Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden

Reviews

• Samuel C.

  star star star star star_border 9 June 2026

  This place has two existences: Dr Jekyll by day and Mr Hyde by night.
  
  * * *
  
  Let's talk about Mr. Hyde first.
  
  At night, this is THE most crowded bar on West Sixth Street.
  
  Every student from UT-Austin, Saint Edwards, Southwestern and ACC is in the building - all 47,538 of them.
  
  They are all jammed into that one building and its outdoor patio.
  
  * * *
  
  I just received an email from Skeptical Yelper.
  
  Skeptical Yelper writes:
  
  "If every student from those four universities are all in Buford's, then who the hell is in the other bars on West Sixth Street, as well as the bars on plain old regular Sixth Street?"
  
  Good question, Skeptical Yelper.
  
  Actually, they hire movie extras to fill up the rest of the bars in those two locations. If you look closely, the "students" at Whiskey Tango Foxtrot and Barcelona are reading scripts. They only got cast earlier in the day.
  
  All the actual students are at Buford's.
  
  Buford's also has 100% of the students from the University of Oklahoma, LSU and UCLA.
  
  Buford's is the most crowded establishment you will ever see.
  
  Officials from the Tokyo subway system go to Buford's to learn the secrets of crowd management.
  
  * * *
  
  Buford's by day is a much more mellow establishment.
  
  It is a cool place to hang out.
  
  Before the sun sets, the place is like 10% full.
  
  Much of the establishment is open patio, with lots of greenery overhead and good vantage points for overlooking the passing scene.
  
  They have an excellent food truck, Via 313 Pizza.
  
  They don't really do a lot of mixmastering either in the form of craft cocktails or shots. People complain about the drinks they do mix.
  
  But they have a fine collection of beers and some decent hard spirits.
  
  I drank stouts and IPAs and was very happy.
  
  They have Chive TV. Chive TV calls itself the best bar entertainment in the world. I would have to agree with Chive TV on that.
  
  If the World Cup or the NFL playoffs are not on, then Chive TV is one of the best things you can watch while drinking.
  
  They also play first rate music and have the music videos to match.
  
  Their taste is pop hits from one to five years back. Vintage Taylor Swift. Vintage Nicki Minaj. Vintage Calvin Harris. Vintage Ellie Goulding.
  
  I could listen to that stuff all day. I could watch those videos all day.
  
  The speaker system and the screens are good so there is not a bad seat in the house.
  
  So you take in the greenery, you take in a good beer, you take in some good music, and you can sit wherever you like.
  
  A relaxing place to decompress.
  
  * * *
  
  If you come by at 12:15 AM, there will be mega-mega-mega crowds.
  
  Forget decompression.
  
  You will be compressed into an area the size of four square millimeters.

• Baoy H.

  star star star_border star_border star_border 8 June 2026

  I came here back in April 22, 2018 on a visit to Austin for my birthday. It was a Sunday night out. There was almost no one in there that night, not sure why because reading the other reviews it seems that this place could get real busy. Considering there was literally maybe 4/5 other souls in the establishment at the time, the bartender should have been happy to be serving us but she just was so rude and acted like we were a bother. It was just weird.
  
  We paid for our drinks and went to one of the high tables to drink them because we didn't want to keep on feeling like we were disturbing her with our presence alone. We debated on getting another round of drinks there because we just started our night so we went back to the bar. She basically acted busy for awhile and ignored us so we just left. Luckily that block has a lot of bars so we just went on our way and had a good time elsewhere. And everywhere else had a good amount of people there that night.
  
  The place looks like it has a lot of potential. It was also recommended by a friend who had a good time there previously. If I ever return to Austin, I will give it another chance but for now the review is what it is. With such few patrons we should have received at least decent service.

• Craig W.

  star star star_border star_border star_border 6 June 2026

  My friend and I are here to try the pizza from Via 313. After walking around and checking the place out, we sat inside and waited for our pizza... At the bar, we waited... And waited... Finally a nice bartender asked us if we'd been helped. She grabbed his a couple beers.
  
  As we waited for our pizzas, I noticed a girl brought her dog inside... Even though signs on the doors clearly indicated no dogs inside... Then another dog appeared. As someone with allergies I am sensitive to this. I don't get how a bar staff can allow such brazen disregard for rules to the detriment of their patrons. Luckily the pizza place has other locations so I don't have to come back here again.
  
  I am sure this place gets crazy busy on weekends with the college crowd, so they don't need my money to survive. I just hope the management takes the time to realize they should either change their rules or enforce them.

• Angel G.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 4 June 2026

  HORRIBLE. HORRIBLE. HORRIBLE.
  I wouldn't recommend this place to my worst enemy. The door guy started screaming at me because I entered through the back to pick up my pizza. Homophobic as well, if you're gay you will not be welcomed here. This is a total redneck, bumfuck, small town place where out of towners will feel right at home. So if you're coming from Amarillo, Odessa, Waco, Snyder, Midland TX you'll feel like you never left home. I would NEVER step foot in this place and you shouldn't either. Give your money to a place who takes pride in their customer service.

• Courtney W.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 31 May 2026

  The late night staff here is INCREDIBLY rude. Don't put your hands on me. Not acceptable.