Austin Nightlife on Sixth Street

Sixth Street always seems to be the buzz phrase when it comes to Austin nightlife. On our most recent outing, the 6th definitely lived up to the hype.

We arrived before the crowds, so we were able to find street parking on Red River, right off of 6th. A short stroll (a little bit longer, since I realized I forgot my I.D. and had to go back to the car) brought us to our destination: Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar.

I must confess that being new to the scene, Austin bars are all about the same to me right now. But Pete’s is a place I’ve been wanting to visit for a long time, and it didn’t let me down.

There’s nothing like good drinks, happy people, and singing at the top of your lungs to your favorite songs.

I’ll set the scene: Two gentlemen occupy two pianos on stage (they’re secretly using keyboards with a painted wood exterior). They take your requests, written on napkins that occupy all the tables in the room. Their repertoires are extensive and there are very few requests they have to turn down. Eric requested “Baby Grand” by Billy Joel and Ray Charles. They didn’t know it, but they offered to play another Billy Joel or Ray Charles song – and let us know which ones they could play. Which was cool.

The night got understandably more raucous as time went on. A lot of Journey was sung. Some birthday and bachelorette fun was had. All in all, the 2-3 hours that we were there went by really quickly. Bar-hopping isn’t very interesting to me, and it was great to find a place where I could sit down and enjoy myself for an extended period of time.

And how could the night be complete without some Austin pizza? A recommendation led us to Roppolo’s Pizzeria, just across the street from Pete’s. It was really good and I recommend it. (Don’t you love how sophisticated my food reviews are?)

the Austinot asks:
What are your 6th Street recommendations? And can someone please explain this whole West Sixth, East Sixth, Dirty Sixth thing to me?