PSA: These Are the 15 Best Rooftop Bars in Austin
Cocktails with a side of sunset, coming right up.
When you think of Austin, Texas, you probably think of live music, nature trails, and all of the food trucks. But in the last few years, the growing city has added a whole bunch of hotels and other tall buildings to its skyline—meaning you can now put ~amazing rooftop bars~ on your "Austin must-do" list, too.
There are all sorts of fun spots to drink up in the Austin sky, from swanky hotel bars to DJ-and-pool situations to actual dance clubs...and the best part? Most of them come with epic sunset—and bat—views. (FYI for those, um, in the dark, Austin is often called Bat City for its plethora of Mexican free-tailed bats. The more you know!!!)
Behold, your ultimate guide to the best—and battiest—rooftop bars in Austin. And P.S. If you want to explore even more of the city, may we suggest booking a trip to ATX with CosmoTrips, our new travel-booking biz where we do all of the planning for you? Don't worry, rooftop cocktailing is definitely on the agenda.
Zanzibar
Seven stories up really does feel like a world away when you enter Zanzibar, the tropically-themed rooftop pool and lounge crowning the Marriott Austin downtown. Huge, vibrant tropical plants set the scene and, whether you’re relaxing in lounge chairs or perched at a high-top table, you’ll find plenty of city views.
The cocktail menu features classics like Mai Tais, plus beach-inspired signature drinks, like the frozen Tradewinds, made with rum, coconut, peach, Aperol, and lime. The food menu is also island-leaning, with offerings like poke bowls, massive shrimp skewers, and pulled pork on Hawaiian rolls with pineapple slaw. (The pool area, which is only open to guests, features its own food and drink menus.)
El Alma
This multi-tiered Mexican restaurant, named after its longtime chef Alma Alcocer-Thomas, is best known for its rooftop patio, which offers a lovely view of downtown Austin from just south of the river on Barton Springs Road. A stone staircase built into the rock formation at the center of El Alma leads to the patio, which is non-reservable and first come, first served for seating.
It doesn’t get better than happy hour, which runs daily from 3 to 6 pm and features $7 margaritas. And while there’s a full menu of Mexican dishes, this is also the perfect spot to snack on shareable plates like the jalapeño crab queso dip and tuna ceviche tostada.
Gin Bar
The only bar in Austin dedicated entirely to gin, this East 6th Street cocktail lounge pours over 75 different labels of the spirit from all over the globe. Though it was closed for most of the pandemic, Gin Bar recently reopened at the Arrive Hotel, a sleek, modern location that explains its design elements: delicate geometric shapes, wooden bench seating, fire tables, and intentional pops of red. There’s no better place in town to tuck away and enjoy a dirty gin martini with a view of East Austin.
P6
Named for its former life as a parking garage, P6 is now a rooftop lounge on the sixth floor of the Line Hotel. The elevated lounge serves Mediterranean-inspired plates and seasonal cocktails with sweeping views of Lady Bird Lake and the bat-centric South Congress Bridge.
Try the Wild Side, a refreshing herbal blend of sotol, basil syrup, cucumber, and basil seeds, alongside the crispy patatas bravas, which come with Parmesan, red pepper, pine nuts and aioli. During happy hour (Monday through Friday from 4 to 6pm), there are great deals on beer, wine, and selected plates, and you can also save $20 on bottles of wine starting at 4pm on Sunday. Pro tip: Expect to book via OpenTable at least a month in advance for Friday and Saturday night sunset reservations, and at least a couple weeks out for weekday slots.
Otopia
Located right on the edge of the University of Texas’ Austin campus, the music-themed Otis Hotel and its rooftop lounge—appropriately dubbed Otopia—act as a beacon of blissful escape from the college vibe below. Gather your friends for the ultimate Sunday Funday, complete with poolside bites (think tuna wonton tacos and Wagyu carpaccio), comfy lounge chairs, icy drinks (Let the Man-go, with rum, pineapple, lime, mango puree, jalapeno and mint, is a fave), and a DJ-fueled soundtrack if you’re lucky.
Pro tip: Head to Otopia for their "Golden Hour" special (Monday through Thursday, one hour before sunset through one hour after), when you’ll receive half-off selected appetizers, $2 off wine by the glass, and an $8 rotating specialty cocktail. (Also, quick head's up: In order to use the pool between 12pm and 5pm, you have to purchase a day pass online.)
La Piscina
This vibrant bar and restaurant located on the fifth floor of the Austin Proper Hotel features a serene rooftop pool deck overlooking the downtown bustle—and it’s perfect for golden hour.
