Emily H.
Yelp
The Bavarian prince Konstantin Prinz von Bayern opened this beer hall located near the Broken Spoke. It is 7,000 feet on the inside and includes a patio with an extra 2,000 feet of space. Von Bayern formerly had a brick and mortar in east Austin that closed in 2023. He then switched business models, sold the business to Ticketmaster, and spread to sports arenas across America, including our very own Moody Center. You may have seen the food kiosk at a recent Spurs game, concert, or rodeo.
The menu includes sausages, hot dogs, Belgian fries, chicken wings, Bavarian pretzels and lots of beer. They also have $$$ hamburgers, schnitzel, etc. like anything with Ticketmaster, the prices seem higher than they should be.
That said, it's so nice to finally have a German option without driving to Fredericksburg or New Braunfels. (It's boldly across the street from Easy Tiger, which is perhaps Koko's only contender for the best Bavarian pretzel in South Austin.) Scholtz's beer garden is an old-skool option but parking is a true problem.
We tried the frankfurter with Belgian fries; the curry sausage and fries; the sausage with sauerkraut; and the mozzarella cheese sticks. The food was really appreciated by the 11 year old. I'll try the pretzel next time, since it comes highly recommended.
Oddly there are only two German beers on tap. The cocktails are milk toast.
Local lore: This spot was the Chotchkes restaurant used for the "flair" scene with Jennifer Aniston in the Office Space movie, so I was curious to see the latest version of the former Baker Street Pub, which was the former Alligator Grill.
As dark as Baker Street was, Koko's is light. There are about twenty giant televisions playing [hopefully] all the sports games you'd need. Everything is well lit and the place feels super clean with plenty of elbow room, which is a luxury these days in south central Austin. It would be an excellent place for a large group celebration (work or recreational-sports-team happy hour, for instance), or a really fun place to watch Austin FC games or the World Cup. The ambiance seems to be going for sports arena. You can almost imagine a crowd of people standing to watch the game, accidentally spilling their Belgian fries when a goal is scored.
They still have the cozy patio with twinkle lights wrapped around the oak trees as an alternative for a more quiet and intimate date night.
The staff is helpful, friendly, efficient and competent.
Parking is available, since the lot is connected to the rest of the strip mall.