Catbirds

Whole in the wall! My friends were kind of skeptical about coming in here last night, but I was like «heresy, whole in the wall… lets go! I’ll buy the round» uhh– I’m glad I didn’t have to!
It was kind of hard to get their attention in there to just get three drinks, we walked around a bit and it wasn’t our crowd… It was completely different we ended up walking back to our car and just driving to good ol’ Boheme.
(:

Great small bar.
Angie is lovely. Will introduce you to new people and makes you feel welcome. Place Is very friendly, will be back.

As long as I’ve been circulating around Montrose, I never had a chance to stop on in. I’m so glad I did. The bartender was super nice and attentive. The atmosphere has nice vibe to it. However, the winner here is $ 3.50 wells from 3pm to 830pm everyday. I will be coming back to pre-​start my night.

I must say every time I come back to this place I feel welcome. I have never had problems with this spot. Everyone is friendly and the place is cozy. Every time I come here I always enjoy the Jazz music.
Favorite combo I get here is the Grape Ape + Stella Artois. I can’t say I have had the chance the try the pizza place usually parked in front of Catbirds, but I would not mind giving it a whirl one of these days.
If you are looking for a cool, chill dive bar. Check this spot out.
Don’t forget to try the Grape Ape.

This place feels like home. Divey, mellow, friendly people, funny bartenders and the cheapest booze in this area. It reminds me of cheers sometimes. Lots of tattoos and beards without being pretentious.

Super hole on the wall, smells like vomit. It’s cool if you’re into that, cheap ass drinks for the location. You can always find drugs here lol

A very small lounge with jazz and quiet like ambiance. A perfect way to end a quiet night.

Catbirds is your run of the mill affordable Montrose bar. The beer selection is fair, as are the mixed drinks and the bar is rarely crowded so you don’t have to scream to hear yourself. The main allure of Catbirds is that they play classic jazz music nonstop. For me, that alone is enough to justify drinking here. If jazz music isn’t your thing, you’re better off going to Poison Girl or Lola’s

When you need to visit a bar on Caturday you better make hecka sure that the name involves the word «cat.»
Catbirds is a Houston institution in that it is one of the last remaining /​dive bars/​in the Montrose area where million dollar townhouses and developers fueled by oil money greed and excesses have rubbed out nearly all of the more interesting elements of the creative class enclave over the past several years.
You can even buy cigarettes here. There is a lit up Camel sign on the wall leading towards the restrooms and packages of a variety of Camel lines (including Camel Crush) are on the right hand side of the bar. It smells nice and smokey when the door to the patio briefly swings open and close — it reminds me of a kinder and gentler Houston back in the aughts when going out to a bar included coming home smelling nice and smokey regardless of whether or not you had smoked anything. But now Houston is just like Palo Alto where smokers are relegated to the third class of citizenry and the nonsmoker vanguard say smarmy things like «nobody has ever died of second hand heroin» unlike second hand smoke.
Catbirds still looks the same as it did when it first opened, or more accurately for a point in time and space when I first moseyed on in new to the Houston scene back in the aughts. It’s nice that some things never change. This is like that bar in Cheers except most of the patrons are hipsters with great big bushy beards, tats, and a fuckton of extreme piercings on and around the facial region.
It’s not the kind of bar you would bring your mother to for a genteel and sophisticated $ 11 cocktail (like at Stone’s Throw across the street) because she would be under the assumption that you live more of an unorthodox hardcore S&M sex dungeon lifestyle than you actually do given your advanced level of Star Wars knowledge.
With that being said, it is so /​dive bar/​it is an enjoyable experience once you get past all of the negatives. Well drinks are $ 3.50 on special during a Caturday afternoon so you can have not just «tee many martoonies» in the parlance of Elliot Richards — but three many without even denting your pocketbook.
Since it caters to «regulars» in a very cult-​like (exclusive) way if the bartender (s) don’t know you on a first name basis to discuss which of your mutual friends have been hookin’ up lately, then you get prioritized last for your drink order. I learned some new «adult content» from the patrons that I did not need to even look up on urbandictionary on my iPhone, I got the mental picture from their stories. And based on those stories that young lady needs to spend more time in church, just sayin’
As a non-​regular I am of the opinion that the service is not very good. It took 20 minutes to place the order for our first round of drinks even though there were only seven other people in the bar, with none of them actually needing another drink at the moment besides me and my drinkin’ companion. 20 minutes is as incomprehensibly bad as the service at OKRA to glare at a bartender just chatting up their homeys meanwhile I am dying over here in need of a drink. We nearly left to go back across the street to Stone’s Throw. It’s a tiny bar and it is obvious when two gentlesirs walk in, sit down at the bar, and require sustenance in the form of party liquors because why else would they be sitting there instead of the bar at the TGI Fridays out by the airport?
Service is not that great for a bar (dive bar or not) if they make you wait a long time to get your hooch, the place is hella dirty too … I know it’s a dive bar but a good wash behind the ears might be all she needs to turn from the side chick you hesitantly tell your friends about into wifey material that you tell everyone and their mother about.
The longer my drinkin’ companion and I stayed the more I softened up to the place. In need of a second round of drinks it only took 10 minutes of obvious groaning and complaining before we got to place the order, and then the drinks came out quite expediently. Later on when the popcorn machine was fired up the bartender brought over a styrofoam cup for us.
It is unique for such a grimy dive bar to still be standing in Montrose, I will give it that. I think they could vastly improve their star quality on the Unilocal dot com if they got brothers their hooch more quickly — work first, disgusting sex talk with other patrons later when nobody else inside the bar is trying to order their next round.

