Captain Foxheart’s Bad News Bar & Spirit Lodge

What a cool place! From the outside, you enter a door that looks like you are going to a law firm, but a steep stairs going to the second floor leads you to an awesome bar. My co-​worker and I came in for a good stiff drink before dinner and did not realize it was Happy Hour. I order a gimlet and boy… For a happy hour drink, it was delicious! Usually happy hour drinks are poorly made and cheap booze, but this took the cake! I’d def return in a heart beat. I’m given it a 4 star for the review because the service was not that great. The bartender was on his phone and didn’t acknowledge us. Took him a minute to see we were interested in ordering a drink.

Great drinks. It’s not that hard to find guys — follow the huge crowd…

So if I were to rate the drinks, 5 stars for sure! By far the best old fashioned I’ve had in a while. I didn’t manage to get the bartender’s name but I asked him to make me a traditional absinthe cocktail and I was blown away when he set everything up just as I had it in Europe, he took the time to make the cocktail using the traditional methods. When I asked if he could chill the cocktail some more, and whether he could use brown sugar instead of white sugar, he immediately turned into this pretentious idiotic guy. He had the audacity to basically say the customer doesn’t get what he wants at this establishment. Granted yes the place is great, the ambiance is amazing, the management needs to work on educating their staff in soft skills. The guy was a skilled bartender but no where close to mixologists that I’ve had the pleasure of working with.

Wow it has changed a lot since it first open. We did not need any more entertainment than people watching. Drinks great as always… prices not too bad either.
cool hang out spot but VERY VERY crowded on weekends.

Tuesday night is date night for me & the wife. We are trying to go to places we’ve never been, and this place keeps popping up. I read that this bar gets very mixed reviews, but in the spirit of adventure, I decided to ignore the negative reviews and go for it. Let me be perfectly clear: I can’t be happier that I did. Walking up the dark staircase to the unmarked door was fun in its own right. Once inside, the bar is stunning. Beautiful atmosphere. The staff was attentive and friendly. We decided to try the speed rack. 4 drinks from the menu, and the bartenders attempt to make them as accurately and quickly as possible. After a couple minutes of set up, all 4 drinks we ordered were made perfectly in a shade over 2 minutes. Then there’s the patio. A stunning view of downtown. We had a great time. Honestly, I know that no business can be perfect, but we didn’t experience anything that was mentioned in the bad reviews here. I will definitely be returning. Great little bar tucked away in beautiful downtown Houston!

They swear they’re not a speakeasy, but a hidden away bar on the second floor of a building that you can only access through a doorway to another business, and an unmarked door at the top of the stairwell? Oh well, maybe they make the claim for legal reasons.
The dimly lit lounge is one of Houston’s best «secret» bars, a great place to grab a classic or unique cocktail. The environment is elegant, the liquor selection is vast, and the drinks are all well crafted by people who obviously know exactly what they’re doing. The service can be a bit abrupt on a busy night, but when you stop by on a slower day, they are very accommodating. My girlfriend has allergies and some very particular tastes when it comes to alcohol, and both bartenders took turns making suggestions until we found something that worked.
The balcony overlooking Main Street is a great place to relax in the evenings, though on a hot summer night or after the rain it can be absolutely miserable. I prefer it in the fall and winter, when it’s slightly crisp outside and perfect for a date night.

Why does everyone want to go in here so bad? Bouncer guy kept saying, «Wait a few minutes,» or «When someone walks out, you’ll get in…» or «It’s at max-​capacity.» Mother effer, it was 10 P.M. No one was really in downtown. The ONLY reason why my bf wanted to go so bad because a speakeasy bar in San Antonio that was FABULOUS, recommended it. The drinks weren’t even all that great. I highly, HIGHLY recommend going to Nightingale.
Oh, and max-​capacity? My ass. You took the $ 20 right away for us to get in.

Liked everything about this place.
The low key profile (yea I’ll admit I couldn’t find it at first), the all wooden bar (manly yet elegant), and the cocktail complexity (normally I don’t like when it hurts my head to read all the ingredients).
The balcony is cool but I can def see it getting packed on the busy nights.

This is a pretty cool bar. The balcony is nice because you’re above street level. The bar is long and narrow, so moving around can be a little tight when there’s a lot of people.
Moving on to the more important things: drinks. They have a good selection of spirits and can make a wide variety of cocktails. Their $ 5 old fashioned is a great happy hour choice.

If in need of some exercise, trek up a flight of stairs to bad news bar. The drinks are solid and, if possible, snatch a seat on the patio. Not your typical bar where you can order a goose and tonic but they have a lot of options for you. The hibiki 17 was good to sip on.

This place is hidden next to Nightingale bar. It is a dark door that says law office. You have to climb up 2 flights of stairs to get there. The law office is on the right and the bar is on the left. There is a little metal fox head on the door.
Inside, there’s a few booths, outside patio, and bar seats. Neat set up.
We got there around 830 and by 10 it was getting packed. Seemed like the place was for early 20 – 26 year olds. I liked it but the crowd was younger than expecting.
I had the Lao Lao and pinch and point. Pinch and point tasted like a lemon ricola cough drop! Yuck. Lao Lao was better.
Old fashions were pretty good. Husband and friend approved.

RACISM RACISM RACISM!!!
Owner is RACIST!
He came up to my buddy and I on Halloween night and told us he was kicking us out for being brown.

