Old No. 2 Cafe & Grill

Great little watering hole

Hell ya for old # 2! we have a blast every time we come here, know us as we are usually the loudest ones in the bar when we are in town.
Has that ol’ lizard’s feel to it. Remember that bar lizards, man those where the days!

Expensive drinks ($ 8 a shot for Don Julio) — Interesting crowd — need an update in the restroom (it is foul) — other than that good crowd — Karoake on one of the nights I was there. Nice patio — Walking distance from Residence Inn!

Old No. 2 is a chill little place centered in the business area gone night life center of suite malls in North Laredo. Although the staff is friendly and the drink specials are pretty darn great (you don’t beat 3 dollar Jack and Cokes), you need to get here at around 10pm if you want to sit down sometime during the night.
With regular bands such as La Doa, Mechanica Inflexible and the ever so popular Bottom Line, this place is always packed with a lively crowd ranging from tattooed rockers to stiletto’d gals.
There’s always a good time waiting at No. 2!

Let’s take a step back and explain just how I ended up in the state I was at Taco Palenque, hung over BAD after a night of too many drinks. There’s only one culprit responsible for that state of being (And it certainly wasn’t me! How dare you suggest such a thing!)– the Old No. 2.
Since I was the youngest person at the TKO Sports Bar, I got to wondering just where the ‘scene’ in Laredo was. Where were the nonconformists? The tattooed, pierced, dreadlocked youngsters, still idealistic enough to rage against the man. Turns out they prefer dive bars to sports bars, glad to know some things are the same the country over.
So with a solid buzz under my belt courtesy of the cheap drinks at the TKO, we made our way to this little gem, which turned out to be a stellar time. (Did I just loose all my cred for using the word stellar? Wha? I have to earn it before I can loose it? Phew. I’m good then.) There was a fantastic live rock band (Machina somethingorother, that whole portion of the night is a little fuzzy in my mind) that played a couple of their original songs and then took requests from the audience. The lead singer would flip through what appeared to be a karaōke song book in front of him that contained lyrics, but he sung like he didn’t even need the refresher.
Now is when chronology gets a little mixed up. I smoked a couple cigarettes between sets. Stumbled through choppy Spanish with others. Took a couple shots. Drank several beers. And ended up swing dancing with Mr. Man. Then we went home and I woke up the next morning cursing whiskey and wishing only for sleep, sweet sleep.
This was seriously the best time I had during my short stay in Laredo (Nuevo Laredo, now that was a different story…), so if you find yourself traveling through this city at some point, check it out. Thursday nights are live music nights!