This place is cool and a great stop in for a beer when you are hot from all the walking around San Antonio! Â Great history on Teddy Roosevelt and it's supposed to be haunted too! Â The bartender was great for me and my hungover boyfriend! Â
Wouldn't mind staying at their hotel next trip through!!
Stopped in here for a quick drink when I realized my hangover was worse than I thought and needed to keep the action going in order to feel better.
It's definitely a historic place and didn't even know it till I read some of the other reviews. Real beautiful wooden bar top. There's a balcony area that holds about a dozen people, if you're sitting under it BEWARE, I felt like it was going to cave in and smash us. You can hear the creaking in the wood with every move someone made. I also found it interesting that they even had an indoor balcony. We didn't stay there too long but it was a good experience.
Pretty chill little spot, and I do mean little. It definitely feels a bit touresty but it is right next to the Alamo so what do you expect? Drinks were pretty reasonably priced. The interior is really cool with the dark wood finish. When you step in it takes a second for your eyes to adjust since it is so dark. It's almost like you are stepping back in time. I would not come here on a regular basis with friends but it is a cool place to bring out of towners.
Review Source:Last night was my first time in Menger Bar and I have to say, it is a fantastic place! Sipping Macallan 12 in this bar is just an amazing experience.
The only reason I didn't give it a five star is because I wished they have more and better whiskey selection.
I recommend to take any tourist here to have a drink after a long day.
The draw of the bar at the historic Menger hotel is definitely the history which you can feel surrounding you there. Allegedly Teddy Roosevelt recruited his Rough Riders here and the place hasn't really changed since then. It's a pretty standard size for a hotel bar, but the dark corners and old wood walls make it feel larger. We were a bit disappointed in the beer selection, only a few types in bottles and nothing on tap, but savoring a Shiner long neck in the corner where Teddy did his recruiting more than made up for it.
The bartender was friendly and very patient with all the tourists who popped in for directions rather than stopping for a drink.
Come for the history and a refreshing stop after trudging around the Alamo on a hot day.
Dark wood, quiet atmosphere, low lighting...this is the ambiance an old, Texan whiskey bar should have. The Menger Bar delivers this ambiance in spades. As you sit there at a dark table, looking around the room, you can just picture the generations of Texas men who have sat around that same bar conducting business deals with nothing but a handshake...Texas-style.
They have a decent whiskey selection. And, don't you dare put ice in it. In this reverent space you need to have your whiskey neat.
If all you want is a beer, then just go elsewhere. This isn't some college town beer joint. This is the Menger Bar. You get that? The Menger Bar! If you are going to go, at least bother to do it right!
Very nice hotel and bar. We did not stay at this hotel but we went to the bar, and the bartender Angela was very friendly and sociable. She gave us a lot of background on the hotel and bar area. The price of drinks were about average for the downtown/river walk area. Very nice atmosphere and excellent customer service
Review Source:Menger Bar was an awesome, beautifully designed bar. Oh, it's also the oldest continually operating bar in Texas. It's been operational, nonstop, since 1859!!! That's craziness, folks. The entire bar area is stunning, dark, cherry (I believe) wood. If it were dirty, it would totally look like a Wild West bar, but it's kept spotless, of course.
As if that isn't enough history, this is also the famous bar where Teddy Roosevelt recruited the rough riders.They have a menu with a good selection of classic cocktails. I had both a margarita, which was supposed to be made very traditionally, but unfortunately they were out of their housemade mix. Instead, the barkeep made it with fresh limes instead of triple sec. I suppose that's fairly traditional too. Then I had a manhattan on the 'keeps recommendation. It hit the spot as well.
The food menu is small, and the barkeep told me that on a limited timeframe I had told him about, that it probably wouldn't come out fast enough. I appreciated his honesty. I'd like to go back again sometime, or at least visit more places like this. A real gem.
It is a little pricy, it is a little cozy, and not really a place I could see spending a whole evening, but man is it great. One of those places that you just have to stop by every now and again for a quick drink or just to soak in some AC and ambiance.
Don't forget to check out the second floor and mosey into the hotel for some more amazing items and prints.
You can no longer smoke cigars in Menger cigar bar. The history of the hotel is still there, but now its just another over priced hotel bar. Â The awesome cigar shop is still in the hotel, but there is no where to smoke them except inside the store and I'm not sure why you'd want to smoke there. Â I guess I won't be returning very often to the Menger Bar.
