H-E-B Center at Cedar Park

I attended a rodeo put on by HOO-ey’s Wild West Week here (thank you, Elite Unilocal Manager!) and really enjoyed it. Compared to a lot of other venues I have been to, this is a well run facility and there’s a lot to recommend it. The sections are well laid out, the seats were comfy, the view is good from almost everywhere, and the air conditioning easily combated the 95 degree heat outside.
I can see the seating getting a bit cramped width-​wise if there are lots of people, and good luck getting through the narrow rows if you need to use the bathroom. Also, their ticket and security lines seem a bit disorganized, so be patient.
I can’t dock them for the high priced parking or food. Folks, this is what you pay for convenience at a place like this. Also… hell, I used to live in California. $ 10 parking ($ 15 valet) is downright cheap to me!
Definitely would come back here for another rodeo, sports event, or rock concert.

Enjoyed the Rodeo. I nice small arena so you didn’t get «lost in the crowd». I’ll attend again for sure.

We came here for a Austin Acoustic game. Great place to play this kind of football. Would be a great place to have an AFL football too. We had a great time. We had great seats. Parking was $ 10. No hassle with parking and leaving the parking lot. The beer is pricy but it is what it is. Lg draft $ 10 the smaller draft $ 8. All I can say is is a great place.

I’ve watched professional hockey, basketball, and now football (Legends Football League) at this venue and it is a great little sports venue. I don’t believe there is a bad seat in the place. Even with my cheap tickets I feel close to the action. Bring some binoculars and you feel like you’re on the field with them. Hockey was definitely my favorite sport to watch here, but the football was a lot of fun too.
The parking is $ 10, but you could always ride share. There are several concession stands, and the draft beer is $ 8 for small and $ 10 for large. During the game they had the obligatory Kiss cam, but then they had the beer cam, which was funny. Basically, people were supposed to attempt to chug their beverage when the camera was on them. It made for some entertaining tv.
I’m looking forward to attending a concert here. I would imagine it will be a great experience.

Wish I could give this place 0 stars. I came here for my sisters graduation and almost missed her walking because these idiots don’t know how to organize any event held at their center. I would not spend a dime here. It needs new owners new management and new employees. Time to clean house.

Good venue for concerts and some sporting events (seating is tight and mediocre), but the concessions are suck and are outrageously over priced. So many up charges like parking at $ 10 bucks. Typical low grade concession fare — Bud Light, crap popcorn, bland hot dogs. All at five-​star dining prices.

The Cedar Park Center should be a top notch venue for sporting and concert events but it just disappoints because of the extremely poor quality of sales staff attending the concession stands and bars. Attending a recent concert, surprised that two concession booths were ill prepared not having enough beer on hand or knowledgeable servers preparing drinks. The lines to those counters were long and slow. Would like to see this venue run more efficiently.

Author’s Note: This was originally posted under the NOLA, Texas Food and Music Festival but Unilocal saw fit to put it under the Cedar Park Center. Shame. Anyone thinking to attend this festival in the future, should they have it again, will probably never see this.
I shoulda had known… any event at the Cedar Park Center is gonna cost some serious $$$ and/​or the blood of your first born child. I knew it was gonna be $ 15 for parking but I’d gotten my tickets on the cheap thru Groupon, so I figured that evened out. What I didn’t know is that a can of beer (Blue Moon no less) was gonna set me back $ 8 each! Or, a frozen «Hurricane» that tasted like a fruit punch snow cone would be $ 12, which included the commemorative plastic cup that we threw away. Also, didn’t realize that several of these food/​drink trucks were cash only so we had to hit up the onsite ATM and you NEVER want to have to do that… the service fee wasn’t quite as bad as the ATM’s at the strip club (I’ve, uh, heard…) but still.
On the up side, there were plenty of food trucks and options to eat. On the down side, any place offering Cajun food (only two of about 10) was sporting an hour long wait line. And, at the end of that line we got a meh, mediocre Muffaleta, some admittedly tasty Maque Choux and some gummy «beignet sticks». God help you if you actually wanted crawfish. There were about 100 people in line for those little boogers all day. I don’t get the attraction, thankfully, and also I was too cute in a white shirt and skirt to get that nasty. Meanwhile, the pizza, burger and Evil Weiner trucks sat mostly idle all day.
This leads to the fact that, yes, I did see that most of the music in the afternoon was outside. What I din’t know was there was no shade (and me without my sunscreen) and everyone was sitting on the grass (and me in a short skirt without my blanket or chair). Irregardless, I sat on some real happy prickly grass anyway and enjoyed the shit out of Bob Schneider.
And there you have the only redeeming quality of this festival… the music. They sported an incredible lineup of local and Lousiana legends that came to the festival and brought their best shows. Bob killed it, having everyone up screaming «TARANTULA» at the end of his set. Then we went inside (thank god for A/​C and vodka in the inside bar) for the legedary and hirsute Leon Russell, then back outside for my first introduction to Asleep at the Wheel. I’m ashamed to say I’d never seen them and they put on a hell of show, having me two steppin around my hubby like a dang redneck stripper pole. We chose to leave at that point but I was sad to miss Dr John and Robert Randolph.
I don’t know if this was a «First Annual» type thing and it’ll roll around again next year… but if so, I’ll be better prepared with sunscreen, a blanket, a flask and a full belly going into it. Like so much of Austin, it’s all about the music, ya’ll.

