Neil’s Bahr

Lol, had a blast! The bartender was hilarious. Played Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, ping pong. Felt like I was in elementary school again but with drinks! Very home-​y vibe. To be honest, FAVORITE part was the fact that they had Goya Ginger Beer. It’s soo spicy and I love it!!!

Ok, alright here it goes… When I first set foot in this place I immediately felt like I was some sort of funky time warp, it’s as if the «machine» took back into the 80’s.
This place is hella cool and laid back, drinks are a tad bit on the pricey side for a dive bar, but then again I am sure their overhead is on the steep side so I take that into account. In sum, this place is a hidden gem nestled away in the middle of EADO and a great place to get away from 2016!

Very impressed. Went bar hopping on a Monday night not expecting much. Neil’s was the last place we tried
Watching Detroit Rock City behind the bar!
Golden Axe on the Sega, cool music (reel big fish)
And crazy cheap drinks $ 6 or $ 7 for kettle
Will be going back for sure

Really low key kind of place, especially for the neighborhood, which can trend a little fancified nowadays. It’s a fun, geeky destination for those of us that don’t particularly care for the club scene but want a place to hang out. However, Neil’s Bahr really cemented itself as deserving of the thumbs up from me recently.
My first visit was for trivia night in June 2014, which was pretty great since we ended up winning the whole shebang. As organizer, I went home with the $ 25 gift card for a future bar tab. Then I didn’t use it… until 18 months later. I had no idea if they would even honor it, but the gal behind the counter said «Yep, I believe you!» when I explained the situation. So my friend and I were finally able to enjoy my winnings, and I got the warm fuzzies.
I’ll try to make it back the next time before 18 months have passed!

No Star Wars :(
Read multiple reviews, all said Star Wars. Asked the bartenders… no Star Wars.

I go for the cheap drinks and Mario Kart on N64. Oh and some nights they have a guy grilling BBQ on the patio!

Was hanging out doing some day drinking in downtown with one of my pals from New York and we encountered this bar. We both used to play tons of video games as kids so we decided to give it a try.
THIS PLACE HAS CRAZY TAXI from the Sega Dreamcast here! Do you know how long it’s been since I could find that anywhere?
Good selection of brew, nice environment, and very chill. I highly recommend.

I love this bar, there’s table games and video games and the environment is pretty much chill here. They have a grill and sell food outside too so that’s a plus if you like tacos and hot dogs. Sometimes the bar can be pretty packed and finding a seat can be difficult so you’ll pretty much be standing up. Getting there around 9 will probably guarantee you a spot to sit at or booth. The only thing about this bar that I don’t like is the parking! If you don’t find a spot on their two rows of parking you can park at the parking lot across from it but you never know if they’re charging or not. They’ve charged me $ 5 and $ 10 before, and there’s times when they didn’t charge me. So have cash if you plan on parking there or find street parking farther.

Been coming here for as long as they been open, great place relaxed environment.
Im there for every Game of Thrones and Walking Dead night,
They always have my favorite beers from 8^th wonder.
Over all great place.

I was debating whether I should give them 3 or 4 stars but I’ll go with 3 since one of the people who worked there came and changed the channel from the U of H game to a UT game. UT lost by the way so I feel that karma is on my side on this! Seriously though, you’re a Houston bar, in downtown Houston, 2 miles away from the stadium where the game is played at and you don’t show enough respect to the undefeated home team because a guy in a «The Dude» outfit asked you to change it? (it was Halloween night) You could have at least asked to see if anybody else was watching it. Do you think they would change a UT game to U of H in Austin? I say nay.
The other annoying thing about the bar is the smell. Behind the bar it smells like a pile of 4 month old laundry and in the sitting area it smells burnt grease coming from the grill outside. Parking is also going to be an issue, but to their credit they do have a few official parking spots and if you are willing to park far, you can do street parking; otherwise, you have to pay a parking lot.
Now that the bad is out of the way, this is a charming bar. They have a ping pong table in the other room (there is a table blocking the door to keep the ball from escaping). They also have vintage video games and such to cater to «nerd bros» and their drinks are reasonably priced. That whole area has changed a lot since the oil boom so I’m curious to see how long it will last so go check them out if you are on that side of downtown.

This place brought me back to middle school… and I loved it! They had all of the old game consoles – Nintendo, Sega, N64… all you could ask for. Friends and I brought back our awkward pre-​teen years with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mario Cart and Donkey Kong. The music was equally as nostalgic. We heard The Offspring, Limp Bizkit, Korn and other late ‘90s/​early ‘00s rock bands.
The ambiance is chill and this is definitely a dive bar. It was dark and a little smelly – really playing on that teen angst. The beer selection was decent and there’s outdoor seating as well as a food truck to satiate those late-​night munchies.
I don’t travel to Houston often but when I do, I’ll be sure to return!

This bar was ok. I definitely feel like its more of a guys kind of place. It has comic books, video games and ping pong. I would go back if my boyfriend made me, but not on my own. Plus its in a sketchy area of town.

Needed a place to hang out after the Astros game. In walking distance, affordable, great draft selection, fantastic customer service and Super Nintendo !!!

This is a great place to go if you love old school games and a friendly, eclectic atmosphere. Most conversations I over heard were about games and TV shows that I hadn’t heard of, but they raved about them. The food truck outside was awesome, and had a built in arcade. Great craft beer selection and it’s close to other bars as well. The only reason I did not give it 5 stars is that it does have that kind of wet wood, kind of damp bar smell, if you’ve ever been to sherlock’s on Westheimer then you know what I’m talking about, and also they have no cover on their patio, but that’s really just me stretching for it. It’s definitely a 4 ½ star place if you like counter culture.

