The Raven Tower

Great outdoor bar with a view of downtown and the white oak bayou. I loved my time there!

Came here my first night in Houston and it was perfect. Super casual and chill.
Drinks were good and reasonable.
Plenty of seating and huge outdoor space.
Not super loud and really easy to just chill. It was the perfect spot for my first night in town to be able to catch up with my best friend.
Good spot.

The Raven Tower is a unique bar that sits next to the White Oak Amphitheater. There is plenty of parking if you go during a weekday (usually no concerts to compete with), but the parking lot does lack a feeling of safety with very little lighting and some of the spots are not clearly defined in some areas so could be an issue with a large crowd.
The bar itself is really cool. There are three areas to hang out in — inside the building where the bar is, underneath a huge tent right off of the inside area, and a large patio on the back that is uncovered, but has a nice view of the city and White Oak Amphitheater.
Seating was fine inside and under the tent — but there was no where to sit on the patio (no tables/​no chairs) — kind of strange. The bartenders were really friendly, but I wish they would have had drink service at the tables to alleviate some of the wait time at the bar. Not a big deal, but I can see it being a bigger issue on a busy night.
The Raven Tower does not offer food, but there is a Mexican food truck parked outside that looked delicious. The drink menu was pretty impressive considering the bar’s size and newness — and the prices were awesome. Most beers on tap & well drinks were $ 5 (good beer, too), so this would be a great spot for a happy hour if you really need to vent. :)
Overall I really liked The Raven Tower. I wish more bars in Houston would capitalize on an open air design like they have — and I love the picnic tables under the tent. Such a great way to keep things casual. :)
Cheers!

Pass. This place is just confused about what it wants to be. There’s a venue in the front and a bar/​patio in the back. I can currently hear the musical sound of Britney Spears play «Hit Me Baby One More Time» with the terribly rock band blaring over the top of it from the venue in the front of the building. The bathroom was filthy and the drinks were overpriced. Also the tower portion was closed. The last thing that really stuck out to me was the mesh partition they added against their patio so that you aren’t able to make a visual connection with the White Oak Music Hall next door. You already can’t see whatever band is playing the stage next door anyways so this is really quite pointless and seems a bit like a f**k you. Pass…

The place is new with White Oak amphitheatre being built next door, but i have experienced better. The view from the tower is misleading. That view is not open to the public, it is a private residence of the owner and there are no tours and only if you know the owner, can you go up there. That view is what made me want to go, when I showed up, I was disappointed to find out that it was sort of false advertising. The only view you get, is a dirty, weed infested view of Buffalo Bayou, but the site and promos, do not show you this.
The outside tables are too low to the ground and the chairs at the bar are high enough but the tables are few.
The stage for concerts is okay. It is a very small area and is very crowded and noisy and not very good to hear any live band. I think that is because they let in more people then that small space can hold. It was literally elbow to elbow to move around and as a result, I left early during Wood and Wire.
I would not recommend seeing a show at this facility and would not recommend this place as a bar to go to.
Imagine shoving 400+ people into a small starbucks size store all at once, now you get the idea of the live music area. Anyhow, I believe the amphitheatre is the real attraction and probably will be better once that facility is built. They also need to serve food too! The food truck outside takes way too long. I waited over 35mins for one food item and it was good but not worth the wait.
In short, this place is a great idea and needs minor to major improvement, but it is really just another bar and nothing special about it. There really is no good view of the city or anything other then a dirty bayou and only saving grace really was the avg drink prices.

This is one of my new favorite places in town! I’ve been twice. Both times were on a weekend night. I can’t speak for any of their mixed drinks, but they have a good selection of beers. I think the bartenders manage to keep an organized flow even amongst the chaos. From what I’ve witnessed the rest of the staff members have always been nice and given a good vibe, even to those who’ve had too much to drink. Good mix of people.
And the views! Oh man, what a sight. I love going up there and seeing the city twinkling from a distance. Makes me feel at peace and at home.
Even if you’re not at the top of the tower, it’s a great atmosphere. The downstairs deck area is really nice, and waitresses walk around to help out with drink orders. I think they may even allow dogs on the downstairs deck??? Dog friendly places are always a good sign.
My only hesitation (as I am one to take safety measures somewhat seriously like a nerd) is that when you get up to the tower, you start to realize that you might be screwed in the event of an emergency. But, I guess if they’re meeting building codes, who am I to question it?

Is this a concert venue or a bar? Do I go in the covered section or the random door on the right? Why is there only 2 bartenders for the whole place? Why did the bench break under a patron as she was sitting on it?
It’s a cool place and the drink prices are awesome. The outside view is great. There seems to always be live music playing. It’s a great hang out for friends. The staff kicked us off our table for some «reserved» event before 9pm on a Wednesday. Not sure what that was about. I think there are many more less stressful bars with more space and a more chill environment in Houston. Definitely a cool spot, but not the only cool spot in town.

