The last good dive bar, great spot for friends, good tunes, and a with a distinct lack of assholes.

Another cool dive bar!! On day one of our golf trip, someone suggested the Thursty Turtle. Be careful when driving over. GPS may circle you around. I was fortunately to keep an eye out for the sign. We put a couple of tables together to seat the 8 of us. Cool vibe. We used to have turtle parties a long time ago in college. There's a large turtle shell in a display case which says---"Are you a Turtle?" Under it says "You bet your sweet ass I was". The answer is "you bet your sweet ass I am". Only after answering the turtle questions. Look it up. They had Voodoo Ranger on draft. Friendly staff. Even if the owner yelled at us for sitting too close to the entrance to the rest rooms. She was nice and sat down with us for a bit. read more

Thursty Turtle - Dive Bars Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

The first time I came here, the blonde bartender asked me what my favorite color was. When I told her she brought me a cherrie bomb to try out and it was amazing! I love the vibe here. They definitely have a lot of regulars and bartenders who love what they do. The regulars here are playing a great variety of country, rock, pop and blues. I felt very welcomed here and learned some new drinks. They have several pool tables and a kind of natural vibe with all the flowers and turtles in the cieling. The last time I invited a friend...the regulars all knew my friend. The lighting is nice and dim. The outside area is a bit smaller but I'm ok with this. You probably will want to be inside for the dart, pool, and music action anyway. I will definitely come back. read more

Thursty Turtle - I like turtles - Dive Bars Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

Bartenders and patrons are awesome! I'm not on this side of town often but when we are we stop in for a beer and darts. Perfect dive bar with fun turtle theme 10/10 read more

Thursty Turtle - Dive Bars Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

Love trivia night on Sundays! The vibes are good, the best Brandon is great on the mic and controlling the game! The bartender is an also great! Provides a fun atmosphere and experience :) read more

What a great local hangout. Very eclectic place that draws your eyes all around the place. I enjoyed the service as well as the cold frosty glasses for my beer. What more could anyone ask for, great friends, cold beer, and a fun place to hang out. read more

Excellent dive bar. Very friendly bartender. I play trivia on Sundays with Brain Brew trivia. I love this place!

I love it here they have good service and best deals everyday / the bar tenders are super nice and friendly and fast read more

Thursty Turtle - Bar - Dive Bars Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

I like it there it takes a while to get used to. It takes them a while to warm up to you it seems. It's almost like they're deciding whether they want you as acustomer or not. It might take a minute. When I first went there, I thought the service sucked and it did but I really think it's a matter of them getting to know you. I think they're very cautious about their customers. It's their bar to do with as they please. I'm not really argue with anyone that tries to slow down my drinking habits. lol. I think with all the bartenders there at one point or another I give it a thumbs up. If you wanna be a dick, you're probably gonna get treated like a dick. Or ignored. It's what you make it. Be cool and they will be cool. read more

My friend and I came in last night. It was our second night ever there. We loved it the first time got great service from Cleo both times. Unfortunately the bar back/ bouncer whoever he is (said his name was Charles) made me and my friend feel soooooo uncomfortable we are never coming back. We were talking about religions and whatnot and he kept interjecting his opinions on our convo basically the whole night. So we left of course at last call. This guy who we had met and was talking to was super upset and crying so we were trying to make sure he could get home safe because obviously the bouncers didn't give two shits. They stood outside while we're we trying to calm this dude down and we're basically mocking us. As a woman, I was really really uncomfortable and I am never going back there and telling all my friends your not missing anything. read more

Drinks were ok... atmosphere is decent. Bartender was terrible. My friend was looking in her purse for something. She only had half a beer and the bartender was like "you look pukey... you good?!" My friend was confused looking at her... she was like "uhm yea?" The bartender was like "I don't clean up puke...." We were like "umm ok...?" Then my friend stepped out to take a phone call and I asked her to let me know when the total was $15 for my friend" so I knew when to take over her payments and she rolled her eyes and said "sounds like a you problem... figure that shit out on your own." This was my 3rd time here and I will not be returning because of the bartender. Just put a bad taste in my mouth. There were also only 10 people (not including my friend and I) in the bar. Like ok... it wasn't hard to start a second tab for my friend instead of putting it all on mine. Just terrible service. Very disappointing to say the least. read more

Great neighborhood spot! Very friendly staff and just a real good time. If you're looking for a great space for afternoon drinks, look no further. No frills just authentic friendliness! read more

Thursty Turtle - New seating area - Dive Bars Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

The night started off ok. Cleo was the barmaid. When it got near closing she turned down the music. When I asked for my bill she said I already signed. I did not. When I asked to see the bill I got a bill signed by someone else. I normally go in on a Sunday when Jess is working. In the future if Cleo is working, I will leave. read more

This place is everything to me. My home. Glasses girl is not racist. She's just a qt.

It straight smells like CACA in this place! The bartender was obviously upset she had to work in such a place!

