Poodie's Hilltop Bar & Grill

I really hate to do this, but it just has to be done. We live in the area and have been burned one too many times here. The first time being over 3 years ago the last being 3 days ago.

The first time we swore we would never return because the bartender charged us for 4 buckets instead of 2. Which would have been a fine, honest mistake if he hadn't been completely rude about it. Almost like it was our problem he overcharged us. We were super upset and promised we would never return. We held true to that for about a year. Which we really hated because the place has so much potential and the philly cheesesteak is pretty awesome.

Last epic fail happened last Saturday. My family was in town and after a great day at the lake we went to Poodie's for dinner. My husband and I raved and raved about the sandwiches so everyone ordered one. No one had eaten since breakfast and we were all starving. When we ordered we were one of two tables in the entire place. It was around 5:30 pm. When 6:30 rolled around they were getting quite a bit busier and we still hadn't received our food so we asked our waitress about it. She said very nonchalantly said "Oh, it's just hitting the grill". What? Just hitting the grill? We've been here for an hour already. We had plans starting at 9:00 and still had to go home and get ready. We had been at the lake all day after all. So, we asked how long it might be and let her know we were a little upset we hadn't been served yet. Her answer was something like "Well however long it takes to cook". Ok...... we told her of our 9:00 plans and kept waiting.

Once the 2 hour mark hit, we were not only STARVING but also pretty upset. When we went to the bar to ask once again (because the waitress NEVER came back to our table), we were simply told "We're doing our best". We're short staffed". That's all fine and good but we were one of two tables 2 hours ago???? Once again "We're doing our best".

So at that point it was already after 8:00 pm and we had to leave to get ready for our 9:00 pick up. We explained we would not be paying and started to walk out the door. They yelled after us "Your order is ready". Seriously by this point we had been waiting for over 2 hours. We grabbed our food and hit the door. When we got home (honestly a little afraid to eat our meals), the buns on all of the sandwiches were burned.

So long story short, we're saddened we won't be returning. Completely ridiculous!

Poodies is awesome.. Don't know of a better way to say it. They have great Texas Country acts every night... except Wed which is open mic night and usually you get great performers then also.

There is a rumor that since Willie Nelson lives in Spicewood he sometimes comes here. I don't know if that's true or not but more than half of the patrons and bar workers insist it is.  I do know he has played here before.

They have a nice out back patio over looking HWY 71, the patio is complete with misters so you don't over heat and a cadre of a lawyer/bikers sitting around enjoying cold drinks.

Inside Poodies everything is as eclectic as it should be in a proper roadhouse dive bar. The drinks are cheap and reasonable strong. I cant complain about the selection or quality as they had everything you would think a dive bar would have.

I had some food here and its nothing special just your typical frozen fried bar food. You can get chopped hatch chilles on everything " this is called Poodie style"  as apparently the Poodie himself was a big fan of this.

I would say you cant go wrong by taking a quick trip to Poodies especially if you live in or happen to be staying in Spicewood for any reason.

We have heard enough lore about Poodie's that we needed to check it out, and a friend's band playing here gave us the perfect excuse. Here's what would have saved us some time and effort: reading other Yelp reviews instead of calling the place.  

The woman who answered the phone said, "Sure, it's fine to bring your kids." I had my doubts. It's a restaurant, after all, my husband reminded me.  Yes, but it's also a bar. And from the moment we walked in the door from the gravel parking lot, we knew we had screwed up.

Poodie's is one of those historical Texas honky-tonks that must be preserved, so folks will know what a Texas honky-tonk is. The music is country Texas rock and it's freaking loud for a little space (earplugs required). The waitstaff are friendly (everyone smiles and is super helpful). The place is filled with locals and curious tourists and the occasional soon-to-be-deaf dog, and some of these people are smoking with abandon. I had forgotten how much I appreciate the indoor smoking ban in Austin; it's good to be reminded occasionally.

Our teenage companions immediately knew they were out of their element.  As we waited for our eyes to adjust to the dark, my daughter turned around and exited through the front door. "A gross old fisherman was checking me out," she told us later. Our teen boys pronounced Poodie's "a distressed old pedo bar full of fishermen and boxers."

There's a really nice wooden deck out back, from which we could hear the band perfectly through the walls, but our kids were already at the car waiting to leave. My husband and I plan to come back without them on a different night to check the place out properly, and then I'll get back to you with a full review.  I'll be sure to bring my inhaler.

**Happy update: I heard from a reliable source that after July 4th, Poodie's will join the Austin trend to officially be smoke-free indoors.