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Massive mugs of beer at King’s Biergarten
King’s Biergarten

19 Excellent Houston Beer Bars

Where to unwind with the city’s best selections of brews

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Massive mugs of beer at King’s Biergarten
| King’s Biergarten

Whether it’s a funky sour or a totally drinkable blonde ale, one thing’s for sure: Houstonians love their beer. Outside of the city’s locally-grown breweries, Houston is home to a bevy of beer bars that serve up endlessly interesting line-ups of brews from all over the world.

But where does one drink Houston’s best beer? Well, that depends on what you’re looking for. This map rounds up the 19 best destinations for an overall great drinking experience, many of which have expansive outdoor spaces. This map factors in vibe, solid beer offerings, and good bar bites that can soak up all the booze.

Hold on to your liver, and check out these essential Houston watering holes.

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Eater maps are curated by editors and aim to reflect a diversity of neighborhoods, cuisines, and prices. Learn more about our editorial process.

Hop Scholar Ale House

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This bar offers one of the best selections of brews in the Spring/Woodlands area, with more than 30 draughts and almost 50 bottles, including hard-to-find selections from places like Copenhagen, Flanders and Walloon in Belgium, and Soragna in Italy.

Thistle Draftshop

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Thistle Draft aims to “bring some of Houston’s Downtown culture out to the suburbs,” with a menu of 60 taps plus beer to grab and go from the bottle shop. Texas labels include Back Pew (Porter, TX), Klaus Brewing (Houston), Southern Star (Conroe) and Texas Ale Project (Dallas). Food-wise, find a creative menu including pork belly fries, blue cheese burgers, and a dish called the Fried Oyster Po’Bao, served on pillow bao buns.

Cottonwood

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Expansive Garden Oaks/Oak Forest restaurant and bar Cottonwood is a solid spot for patio hangs and Texas cuisine, but its tap list is equally outstanding. Look forward to local brews from Saint Arnold and Conroe’s B-52 Brewing, along with more distant counterparts like Wasatch Brewery in Park City. Creative food, like the crawfish fondue burger, only makes the beers taste better.

Cottonwood

Cobble & Spoke

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This little neighborhood beer bar in Spring Branch is known for its laid-back approach to craft beer, with about 40 beers on tap. The menu’s current focus includes summery sippers like sour ales, goses, Mexican lagers and meads. They also sell crowlers for beer on the go.

King's Bierhaus

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This North Heights bar brings German bites and brews to its forefront. Couple weiner schnitzels, Slough Dough pretzels or Vienna goulash with a pint of signature Pilsner or Oktoberfest. Choose from more than 18 taps, including many German faves like Spaten, Paulauner, and Warsteiner.

Hughie's

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Come for the Vietnamese dishes, like shaking beef, chargrilled chicken vermicelli, and banh mis, but stay for the extensive tap list, including brews from Eureka Heights, Lone Pint, and Parish, from our neighbors in Louisiana

Heights Bier Garten

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A whopping 96 taps composed of beers, wines and ciders makes this draught menu one of the most diverse in Houston. While the list may appear daunting, it is user-friendly in that the beers are broken down by style. Whether a bitter and hoppy double IPA or something more drinkable is in order, Heights Bier Garten has it.

Craft Beer Cellar Houston

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This pub and bottle shop is staffed by Cicerone-certified servers (similar to a sommelier, but for beer) who will guide you in selecting from more than 50 beers, available for take-out or consuming on the spot.

Bovine & Barley

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As the name implies, B&B’s menu focuses on beef and beer, with more than 20 brews on tap, plus steaks, burgers and more elevated bar food.

Flying Saucer Draught Emporium

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The OG of craft beer bars in Houston, known for its UFO Club, which encourages beer lovers to try as many different styles of brew as possible — hit 200 pints and you get a plate on the wall.

Moon Tower Inn

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Moon Tower’s menu favors off-the-wall beers, like extra-hoppy IPAs, creative sours and heavy imperial stouts, perfect for pairing with the menu of game meat hot dogs and burgers. The tap menu rotates regularly, so you never know what you’re gonna get.