Review Source:This is a very pretty bar, but unfortunately not very well stocked, and with bad hours. The cigar stock is minimal- they had Romeo & Julietta and one other brand but I've already forgotten. The scotch selection was also minimal- there was a definite lack of variety so I settled with a Johnnie Walker black, but really wished I could have had a Cragganmore, Glenlivet, or a Talisker. They close early, so make sure you drink up by 12:00, and get a marines number- the place was packed with them!
Review Source:This is one of the (many) times I wish Yelp would let me half-star reviews. Â The four stars is for the ambience, the history and the old-school vibe. Â Menger Bar gets three stars for the drink prices, bartenders and lack of parking situation.
To set the mood, this bar is old. Â Really old. Â 1859 old. Â Word is Menger Bar, along with the Menger Hotel, is haunted with many things going bump in the night. Â I've stayed at the hotel for three nights and heard nothing. Â But I already have a hard time getting women... imagine me trying to get a ghost to appear.
Anyway, Menger Bar is a very small and cozy place. Â You can enter through East Crockett or the hotel. When you go in, you are immediately drawn to the humongous moose head mounted on a wooden pillar. Â Teddy Roosevelt was one crazy motherf-cker.
The bar is on one side, and two levels of seating are on the other.
I love the second level seating. Â It reminds me of Frank's Pizza in Houston, for my fellow Houstonians... Â The seating is nothing but nice and spacious restauranty four-seat wooden tables. Â The place is filled with at least 100 very cool old-school light bulbs. Â The music is old and antiquey. There's a TV in there trained on ESPN.
The bartenders are okay. Â Not superb, not shitty. Â Just okay. Â
The drink prices are fucking ridiculous. Â I understand patrons are paying for 'history' and what not, but an imported beer (bottled) was $5 during what would be happy hour anywhere else. Â (They don't have one) Â I can only imagine what a whiskey or scotch would run.
It's a cigar bar (which apparently is ending in SA Aug. 19, 2011 - all smoking inside restaurants, bars, etc. Â Asstards).
Good luck finding parking. Â Unless you're going to Rivercenter Mall/The Alamo/etc. don't just come to Menger Bar to come to Menger Bar. Â You'll most likely have to pay to park in a lot or garage, so make it worth your trip.
I would recommend you come to see the history, but get your hard drinking on somewhere else... somewhere cheaper. Â A helluva lot cheaper.
The place where Theodore Roosevelt recruited many of his famous rough riders, this bar and hotel is full of history. Its dark, full of fine old wood furnishings, and has an old Texas ambiance that is very difficult to find elsewhere. Old, dark mahogany, hundreds of years of cigar smoke and fine spirits, wines, and beers, this place is one of my absolute favorites. There can be no better place to have a cigar and enjoy a scotch with a few friends who get the rich, magnificent history that oozes from the very pores of this establishment
This is a smoking establishment, and you can expect to find at least one person smoking a big fat cigar while enjoying a beverage, which I found pleasing, but folks who do not care for this should be forewarned. It is not offensive, but adds to the ambiance of old world Texas, which I found was this place's greatest draw.
Easily one of my favorite places to grab a beer! Â Granted, it's not cheap and the first time you get your bar tab, your brain will most likely mutter a "what the hell...." Â Still, i'll pay the higher premium for the ambiance alone.
When's the last time you went into a bar and actually felt like you were in a bar? Â It's dark, smokey and rich with history. Â I can't remember the last time I heard any music being played, which is ok by me. Â I have to suffer through enough bad music at every other watering hole I visit.
The definition of old school machismo, I can totally see why Teddy Roosevelt loved this place. It's small and cozy, there are dead animals scattered on the walls, military uniforms on display behind glass, and the air is ripe with cigar smoke. There's a kind of awkward upstairs area which is even more smoky and features a narrow staircase that would prove especially tricky after a few drinks. They shut down pretty early (at midnight on the Friday I was there) which seems to go against the linger longer atmosphere they're trying to project. If you're a cigar smoker or a tourist I definitely see the appeal, but I think one time at The Menger is just about all you need otherwise.