I attended the Nola Texas Festival on Sunday April 3. I would not attend another event there for a variety of reasons after attending the Nola event.
1. Ticket takers were not scanning tickets at the entrance. I paid $ 70 for my ticket (food and music). I would expect at that price to have my ticket validated. It made me wonder how many other people just copied their own tickets and told their friends to come on their paperwork.
2. The ticket takers didn’t know the process for getting the «All you can eat» crawfish wrist band. They barely knew in what direction to send us to. When we arrived there, the lines were huge and they had run out of crawfish for about 25 minutes — this is «All we can eat?»
3. Security was lax and uninformed as well. Several security guards (Red shirts) were on their cell phones and offered no information when asked for directions.
4. There were no port o johns in the outdoor area.
5. Chairs in the food areas were being swiped by people listening to the music — but no outside chairs were allowed to be brought in — not smart.
6. $ 15 parking charge not mentioned anywhere on the ticketmaster site.
7. Several vendors did not have the ability to take credit cards. Its 2016 — who caries cash anymore?

Fine space for events (they have concerts, on ice events, hockey).
We went to see the Texas Stars (Austin’s minor league hockey team). There was no fee for parking.
We paid ~$ 46 for «vip» tickets, which means you sit in the area where there are waitresses to deliver you food and beer (however the prices are a couple dollars more than going in to get it yourself). Also, the tipping is weird — it’s $ 5, $ 10, $ 15, $ 20 instead of the normal % tips you see, so if you’re tipsy, be sure you are tipping correctly :)
Food is NOT good. Hot dogs ($ 5) were lame (I usually enjoy the occasional ball park dog); however the kettle chips that come if you buy the basket were probably the best thing we ate. Popcorn ($ 5) forgettable. Pretzel ($ 5) was the worst I might have ever had IN MY LIFE (but I am from Philly and we have great soft pretzels…) MetroDeli inside looked like it had decent food, and there was also a BBQ joint inside.
16 oz beers were $ 8 and 24 oz were $ 10 when delivered to seats. They had 4 drafts: Miller Lite, Coors Light, Leinenkugal (keg was kicked), and? They also had a bunch in cans and bottles. They sell wine indoors.
No reentry after 3^rd period.
Lots of kids there, so bring yours if you have one!
And don’t forget your coat! It is an ice skating rink!

Dude I Love this place! I’m not sure what the fuss is about, the parking is inexpensive and there is plenty of it. Austin has high priced Parking and not many spaces. There are so many events going on at a time here so it’s made to fit ALL, I’ve been to a graduation here and a basket ball game or two, even a hockey game. The people are very nice that run the place and very organized. I appreciate a place closer than downtown Austin to go to see a big event or concert/​game at :)

I come here ask the time for Austin Spurs games. It’s always so much fun. I love watching the Spurs abs am treated really well by the Spurs staff. But this review is about the Cedar Park Center as a venue. I really like it. It’s reasonably easy to access and get in and out. The event staff is always friendly and helpful. I also have been here for the circus, concerts, Texas Starz, and even graduations. It’s a good place for all types of events.

Its a horseshoe shaped venue that provides decent viewing, irrelevant to seating location.
Season ticket holders are presented with entry into the Coors Light Club Lounge. This is where you’ll find a full bar, sort of, and a few tables to relax before your favorite team shows and the game gets underway. The bar is sort of limited. I hapen to ask for a typical Old Fashioned but they couldn’t as they didn’t have simple syrup. However it has enough to wet your whistle, or at the least, wash down that GMO popcorn.
Its a decent venue. I wouldn’t pass up another opportunity to catch an event here.

Maybe I’m just inexperienced at stadiums but meh is about right.
So, the good:
–Summerland Tour was pretty awesome. Toadies were the best. Everclear sounded like they were karaoking themselves but lots of energy. :)
–Lots of options for food and drink. Looked pricey, but it was nice that it went above and beyond hot dog, popcorn, soda, beer.
–Acoustics seemed pretty good.
–Nice and new and shiny!
The bad:
–15 $ to park? Seriously? I understand downtown where there’s limited parking but this is a patch of concrete in the middle of fucking nowhere. That alone would probably keep me from going back here (and I would have been INCREDIBLY bent if my tickets were not free).
–The actual seats. I am 5’5″ with regular sized woman legs. They were squished up against the seat in front of me. I could not see how anyone taller than me, given the typical seat situation where they’re all or mostly taken, could comfortably sit there for more than 5 minutes. It was ok in this case because we were spread out but talk about sardines in a tiny can!
–There is no convenient way to get here without going on the toll road for at least an exit. That’s annoying.
Would I go back? If I was REALLY excited about a band or event and there were no other options? Free tickets to something that I knew wouldn’t be super crowded? Maybe?

