Most of Austin’s gay bars are downtown, on or near West 4th Street between Lavaca and Colorado. Oilcan Harry’s, Rain on 4th, Highland Lounge, and Coconut Club are a short walk apart, and The Iron Bear is two blocks north on 6th. Cheer Up Charlies and Barbarella are on Red River, and the Austin Eagle is up in North Austin. Looking for lesbian bars or sapphic nights? See our guide to lesbian bars and nights in Austin.
We checked every bar below on October 13, 2026, against its own website or Instagram and recent local press. One bar from the old version of this page is gone from the list, and the reason is at the bottom. Our How We Choose page explains the method.
The Short List
| Bar | Where | Best known for |
|---|---|---|
| Oilcan Harry’s | 211 W 4th St | Austin’s oldest LGBT bar, open daily |
| Rain on 4th | 217 W 4th St | Light-up dance floor and a patio |
| Highland Lounge | 404 Colorado St | Three floors, drag, open to 3:30 AM |
| Coconut Club and Neon Grotto | 310B Colorado St | Rooftop dance floors and DJs |
| The Iron Bear | 301 W 6th St | Bear bar, open from 11 AM |
| The Austin Eagle | 8201 Cross Park Dr, North Austin | Leather and gear nights |
| Cheer Up Charlies | 900 Red River St | Vegan, queer, sapphic events |
| Barbarella | 611 Red River St | Theme nights and after-parties |
When Each Bar Is Open
Looking for a bar that’s open late, or open right now? These are the hours each bar posts. Highland, and Rain on Saturdays, are the only ones open past 2 AM, and The Iron Bear opens earliest, at 11 AM every day.
| Bar | Days | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| The Iron Bear | Every day | 11 AM to 2 AM |
| Oilcan Harry’s | Every day | 2 PM to 2 AM |
| Rain on 4th | Every day | 4 PM to 2 AM, from 3 PM Friday to Sunday; until 4 AM Saturdays, per its Instagram |
| Cheer Up Charlies | Thursday to Sunday | 4 PM to 2 AM |
| Coconut Club | Wednesday to Sunday | 9 PM to 2 AM Wednesday to Friday, 1 PM to 2 AM Saturday, 5 PM to 2 AM Sunday |
| Highland Lounge | Friday to Sunday | 9:30 PM to 3:30 AM Friday and Saturday, 4 PM to midnight Sunday |
The Austin Eagle and Barbarella don’t post hours on their own pages, so check their Instagram before you head out. On a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday night, Oilcan Harry’s, The Iron Bear and Rain are the ones open; Coconut Club joins them on Wednesdays.
Where to Dance
Looking for a dance club rather than a bar? Four places on this list are built around the dance floor, going by their own sites and the Statesman’s June 2026 roundup:
- Highland Lounge: three floors, six bars and go-go dancers, open to 3:30 AM on Fridays and Saturdays
- Coconut Club and Neon Grotto: two rooftop dance floors, with house, hyperpop, throwbacks and Latin music
- Rain on 4th: a light-up dance floor, a patio, and the long line out front the Statesman described
- Barbarella: several dance floors, one of them outside, and weekly theme nights such as “Tuez-gayz” for new pop on Tuesdays
- Parties that move between venues: see our queer dance parties guide
Bars With a Patio or Rooftop
Want to drink outside? Six of these bars show an outdoor space in their own posts or on their own site:
- Coconut Club and Neon Grotto: a rooftop, where most of the DJ nights and the Saturday drag brunch on its Instagram take place
- Rain on 4th: an outdoor deck, where its Instagram has promoted a first-Friday dance night
- Highland Lounge: a patio, home to the DJ sets it calls Patio Sessions in summer
- The Austin Eagle: a patio, used for events such as a gear swap
- Cheer Up Charlies: a shaded patio and an outdoor stage behind the bar
- Barbarella: a patio with its own DJ on theme nights
Oilcan Harry’s and The Iron Bear don’t show one on their own pages, but Eater Austin’s map (updated June 2025) describes both: a “surprisingly generous outdoor patio” at Oilcan’s and a small patio at the Iron Bear. If sitting outside matters to you, ask the bar.