Review Source:Much of the area around the riverwalk and Alamo is touristy--lots of neon, wax museums and corporate restaurants. Â The Menger is a breath of fresh air--an old, authentic bar in a 150-year old hotel. Â The small place feels like old San Antonio, with dark wood, old filament-style light bulbs, lots of old photos of Teddy Roosevelt (who recruited Rough Riders in the bar) and a giant stuffed moosehead. Â Some people in the corner were using a Ouija Board (presumably to summon one of the many reported spirits who haunt the hotel.) Â The service was friendly and the drinks were strong, but beware of the cigar smoke in this place.
Review Source:Before I write anything, let me write this warning: This IS a smoking bar. And they sell cigars so as to make it especially pungent. You'll be steeped in smoke but also in history.
This spot is famed for its connection with Teddy Roosevelt and there are bits of things you should probably already know (like educational placards and whatnot) scattered about. Dark wood, gruff bartender, square cut glassware and men that look like they've been bellied up since old Teddy graced it with his presence.
Grab a drink here for the historical value alone. But also make sure to glance up at the giant moose head adorning the wall, have a stiff drink and sprout some chest hair. This is a mans bar. And you're not likely to forget it.
Beautiful, old, Texan. A few of my favorite things.
The dark wood and ambient lighting is sexy and warm. It's the kind of place you could cozy up with on a laid-back date and sip on bourbon til the wee hours of the morning.
This is one of the iconic landmark places downtown San Antonio where history and tradition ooze from the walls. President Roosevelt used to stay here. And little has changed in this space visually since. I love it. I love it. I love it.
The smoke here is overwhelming. *cough cough* I love the Menger Bar, I would never discourage anyone from going, but in the interest of full-disclosure, I think it's important to warn you ahead of time. But, hello, if you're going to hang out in a cigar bar, you should expect that anyway.
While just about anyone may be able to walk into the Menger, I really *got* into the Menger: this cigar-friendly mahogany cave greets with its historical arms open wide, as this was one of Teddy Roosevelt's favorite spots, a fact the hotel's not forgotten, and that you're reminded of via the ample graying photos of the man throughout.
For me, a perfect night at the Menger sounds like a glass of single malt, a fine cigar, and the types of conversations that melt into the haze about you, where fact and tall tales intermingle, and where the best stories are told boldly, out loud, and without an ever-present eye toward the clock. And my first introduction certainly won't be my last.
I made it a point to visit both the hotel and the bar after reading that Oscar Wilde stayed here during his North American book tour... If I made it out to visit his grave at the Pere Lachaise cemetery I had to none the less visit one of the places he adored and spent time at. In a nut shell this place is rad. It has that man cave rich masculant feel to it. The bar has been here since the hotel opened up and exudes so much history. Taxidermied animals gives it almost that lodge hunters vibe as well which was a little scary looking at that massive moose.
Ghost. well apparently this place is haunted.. I didn't have any run ins with the other side while having my cocktail but the bartenders have interesting stories.
I was a little thrown off when the guy next to us was smoking a cigar. I don't like cigars or the smell of them so we left sooner than expected on our first trip in. They allow that in here. You can also buy cigars here..
In all this place is AMAZING sans the old guy smoking a cigar.. It's a must see while in San Antonio. It's not your typical douchey bar spilling of slutty drunks and lame guys trying to pick you up. It's a very relax sip on drink sort of place!
If you happen to get bored walking around the Alamo, look for the door to the bar at the Menger Hotel right across the street from the Alamo. Â I mean it's RIGHT across the street. Â We moseyed in on a Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago. Â This bar is two stories, dark wood, big mirror behind the bar, old photos of the hotel hung on the walls. Â Booze galore.
We sat at the bar and chatted up the bartender who told us about the ghosts that supposedly haunt the hotel, and told us that sometimes when people take photos in the bar they'll see a little girl in the background of their photos. Â Spooooky. Â The bartender also told us that once she couldn't find the keys to one of the liquor cabinets (she was working alone), and after searching for hours she finally found them on the bottom of the container with all the straws. Â Most likely the ghosts playing a joke on her, she assumed. Â Who knows?! Â And I'm not going to admit that this poor bartender left her keys out, and my friend hid them under the straws when we left the bar. Â Tee-hee.
I try to visit San Antonio once a year, so I am putting this bar on my list of stops.
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