LOOOOOOOOVE this place! Outdoor patio is amazing, great beers on tap, nice happy hour pricing, cool live music… my fellow teachers and I new favorite place for Friday «bible study».
Can’t wait for the summer shows at White Oak Music Hall next door…

This place is super cool. I came here on a friend’s recommendation and I’m so glad I came! They have a great area for outdoor seating and it backs up on the bayou. It’s also right next door to the new White Oak Concert Hall so this place will draw crowds. I’m so glad I came. Great staff, beer, prices, etc. Definitely will be back!!!

100% love this place!
I’ve now had casual drinks more than a handful of times AND held a weekday event of a modest size here as well.
CASUAL:
Wide selection of drinks, knowledgeable bartenders, courteous staff, clean facilities, spacious patio, etc
Bonus points for the TVs not being intrusive and music being so loud I can’t hear the people next to me. If my friends wish to keep up with the Sportsball and socialize, they can :)
FOOD:
La Macro seems to be the resident food truck, they have some darn good food, and they have options for those with dietary restrictions (vegan and gluten free). I wouldn’t mind seeing elote (corn) on the permanent menu ;)
EVENT:
Communication before, during, and after flowed well. I felt like it was easy to talk to everyone.
In fact, a staffer alerted me to a random online comment, outside of our official promotions, that misrepresent what to expect. (Thanks! Very helpful!)
After initial discussion I communicated my exact expectations and hopes, everything was above and beyond.
I arrived early to cross my t’s and dot my i’s. To make sure I introduced myself to the bar staff, and had time to answer any questions etc. all of that was more or less unnecessary, except needing to put up signs.
Many thanks to Christa, Luisa, & Gennie
TL;DR
Raven Tower has a little bit for everyone. I’d put them in the people pleaser category but I say that in the most positive sense! Full bar, beautiful patio, and a food truck with variety.
Go here for happy hour or to enjoy the sunset.
(TMI: I’m glad I made this the first stop when my BFF came to town last week)

Came here for my sister’s 30^th birthday with a bunch of her friends — unfortunately the tower was closed (booooo!!) but it was still fun. It was a bit chilly at the end of February, but we managed to have a good time. They have a lot of parking and the drinks seemed to be decently priced (I don’t drinks so i have no idea). The servers were really nice. We brought in a Donut Cake (yep, basically a donut tower) and they were super jazzed about it.
They have a few corn hole things to play and it’s pet friendly (from what I can tell) and they have some arcade games inside the bar area!
The only thing I didn’t like was that you could smoke — granted, it is outside, but it wasn’t really pleasant because it was so windy, it just wafted over to our tables. Overall, it’s a cool place. If the tower were open, I would’ve given it 5 stars.

We dropped in for a Craig Kinsey show. Had a great night all around. Staff were friendly. It was busy but we could always find a seat. There were lines but they moved quickly. The food truck was meh, but I hear they switch them out and we were indifferent after a few drinks. Glad to see this oddity revived. Will def. return.

Don’t know how this place has anything less than 5 stars. In my opinion, this is one of the coolest spots in Houston and making the city truly unique. Apparently this was an old car lot and the owner built the tower so he could keep an eye on everything. Soon to be next door neighbors with White Oak Music Hall and you’ll be able to hear the lawn concerts over there from Raven’s patio and rooftop.
Make sure to climb up the many flights of stairs to the retro bar/​lounge with wrap around windows and killer views, then climb up even further to the rooftop! The roof is sort of scary and feels un-​level, but I’ve been assured it’s safe… This bar is unlike anywhere and I can’t wait to come back and check out some music.
P. S. There’s also a ridiculously amazing taco food truck parked near the entrance. Pork tacos w/​grilled pineapple & onions were life changing.

I went to Raven Tower on a Tuesday! I was really hoping that we would be able to get to the very top of the tower to admire the view. We got there around 7 pm because a previous Unilocaler said that they don’t let anyone up until after 7 pm. This place is quite new but it has a lot of potential! The set up of the bar is pretty cool. I can definitely see this as a cool spot to hang out with friends on a chill weekend night. There were a few people there having drinks, but it was pretty empty for the most part. I guess that’s to be expected on a Tuesday. I wonder if it gets full on the weekends? Anyways, we managed to get into the tower through a red door. The sights from the window room were amazing, however it didn’t seem like anyone was being let up to the very top of the tower! So dissapointed, but I will definitely be back on another day to try to get up there!

