Menger Bar

My boyfriend and I were so excited go to Menger Bar, where Teddy Roosevelt recruited his rough riders! We order drinks at the bar to cool off after touring the Alamo. My drink looked beautiful except for the dead fly in it. I pointed it out to the bar tender and he offered a grunt and made me a new drink. I had a bad feeling about the second drink so I didn’t touch it. We asked for the bill and neither drink was comped. I was extremely disappointed with the service. Will never return.

This is one of the coolest bars ever! The bartender, Angela, is one of the friendliest and most attentive bartenders I’ve ever met! She was so knowledgeable regarding the history of the Menger Bar and Hotel and the surrounding buildings. She was funny and engaging! Go visit her and have an awesome Bloody Mary or a Mexican Martini shot.
My husband, friends, and I went to this bar twice on our trip this week — once just for drinks and the other time for lunch and drinks. The lunches at the Menger Bar are delicious! Try a burger or the chicken salad sandwich, and the fries are to die for! The beauty of the hotel is stunning, and the woodwork in the bar, along with the chairs and tables, are all original — dating back to the mid 1800s. A must see on your trip to SA!

Amazing bar tenders, especially Angela, that can inform you of the great history of this iconic bar and will strike up a great conversation with you. The history and amazing woodwork of this bar give it a nice old fashioned atmosphere that is very rare to find in the U.S. You walk in here and you won’t walk into too many others like it in the states. Good selection of liquor and beer. No draft though.

Pretty long and awkward wait for a $ 5 Lonestar. Employees were all fairly standoffish. Beautiful place with some awesome history that seems to be getting ruined by poor service.

Had a blast at this historic bar if you are near the Alamo you need to stop by for a beer period! Service a tad slow but friendly food solid but a very limited menu. Teddy Roosevelt did not show while I was there but legend has it he sometimes does. And that moose head is the largest I have ever seen!

Great bar. Great bartender. Amazing history. The bartender was very informative, answered all our history questions about the place. Served great drinks & also gave us recommendations of bars to hit while we were in town.

The history was enough to get me in the door one time.
The fifteen minute wait at a four-​deep bar (I guess they won’t spring for cocktail servers) for a $ 5 Lonestar that I had to drink by midnight (their closing time) on a SATURDAY night… ain’t enough to ever bring me back. Good thing the endless parade of tourists keeps this place open. I guess.

Took a little walk in the rain to see this tiny historical gem. Sat upstairs — and was amused by the sign saying «more than 10 people not allowed»…as the bar is quite old.
After discussion with the bar tenders — held over the upstairs railing while they were downstairs behind the bar– I ended up with a wonderful Amaretto spiced rum chocolate liquor martini. It was quite warming on a cold rainy night and I would deinfiftely come back to sample their custom creations again.

Very nice bartender, loved the décor and old feel of the place. Had 1 beer and 1 whiskey Coke, was $ 12.00 total which seemed kind of steep for a beer. Good place to relax and talk about the history of the place.

Upon entering, it’s quaintness was a surprise. Low ceilings, balcony for max 10 people greatest bartender. And the customers order things like avDos Equis «dressed» which is a salted bottle and limes, which you won’t hear of outside these parts. Love the old photos on all the walls of the history of this place.

When most people think of San Antonio they often think of the Alamo and The Riverwalk. Sure those places are historic and unique, but there not all they are cracked up to be. For me, I’d rather sit at the Menger Bar and have a cold beer while admiring the rich history of the bar and enjoying some of the best people watching this side of the Mississippi.
History — Back in 1898 Teddy Roosevelt used the Menger Bar as a place to recruit Rough Riders. I don’t know exactly what that scene looked like back then, but the dark wood and old bar sure painted a vivid picture of what it must have been like.
People — I think the Rough Riders would be quite shocked at the clientele these days. There was a large group of woo girls, bros, old folks and even regular folks like me. Since the majority of seating was taken up by the first two groups I mentioned, we found the only open seats at the bar. The best thing about those seats is that next to us was one of the most unique characters I’ve ever encountered in a bar.
I wish I could remember his name, but for the sake of the story, I’ll call him Tex. Tex was a friendly guy and a true Texas Cowboy. He was dressed in legit cowboy gear including well worn boots and a hat that looked as if he had worn for his entire life. Tex struck up a conversation that went something like this:
Tex: where are y’all from?
Me: New Orleans
Tex: hmm. I haven’t been there in years.
Me: what did you think about it when you visited?
Tex: It was interesting
Me: That it is
Tex: I met a few folks from New Orleans before. They were a friendly lot
Me: Yep
Tex: Yep
Me: where are you from?
Tex: Texas
Me: I mean what part
Tex: Fred
Me: I’m John. Nice to meet you. But what part of Texas are you from?
Tex: Fred
Me: OK Fred. I’m John
Tex: Fred, Texas
Me: OK Fred. Texas it is. So Fred, do you know of anywhere good to eat around here?
Tex: I’m not the right guy to ask about that. I’m really easy to please.
Me: Ok then.
Tex: (as he got up to leave) Y’all have a good day.
Me: You too.
I later learned that Fred was actually a town in Texas. Boy am I dumb. In addition to that riveting conversation, Tex did tell us that western Texas was a unique and beautiful place. Boy was he right.
If you find yourself in San Antonio, I encourage you to check out The Menger Bar. I can’t assure an experience like mine, but I bet you have a great time.

