In the tradition of old Texas taverns, the Wurzbach Ice House offers its customers a comforting environment with a wide selection of alcohol. With over 120 domestic and imported beers, the Wurzbach Ice House’s bar manager, Rudy, assures me that their ranges of liquor and beer are ever growing.
“We keep expanding. We just added two more beers recently,” said Rudy. “Our bar is full service. We got all the essentials but we’re expanding that every day as well.”
When you walk into the bar, picnic tables line the windows that wrap around three quarters of the bar. Jukebox music plays at a volume where conversation isn’t a strenuous activity. A couple of dart boards and pool tables are accompanied by a ping pong table on the left side of the building. A diverse crowd sits around the bar chatting with bartenders and enjoying their drinks. The long bar itself resides in the middle of a large, open area. Neon signs wrap around the bar in the middle of flat screens. Located at the corner of Ironside and Wurzbach, directly behind Popeyes, the Wurzbach Ice House opened Jan. 4 of this year and has already begun to see its share of regulars.
“We’ve been consistent and getting consistently busy by day,” says co-owner Roland. “Everyone in the bar has been here non-stop.”
Owner Roland wanted to bring over the ‘ice house’ theme from another bar he owns in Austin.
“I think what sets us apart is we have a corner bar atmosphere,” Rudy said. “We don’t let it get too old or young and the non smoking factor [helps].”
I went to check out the night life of the bar on a Friday and was happy to see a wide age range of people sitting at the bar and around tables. Everyone was having fun, watching the Spurs game and joking with the bartenders working that night. People played ping-pong and pool. Even a small group of Maverick’s fans formed at a flat screen across the bar floor. The bartenders, although constantly walking around to check on customers, still found time to shoot the breeze and laugh along with everyone else. In the comforting glow of the neon lights, people ordered drinks, personal oven made pizzas and requested cash for the jukebox.
I found myself at the Wurzbach Ice house again the following night. The Saturday crowd was substantially younger than the one on Friday, however, this in no way meant that anyone was out of hand or annoying. Much like the night before, people lined the bar and tables with plenty of room to spare. Bar patrons joked amongst themselves and with bartenders as music played in the background. It took little time to get a drink even with only three bartenders working. The staff is very friendly and laid back.
“The games are always on and we’re hopefully going to have a big screen in the corner,” says owner Roland. “[We’re] working on a patio to wrap around the outside of the bar in the spring.”
The Wurzbach Ice House offers drink specials every night with Happy Hour going on from 4:00 p.m. till 8:00 p.m. Thursday night is their College Night with $1 off all drafts. If you’re looking for a fun night out and want to try something new, Wurzbach Ice House should be on your list of places to go. Prices are really quite moderate to the atmosphere that is created here.
