Homer’s Bar and Grill

I feel I must post an update to this review.
After posting this review I had the opportunity to speak to Shelly (owner) about my concerns. Since speaking with her this bar has turned things around. I have also had the opportunity to actually get to know Shelly and her husband Homer. They are amazing people who genuinely care about their business and the patrons. In the past two years, Homer’s has changed quite a bit and is now back to being the great little place to have cold one and hang out.

Not a very inviting bar to outside. As soon as I went in the door I was meet with cold stares.
The drinks were over priced and watered down (which is illegal).
Overall, a horrible experience that left a bad taste in my mouth. I will not be returning.

decent karaōke. decent selection. the place has a partition in case you don’t wanna hear the karaōke. service was great. parking lot can get crowded, and it can get smoky in here.

They love me here, so why wouldn’t I keep comin’ back?

This is by far my favorite bar in Austin. Great staff, Hannah, JoAnn, Joyce, Jorge, Homer and Shelly… well, they just can’t be beat. Monday through Friday you can expect the regulars to be seated at asshole alley. Friday and Saturday nights can get a bit sketchy but as long as you’re paying attention to your surroundings, it is still very fun. THIS IS A SMOKING BAR, SO BE WARNED. There’s karaōke, which I don’t partake in but everyone seems to love. They also have computer slots which can be fun but may take all your money. All in all, great staff, reasonably priced drinks, and the best patronage one could ask for.

Homers is definitely a kick back spot. Real chill peoole and they got karaōke everyday which is pretty cool. Lots of regulars go up and sing. Only bad thing is its a smoking bar so if you dont smoke like me it can get real smokey in there and you will smell like cigarettes. All in all its a cool place

The Good:
Karaōke every night.
The same female bar tender has been there every time I have come. She is friendly, helpful, and attentive.
The Bad:
Smoking inside (Not fun when mixed with Karaōke, but that’s just my opinion.)
Average drink prices, not many great specials.
Karaōke has never not been packed. I have gone on Tuesday, Saturday, Sunday, always the same.
It is a decent joint. It has a few pool tables and a jukebox from the future. On the other side is karaōke. Every bar has a feel and this one is definitely R&B karaōke. The K. J varies. I have gotten TSOAK most often and he is friendly and has had almost every song I have wanted to sing. I don’t like the way he rotates though. Don’t expect to sing more than twice in the night.
I come here when I don’t have anything better to do, and it isn’t disappointing. It is worth giving it a try at least once.

Typical smokey dive bar karaōke joint. Usually these places are lots of fun, but this one has a cranky KJ who doesn’t use the usual list/​tip method for assigning people. His buddies get to sing 2 or 3 times per rotation while everybody else waits. Good, cheap drinks, though!

Always feel welcomed. It is divey and dirty but it is the one bar that I always go to (at least once a week). Cheap beers, great juke box, and great bartenders. Only downfall is the karaōke.

I went to this bar for my birthday, I’m not much into the bar scene but I wanted to check this place out. Its a small hole-​in-​the-​wall type of bar, that has a «cheers» kinda vibe to it. It’s like most of these small bars where it caters mostly to «regulars». It’s not so much for a younger crowd from what I saw. There is smoking allowed inside so it gets stuffy pretty quick, I’m a smoker but the smell and the overpowering smoke cloud was a bit much even for me, so if your not a smoker you might want to find another bar to drink in. The bar staff are friendly, and attentive. There are some fun things they have like karaōke and slot machines and the location isn’t bad either. Overall if your looking for a low key, friendly bar then homers is your best bet.

Smoke is a little heavy but every time I go here I have a great time. I absolutely love it here.

Bad if your military and have a disability, my friend came back from Iraq with a wound to his leg. «Jason» bartender tossed him out and called the cops saying he was drunk after 2 beers when I told him he had a disability. But Jason serves people throwing up but not my military friend whom he called the cops. Hope homer/​Shelly resolves that issue other wise I enjoy the place…

No buzz time.
No Grill.
Extra smokey so who would want to eat there?
Funny regulars who drink too much and become unruly.
The strange gambling machines.
Homer, please update your website and signs so we know what to expect.

I think I found my new karaōke joint!
Just moved here and my work schedule is hectic, so I’ve been looking for a place that has karaōke on nights other than the weekend.
This place has it EVERY SINGLE NIGHT!
Everyone is here to sing.
It is a split bar — karaōke on one side, regular bar with pool tables on the other.
Staff was nice.

