The outcome of that sale is yet to be seen, but for now, Ego’s persists within what looks a bit like an old school tavern painted on the walls of a parking garage, faux stone etched into a white wall punctuated by a very vintage-looking blue door with brown trim. Visual markers do exist if at least the parking garage can be found, a handful of signs on the garage’s exterior and even its interior columns eventually funneling would-be karaoke singers to the right place.
The motto here is “Extraordinary,” a difficult spirit to argue with, particularly after walking inside one of Austin’s best dive bar interiors. The foyer, often skipped over to get to Ego’s karaoke heart, is notable thanks to not only its ornate wallpaper but also the stapled pictures of regulars over the years. A chalkboard here makes clear the nature of the Austin dive bar, proclaiming “Karaoke every night, 8 PM to 2 AM.” Day drinking starts earlier than core karaoke hours of course, but the crowds truly start to form right around the start of the evening’s festivities.
Such has been the case since the Austin dive bar’s opening in 1979, the untraditional location long a destination not just for karaoke but for dimly-lit drinking as only a parking garage-adjacent location can provide. Ego’s is cash only because of course it is, dark, red, cracked walls illuminated only sporadically with illuminated beer signs. The bar itself provides a burst of light, a small outpost outlined by the glasses above the bar and the mirror behind it, reflecting the string lights that hang from the ledge over the L-shaped counter.
