Best Bars in Midtown Houston: Patios, Sports Bars, Wine and Jazz

In Midtown you can bet on a turtle, drink a frozen cocktail flight out of a treasure chest and order a 25-cent martini at lunch, all within a few blocks of the METRORail Red Line. That's the neighborhood in one sentence: it doesn't take its bars too seriously, but it takes them seriously enough.

This is the shortlist we'd hand a friend who asks for the best bars in Midtown. It covers beer gardens and patios, sports bars, a wine bar, cocktail spots, a rooftop and two live-music rooms, and every pick was checked as operating on its own official website or official social page.

How we define Midtown

Midtown sits between downtown and the Museum District. Roughly, it's the grid south of the Pierce Elevated (I-45) and north of I-69, with Main Street and the Red Line running down the middle. The edges blur, so we used one test: every bar below appears on the Midtown Management District's own map. Favorites just over the line, in Montrose, the Museum District or the Fourth Ward, live in our citywide best bars in Houston guide instead.

The quick list

• For hammocks and a beer garden: Axelrad.
• For the weirdest good night out: turtle racing at Little Woodrow's Midtown.
• For a burger and the game: Christian's Tailgate.
• For a big group watch party: Pour Behavior.
• For a date: 13 Celsius, a wine bar in a 1920s dry cleaner's building.
• For a cocktail bar that looks like a dive: Two Headed Dog.
• For a patio on the rail line: Winnie's.
• For a classic martini: the Courtyard Bar at Brennan's of Houston.
• For a skyline view: 77 Degrees.
• For live music: The Continental Club or Red Cat Jazz Cafe.

How we chose

We looked for bars with a clear reason to go: a patio worth sitting on, a screen setup worth watching on, a drink you can name, or a stage. Each one had to be inside Midtown by the district's map and show it was operating, with current hours or recent posts, on its own website or official social account as of October 2026. Several well-known names didn't make it because they have closed or we couldn't confirm them on an official page.

Hours change and many Midtown bars switch to 21+ at night, so treat every schedule below as "typically" and check before you go.

Beer gardens and patios

Axelrad Beer Garden

Midtown, 1517 Alabama St · beer garden with hammocks · open daily

Axelrad is the patio people picture when they say "Houston beer garden": a big yard of picnic tables, string lights and hammocks, with live music, DJ nights and watch parties on the calendar. The bar sits in a building the Axelrad family put up as a grocery store in the early 1920s. It pours beer, wine, cocktails and cider, with mocktails and Saint Arnold root beer for anyone not drinking. It doesn't cook: grab a pizza from Luigi's Pizzeria next door, buy from the rotating food vendors, or bring your own food, which Axelrad allows.

Insider tip: Axelrad gives a 5% discount if you arrive by Uber, taxi, bike, on foot, by bus or on the train. Dogs are welcome on a leash (with bowls and treats), and kids are welcome until it switches to 21+, typically at 9 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Winnie's

Midtown, 3622 Main St · cocktails, sandwiches and oysters · dog-friendly patio

Winnie's sums itself up as cocktails, fancy sandwiches and good vibes. The patio looks straight onto the rail line, the bar inside is hand-built with booth seating, and the menu runs from raw oysters and wings to po'boys like the Perfect Peacemaker, with fried Gulf shrimp and oysters on a Leidenheimer roll.

What to order: the frozen cocktail flight, which Winnie's serves in a treasure chest. Everyone at the table will want a photo of it.

Best for: a long afternoon that becomes happy hour. Bring the dog; the patio is dog-friendly.

Sports bars

Little Woodrow's Midtown

Midtown, 2306 Brazos St · patio sports bar · 21+ at all times

Little Woodrow's Midtown calls itself gameday headquarters for UH and Longhorn fans, with 30 to 50 TVs, a patio bar and yard games like cornhole. Happy hour typically runs on weekday afternoons into the early evening.

I didn't know that: this sports bar races turtles. On race nights, typically Thursdays at 8 p.m. during the season, you pick one of 10 turtles at the Turtle Bar, find a seat in the bleachers and cheer. If your turtle wins, you win a prize from the bar's sponsors. Check its site for the current season before you go.

Christian's Tailgate

Midtown, 2000 Bagby St · burgers, beer and TVs · also in the Heights and Energy Corridor

Christian's Tailgate is the uncomplicated answer to "where can we watch the game and eat?" Expect lots of TVs, a big beer list and the super-sized burgers the bar is known for. It typically opens at 11 a.m. daily and stays open until midnight Sunday to Wednesday and 2 a.m. Thursday to Saturday, which makes it an easy pick for a noon kickoff.

What to order: a burger and a pitcher.

Pour Behavior

Midtown, 2211 Travis St · big-screen sports and cocktails · 21+ · dress code

Pour Behavior is the opposite of a neighborhood dive. The venue says it covers 20,000 square feet, about 12,000 of it climate-controlled indoors, with massive LED walls for sports, a scratch kitchen and handcrafted cocktails. It works for birthday groups and big watch parties, and it takes reservations.

Good to know: it's 21+ with a strictly enforced dress code. The list rules out athletic gym wear, slides and Crocs, plain white T-shirts and sleeveless shirts for men, among others, so read it on the site first. It typically opens at 4 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. on weekends.

For more game-day options across town, see our best sports bars in Houston.