There are plenty of better places to go, but if you decide you want to try this place... be sure to ask for an itemized receipt! Also don't waste your money trying to play music at the jukebox. The owner will just pay more to hear all his songs. Felt that was a bit rude. Could just be me but sucked that I paid $20 for songs not expecting someone(the owner) to pay up on so many songs to the point where I only hear 3 of the songs I paid for. Annoying and obnoxious. Won't be going back. read more

The pop corn isn't the only thing popping at this bar.This bar is gods glory hole. The best hole in the wall. Voluptuous assets behind the bar. Are you a turtle? read more

Thursty Turtle - Patron - Dive Bars Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

Bartender was a male, probably the rudest person I have ever come across from putting his finger up in front of some girls face to just looking lost, maybe lay off the shots it was only 11 when I was there, he's been there both times I have went an I just can't deal with the horrible customer service unfortunately I won't be going back. read more

i wanted to share my experience at the Thirsty Turtle off 410 and Harry Wurzbach last night. I am a bartender at La Fogata and also live in the neighborhood. My coworker and I went to the Turtle when our bar manager recommended it, saying that Welcome is a good guy and that the turtle would be a safe place for us to go after work. Last night was our second night there, and we were having a great time until an employee named Charles began accosting me and my friend. As he was cleaning the popcorn machine, when he inserted himself into my conversation with my coworker and another patron. Having never met Charles, I felt uncomfortable when he claimed that he knew who I was. It really seemed like Charles was instigating a conflict and kept going on about his personal philosophies on chaos theory. I quickly ended the conversation and exited the bar, after which he followed us out to continue shouting " yeah man chaos theory..." To be honest, as a bartender myself, this behavior seemed super aggressive and wasn't expecting it to come from an employee of the establishment. My friend and I had already spent over a hundred dollars there. We also thought we had found our new spot. However after last night I am not ever going back to the turtle. In fact, As I bartender I will recommend that folks steer clear, and I know that my friend will probably do the same. read more

It's an okay little dive bar, lots of free salty popcorn. Nice little dive bar to go relax in. Drink prices were okay, but the long islands were tart and might as well have been lemonade minus the sugar. They really need to work on their mixed drinks. Bleh. But if straight beer or shots they seem pretty decent at opening a bottle! Decent little outside patio to sneak a quick smoke, and have a few random conversations with strangers. read more

Still a great place to come and have a beer/drink. A big downside is that they still allow smoking. I can't believe San Antonio doesn't have a smoking ban in place. But that's an argument for a different forum. It still sucks to come out smelling like cigarette butts. The bartenders are really friendly and make sure you get the best bang for your buck by reminding you when happy hour ends. They still have 3 pool tables available and an electronic dart board and plenty of tvs to watch sporting events. I guess the biggest problem I had with my last visit is that they started a trivia night right in the middle of Monday Night Football. I don't know what that was about but they should wait until the game is over or switch it to another night. read more

Awesome bar! Want to have a great time and see the hottest bar tenders come here. Courtney has big ole boobies who could say no read more

Thursty Turtle - Courtney - Dive Bars Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

One of the best neighborhood dive bars in San Antonio! Great bartenders & friendly crowd with come as you are dress code. Definitely give it a shot, you won't regret it! Regarding the negative reviews.. If you want fancy, go to a wine bar! If your nice to Turtle, Turtle is nice to you! read more

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The Thursty Turtle is open and they have yummy food now. The same happy and amazing staff is there to make the best drinks in town and are ready to make a delicious pizza, or an amazing pot pie. The Thursty Turtle is still there to deliver a fun filled evening with drinks, music, and now snacks Great Job guys read more

What a great little shithole. The Thirsty Turtle is the embodiment of Moe's Tavern. It's inhabited by surly regulars swilling strong poorly mixed drinks at bargain basement prices. There's disgusting overstuffed chairs, some TVs that are never on the same station, a broken ATM, and a bathroom you'd better be drunk to use. I'd watch your ride in the lot though, there's cops investigating auto breakins seemingly more often than at other places I frequent. read more

I had a really great time when I came here. I went here when I was visiting my boyfriends family. I think that this is probably one of the best bars we got to go to in San Antonio. I am a huge fan of little hole in the wall places, but the fact that I got to meet all of my bf's best friends and old acquaintances was super fun! Also, they have cheap drinks, and I truly feel that people in Texas are waaay nicer and more approachable than they are in MPLS. Keep that up Texas! ha ha read more

