And from that long lineage comes Bang Bang Bar, a cross between the mentioned strip club exterior and a furniture-focused antique store specializing in pieces that once graced the living rooms of great aunts. Entry to the San Antonio dive bar comes through a nondescript black door jutting out of a red and black painted exterior. The promise of an extensive patio can be seen through a tall wooden fence just off the parking lot, long strings of lights playing off of the wall that separates the building from semi-busy San Pedro Avenue, playing into the dive bar’s reclusive feel.
The space unfolds into a warehouse-like space, high ceilings and black painted walls absorbing even the memory of sunlight. Plush couches, ornate arm chairs and coffee table centerpieces are perched on a series of uniquely positioned pedestals, a network of open-air drinking alcoves that provide seclusion within a space largely devoid of walls. Each hub of seating activity comes with a signature visual element or two, ranging from disco balls to vintage bar glasses to entire vinyl record collections mounted to the wall within ancient suitcases.
A long bar runs the length of this open first room, a largely minimalist contraption backed by a simple selection of liquors far from the classic cluttered dive bar look. Though the Bang Bang Bar neon is impressive and a mounted phonograph certainly holds some appeal, the stars here are the twin, hollowed out, vintage television consoles repurposed into diorama-like alcohol shrines. On this reviewer’s visit, one diorama featured red draping as a backdrop to a Bulleit Rye bottle flanked by two stub-glass High Life bottles.
