Remember when you were a kid and were leaving the grocery store and the wall was lined with gumball machines and you were ready to faint at all the choices? Well, that's how it feels when you enter the Gingerman and see the wall behind the bar just bursting with taps - 80, to be exact, including one for the designated root beer drinker.

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Whatever's ale-ing you won't be after you and your brew-ed hit a happy hour at this much-loved watering hole. Four beers are brewed on the premises year round and two seasonal, all going for $1 a pint daily between 5-6pm (with plenty of other happy-hour specials, too).

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Monte, the cool (not cold) G.M. of the Sixth Street location, swears he would tell us if he thought the readers were mistaken. But he doesn't. And he says the brew at the 'house hovers just above freezing (that's 35 degrees to you and me.) Brrrrrrrrew-tal, man.

Waterloo Ice House
8600 Burnet Rd., 512/458-6544
6203 Capital of TX Hwy. N., 512/418-9700
9600 Escarpment Blvd., 512/301-1007
9600 S. I-35 Ste. D-100, 512/292-7900
www.waterlooicehouse.com

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When we're overwhelmed by that desire to snarf a couple of cold ones and sing along to words we sorta know ourselves, this veteran venue delivers. "Satisfaction" guaranteed.

Maggie Mae's
323 E. Sixth
512/478-8541
www.maggiemaesaustin.com

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The place Austinites want to wear their, their, their boogie shoes, just to boogie wit you.

Paradox
311 E. Fifth
512/469-7615
www.paradoxaustin.com

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The place Austinites want to wear their, their, their boogie shoes, just to boogie wit you.

Paradox
311 E. Fifth
512/469-7615
www.paradoxaustin.com

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You can't beat free weekly tunes on the waterfront for the music-hungry residents of this city. The one thing we can't figure out is why the bats fly away from the action.

Auditorium Shores at the Long Center
South First at Lady Bird Lake
512/482-0800

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Four out of five friends of Dorothy agree, Oilcan's is the place to be.

Oilcan's
211 W. Fourth
512/320-8823
www.fb.com/oilcanharrys

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Not just another bin of chicken nuggets, folks. This place offers substantial cocktail cuisine.

Tangerines
9721 Arboretum Blvd.
512/795-6040

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Better than a sonnet. Cheaper than a bottle of wine. Quicker to get to than the ocean. Want to win somebody's heart? Take them here to see a sunset; you won't have to say a word.

Mount Bonnell at Covert Park
3851 Mount Bonnell Dr.
512/974-6700

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A call to management, asking for a description of said box, netted this response: "It's pretty broad-range. Like our crowd." Featuring the likes of Ol' Blue Eyes, S.R. Vaughan, Tom Petty, Muddy Waters, and a bazillion others.

Deep Eddy Cabaret
2315 Lake Austin Blvd.
512/472-0961
www.deepeddycabaret.com

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Alongside the ubiquitous Milk Duds and Red Hots, the Dobie sweet shop offers chocolate-covered espresso beans, butter-toffee peanuts, and popcorn to die for. The food is so good, we'd come here even if they didn't show such terrific flicks.

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A return win for one of the cleanest, comfiest, most state-of-the-art cinemas in the city.

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The mix of cool independent work, fine foreign cinema, and the occasional sharp Hollywood flick, juggled over four screens, ensures that there is always don't-miss moviegoing here.

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You say you want Deep Eddy Pool, sans sun and water? Then cool off and cue up at this ever-shady (as in cool and dark, not evil) establishment. Wet your whistle, not your swimsuit.

Deep Eddy Cabaret
2315 Lake Austin Blvd.
512/472-0961
www.deepeddycabaret.com

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Tinkle tinkle little bar... wait, is that the player's fingers on the keys or the soothing sounds of perfect little cubes tinkling against the confines of a cool, clear cocktail?

The Driskill Hotel
604 Brazos
512/439-1234
driskillhotel.com

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Something about the mix of burnished wood and Mediterranean cuisine makes this tapas bar y restaurant seem like more than another Sixth Street haunt. It's like taking a quick trip to the Continent, and that inspires one to dress apropos. Plus, you never know who you might bump into here.

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Where you can admire a scenic sunset, your libation of preference in hand, from a choice of over a thousand chairs (imagine the agony of Goldilocks in a joint like this!).

The Oasis
6550 Comanche Trl.
512/266-2442
oasis-austin.com

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"Rack 'em, Dan-O." Over a dozen tables at each location.

Clicks Billiards
2121 E. Oltorf, 512/448-4945
10205 N. Lamar, 512/837-4688

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Rock (at) the 'boat baby. For those who prefer Ian Moore than they prefer disco.

Steamboat
110 E. Riverside
512/707-2628
www.io.com/steamboat

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Take your pick: Northcross, Highland, Barton Creek Square, Westgate, each and every one is a modern Pied Piper drawing various and sundry teens from every walk to check out the game scene, the fashions, and each other.

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Featuring hot Tejano tunes and cheap, cheap drink specials (Would you believe buck beers and buck margaritas?).

Tejano Ranch
7601 N. Lamar, Ste. A
512/453-6615
www.tejanoranchaustin.com

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When you absolutely, positively have to see that brand-new video release tonight (the one thousands of other video-mad Austinites want to rent tonight, too), the 'Buster will provide. They have more copies of popular releases than god, probably. And there's one nearby.

Blockbuster
1112-A N. Lamar
512/440-7710
www.blockbuster.com/

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Craig "the big fuzzy guy" Pankey has managed to please our video-savvy readers once again. Whether your tastes run to classic, modern, foreign, or cult, Vulcan has a huge selection to suit you. The place to check for Japanimation or those wild Hong Kong action titles.

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