Stepping into The Cavalier feels a little like you’ve just walked into the bar from a sitcom where a group of friends meet up after work, everybody’s a regular, and an hour always feels like fifteen minutes. The food’s just a little better than it needs to be, and it’s consistently busy, but never crowded, even during Austin’s never-ending festival season. In a lot of ways, The Cavalier is the perfect neighborhood pub.

It’s loosely New Orleans themed, but mostly in the sense that they have po’ boys on the menu and Abita on draft. There’s an all-around solid food menu, but our go-to here is wings. They’re some of the biggest we’ve encountered—when we asked if they came from a turkey, they said no. With fun sauces like Korean BBQ and Jamaican Jerk, you can keep coming back to work your way through them all.

Hop in for the daily specials (like 2-for-1 burgers on Mondays), stay for the cheap drinks and plentiful parking. In the summer months, the frozen daiquiris (made with fresh fruit) are a godsend. Stop in for a casual dinner on a weekday, or grab a Jell-O shot if you’re having one of those kinds of Tuesday nights.

photo credit: Holly Dirks