I’ve been to Homer’s a number of times over the past six months, or so.
I really like the people who hang there. It’s a very cool, mixed-​race crowd. With lots of really good singers. Everyone is chillin’ and having a good time.
Homer always seemed, to me, to be a nice guy.
Some of his employees, however, act like they’re doing you a favor. Or, like it’s their party and you’re crashing.
Hey! Get a clue. This is Austin. There are only a few hundred places to go in this town. Homer’s could close it’s doors tomorrow and no one would even notice.
Anyway, I tried to ignore the shortcomings of the establishment, ’cause I really liked the people who hung out there.
However, last week, a Hispanic woman asked me to buy her a beer. Which I gladly did. Homer, the owner, who often tends bar, told me that I shouldn’t buy her a beer because she was a mooch.
But, I enjoyed her company and bought her the beer anyway.
A week later (²⁄₁₆), a white woman, who has «mooched» drinks from me on several occasions, was putting drinks on my «nonexistent tab». I was paying cash for my drinks (a necessary practice to keep them from padding my tab).
Earlier she mooched $ 10 dollars from me for a pitcher of beer. But I never gave her carte blanche to put drinks on my «non-​existent» tab.
At closing time, Homer told me about the tab that I had never authorized,
Of course, I refused payment. It wasn’t about the money. It was the principle of the thing.
He said that he didn’t believe that I didn’t authorize this drink-​mooching white woman to order drinks on my non-​existent tab!
He told me that he didn’t want me to come into his establishment for a month!
What? I thought I was doing HIM a favor, by giving him MY business!
I’m thinking, What the f@#k! kind of BS is this?
A Mexican woman asks me to buy her a beer, and she’s a mooch.
A white woman mooches drinks and takes liberties with my nonexistent tab, and she’s cool?
I’m the bad guy?
I have two daughters, who are half Mexican. So, I may be a little oversensitive to anti-​hispanic racism.
But, I know racism when I see it.
Don’t come in for a month?
I will NEVER step foot in this establishment again!
I wouldn’t give Homer another nickel of my money, even if he owned the last bar in Austin.
UPDATE (²⁄₁₇):
Homer went ahead and ran the unauthorized charges on my debit card.
Apparently, he needs the money.
I’m going to let him keep it, as a parting gift. I hope he enjoys his $ 7.50.
I used to spend at least $ 150 a week there!
If you’re looking for a place to sing karaōke, check out
. There are dozens of places much nicer than this one.
UPDATE (²⁄₂₂)
Homer cancelled the $ 7.50 charge to my debit card. ‘Guess he didn’t want my parting gift. Still, I hope he thinks of me every time he sees that broke-​ass, drink-​mooching, white woman.

Ok, writing this kinda bums me out. Right off the bat, I am one of those people that like a bar with an ambiance of a bar fight in progress. Maybe I digress into my younger days when I was the shit starter. Not sure but something makes me feel at home with the idea. Then there is Homer’s bar and grill. Right away I want to say that the bar deserves 2 stars for many reasons but I gave it three because I just love the fucking bar heh. The people that work behind the bar give it one more star, but really there are some issues with this place that can be fixed. It’s just whether or not they are actually going to do something about it.
One should understand the layout before I go into detail… There are two sides of the bar. One side which is pretty much dedicated to karaōke and the other side of the bar is a typical dive style bar with 3 quarters 7′ billiards tables. They have attempted to modernize it a little with some PC computers setup on the wall with some sort of bar style games, but still have not been there at a time where they actually worked. The tables are always nasty. I am not kidding. And to be honest I have a seriously hard time sitting down at a table there without wishing that there was something I could get to clean it off. The billiards tables are kept in fairly good shape, as well as have some new cue’s, so that part is excellent. The music machine is pretty badass as well which gives this place a good bonus to the experience of hanging out at this bar with a few friends.
Another note that should be stated… Ok, so if anyone knows me, they know that I have lost the sense of smell when I was very young. But it was said that the bar smells like puke a little. Well, I don’t know if anyone knows, but have you ever smelled yeast being cooked when someone was cooking massive amounts of bread? It smells distinctly like vomit. Well the lack of cleaning up beer can have that same effect. Not a good thing, let me just say. And Homer’s unfortunately due to the lack of cleaning off the tables from spilt beer has that same circumstance. Just keep that in mind heh. It’s most likely not puke that you smell there but the lack of a good cleaning every night.
Let’s face it. If you don’t come early, the likelihood of you being able to actually sing is pretty slim. They are always packed and show favoritism to the regulars, which is ok in certain ways, but c’mon, let some fucking people sing that don’t sing every hour on the hour. That’s just my two sense. Funny part is they actually care much more about the karaōke side over the other side of the bar. It’s like they cater primarily to the karaōke side when it comes to cleanliness and just said fuck it to the other side, as if it was not really wanted.
I know I kinda got on the bar a little, but they really could improve areas of the bar within the scope of what I have provided above. Maybe they just need some more help. The beer selection for a beer and liquor bar is pretty decent too although their tapped beer needs to be updated. Either way, I give it three stars, and yes I believe I am being generous, and will go back because of the ambiance. :)

