your job and you chose it — so deal. And no, we don’t appreciate that you found some lost 80s obscure song that you think is kinda groovy because it’s something not on the Footloose soundtrack — It’s not danceable! My suggestion to management is save a buck and gear up Pandora.

When Obi-​Wan Kenobi used the line «you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy» to describe Mos Eisley, he actually was talking about Barbarella. I’ve been to plenty of dive bars and dirty music venues, but somehow Barbs puts all others to shame. I think it’s safe to say that one never starts the night out planning on going to Barbs. It just happens. And then you wake up the next day wondering how your shoes got so dirty and then cringe about how many layers of grim must be on that dance floor.
If you’re going to come here, try swinging by around 10pm to get your hand-​stamped so you can avoid the chaos after midnight. Or just sneak in via the neighboring Swan Dive that shares a backyard area.
Drinks are dirt cheap. You can get a bottle of Champagne to carry around for like $ 12 and everyone will be amazed that you have it.
Hopefully you like listening to The Cure.

If you’re like me and always looking for an opportunity to get weird, come to Barbarella. This is a great place to get drunk, dance and meet some strange strangers.
The outdoor area is really cool too when it’s nice out.