Live Music at the Gay Bars
Looking for a band rather than a DJ? Most of these bars are built around DJs and drag. Two have had live music, on their own pages or in a show we could date:
- Cheer Up Charlies: its About page quotes the Chronicle on “a large outdoor music venue behind it” with “music and events nightly.” Its Instagram now calls it a dance and night club, so check what’s on before you go
- Highland Lounge: singer Caleb De Casper played there on July 19, 2026, during drag artist Cupcake’s revue Kream
- Queer musicians around town: our guide to LGBTQ+ musicians in Austin lists who’s playing live and where
The 4th Street Bars
Oilcan Harry’s
Oilcan Harry’s calls itself “Austin’s Oldest LGBT Entertainment Venue” and says it has served Austin “for over 30 years.” It’s open every day from 2 PM to 2 AM. Monday through Saturday from 8 PM are 18+ nights with a $20 cover, according to its site. Its own site and Instagram don’t mention a patio, though Eater Austin and Austin City Guide both describe one, with its own bar outside. Want the game on? Visit Austin says the back bar is now a sports bar called Score. That isn’t on the bar’s own pages either, so ask before you plan a watch party around it.
- Where: 211 W 4th St, Austin 78701. (512) 351-8423
- More: Oilcan Harry’s
Is this your bar? Update this listing
Rain on 4th
Rain is a few doors down from Oilcan Harry’s. The Austin American-Statesman put it on its June 2026 list of Austin’s best gay nightclubs and described a long line out front, a light-up dance floor, and an outdoor patio. The same paper photographed a Tuesday drag show there in June 2025.
Rain’s website is being rebuilt and points to its social accounts for events. It lists hours of 4 PM to 2 AM Monday through Thursday and 3 PM to 2 AM Friday through Sunday. On Instagram on October 31, 2026, it said it stays open until 4 AM every Saturday, and its profile says Thursdays after 10 PM are 18+. On Instagram, Rain calls its outdoor space the deck.
- Where: 217 W 4th St, Austin 78701. 512-494-1150
- More: Rain on 4th
Is this your bar? Update this listing
Highland Lounge
Highland says it opened in October 2014 and is “the largest gay club in Austin, Texas.” The site lists “3 stories. 6 bars. Drag shows. Gogo boys.” It’s a late club. It opens Friday and Saturday at 9:30 PM and closes at 3:30 AM, and on Sunday it runs from 4 PM to midnight. It’s closed Monday through Thursday. Its Instagram shows a patio, where it has held summer DJ sets called Patio Sessions.
- Where: 404 Colorado St, Austin 78701. 512-649-1212
- More: Highland Lounge
Is this your bar? Update this listing
Coconut Club and Neon Grotto
The Statesman calls Coconut Club “Coco,” and says it includes the pink Neon Grotto, two rooftop dance floors, and several smaller rooms, with house, hyperpop, throwbacks, and Latin music. Visit Austin says Neon Grotto has regular drag shows. Older guides, this one included, listed the two as separate bars. They’re one complex.
Its Google listing posts hours of 9 PM to 2 AM Wednesday through Friday, 1 PM to 2 AM Saturday, and 5 PM to 2 AM Sunday. KUT reported in 2023 that the club planned to close ahead of a downtown redevelopment. It was still open when we checked, so look at its Instagram before you go. Most of the nights it posts there are on the rooftop.
- Where: 310B Colorado St, Austin 78701
- More: Coconut Club on Instagram
Is this your bar? Update this listing
A Block or More Off 4th
The Iron Bear
The Iron Bear’s site says it’s “Proudly Bear owned and Operated” and open 11 AM to 2 AM. It moved to 301 W 6th St in 2020, Eater Austin reported. Visit Austin calls it the only bear bar in town and says cubs, otters, wolves, and everyone else are welcome. The bar’s site doesn’t mention a patio. If you’re looking for the gay bar on 6th Street, this is it: it’s on West 6th, a few blocks west of Congress Avenue, not on the East 6th Street bar strip.
- Where: 301 W 6th St, Austin 78701. 512-482-8993
- More: The Iron Bear
Is this your bar? Update this listing
The Austin Eagle
The Eagle is in North Austin, a long way from the downtown bars, so plan on a car or a rideshare. Its site says it is “proud to be part of the LGBTQIA+ business community” and calls itself “a judgment-free zone built for our community.” It’s the home bar of Austin Gears, which it calls the longest-running gear and fetish group in town, plus Austin Bears and The Foundry ATX.
Friday nights are leather, gear, and denim with a DJ, according to the site. It also hosts the Red Dress Party with the Weird City Sisters, a drag and dance fundraiser for Project Transitions. Its Instagram shows a patio, used for events such as a gear swap.
The Eagle runs a drag brunch, Unleashed, on the fourth Saturday of the month at 1 PM, free to get in and 21+, according to its organizer’s Eventbrite listings. Its site also lists its four big weekends of the year: Austin Rubber Round Up, Austin Bear Weekend, Austin Kink Weekend and Austin Leather Weekend.
