This campus-adjacent sports bar, which opened in September, comes from fast-growing hospitality group NoCo, who also own retro bar Skinny’s Off-Track Lounge and bar/flower shop Estelle’s. Victory Lap serves cold beers and spicy margaritas indoors or on the turf-covered patio — which has fans and big screen TVs.

Getting in to Trona, which opened in October, requires a bit of luck and a secret phone number. Once inside, the menu focuses on tequilas, mezcals, natural wines, and rare Japanese whiskys, and there’s indoor and outdoor drinking areas with design elements from Japan and Oaxaca.

Look for neon colors and fruity cocktails at downtown bar Saturn, which opened in July. Owner Steven Smith describes the cocktails as “playful, extremely neon-colored club drinks...[that] drink like you’re having a fun party.” Think, Mommy & Daddy Time, his version of a Pornstar martini made with guava accompanied by a side pour of sparkling wine. There are indoor and outdoor dine-in services.

The new downtown bar, which opened in September, offers a simple cocktail menu inspired by the classics, as well as large punches and a strong selection of bourbon and mezcal, within a stylish lounge-style space. There are indoor and outdoor dine-in services.

Austin legacy restaurant Uchi opened the first city location of one of its spin-offs in October. Drinks-wise, the more-casual Japanese restaurant offers draft cocktails like a gin and tonic with quince; classics like martinis with umami bitters, and its own creations like the Paper Crane with whisky and lychee. There’s also the special A5 Cold Rock, where the whisky is washed in A5 wagyu, alongside low-ABV and nonalcoholic drinks. There are indoor and outdoor dine-in services.

Austin industry vets behind Kitty Cohen’s, High Noon, Frazier’s, and the White Horse opened this new fun bar in East Austin in October. The vibes are casual with an easy yet somewhat fancy drinks menu. Expect loads of martinis with caviar bumps, Ramos gin fizzes, nonalcoholic cocktails, and champagne. There are indoor and outdoor dine-in areas.

The modern Chinese restaurant that opened on Barton Springs Road in November serves cocktails with pan-Asian flavors, like a margarita with shishito pepper ice or a nonalcoholic strawberry lemonade with Thai basil. There are indoor and outdoor dining areas.

This new Yucatán restaurant from the team behind Lucky Robot opened in October with tropical flavors and agave spirits. That means mezcal and tequila flights along with the Tepache Junglebird with a pineapple sotol, Campari, tepache, and lime; and the Oaxaca Old Fashioned with a bourbon-aged tequila, an anejo mezcal, both mole and angostura bitters, and a maguey syrup. There are indoor and outdoor dining areas.

The creative cocktails at Elementary, which opened in July, make use of surprising food combinations, much like the food. There’s an Eggo-spresso martini made with Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal milk and a cosmopolitan made with fermented Kool-Aid. There are indoor dine-in services.

The favorite South Austin patio bar expanded to Southeast Austin in October with more offerings of beer and draft cocktails on an expansive patio space (there is an indoor bar, too).

The team behind East Austin bar Drinks Lounge and South Congress bar Little Drinks Lounge opened their third bar in further South Austin in September. Expect easygoing fun cocktails like the Backyard Spritz with choice of liquor, spicy margaritas, and three frozen drinks, plus non-alcoholic options. There are indoor and outdoor dine-in areas.