Texas is synonymous worldwide for many things: barbecue, cowboy hats, and honky tonk music, to name just a few. However, it might be most notorious for its thermometer-breaking summer weather. When the temperature hits 100 degrees every day of the week, you’ll want to gear your activity schedule around places where the A/C will be blasting. But, don’t sweat (literally), as we deliver the lowdown on the best spots in the city to post up indoors. From sashimi to speakeasies, and across bowling alleys and dance floors, these places provide a level of fun as high as the heat index.
Related to Indoor Things to Do in Austin: Unique Things to Do in Austin
Fun Indoor Things to Do in Austin
Eat
Sushi | Bar ATX
Neighborhood: East Cesar Chavez
Pamper yourself with a decadent 17-course tasting menu at stunning Austin restaurant Sushi | Bar ATX. The intimate space, which only hosts three seatings each night, puts you right in front of the chefs while they prepare a lineup of expertly constructed and incredibly delicious omakase-style bites. From Japanese Yellowtail with sweet corn pudding and sourdough breadcrumbs, to a buttery, citrus-spiked bluefin tuna, you’ll jump for joy with each new plate — not to mention each new sake pairing, courtesy of an onsite sake sommelier.
Sway
Neighborhood: Westwood
Should you mention modern Thai restaurant, Sway, to long-time Austinites, you better get ready for a diatribe on the deliciousness of their blue crab fried rice. However, instead of just hearing about it, you can try it for yourself seven days a week at their expansive and gorgeous West Austin location. That means seven nights of the braised pork shoulder taste explosion that is the Son in Law, the mussels hot pot paired with shrimp dumplings, and the perfectly sweet Thai tea affogato. Believe us when we say, after you taste these dishes, seven days won’t feel like enough.
Play
Bull & Bowl
Neighborhood: Downtown
Traditional bowling comes with a lot of downsides: lanes that reek of old cigarette smoke, the impossibility of getting a clean strike without bumpers, and, chief among them, nasty old bowling shoes (because, gross). Luckily, restaurant and game-apalooza, Bull & Bowl, is here to change all your perceptions of Lebowski’s favorite game. Bull & Bowl offers Austin’s first duckpin bowling alley, which is like the traditional game but with a smaller ball, shorter lanes, and, if we haven’t already mentioned it enough, no shoe rental. When you get tired of bowling, they also supply a mechanical bull, pool tables, and a variety of arcade games to keep the competition pumping. Plus, their full food and drink menu puts the stereotypical mozzarella sticks and chicken tenders routine to shame.
Drink
Desert Door Distillery
City: Driftwood, TX
Forgo the typical (i.e. boring) happy hour meet-up and bring your crew to a different kind of drinking experience at Desert Door Distillery, located just a 30-minute drive outside of Austin in Driftwood. Sotol, the agave-based spirit produced onsite, boasts a brighter, grassier flavor profile than its cousins, tequila and mezcal — and Desert Door is the perfect place to wet your whistle. The experts in their tasting room (which is dog-friendly!) will introduce you and your friends to the two varieties they make and how to pair them with a variety of bites.
Garage
Neighborhood: Downtown
Austin’s best speakeasy, Garage, takes the hidden bar theme to a whole new level, that is, to the lower level of a real-life parking garage. While finding the spot is an experience within itself (hint: look for the teal and yellow neon sign), for those who appreciate the fine craft of cocktail-making, the search will yield libation gold. The candlelit, moody vibes of Garage complement drinks with swoon-worthy flavor. Try a popular favorite, the Seven Day Weekend — which, with mezcal, ancho reyes, grapefruit, lime, and honey-ginger, will put you in a Saturday mindset on any given weekday.
Frazier’s Long & Low
Neighborhood: Riverside
When considering the deep sense of nostalgia that takes over the minute you walk through the door, it amazes patrons that Frazier’s Long & Low only opened a few years ago. With wood-paneled walls and broad leather booths — not to mention shuffleboard, pool tables, and a killer jukebox — it’s the kind of neighborhood dive where everybody knows your name. Get the full experience during weekend brunch, where you can order the famous Fuckit Bucket, a mix of chicken tenders, pancakes with hot honey and syrup, breakfast corn dogs, and either a bottle of champagne or a bucket of beer to wash it all down.
Party
Barbarella
Neighborhood: Red River
Follow the graffiti of a 1960s chrome-clad Jane Fonda to Austin’s most treasured place to twerk, Barbarella. A haven for the best DJs in town, the dance floor here is always popping till closing time at 2 AM. Their various theme nights, which include the Thursday throwback tune-palooza called NowY2K and the weekly emo marathon known as Jimmy Eat Wednesday, are legendary gatherings for those in the Texas nightlife scene. And, if you’re lucky, you’ll pop in on a night when one of Austin’s premier drag queens, like Louisianna Purchase, takes the stage for a special performance.
The Concourse Project
Neighborhood: Southeast
Diehard house music fans know the only real spot for raving the night away in Austin: Southeast’s electronic temple, The Concourse Project. The spacious warehouse setting, alongside their world-class sound system, made this venue a destination for DJs of all genres and calibers, including Eric Prydz, RÜFÜS DU SOL, and Tiësto. Every fall, the space hosts their own popular music festival, the Seismic Dance Event. The line-up for this event changes year-to-year but always contains acts that will blow any EDM lover out of the water.
Now, Find the Best Apartment for Indoor Activities
Want some indoor space in Austin to call your own? For a stress-free way to find your new home, set up a chat with one of AptAmigo’s expert agents. Their know-how on everything apartment-related in the ATX will make finding the right option for your time frame, needs, and budget a total breeze. That way, you can focus on the most important indoor activity of all: bingeing that new Netflix show from the comfort of your own living room.
