Better Days

Came in here on a whim and can understand why the 5 star reviews. The epitome of a quintessential dive bar. Laid back atmosphere, not too large, has an outdoor space, some arcade games and a pool table with both cash and card accepted with friendly service. Excellent rock soundtrack to the likes of: Dead Moon, The Saints, Thee Headcoatees, Wicked Lady, etc. Just stuck with Miller high life minis, but it was just what I needed on a hot walk back to my hotel. I think the patrons who came and went while I was there was jovial because they were there. This matters. Reenergizing and might have to visit again during my Austin stay.

I was in Red River and desperate for coffee. Luckily, found Better Days Cafe, cause there’s nothing else with coffee anywhere around! Cruz took care of me and introduced me to their special house blend drip coffee… I’m in love! It was peaceful enough to get some work done while I enjoyed it, too. I’ll definitely be back to co-work with friends.

This place plays amazing music and Rowdie is the man!!! Don’t let tacky tech bros tell you it sucks. This is for the locals and the real ones. Better Days for life!

Wandered into this place while waiting on pizza to be ready next door. Awesome little dive, and made better by Bruce our bartender. He looked out all night for my friend and I, kept our water glasses full, and overall just an incredibly sweet guy. Would love to go back next time I pass through Austin.

Do you love the cheap drinks, friendly staff, and the general spirit of Side Bar? Then you’re in luck, because the owners of Side just opened up a new spot right around the corner. Different enough atmosphere to have its own personality, but still has that friendly neighborhood Red River vibe. Whether you want to stop by here for a beer on the way to a show or end your night with an inexpensive stiff drink, Better Days is the place.

Owned by the same person who owns Side Bar, which is currently under the scope for spiking drinks. Beware of the slimy owner Trey Spaw.

This place was great. Super low key and the door guy and bartender were awesome!

Asked for a lemon drop and instead was poured a shot of deep eddy... Do they not know how to make drinks here? Bartender didn't even asked if I was okay drinking that instead. The music was okay...

STEPH JUDGEMENT: Reasonable drinks, friendly staff, lackadaisical decor--what every dive bar should be. We'd spotted this place before cruising down to 6th street, and after discovering that most of the places on 6th St was not our jam (too college-y), ended up coming back here. The place was sparsely populated, not surprising for a Wednesday night, but a chill bar suited us just fine. We bellied up to the bar and got a couple of beers and a bourbon. We noticed that the guy next to us at the bar had a Frolic Room t-shirt on and asked if he was from LA too, and it turned out that he'd just come back from visiting, and that was one of his souvenirs. That exchange led to pretty much a whole night of fun conversation about music and bands with him and his friend (the bartender on duty that night), who were veterans of many different local bands. We were made to feel very welcome at this place, and wouldn't hesitate to drop in again the next time we're in town.

I get really drunk here all the time. Come for the cheap drinks, stay for the list tourists wondering if they can handle a gallon sized shot of Jack Daniels. Good clean fun.

Stopped in for coffee and to do some work at Better Days Cafe and Cruz took care of me. Not sure what's in their drip coffee, but I can't stop thinking about it! I'll be back soon. The low key vibe was perfect for a few minutes of remote work, too. There's nothing else with coffee anywhere nearby so it was a great find.

I came here just right before the full-blown pandemic. Many bars on Red River were not open but lucky for me Better Days was open to patrons. My husband and I stopped for one drink on our way down to dirty 6th. We chatted with the bartender for a bit. The bar had a few TVs and a variety of drinks. I hope this bar makes it after the pandemic.

Better Days for sure! This place is my go-to as it's never miserably crowded. Love grabbing a drink and hanging outside in the secluded patio in the back.. always meet the friendliest people and feels like old school Austin. Who doesn't want a better day?!

Great dive bar! I had a hotel in the area so I was here a few times, when other bars in the area had issues with capacity/plumbing/whatever I returned here and had 0 complaints. Cheap drinks, friendly staff, and a divey but not dicey clientele. Oh and they have cool movies playing 24/7 as far as I can tell. Highly recommend!

Absolutely love this place. Stumbled in while out with friends & was so thankful! It's small & quaint. The owner & bartenders are absolutely such kind people. I will definitely come up here again when I'm in the area. I had great conversation & company while I was here this last weekend and 10/10 recommend to anyone!

The bartender was not nice to me. I'm didn't do anything wrong. They're aren't not nice here. They know how to make me cry with their ocean eyes. Better days?? more like the worst day of my life

It was a cool, clear Tuesday evening in Austin, Texas and all I could think about was cream soda. I look in the mirror and all I see is cream soda. I walked in the bar and people were walking up to me just talking about cream soda. Cream sodaaaaa cream sodaaaaa CREAM SODAaaaaa! And then, just like bloody she appears, all vanilla and bubbly. This bar has cream soda. And jim beam. Order a beam & cream but not from Jason.

Loved this bar. Generous pours. Cheap drinks. Free pool. Good service. A little quieter than the craziness on 6th. This was my first visit to Austin and I spent most nights here. Would be back if I'm ever in town again.

Love this new bar. Has great drink prices without the chaos of other dive bars. Clean environment and friendly staff. ESP Billy!

I always leave this place with a big smile on my face!!!! Everyone who works here is so cool and FREE POOL?! YES PLS!!!!!! Love this place so much hehehe

Love this place. The staff and owners are super friendly. They bring a cleaner feel to the Red River district without sacrificing any of its personality. Great drink prices and an all around awesome place to hang out with a few friends.

Rude bartender. Refused to serve me without explanation. Seemed to have an issue with the fact that I live in Dallas.

Extremely rude bartender. We live in Dallas and had friends visiting from Wisconsin. A group of 4 of us decided to hop in for drinks at Better Days fairly early in the night. The female bartender who served us was very friendly. It was the end of her shift and a male bartender, who we heard was the owner, took over. When my husband asked for a second drink, the bartender refused to serve him and said he would only serve the girls. When we asked why, he said he did not have to tell us a reason. Our group then decided to leave before finishing the rest of our drinks because as far as we understood, he was refusing to serve him for some secret reason. As we walked out, the bartender yelled at us, "Welcome to Texas". When we said that half of us actually live in Texas, he yelled some more rude comments about us being from Dallas. I understand that you can refuse service to anyone, but this seems like an odd way to run a business.

one of my fave spots. Strong drinks, always good conversation, good chill vibe. and dope bartenders. Honestly what else do you want in a bar?

I do not recommend this place. I was visiting Austin for the first time recently and stopped by here with some friends. We were having a good time and planning on hanging out a while but the male bartender (who we believed was the owner) was very disrespectful and refused to serve one of my friends without an explanation. We attempted to discuss it with him a few times to understand and give him a second chance but he mocked us and continued being a prick.