The Hay Merchant

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This uber-serious beer haven, 70 taps and five cask engines. Each beer is painstakingly served in proper glassware at the proper temperature, with the correct pressure. Beer lovers, rejoice.

Beer Market Co.

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Beer Market Co. demonstrates a true celebration of beer in an unpretentious environment with 365 craft brews on draft, one for every day of the year. The food incorporates sudsy elements as well, like brew pretzels, ale cheese, dip and crispy beer-battered pickles.

Wooster's Garden

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Sitting on the outskirts of Midtown, sleek beer garden and bar Wooster’s Garden entices patrons with both formidable bartenders and a lengthy menu comprised of forty plus beer options ranging from refreshing and malty ambers and lagers to tart and alluring ales and IPAs. Added bonus: the bar's garden makes it an optimal choice in nice weather.

Kirby Ice House

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Kirby Ice House, tucked just north of Levy Park, focuses on Texas and Houston breweries, with more than 50 taps including labels like 512, Bakfish, and Revolver. They don’t have a kitchen, but the massive outdoor space does host a rotating fleet of food trucks.

Axelrad Beer Garden

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Enjoy a much needed staycation by cozying up in a hammock, chomping on a slice of pizza from next door’s Luigi’s Pizzeria and enjoying a beer in this spacious watering hole. The menu boasts over thirty different kinds of suds including a number of locally brewed beers ranging from Saint Arnold’s Lawnmower to Southern Star Brewing Co.’s Buried Hatchet.

The Richmond Arms Pub

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One of Houston’s few British pubs, Richmond Arms hosts a selection of fine UK and UK-inspired beers, like Wicket Awesome, and ESB from Eureka Heights, Old Speckled Hen, and Left hand Milk Stout.

Boondoggle's

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This cozy pub in Seabrook offers a wide selection of Texas beers, from Galveston Island Brewing to Lone Pint to Real Ale. Food-wise, Boondoggles specialized in wood-fired pizzas, best enjoyed with a pint from the tables outside, which overlook a small tributary off of Clear Lake. Insider tip: Boondoggles has their own pier, meaning you can visit them by boat.

Nobi Public House

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Tucked into an unassuming strip mall in Webster, Texas, Nobi hosts one of the area’s best selections of craft beer, with more than 50 options, plus even more available in bottles and cans. And the food here really shines, with a modern Vietnamese menu that includes dishes like pork fried rice, stir-fried noodles, and a chocolate stout brownie sundae for dessert.

Hop Scholar Ale House

This bar offers one of the best selections of brews in the Spring/Woodlands area, with more than 30 draughts and almost 50 bottles, including hard-to-find selections from places like Copenhagen, Flanders and Walloon in Belgium, and Soragna in Italy.

Thistle Draftshop

Thistle Draft aims to “bring some of Houston’s Downtown culture out to the suburbs,” with a menu of 60 taps plus beer to grab and go from the bottle shop. Texas labels include Back Pew (Porter, TX), Klaus Brewing (Houston), Southern Star (Conroe) and Texas Ale Project (Dallas). Food-wise, find a creative menu including pork belly fries, blue cheese burgers, and a dish called the Fried Oyster Po’Bao, served on pillow bao buns.

Cottonwood

Expansive Garden Oaks/Oak Forest restaurant and bar Cottonwood is a solid spot for patio hangs and Texas cuisine, but its tap list is equally outstanding. Look forward to local brews from Saint Arnold and Conroe’s B-52 Brewing, along with more distant counterparts like Wasatch Brewery in Park City. Creative food, like the crawfish fondue burger, only makes the beers taste better.

Cottonwood

Cobble & Spoke

This little neighborhood beer bar in Spring Branch is known for its laid-back approach to craft beer, with about 40 beers on tap. The menu’s current focus includes summery sippers like sour ales, goses, Mexican lagers and meads. They also sell crowlers for beer on the go.