This was a fun joint to find post pride parade in downtown Houston this year. The bar is located upstairs and has ample seating for small groups. It’s also got a second floor patio which is great for a nice afternoon or if you need to cool off at night.
I love the location of this place. It’s in proper downtown Houston, so the bar scene is a bit more mellow and the volume is low enough for a legitimate conversations. Expect great cocktails but tiny little water glasses.

Quick after work bar-​hop, stop #3.
Great little place on the up-​and-​coming downtown strip that will undoubted be the strip to be on in 10 years when all the apartments are built in the area. The biggest issue with this place? finding the door. I’d tell you how to get in, but then i’d have to kill you.
Great upper deck patio unlike anything downtown… and perfect for the nice weather that is creeping in entering the Fall.
Drinks were good and reasonably priced. Will for sure be back!

This downtown Main Street bar is amazing. There’s no sign on the building, look for Moving Sidewalk — it’s the door next to it, bouncer outside. You head up an old narrow staircase to the second floor, where an unmarked door (just next to a law firm office) lets you into the bar.
There’s a big 25-​seat bar and a couple of tables upstairs. The lighting and music lends a cool speakeasy vibe.
The cocktails were great. Beautiful and delicious, and not overpriced.
Love this place.

Speakeasy bars are some of my favorite things in life. You walk past what looks like a an apartment complex but there’s a doorman hanging outside. You walk up a long flight of stairs, pass a lawyer’s office, and enter a dark bar. Brings you back to prohibition days when real speakeasy bars sprouted up all around the country.
They have a lot of craft cocktails which seems like their specialty. A bit pricey at $ 10 but that’s about what you pay in Houston for these types of cocktails. You can sit inside at a dark table with a small lamp, definitely an intimate spot you can take a date. Or you can sit on the balcony and get a great view of downtown and enjoy some fresh air. Nice options depending on your mood.
We stumbled upon this place accidentally, but will definitely be back again! We went for happy hour on a Thursday evening and it wasn’t that packed but I hear it does get busy on the weekends (it’s a small bar).

Loved this little hidden gem. Great view of the city and even better drinks and bartenders.
Can’t go wrong with the classics here: The Manhattan & Old Fashions are stellar.
This is where you go towards the end of the night for one last cocktail, cig and some city-​fied people watching from the balcony.

Since my original review, I’ve been by more than a few times and thought to give the place an updated review.
My original post had a barb in it because of my initial visit had some terrible service. The bartender was very rude to my wife for ordering a generic whiskey, Jack Daniels, and then equally catty when I asked for a Coors Light. We felt unwelcome in a place we were excited to discover and it was a big bummer for us. In retrospect, I’m guessing it was a busy night and they were sick of being hammered for things they didn’t serve. Since then, we haven’t had any issues with service and they’ve been very friendly at guiding us to something just as good, or better, behind the bar. I’m a big fan of the boulevardier they serve on tap and in general, I greatly appreciate the bartenders’ attention to detail and knowledge of drinks.
I’ve found that coming by on week nights is a different scene altogether versus the fight for real estate on the weekends. I’m still a huge fan of their nondescript entrance, the décor of their rich wooden interior and the views from the balcony. The place is a perfect settings for a cocktail and conversation, and on a quiet night, can be a transformative experience to another era of drinking. I suppose I’ve become an old curmudgeon, dismissing all those new hair cuts and funny music, but if you’re looking for rowdy party time, it’s still here in full swing on the weekends. That being said, we’re just fine whispering in the corner on a Tuesday night.

This is one of those places that pulls you back to the old days of Mad Men or possibly even Prohibition. I’ve always heard my friends refer to it as «Secret Bar,» and I’ve been dying to sit up on the balcony and people watch.
I’ll confess: I don’t go out to bars often. Especially not in Houston just because I tend to be so busy. But my birthday cocktail needed to be something special (on a Wednesday of all days) so we hopped on the metro for a fantastic night at «Secret Bar.»
–The service was fantastic (although I noticed others complained)
–Great view from the balcony
–Exciting entrance up the tiny hallway
–Extremely strong drinks
By the end, I wanted to pop over to Heresay for some French fries or any food, but it was really a fun night. It’s a great place to chat with friends and people watch for a bit. Definitely consider taking friends and don’t spoil the surprise before you walk through a lawyer’s sign on the door to enter a bar!

Captain Foxhear’s Bad News Bar is more of a date bar vs. a bar you go to mingle with people. At least, that’s the impression that I get the few times I’ve been here. I always see people out on dates, or couples. And plus, the way the bar is laid out, unless you’re out on the patio, it’s really cramped inside. Yes, they have couches, tables, chairs, etc, but it just feels cramped inside. The patio is not too shabby. It’s not the biggest patio, but I definitely like the patio better than the inside. Well, except for the people who smoke, obviously. But whatever.
Drinks are good but could be pricey. No Crown Royal so I can’t drink my normal Crown on the rocks. And I’m not a big fan of old fashioned. Maker’s Mark whiskey on the rocks is what I drink here. But for those of you who like to try different cocktails, then you have your pick.
The people are pretty «classy». I haven’t run into loudmouthed douchebags yet. The line to get in could get long, but in my experience, it moves pretty fast UNLESS they’ve exceeded the number of people allowed inside per fire regulation. The longest that I ever had to wait here was under 10 minutes so it’s not as bad as some people make it to be.
Bad News Bar is a nice place to chill with friends, or to take your date. However, this place to me is not a place to meet new people.