I manage events and thought that Raven Tower would be the perfect place for a motorcycle «Bike Night.» Great parking lot, a pavilion for a band, just down the street from the dealership hosting the event, etc. The General Manager and I scoped out the place as soon as it opened and had a great experience with our server, Catherine. We talked to her about the venue and she told us that we wouldn’t want to do anything on the back patio because getting a microphone and PA system out there for performers was a pain. She sold us on using the Pavilion instead. We gave her our cards and were assured she would mention it to the owners.
We followed up by hosting a Fun Run to introduce our customers to the venue. There was some miscommunication with Gina right away. We were expecting 40 – 50 bikes and wanted to do a dry run for how the regular crowd mixed with our customers. Gina wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about our visit in emails and considering they didn’t do any promotion on their end to thank us for making them the focal point and ending place of our ride, put a negative spin on the place. But still — perfect venue, right? One of the owners, Travis, called me to assure us it was just a miscommunication. We showed up and were thrilled to see they had blocked off the parking lot for us.
We had 60 people show up on an already busy day. Our previous server, Catherine, wasn’t assigned to our group and in fact didn’t seem to recognize us at all. Okay, I get it, busy place… you can’t possibly remember everyone you meet but c’mon. None of this is ringing a bell? Bikers, event, nothing? Fine. Gina wasn’t there either. In fact, no one approached us from the management team. We all bought drinks and yet no one came over to thank us for bringing in new customers. It was almost as if we were an inconvenience — like when a large group shows up without a reservation. They were doing crawfish that day and had done a great job of promoting that on social media, but no mention of us. They didn’t even put the posters we provided up to help promote the event. So, they’re ungrateful. But perfect venue, right?!
I contacted Gina six weeks prior to the Bike Night event and made it very clear (in a bulleted list and everything) what we would need from the venue. At that time, we were under the assumption that because we needed a PA and a microphone that we would be in the pavilion. Again, we made it very clear that was a requirement to host this event. Imagine my surprise when I heard nothing back from Gina to discuss the details any further. Her last email said she would talk the details over with another one of the owners, Will. Tick tock. Nothing.
I notice they started doing Whiskey Wednesdays. Our event was going to be on a Wednesday. Great! A built-​in drink special. I was never contacted by Gina that there would be bands in the pavilion in conjunction with those Whiskey Wednesdays. Plain and simple. We were never actually put on their calendar. We were bringing 150 – 250 people out to their venue and paying the entertainers ourselves and yet no one at The Raven Tower remembered that we had already requested a date with them.
I reached out three weeks prior to the event with the event flyer that we paid to produce and Gina responded that we would be on the hook for the production cost involved in putting a PA system out on the back patio and that if we didn’t want a band playing on the same night that we’d have to reschedule our event date. You know what? It’s totally my fault that I’m now having to find another venue because the signs were all there that this place never wanted our business.
tldr; This venue gives you no social media support to promote your event, no customer care during the event, and I can’t even get an owner to call me to apologize for the mix up on this.

Very nice venue, and it will only get better while I’m not a fan of Omar and FPS at all, this place has potential. It’s like a giant ice house, open walls, large garage doors, has a great deck with a surprisingly good view, nice seating, well stocked bar (albeit somewhat pricey). Staff were excellent, accommodating, and quite professional/​attentive. Food truck nearby for some grub, didn’t even check the menu having already had dinner. This is a great place for a show Fall-​Winter-​Spring, but come summer it might be a tough sell unless a portion is air conditioned. All in all a welcome addition to Houston’s music scene, well done.

Awesome view of downtown
Worth the climb up! And then go even higher to the top of the rooftop, it’s totally worth it
Will be back to check out a show. Music venue looks super cool.

You go here for the view… which is amazing from above. I’m giving it 3 stars because by the time they allowed us to go up the tower, it was already dark and we had asked to be allowed just to go up and take a picture before the sun set and was turned down more than once. Might end up being a really cool spot after a while, but it’s still super new and a bit rough around the edges.

Not going to lie. I went here solely for the view. It’s definitely worth the visit. One of the best views of the Houston skyline on the rooftop! I went here on their opening night, on Tuesday, and it was packed! The venue is big and has great potential! My only worries is that once this place gets more known, there will probably not be enough parking. There are street parking, if you are lucky.
I can’t wait to come back! There’s TVs in the back deck with plenty of tables for Sunday Funday.

Went there last night for their soft opening. We took our time getting there and that was a mistake! For a Tuesday night it was crazy packed! But the views were worth the wait.
I am a native Houstonian and have passed by this Place off 45 for decades wondering what it was, why it was there, well let me give you some history. This actually was a bachelor pad built by a guy who owned and worked at a business near by. It was built in the 60’s and has been abandoned for decades until the Pegstar group turned it in it a bar. Some of the best night views of Houston are here. Just amazing. There is a small bar in the very top of the tower, on the glass enclosed level there is sound proof Windows, retro seating and small bathrooms. No frills just very retro. It’s about a 4 story climb and the elevator does not work yet. We were told it is structurally sound, but they were only allowed 50 people up there at a time. There was a line to get up but we only waited 15 minutes. So worth it.
On the ground level there is a very nice cool bar between the tower and White Oak Bayou. Many TVs and plenty of beer on tap on in a bottle. Beer was not cheap $ 6.00 a bottle for a Bud light. Did see liquor but
No wine. There were a few food trucks there and I think it will rotate what trucks be there at any time.
There is limited parking we parked blocks away. It’s not the best neighborhood, think Heights back in the 80s. With this addition it’s going to be an up and coming neighborhood. My advise is Über over there to avoid the parking and traffic.
Over all great experience go for the views on a clear day and enjoy our beautiful city!