Wine and cocktails

13 Celsius

Midtown, 3000 Caroline St · wine bar and cafe · open daily

13 Celsius opened in December 2006 in a 1920s Mediterranean-style building that was Jenning's Cleaners and Dyeing Shoppe until 2004. The owners kept the pressed-tin ceiling intact, built a 40-foot bar of antiqued white Carrara marble and furnished the room with pieces salvaged from the historic Warwick Hotel.

I didn't know that: the open-air courtyard wasn't designed. In the bar's own words, the building made it "by the building's own volition" when part of the roof fell.

What to order: a wine flight, with cheese and charcuterie. Every bottle in the collection is for sale to take home. It typically opens at 4 p.m. on weekdays and 1 p.m. on Sundays.

Two Headed Dog

Midtown, 3100 Fannin St at Elgin · cocktail bar with a dive-bar look · open daily

Two Headed Dog's Instagram bio is a fair summary: "Cold beer, even colder AC." It's a small cocktail bar that dresses like a dive, with karaoke and DJ nights on its social calendar. It typically opens at 4 p.m. and runs to 2 a.m. every day.

Insider tip: look for the yellow door on Elgin. That's the entrance.

The Courtyard Bar at Brennan's of Houston

Midtown, 3300 Smith St · classic Creole restaurant bar · since 1967

Brennan's has served Creole food on Smith Street since 1967, and its Courtyard Bar is the most grown-up drink in Midtown. Happy hour typically runs weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m. Our espresso martini guide rates its frozen espresso martini as the most fun in town.

Don't miss: the weekday 25-Cent Martini Lunch, typically 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. Read the fine print and the dress code on the Brennan's site before you go.

Rooftop

77 Degrees

Midtown, 2416 Brazos St · multi-story rooftop lounge · Thursday to Sunday

77 Degrees is Midtown's dressed-up night out: a multi-story rooftop with skyline views that describes itself as designed "with seductive lighting and elegant water features." The drinks lean Caribbean and tropical, like the Namaste with tequila, citrus and pineapple, or a prickly pear margarita. It typically opens at 5 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and 3 p.m. on weekends, and it's closed Monday to Wednesday.

Best for: a sunset drink before dinner. Compare it with the rest in our best rooftop bars in Houston.

Live music

The Continental Club and Big Top Lounge

Midtown, 3700 block of Main St · live music club and lounge

The Continental Club is the Houston outpost of Austin's Continental Club, and it's the anchor of the Main Street music strip. Expect roots rock, soul and Gulf Coast R&B on the calendar. Next door, Shoeshine Charley's Big Top Lounge runs its own music calendar, so you can move between the two rooms in one night. Both sit by the Red Line. Shows and covers vary; check the calendars on the club's website.

Red Cat Jazz Cafe

Midtown, 1011 McGowen St · live jazz and Creole food

Red Cat bills itself as "a Houston legend reborn," and it pairs live jazz and R&B nights with a Creole menu, so dinner and the show happen at the same table. Shows are ticketed through its website, so book ahead for weekend nights. For more, read our Houston blues and jazz guide.

Save this: the Midtown bar bingo card

Screenshot this and see how many you can mark off:

1. Nap in a hammock at Axelrad.
2. Back a turtle on race night at Little Woodrow's.
3. Order a frozen flight in a treasure chest at Winnie's.
4. Drink a 25-cent martini at Brennan's weekday lunch.
5. Set your glass on the 40-foot marble bar at 13 Celsius.
6. Find the yellow door on Elgin at Two Headed Dog.
7. Watch the skyline from 77 Degrees.
8. Catch a band at The Continental Club, then the Big Top next door.
9. Hear a jazz set over Creole food at Red Cat.

A south Midtown walking route: start with happy hour at the Brennan's Courtyard Bar on Smith Street, walk east to Two Headed Dog on Fannin, then a glass of wine at 13 Celsius on Caroline. Head to Axelrad on Alabama for the hammocks and a slice from Luigi's, and finish on Main Street with a show at The Continental Club. Use a rideshare if you'd rather not walk between stops at night.

Getting there and getting home

The METRORail Red Line runs down Main Street through Midtown, with stops including Main at McGowen, so you can start the night without a car; our METRO guide covers fares and routes. Many of these bars pour until 2 a.m., later than the trains run, so plan a rideshare home.

Hungry first? See the best restaurants in Midtown Houston, or make a morning of it with the best brunch in Midtown. For the rest of the neighborhood, start with our Midtown area guide.

Last verified: October 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best bars in Midtown Houston?

Our picks are Axelrad, Little Woodrow's Midtown, Christian's Tailgate, Pour Behavior, 13 Celsius, Two Headed Dog, Winnie's, the Brennan's Courtyard Bar, 77 Degrees, The Continental Club and Red Cat Jazz Cafe.

Where is turtle racing in Midtown Houston?

At Little Woodrow's Midtown, 2306 Brazos St. Races typically start at 8 p.m. on Thursdays during the season; check its website for the current schedule. The bar is 21+.

Which Midtown bars are dog-friendly?

Axelrad welcomes leashed, spayed or neutered dogs and provides bowls and treats, and Winnie's has a dog-friendly patio.

Are Midtown bars kid-friendly?

Axelrad welcomes kids until it switches to 21+, typically at 9 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Little Woodrow's Midtown and Pour Behavior are 21+ at all times.

Can you take the train to Midtown bars?

Yes. METRORail's Red Line runs along Main Street through Midtown. Trains stop running before the 2 a.m. last call, so plan a rideshare home.

What is the 25-cent martini at Brennan's?

Brennan's of Houston offers a 25-Cent Martini Lunch on weekdays, typically 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Check its website for the current terms and dress code.