I like this bar a lot because it is so unique. I’ve never seen another bar quite like Neil’s. Obviously, judging by it’s name (a play on Neils Bohr — famed physicist), it’s a nerd haven.
It’s usually kept pretty dark, but there are several old-​school video game consoles that anyone can play with classics such as Super Smash Bros, Mariokart, Goldeneye, Mortal Kombat, etc. There are some comfy couches and chairs to lounge in while you game to your heart’s content — while making sure you share, of course. Don’t be a jerk! There are some old school arcade games as well. Apparently they have some kind of emulator thing so that you can play all sorts of games from just 1 machine. One of you nerds can explain that to me over a drink.
Video games not your thing? Plenty of board games laying around for you to choose from and several bigger tables that people can fit around to play. There’s always a game of Cards Against Humanity going on, and we’ll try our hand at the chess board when it’s available.
Games not your scene either? There’s a wall of comic books for you to peruse.
Not into comics? This a shelf of books. Like real books for real people to use their brains.
Oh, you don’t like video games or using your eyeballs to read? There’s a ping pong table in a back room. Go play that! AND SHARE!
What? You’re a complete weirdo that doens’t like any of those things? Well, just hang out by the bar and have a drink. The bar (and whole place) has some pretty cool decorations that make you feel like you’re in the 80s-​90s again. One tv is always playing the Simpsons, and one is always playing some kind of iconic sci-​fi and/​or action or cult classic movie.
You also like food? There’s usually a dude grilling something delicious on the front porch for reasonable prices. Most recently I bought a taco for $ 4. Also, the wonderful servers give out bottles of water for free! Thanks, Neil’s! The DDs of the world appreciate that. Also, everyone is dressed pretty casually. We’ve walked straight from an Astros game and we weren’t chided for our t-​shirts and shorts.
The only reasons I give Neil’s 4 stars instead of 5 aren’t really the establishment’s fault but several things detract from the experience. The 5 or 6 times I’ve been there (weekends mostly) it’s been super crowded and you have to wait in unorganized clumps for who gets to play games/​ping pong next. Also, the parking situation is pretty lame. There is minimal street parking nearby, but there are paid lots (either $ 5 or $ 10) nearby. I wouldn’t wander too far looking for street parking. 2 of my friends have had their cars broken into while parked on some of the lesser used side streets.

I really wanted to like this place. It’s basically a bar that caters towards the 90s «nerd culture.» When I got there i had to circle to find a parking spot. While there was plenty of parking in the area, most of the lots were charging $ 10. No thanks. I found one about a block away without too much difficulty so that was good. I walk into the dark cavern of a bar to see all the things I was expecting… nerds, games, couches, and a bar. It was pretty much what I would imagine the basement of the Lamda Lamda Lamda fraternity to look like. However, I felt a little like an outcast. It seems that most people who were here, were here with a group of friends. Most of the tables were taken with people in the middle of games and the video games had people on them. I know they have arcade games somewhere… but I didn’t see them. There did seem to be another room but it was blocked off… no idea why though. The moral of this story is… come with friends to hang out and drink if you don’t have a house where you could just do this already. Don’t come expecting to meet new people, the one group we tried to integrate with wern’t too happy about us trying to join their game of Cards Against Humanity.
The night itself is a story within itself that has little to do with the business, so perhaps I just need to give this place another try with different friends. I feel like there is potential here, but it just didn’t come to fruition.

If you get the pun in the name of this bar, then this bar is for you. If you don’t get the pun… you should come here anyways. Neil’s Bahr is great bar with a great theme. I really enjoyed my visit here.
The bar is reminiscent of a basement from 80’s and 90’s. There are plenty of old comics to be read, multiple video game console, an arcade cabinet, and a ping pong table. Ya, it has it all. It has a great selection of bottled and draft beer. It even had the debut of Level Up Lager from Southern Star.
I came here for the Street Fighter II Tournament on a bit of a whim. Southern Star was giving out prizes and tapping their new Level Up Lager. The tournament was pretty cool since the bar had it played on their drop down projector screen. The guy in charge of the tournament did a great job, especially for someone that doesn’t do this all the time.
I liked that the bar had a bunch of couches to sit on and play games. The ping pong room was the perfect size, and their multicade was on point.
I will be back.

Ubergeek heaven! Comic books, table top games, console games, WoW nerds, amazingly cool bartenders (Ian, Danielle,
Beth, Robert, Brittany) and karaōke and trivia nights. Very awesome place! THE Neil will kick you out in the middle of a raid though at 2:15am (as he should). ;)

«Nerd Bar,» as my friends call it, has become one of our go-​to spots for birthday celebrations, after-​parties, pre-​gaming … you name it.
As many other Unilocalers mentioned, Neil’s Bahr is like stepping into an 80s-​90s time warp with the ambiance and entertainment dedicated to classic gaming — you now, before Candy Crush and Farmville — comic books, Star Wars, etc.
Other pros: food cooking on the grill, a patio, Houston-​local Leprechaun Cider on draft, ‘The Simpsons’ on the tube, cool bartenders, and a surprisingly good lineup of singers on karaōke night… and I loath karaōke.

This place has the best themed drinks, and if you get a chance and are feeling fun — don’t hesitate to order one! They make a great «Pikachu.»
There’s also a really nice guy out on the patio who makes fresh food, like burgers and the best $ 4 taco plate you’re ever going to buy at 12am in downtown Houston!
The drinks are reasonably priced and the staff treats everyone like a regular.
Did I mention there are FREE arcade games and a TV that always plays The Simpsons, and another featuring a cult classic film (my first time, they were playing Labyrinth. Booze AND David Bowie? Sold.)