The Highball

The Highball is a roughly 250-capacity South Lamar venue inside the Alamo Drafthouse complex in Austin. Its defining twist is the full evening ecosystem around a small concert room: live bands take the large indoor stage, while a long bar, food service, patio, and seven themed karaoke rooms keep the building active before and after a set. For a showgoer, it feels less like a single-purpose club and more like a lively, film-adjacent night out with a stage at its center.

A semi-colon in South Lamar history

The Highball began with a soft opening during Fantastic Fest in 2009, operating as Alamo Drafthouse’s cocktail lounge, karaoke spot, and gathering place for festival guests at the old Lamar Plaza complex. Its original room included a restored 1950s bowling alley, octagonal mirrors, booths, and a retro lounge design. In November 2012, the venue closed as South Lamar Plaza entered redevelopment; the adjoining Alamo closed in January 2013. Plans called for The Highball to return beside the rebuilt cinema, though the vintage bowling lanes would give way to open-air seating. The replacement opened in August 2014 within the enlarged Alamo complex, carrying forward salvaged bowling-lane wood as the bar floor plus fixtures from the earlier room. During the first incarnation, Austin Chronicle writer Richard Whittaker recorded one especially unruly Fantastic Fest memory: RZA and Elijah Wood taking over karaoke for Black Eyed Peas material in the Black Lodge room.

The room today

Rock and indie shows sit within a broader calendar that also makes room for drag, trivia, dance parties, karaoke, and hosted events. Venue Austin lists an in-house PA, professional lighting, an indoor stage, paid performance terms, and door-split options, with artists bringing equipment as needed. Sightlines center on the stage in the main bar room; the long bar runs alongside the action and serves the same food and drinks available through the cinema. Seven private karaoke rooms, each with its own theme and size, make this an especially sociable choice for groups building a whole night around the show.