- Where: 8201 Cross Park Dr, Suite B2, Austin 78754. (737) 274-0112
- More: The Austin Eagle
Is this your bar? Update this listing
On Red River
Cheer Up Charlies
Cheer Up Charlies describes itself in two words on its About page: “Vegan+Queer.” It’s a bar with an outdoor stage, a patio its About page describes as “parachute-shaded,” kombucha on tap, and juice cocktails, open Thursday through Sunday from 4 PM to 2 AM. The Statesman says it hosts all-female and gender-expansive electronic music festivals and dating events for women who date women.
- Where: 900 Red River St, Austin 78701. 512-431-2133
- More: Cheer Up Charlies
Is this your bar? Update this listing
Barbarella
Barbarella is a dance club with several floors, including one outside. It has no website, so its Instagram is the place to check what’s on. It runs weekly theme nights. In June 2026 the Statesman named “Tuez-gayz” for new pop on Tuesdays and an 80s night on Fridays, and called Barbarella a go-to for concert after-parties.
- Where: 611 Red River St, Austin 78701
- More: Barbarella on Instagram
Is this your bar? Update this listing
Gay Bars Outside Austin
We couldn’t find a gay bar in Round Rock, Georgetown or Pflugerville, meaning one that says it’s LGBTQ+ on its own pages. San Marcos had one, Stonewall Warehouse on East Hopkins Street, and it closed on January 1, 2023, Texas Public Radio reported. From the northern suburbs, the Eagle in North Austin is the shortest drive to a gay bar. Round Rock does have its own Pride festival in June, which our Austin Pride guide covers.
Trans Bars and Lesbian Bars in Austin
We couldn’t find a bar in Austin that calls itself a trans bar or a lesbian bar. The closest thing is Cheer Up Charlies, which says it’s queer and runs sapphic and gender-expansive events. Highland, Rain, and Coconut Club all book drag (our guide to drag shows in Austin lists show times), and the Eagle raises money for Project Transitions. For sapphic nights and where queer women go out, see our guide to lesbian bars and nights in Austin.
If you know a trans or lesbian night that runs regularly, tell us through the contact page and we’ll check it and add it.
Before You Go
- Hours change. The hours above are what each bar posted when we read them on October 17, 2026, reread November 1, 2026 (Rain’s from its maintenance page and Instagram; Coconut Club’s from its Google listing on October 13). Check the bar’s own site or Instagram the day you go, especially for Coconut Club and Rain
- Age: Oilcan Harry’s lists 18+ nights Monday through Saturday from 8 PM, with a cover, and Rain’s Instagram says it’s 18+ on Thursdays after 10 PM. Check the others before you bring a friend under 21
- Late nights: Highland lists 3:30 AM on Fridays and Saturdays, and Rain’s Instagram says 4 AM on Saturdays
- Getting home: the 4th Street bars are within a few blocks of each other. The Eagle is in North Austin, so sort out your ride before you go
Into two-stepping instead? Read where gay cowboys drink in Austin.
What Changed and What We Couldn’t Check
Elysium, the goth club on Red River, is off the list. It’s open, but nothing it publishes says anything about LGBTQ+ guests, and we don’t list a bar on reputation. Neon Grotto is now part of the Coconut Club entry.
A few bars on other Austin lists aren’t here for the same reason, or because they’ve closed. Visit Austin’s downtown LGBTQ guide includes DuMont’s Down Low, a basement whiskey bar on West 4th, and Cuatro Gato, the Latin bar in the Coconut Club complex. DuMont’s own site says nothing about LGBTQ+ guests, and we couldn’t find a site for Cuatro Gato. Eater’s map still lists 1972, the women’s sports bar on Guadalupe, which closed on August 30, 2026. Do512 names Hanovers Draught Haus in Pflugerville for drag bingo, but Hanovers has no site of its own where we could check it.
We didn’t visit any of these bars for this update, so nothing here is a first-hand review. We couldn’t confirm a phone number for Coconut Club from its own pages, so none is listed. Crowd, accessibility, and how staff treat trans guests aren’t things we can check from a website. Ask the bar, or ask friends who go.
Last checked: November 2026. Hours and addresses read from each bar’s own website, Instagram or Google listing on October 13, 2026, and patios from each bar’s own site and Instagram on October 16, 2026. Hours reread on October 17 and November 1, 2026, with the Austin American-Statesman (June 17, 2026), Visit Austin, Eater Austin (June 2025), Austin City Guide, Texas Public Radio and WhatNow Austin. See a mistake or a bar we missed? Use our contact page.
How We Check
We check every business and group we name against what it publishes about itself: its own site, its booking page, or its state license. No business pays to be in a guide, and we don’t earn a commission when you book.
The full method is on How We Choose. If something here is wrong or out of date, send a correction.