This is my favorite bar on the strip! The staff was cool and I asked him to make me a drink I couldn’t leave without and he brought me an htown special. Called it something purple! Can’t wait to go back!

I used to come to this place fairly often, until one night where I made me and my friends first stop of a friender bender, well apparently their establishment was not appreciative of my sleeveless shirt, it was summer, it was too hot for sleeves. Mind you this place isn’t ritzy or in any way a classy establishment. I ordered a round at the bar, the bartender wasn’t phased, he started completing the order until he was summoned by the owner. So let me stop there, the bartender didn’t see a problem, meaning there really isn’t an enforced dress code, he wasn’t new because he’s served me before. Alright let’s continue, he summoned by the owner she informs him I am unwelcome and must leave immediately, I ask if I can pay for the shots and beers that were already in front of me, but that was not even possible. So we took our business else where and haven’t returned since.

Catbirds is a pretty chill spot. It’s right next to my hair salon so I end up here on occasion if my stylist is running behind. The bartenders are extremely friendly and kind. I’m not sure if and when there is a crowd here because every time I’ve been here it’s pretty empty but I’m cool with that. Not to mention I enjoy sitting on the sidewalk patio and people watching while enjoying a rather inexpensive beer.

Service was extremely slow for a dead crowd! Bartender made eye contact with me within 5 minutes of sitting at he bar and didn’t get service until 25 minutes being here. This is the first time I have ever came here and I will not come back!

Stopped in here for a drink before a gig in Houston. The bartender was charmingly snarky and we had fun with him. Dug the vibe. Drinks were on the pricey side, but that could be because I’m not used to the market. Would definitely go back if I’m in town again.

Came here yesterday for a few shots and I probably shouldn’t have. We walked in and the place looked very sketchy. There a very small crowd. After waiting 5 minutes for the bartender to even acknowledge I was there I ordered my shots. She ID’d me and then proceeded to tell me that my id was not mine?! In confusion I left… I have NEVER ran into this problem before and I am well over the age of 21. I think the bartenders here need to be more educated on identifying valid ids and placebos before turning down service (it looks like the place needs all the service it can get). I will NOT be returning to this bar or will I recommend anyone coming here; not even because of the id situation but I felt like I was going to be robbed there from the time I walked in.

Initially I was relieved by the chill atmosphere at Catbirds after walking past that super loud obnoxious bar on the walk here. Everyone seems to know each other here and there was lots of food that kept multiplying as more people walked in.
We sat at the bar and while others walked in after us we were served after everyone else (read the regulars) was taken care of. I paid and didn’t finish my drink because it was time to go onward and upward. Sorry to have crashed your party!

I really don’t know how I feel about this place. The service here is, well, indifferent.
The bartender working that night barely acknowledged us. It was impossible to get her attention. Like the other reviews say, it was apparent that the girl hated her job and customers in general.
The trivia here is enjoyable though. You get a remote and answer questions that are projected onto the TVs. The game system is networked so you are competing both within the bar and beyond.
It seems like that the regulars here seem to l have the «oh i hate my life i want to die» attitudes. Unlike Lola’s and Rudz where everyone from all walks of life is welcome and mingles together (which sort of reflects what the Trose is all about), people who don’t fit their criteria, whatever they may be, are not welcome here. I’m not one of those MBA /​O&G bros who have kinda started taking taking over the good old Trose.
FYI, I rolled through with four other people: Indian girl, Indian guy, white guy, and black guy.

Wowzers! Restaurant is next to adult novelty shop that I seeked out to buy garments for an «online friend» (best denim clothings inside the loop). I needed a beers to pre-​decide. CatBirds sounds like a great child’s show, so I walked here.
Good neon signs out front make me feel like Vegas Vacations. There was a vomit smell when I went in because some patrons had vomited, but that is okay and forgivable. Bought my now «go-​to» Lone Star Texas beer for good prices. Would recommend to my friend group.

Catbirds, I get it. We all get it. You’re a dive bar. But that’s no reason for one, two, three of your surly bartenders to ignore me and my friends … my guess is because YOU think we don’t belong. Nope, no guy-​liner, tatts, ripped fishnets … none of that, we wore. But ya know, just ’cause I have big Texas hair and smile (a lot), I still like — and prefer — a good dive. You have stiff drinks and no frills. But I’ll go elsewhere from now on.
Peace.

I miss going down to the Montrose on a regular basis. So when a friend suggested we go hit a few dive bars on lower Westheimer I was all for it!
Our first stop was Catbirds. It was a Sunday afternoon and the inside bar was pretty empty. A couple folks playing trivia and the barkeep. She was a very pleasant young woman who fixed us up with some strong drinks. I didn’t notice if they had a decent beer selection as we were on a whiskey run that afternoon!
We fell through the very clumsy and small French doors onto the patio. Trying to get through them with two tall drinks in hand was more humorous than elegant. But I didn’t spill any! We sat outside on a cool Spring day with several other folks enjoying the afternoon and the free popcorn… and one or two patrons in the far back of the patio enjoying some cigarettes that were a bit on the «wacky tabaccy» side. I didn’t mind but if the place were to be raided I certainly didn’t need to be included in the mess.
The patio is narrow and holds about 20 folks if ya’ll are friendly. The drinks were stout and moderately priced and the experience was fine for the two drinks we each had while there. But I really wouldn’t want to make a night or a full day out of it. But for a stop on a dive bar crawl it was perfect.