The menu at La Piscina is all about coastal Mexican cuisine with a Texas twist, with ceviches, aguachiles and sizzling tabletop fajitas, plus decadent snacks like loaded steak arrachera nachos and lobster quesadillas with pineapple pico.
In addition to plenty of patio seating, the interior is almost *entirely* windows, with sun-soaked teak and tropical plants bringing the outside in. So whether you choose to soak up the sun or hide from it, either option is perfect for sipping on one of their well-executed cocktails (get the hot fuschia hibiscus margarita or the elote cobbler, made with bourbon, tequila, corn liquor, almond milk, and orgeat).
Coconut Club
The rooftop is the crown jewel of this two-story Warehouse District dance club, which has hosted everything from daytime dance parties to artist markets to drag shows. Coconut Club gets pretty busy, especially on the weekends, so it’s usually easiest to order something simple (like a ranch water, the unofficial drink of Texas), though it really won’t matter what’s in your hand when you’re on the dance floor, wrapped in laser lights, surrounded by skyscrapers, and dancing the night away.
When you work up an appetite, head downstairs to the attached Cuatro Gato for tacos by Vaquero Taquero. Unfortunately, this entire block (Austin’s LGBTQ district) is slated for demolition next summer to make for another mixed-used development, so get your kicks in while you can.
Group Therapy
With bad news rolling in on the daily, who couldn’t use a break from the headlines for a little group therapy? That's the thinking behind this bar of the same name, located on the seventh floor of Hotel Zaza and overlooking downtown Austin and Republic Square Park.
In addition to the indoor dining room and several event spaces, Group Therapy features a gorgeous pool-facing terrace with blue and white talavera tile, French bistro chairs, and potted philodendrons lining the building’s exposed brick. The menu features seasonal specials but, true to its name, leans toward classic comfort with dishes like a Texas wedge, beer-braised shortribs, and crispy chicken with whipped potatoes. A sizable cocktail menu offers something for just about every taste, and you cannot leave without one of their signature espresso martinis. Pro tip: While reservations can be made on OpenTable, walk-ins are also welcome; plan your visit around their entertainment calendar to catch some live music on the rooftop, too.
Wax Myrtle’s
When The Thompson Austin opened downtown this spring, the city gained another rooftop oasis. Wax Myrtle’s (appropriately named after a shrub that thrives in the South) is a tropical green hideaway, complete with thriving plants that cascade over the outdoor bar and a pool deck surrounded by plush beds and cabanas (which can be reserved on Resy by hotel guests and visitors alike). For the cooler months, there's a covered area that provides table seating and a fireplace with city views.
The ever-changing Mediterranean- and Mexican-inspired menu serves some of the best rooftop plates in town, with plenty of fresh veggie options, and the drink menu features riffs on classic cocktails, boozy frozens, and wines spanning from Texas to Greece.
Geraldine's
Some of the new builds in Austin are truly doing their best to preserve the spirit of the city, and Hotel Van Zandt is one of them. The boutique hotel is named after hometown folk hero Townes Van Zandt, and its rooftop bar and restaurant, Geraldine’s, is named after a famous neighborhood guinea fowl who used to roam Rainey Street long before bar crawlers did.
Music is a huge part of the program here, especially at Geraldine’s, which features live performances on its stage nearly every night of the week for a lovely, laid-back dinner slash theatre experience. But first, enjoy the day lounging on the pool deck, which is open to both guests and visitors via bookings on Resort Pass. The pool bar offers refreshing cocktails like the Aloe Bout it (gin, aloe liqueur, habanero and lime) and the Oaxacan on Sunshine (mezcal, pineapple, cilantro-jalapeño syrup and lime), plus snacky essentials like a spicy fried chicken sandwich and mushroom tacos al pastor. They’re hosting themed Sip and Swim events throughout the summer, and the city view is breathtaking as the sun goes down.
Rules & Regs
One step inside Rules & Regs, with its bright whites and nautical stripes, and you’ll feel like you’ve set sail. The bar and restaurant on the 7th floor of the Fairmont Austin features a spacious outdoor patio with plenty of coverage from the sun while it opens up to an expansive view of downtown Austin.