This place is gorgeous, but it is still in Cedar Park and I have to agree with others in that the prices they charge for parking, beer and food are outrageous (guess they gotta pay for that big beautiful building somehow). We got the free tix to Summerland (Thanks Kelly) and it was a pretty decent show, most of the seats are good seats in the house and it brought us back to our days of 90 grunge rock, even though most of the kids around us were there for the toadies… I enjoyed listening to American Hi-​Fi and Fuel. Everclear was disappointingly horrible live but their songs still rocked.

I came here for the Summerland Tour and while the venue was spacious and the seating comfortable it just seemed to far from Downtown Austin for my liking.
The venue is nice, new, parking is $ 15 cash (at least at our event) and the beer was about $ 9.75 for a draft light beer which I thought was pretty pricey, but i guess that’s what it costs to drink at a venue these days!
Overall if you are near Cedar park then this is a great venue for you but if you live in central Austin it’s inconvenient to drive to because there are so many options near by, while Cedar Park Center is 45min away (to far for an Lyft/​Über). Also if you want to go anywhere after most of your options are in central Austin, not north austin.

So, let me get this straight.
I have to drive 40 minutes.
Pay on a road to drive there.
Then, even if I have bought a ticket, pay to park there.
Then, pay 9.75 for a 24oz. beer.
Then, drive 40 minutes back that night, and hope I don’t get pulled over in Williamson County?
No thanks.

Hmm. While seeing the Summerland tour and particularly the Toadies was cool, not a whole lot good to say about Cedar Park Center. But I’ll try: it’s small enough that all seats are close to the stage, and the facilities are clean and new. This is also true of a newly opened bar, of course, and those don’t charge $ 15 for parking. As you can see by the rapid transition into complaint mode, I have quickly run out of good things to say.
So, in addition to the unavoidable parking fee (no place around to stealth it), you have airplane seats designed for no one over 5“7, and it was jesusfucking $ 9.75 for a 20oz Budweiser. Really? I mean, concert venues aren’t known for drink value, but that’s like a 2000% markup on the cost of draft beer.
Also, terrible, remote Cedar Park location that necessitates extensive tolls if coming from the south and that is totally inaccessible by bus or train. And the staff don’t seem to care that everyone openly smokes pot and those god-​awful vapor cigs right in front of them. Maybe I’m just getting too old for this kind of thing.

I really like the Cedar Park Center. Why?
1. They offer a lot of fun events at reasonable prices. We have been for a couple of Texas Stars hockey games and the Shrine Circus so far. It’s nice to have a lot of fun events to go to for an outing.
2. The parking is very smooth. Getting in has always been easy. Getting out is amazingly fast. I don’t think it has ever taken me more than 5 minutes to get out of the parking lot, even after a big event. It’s nice to not be stuck in traffic for an hour.
3. The seats are actually padded! Most places Ive bee to like the CPC have hard plastic seats, so the extra padding in nice for your bum.
4. Lots of food options. So I am only partly aware of sporting events. I totally go to watch the occasion fight and eat way too much junk food. I haven’t walked around the entire place yet, but so far I have seen concession stands for snacks, Tex-​Mex, BBQ, booze, and all sorts of tasty junk. Love it!
Why not 5 stars?
1. The seats, though padded, are on the small side. The rows are also closely spaced. I’m 5’9″ and my legs bumped the seat ahead of me. My hubby, who is built like a 6’4″ linebacker, has to sit sideways to fit.
2. Parking fees are all over the place. When you buy hockey tickets, you pay $ 2 per ticket when you get the tickets. When we went to the circus, it was a $ 10, cash only fee when we pulled in. It’s weird that the fee isn’t set and is collected at different times. It’s confusing.
3. The food at the concessions is expensive. It’s priced about the same as every other venue I’ve been too, but it still gets me. I mean $ 5 a soda? Crazy. I know, I’m just being cheap, but it’s true.
Overall it’s a fun venue to go watch a sports game or smaller event.

Four stars because it’s nice to have a decent sized indoor venue in the Austin area other than the Frank Erwin Center. Easier access & less traffic because it’s not downtown, easier parking (even though they charge too much), overall just a more convenient venue unless you can walk to the Erwin Center.
I’ve had a wide variety of experiences here… My grad school commencement ceremony, hockey games, basketball games, Cirque du Soleil shows & Cirque Dreams show, and some others. VIP seating is by far the best, as it should be. There’s really not a bad seat in this place because it’s large, but not huge. My main complaint is the seats in the non-​floor sections if watching a stage show. They are really uncomfortable when one has to turn to watch the stage. Games are fine because you can sit like you’re supposed to.
Update — I attended a concert last night & the acoustics are terrible in the main seats. Bummer. As we walked closer to the floor, the acoustics were pretty good. Can’t complain bc the tickets were free, but in the future (if I was paying) I would get floor seats for concerts or not go. Yes, it was that bad. It was still a lot of fun, but considering this band plays one of my favorite songs, it would have been nice if the acoustics were better.
I’m glad it’s here because we are drawing more entertainment options year-​round without having to drive to San Antonio, Dallas or Houston. It’s not big enough for the really big attractions, but it’s cool to have more choices close to home.