So let me start by saying that I may not have given this place 4 stars if I wasn’t there for a dear friend/​family members birthday.
For those of you who may live in the city, where there is a smoking ban, rest assured that you can bring all your cigarettes here and just stuff the whole PACK in your mouth and smoke them all at once if you choose. MAN oh MAN was it smokey. so much for re-​wearing my shirt the next day!
The name of this place is Homers Bar and GRILL, please note I didn’t see one drop of food nor did I smell or see a grill or a menu for that matter.
From the outside, you think to yourself, «Maybe we should choose the sports bar that is next door» (as coincidentally there are two sports bars in one parking lot). My husband and I arrived to the surprise party early and ventured on down to the «other sports bar» that I wont review because it was horrible, empty and the bartender was dumb! So we quickly left.
There must be like a certain time that this place gets «cool» because we arrived at 9:00 pm and I swear there was no one in there but a couple of dudes with beards, I referred to the as «Lynard Skynard» and one HUGE CIGARETTE seated at the bar having a beer (ha!) At that time I didn’t even think of looking around. I just thought to myself, this is what you expect in a city that starts with a silent «P» (Pflugerville).
But when we returned at like 9:45pm all of that changed. even the bartender was different! It was a nice crowd, minus the almost fight that broke out. of course one of the dudes was with our group. OF COURSE. There is a bouncer that works the door, and he’s pretty nice, checks ID’s, holds the door open for the ladies.
The drinks were good. I order the same thing everywhere I go, (EDM, with extra Olives/​Absolute) so it’s nice to be able to get a good one at a bar, the glass was chilled and the drink Icy, just like I like it! Oh, and I am very particular about my olive, they must be skewered, I don’t like floating olives in my drink.
The juke box was on point, our party pretty much had that on lock down so if you are into rap music then they have it. I played Justin Timberlake’s «Don’t hold the wall» and just about got booed to death. but I am fine with that. I chair danced anyway.
I recommend that you try the VEGAS BOMBS. so shot that was pretty tasty. I wasn’t warned that the shot glass was still in the cup, so as I go to toss it back the shot glass slams into my front tooth, but it’s all good. had I lost it would have looked like 53% the other people that were in there.LOL.

I LOVE this place, I’m a regular. Sometimes the drinks are a little pricey, and I agree that the late night crowd is sometimes a little «iffy» but Homer and Shelly are WONDERFUL, and the regulars make it worth the hassle!

I wasn’t here during the karaōke that everyone is raving about, so I can’t comment on that. My wife and I hung out for a couple drinks at Homer’s, and we enjoyed ourselves overall.
My wife finished her first drink about 6 – 7 minutes before I finished mine, and was starting to get pissed that the waitress wasn’t paying any attention to her. Within 30 seconds of me finishing my drink, she came right over. I’m not sure if she wasn’t paying enough attention or if she was intentionally waiting for us both to finish or what. In any case, other than that she was super nice. Someone ordered by wife a «drink that doesn’t taste like alcohol» and she made something that looked strong but (apparently) tasted pretty good, and then chatted with us some about drinks.
I haaaaate that they allow smoking here, but I suppose that’s me.
Drink prices were average, maybe a bit high. I would probably come back here if not for the smoking, but even absent that it’s not one of my favorite bars.

Pros:
Fun bar! Rockin karaōke every night with some pretty talented singers at times. Pretty cheap drinks. Owner operated. Fun bar staff. You can smoke inside.
Cons:
As mentioned before, the crowd can get a little «sketchy» on the non-​karaōke side. It gets awfully smoky. It gets crowded.
I’ve been a regular at homers for a while now and it’s really a fun little bar. It would have gotten 5 stars without a doubt if it wasn’t for the fact that one side of the bar ends up getting a little too ghetto for me most nights of the week.