A coastal Mexican-inspired menu features dishes like cheesy Mexican street corn ribs and duck confit sopes, and the signature cocktails are all appropriately tropical (try the Acapulco Breeze, made with sotol, tequila, banana liqueur, lemon, cucumber, and prickly pear). Reservations for the bar and restaurant can be made for any day via Opentable, but the pool is only open to visitors Monday through Thursday, with reservations via ResortPass. The Fairmont Austin also has one of the biggest pools in the city, so it’s perfect for a group celebration. Check out their various themed cabana packages, which provide everything you need for a stress-free bachelorette, bachelor, or birthday party.
Easy Tiger
Easy Tiger, the little German-inspired bakery and beer garden that opened in a small, historic space on Sixth Street in 2012, now supplies restaurants and stores all over the city with their delicious baked goods—and has graduated to three spacious locations. The newest location features a lovely west-facing rooftop patio overlooking the lush Greenbelt, perfect for sunset viewing. Their giant signature pretzel with beer cheese is a must, but you also can’t go wrong with any of their house-made sausages or sandwiches—and their egg sandwich (available during weekday breakfast or weekend brunch) is simply one of the best in town. They’re known for their well-curated selection of craft beer from near and far, but they also offer rotating wine specials and a small but solid cocktail list. During happy hour (all day on Monday and 4:30-6:30pm the rest of the weekdays), enjoy specials on pretzels, sausages and grazing boards plus select wines, beers and cocktails—and don’t forget to leave with a bag of their dreamy pastries.
Upstairs at Caroline
If you like your rooftop bars to come with all of the fun, Upstairs at Caroline is the summer camp you seek. They've got *the* best games, from Giant Jenga to cornhole to foosball to pool, and the spacious interior features picnic tables on Astroturf, with doors that line the perimeter and open up to views of Congress Avenue and 7th Street. An offset roof also provides good coverage from rain and sun, while still letting plenty of light and breeze in.
For food, Upstairs offers a selection of tacos (which become just $2 on Tuesdays), as well as chips and dips. They've got great drink specials, too, including weekday happy hour deals and daily specials where their draft cocktails (like the coconut-spiked Hipster-jito) and frozen drinks (like the Bad Life Choices, a watermelon frosé with an Everclear floater) are just $7. On Sundays, you can bring your furry friends for 25% off your ~Yappy Hour~ order.
77 Degrees
By day, 77 Degrees (named for the “perfect temperature”) is a breezy, sunlit patio bar that overlooks the Domain, North Austin’s shopping center—and is heavy on the rattan basket swing chairs. But when the sun goes down, the music goes up and it becomes a glowing, three-story club with an outdoor dance floor, plus plenty of lounge spaces to chill with your crew. Their signature cocktails are a reasonable $12, and you can upgrade to a pineapple bowl for extra tropical vibes or order hookahs for your table as well. If you’re really looking to throw down, book VIP bottle service and they’ll pull out all the stops.
Upside at The East Austin Hotel
This rooftop cocktail bar perched on the East Austin Hotel is perfect for a Sunday Funday situation, not least because the hotel has a sweet pool to drink and hang the day away. The Upside’s also heavy on the transportive travel vibes, with rattan patio furniture, Moroccan poufs, goldenrod tile, a sparkly red bartop, and nightly projected films that truly transport you to another time and place.
Floor to ceiling windows and a wraparound patio look out onto East 6th Street so you can people-watch while you sip, too. In terms of the stats: On Monday through Thursday, happy hour runs from 4-6pm, with half off their riffs on classic cocktails plus beer and wine, while Friday and Saturday brings a sweet reverse happy hour from 8-10pm. Bar snacks span the globe with options like gochujang queso and blistered shishitos with yuzu aioli. Non-guest visitors can use the pool from 12pm to 4pm or 4pm to 8pm with a $40 pool pass (available through Resy).
Veronica studied creative writing and sociology at Sarah Lawrence College before moving to Austin, where she writes about food, beverage and travel for a number of media outlets. She's published two cookbooks, written several Texas travel guides, and her work has appeared in Forbes Travel Guide, Food & Wine, Texas Monthly, Tasting Table, GOOD, PUNCH, The Today Show, The Local Palate, Serious Eats, Austin Monthly, Fodor's, Vinepair, Texas Highways and more. She is also a member of the Austin branch of Les Dames d'Escoffier and is the buyer for Saba San's, a natural wine and sake shop and club in East Austin. Follow her on Instagram @wellfedlife and visit www.veronicameewes.com
Iceland Is Where All Worries Fade Away, Trust
Just the 10 Best Beaches in the Good Ol’ US of A
15 Post–Prime Day Luggage Deals You Missed
Alert: Oprah’s Favorite Jewelry Case Is Just $19!