This was a must see on the San Antonio tour. There was a who’s who of Old Rough Riders. Teddy Roosevelt, Davy Crocket. Very dark and cozy inside with a decent drink and food menu. The fact it has so. much history you need to grab a beer after checking out the Alamo

Had a blast! Great service and even better customers! Dont miss this piece of San Antonio history!

This bar is cool for the history. Outside for the bar, in the lobby close to the hotel there are displays and things related to the history of the building. But the bar itself is, well just a bar. It’s small-​ish. Dark. Not tons of seating. Nothing really special. The drinks are decent.

The bar itself is nothing special. There really wasn’t much atmosphere to speak. We came on a Monday night and the bar was quite crowded and seating was limited. If it weren’t for the historical reputation of the bar, I don’t think it would be considered anything special.

This place is always so much fun! Seems like the party tourist are always here! Loved the idea that Teddy was here at one time. The bartenders were friendly and nice.

This was a fantastic little place we stumbled into on a Saturday night looking for some beers at a bar where we could pull up a seat and enjoy the company. To be honest, this wasn’t really at the top of the list of places we were going to seek out during the trip to San Antonio, but I am glad we made it. We were staying on the River Walk and had a few different places picked out that looked like good visits along the water. Unfortunately, every one of those that we went to was packed to the brim and loud. We didn’t want to spend our time down here going to one of the dime-​a-​dozen sports bars or chain places around the area, so a quick Unilocal search led us to the Menger Bar.
Granted, I was a little unsure of what this place would be like since it is located in a hotel, but the pictures looked like it was something interesting and we had nothing to lose. First of all, any concern about it being a hotel bar was soon quashed when we walked in. It is definitely segregated enough from the hotel that you don’t feel like you are sitting in a lobby. There is a ton of old woodwork around the place and it definitely feels like an Old West vibe to it. That is certainly accentuated by the collection of stuffed animal heads around the room. There is even a balcony that overlooks the bar. I loved the vibe so much that even a sports nut like myself felt like the TV up in the corner playing games was a turnoff in such a splendid setting that preserved a little part of history aside from that one major detail.
While it was pretty full that evening, we got lucky and found a couple of the 8 or so barstools empty and pulled up a seat. If you can’t sit at the bar, there are plenty of tables but it appeared that all the ordering is done at the bar anyway. I inquired about the beer selection and was bummed to hear that they had nothing on tap and just order everything in bottles. Really, the beer selection overall wasn’t that great. They did have a few options from Texas that I worked my way through, but it was nothing to write home about. The bartenders, a guy and a girl who were working that night, were fantastic. They poured a strong mixed drink and definitely were up to par on their mixology, making everything the proper way and avoiding any mixes or shortcuts.
In hind sight, it looks like we missed a good opportunity to learn a lot about the history of this place. I noticed a little bit of signage that was on the walls, but based on the reviews on Unilocal that I read after the fact, I will need to revisit the story behind this location as it sounds pretty interesting. I might have glanced over some of it because I was just too interested in getting a cold beer, or it might have been because we stumbled upon this place in the middle of a cowboy action shooting convention at the hotel, so we were just about the only people in there who weren’t dressed like we were about to go have a shootout at the O.K. Corral.
Overall, definitely a place I would go to again if I was in the area. The bartenders were great and the bar was really neat with a great old-​timey western feeling. I would love to take the time to hear more about its history. My only real knock against the Menger is that a place with such great history and tradition and emphasis on the ambiance being a true Texas place has almost no offerings of Texas beers. A little work on the beer offerings in combination with the already great mixed drinks would make this place perfect.

Rainy, cold, Saturday in January. The dark wood seems fitting. No gnats. Expensive Manhattan, but this isn’t something that happens every day. Costumed cowboys and their lasses all around me, restless spirits in the dark corners.
One star off for the television. Unnecessary,

Maybe my being a big, dorky Asian dude seemed threatening to all the white folks here, but I didn’t appreciate being ignored at length by the bartenders only to be handed a weak drink and a wet, shredded $ 5 as part of my change once I finally got served. And, as other posters have mentioned, the whole place could seriously use a major cleaning, if only that means more frequent table wipe-​downs and clean-​ups of glasses after patrons leave.
Worth a quick stop for the history lesson, but other than that, there’s not much to say about the whole experience.

Tucked away in the corner of the historic, supposedly haunted, Menger Hotel is the small Menger Bar. When you step in it’s as if you’ve gone back in time. Old timey small bar, lots of beautiful carved wood, a gigantic moose head hung, and several pictures and window boxes filled with interesting history. A great place to stop in, even if your not a hotel guest, to enjoy a drink and get away from all of the Alamo area hustle and bustle.
I was going to give the Menger Bar 5 stars until I noticed the small flat screen TV in the corner. It just doesn’t belong. Maybe a ghost will break it… ooooh.