Sahara Lounge

This laid-back music dive in the rural stretches of East Austin – a neighborhood once known as the “Hog Pen” – opened in 2011 when beloved BYO-liquor roadhouse T.C.’s Lounge retired from action. The place didn’t change much in transition, adopting a vaguely African theme and fencing in a back patio. A big, unpaved parking lot and tiny corner stage remain, and if enough people start dancing, it feels like the old building may buckle. Sahara Lounge, capacity 150, shakes with rock, funk, Afro-jazz, hip-hop, country, Brazilian, and garage rock seven nights a week.