King's Bierhaus

This North Heights bar brings German bites and brews to its forefront. Couple weiner schnitzels, Slough Dough pretzels or Vienna goulash with a pint of signature Pilsner or Oktoberfest. Choose from more than 18 taps, including many German faves like Spaten, Paulauner, and Warsteiner.

Hughie's

Come for the Vietnamese dishes, like shaking beef, chargrilled chicken vermicelli, and banh mis, but stay for the extensive tap list, including brews from Eureka Heights, Lone Pint, and Parish, from our neighbors in Louisiana

Heights Bier Garten

A whopping 96 taps composed of beers, wines and ciders makes this draught menu one of the most diverse in Houston. While the list may appear daunting, it is user-friendly in that the beers are broken down by style. Whether a bitter and hoppy double IPA or something more drinkable is in order, Heights Bier Garten has it.

Craft Beer Cellar Houston

This pub and bottle shop is staffed by Cicerone-certified servers (similar to a sommelier, but for beer) who will guide you in selecting from more than 50 beers, available for take-out or consuming on the spot.

Bovine & Barley

As the name implies, B&B’s menu focuses on beef and beer, with more than 20 brews on tap, plus steaks, burgers and more elevated bar food.

Flying Saucer Draught Emporium

The OG of craft beer bars in Houston, known for its UFO Club, which encourages beer lovers to try as many different styles of brew as possible — hit 200 pints and you get a plate on the wall.

Moon Tower Inn

Moon Tower’s menu favors off-the-wall beers, like extra-hoppy IPAs, creative sours and heavy imperial stouts, perfect for pairing with the menu of game meat hot dogs and burgers. The tap menu rotates regularly, so you never know what you’re gonna get.

The Hay Merchant

This uber-serious beer haven, 70 taps and five cask engines. Each beer is painstakingly served in proper glassware at the proper temperature, with the correct pressure. Beer lovers, rejoice.

Beer Market Co.

Beer Market Co. demonstrates a true celebration of beer in an unpretentious environment with 365 craft brews on draft, one for every day of the year. The food incorporates sudsy elements as well, like brew pretzels, ale cheese, dip and crispy beer-battered pickles.

Wooster's Garden

Sitting on the outskirts of Midtown, sleek beer garden and bar Wooster’s Garden entices patrons with both formidable bartenders and a lengthy menu comprised of forty plus beer options ranging from refreshing and malty ambers and lagers to tart and alluring ales and IPAs. Added bonus: the bar's garden makes it an optimal choice in nice weather.

Kirby Ice House

Kirby Ice House, tucked just north of Levy Park, focuses on Texas and Houston breweries, with more than 50 taps including labels like 512, Bakfish, and Revolver. They don’t have a kitchen, but the massive outdoor space does host a rotating fleet of food trucks.

Related Maps

Axelrad Beer Garden

Enjoy a much needed staycation by cozying up in a hammock, chomping on a slice of pizza from next door’s Luigi’s Pizzeria and enjoying a beer in this spacious watering hole. The menu boasts over thirty different kinds of suds including a number of locally brewed beers ranging from Saint Arnold’s Lawnmower to Southern Star Brewing Co.’s Buried Hatchet.

The Richmond Arms Pub

One of Houston’s few British pubs, Richmond Arms hosts a selection of fine UK and UK-inspired beers, like Wicket Awesome, and ESB from Eureka Heights, Old Speckled Hen, and Left hand Milk Stout.

Boondoggle's

This cozy pub in Seabrook offers a wide selection of Texas beers, from Galveston Island Brewing to Lone Pint to Real Ale. Food-wise, Boondoggles specialized in wood-fired pizzas, best enjoyed with a pint from the tables outside, which overlook a small tributary off of Clear Lake. Insider tip: Boondoggles has their own pier, meaning you can visit them by boat.

Nobi Public House

Tucked into an unassuming strip mall in Webster, Texas, Nobi hosts one of the area’s best selections of craft beer, with more than 50 options, plus even more available in bottles and cans. And the food here really shines, with a modern Vietnamese menu that includes dishes like pork fried rice, stir-fried noodles, and a chocolate stout brownie sundae for dessert.

Related Maps