I remember my first time at the Thirsty Turtle like it was yesterday... It was a group thing. My cousin's birthday. I was excited to try this new bar all my friends were buzzing about. I had heard it was a hole in the wall, but I'm me so I wore a sundress and heels and even fixed my hair. My ever-building bubble of excitement quickly burst as we pulled into a parking lot that held 20 cars at most (of course this bar is in San Antonio so 20 spots for cars amounted to 8 giant trucks filling up the place.) I looked around and didn't understand where we were. To my left was an alley. Ahead of me was a construction site. Behind me was a strip mall. A strip mall with two tenants. One tenant was a tiny little convenient store. The other was this "amazing" bar I'd been hearing about. So, I resisted slapping the person who had the idea to come here and regretting wasting an hour getting dressed. I begrudgingly filed in behind my friends. We were met a the door by a giant, very stereotypical bouncer-type guy checking Id's. The bar was smokier than my eye makeup. I tried clicking my shoes together a la Dorothy in a feeble attempt to get a magical ride home, but it didn't work (shock) so we went to the bar and order a round of drinks (shock) and everyone piled into some couches on a far wall. I was feeling like the Grinch and totally confused about why anyone thought a bar like this would be fun for me... Slowly, though, something changed. Someone started the jukebox and some super fantastic 80's garbage tunes started spewing out and fellow patrons began dancing. I felt my foot start to tap. I looked around and noticed some darts games. Some of my friends took on a pool game in the other room. I jumped in on a round of trivia and won a round of drinks for my table. The conversation got hilarious and the atmosphere got really fun. People were dancing and laughing. The crowd was diverse but mingling together well. I don't know how to describe it. It just felt right. I started having... fun? I believe they call it? So, here's to you, Thirsty Turtle. I don't know how you do it. But, you serve up one heck of a great time... read more

I love this bar. It's a little hole in the wall with great drink specials(seriously, you can't beat a $2.50 alcoholic beverage), fun bartenders, and friendly regulars. There are plenty of tv's for all your sports needs, a couple of pool tables, darts, great music on the jukebox, and fun themed parties once a month. Oh, and they have ChiveTV which I LOVE! The bartenders and regulars greet you by name when you walk in; it really has that Cheers vibe, in a dive bar setting. read more

Thursty Turtle - a group of people dressed in costumes - Dive Bars Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

The female bartender (I believe her name is Jillian) tried to over charge me. Be careful of this place.

I love this place! The bar is clean. The staff have the attitudes I come to expect in a dive bar- laid back, friendly, and they don't take any crap. They are pet friendly and there is always fresh popcorn. The musics varies and is not too overly loud. The clients tend to be like me- 30 plus. This bar has a great vibe that keeps me coming back. read more

You can easily say this is the epitome of a dive bar. The liquor is standard, the draft beer is limited, and the place has that sort of grunge that sticks everywhere. The good: Seems like a decent little neighborhood bar with a devoted crowd. Pretty competitive liquor prices. Friendly staff. The bad: Glassware was not clean. The drink my friend had was poorly mixed and had absolutely no character to it. My beer was poured flat and tasted like it came from a keg that sat in a fridge for a VERY long time. Chilled glasses (I say this because beer is best enjoyed around 40-60 degrees F). The furniture was like holyshityouactuallyhavethishere cheap/uncomfortable. Bartender was kind of scatter brained about orders. I do not care for places that hold your card as a form of having a tab. Over all I would say this place is very hit an miss. Might be cool if you just want to hang back and grab a cheap drink (cheap quality too) and chill with some locals. If you are like me however and prefer a little more class, character, and quality then I suggest passing on this one. read more

Thirsty Thursdays are back again..... so what better place to be than a stop at the Turtle. I have to admit I used to be a frequent flyer here back in the day, so my review will be mixed. Once again, a neighborhood bar= if you come here often enough you will have the time of your life. They have specials all the time and cheap drinks, stick with the liquor because it's well worth the money. This is also a Clarksbar pub crawl stop. They have a pool table and the bathrooms are located next to the mop closet, double check before entering. What I do miss about this place was the breathalyzer machine. How fun is that! Probably due to a herpes outbreak or something they discontinued it, I mean do you really know who's been blowing on that straw? Just kidding they had pre-wrapped straws, it probably broke. I will say it's kind of a pain to get to because if you miss your exit then you have to double back. Only ninjas can get through that neighborhood behind the bar because I have yet to figure out the "back way." I wouldn't mind stopping in for a couple of rounds, but I don't suggest closing it down. It's borderline to copland and the gas station up the block is primo stakeout location. Also, if you're using a credit card....minimum of $10. charge. read more

The service is terrible and a very limited selection of quality draft beer unleveled tables need I say more local pub can better expect more from a Clark bar also TABC are bartenders allowed to take shots while on the job? read more

I have suffered some heart aches in my life. Divorced twice, stepped on a Lego once, watched as Leo was sank to the bottom of the ocean and poured cereal into my bowl only to find no milk. These things have become distant memories as I have been able washed them away at the Thirsty Turtle. I even travel from Austin on Fridays just to have a beer with my buddies. But, what made this little dive bar my haven of solace was my favorite bartender Jess. She brings a special spark to the bar and always has a smile that makes everyone feel welcome. I have found out that the one thing that really made that bar something special still has not returned to her post after they moved her to a different bar. This is unacceptable! Its been over a month now and all I want to do after driving 2.5 hours is have a cold DoXX, shot of fireball with a buddy and see my favorite bartender. read more

Not what I expected when I was talked into checking this place out. I love the fact that it's in between a store and some other random outlet. It's a hole in the wall dive. Great seating, decent prices and a drunks dream. It was a tad smokey, ok a lot smokey, so we will see if that changes after the ban. But I will go back, I know I will. read more

Awesome hole in the wall. Great croud ,awes bartender.

Don't go here expecting good customer service. If you are not their friend you get ghosted. I mentioned it to the bartender and he said he was going to go home and blow out his brains with a gun, have you thought this may be sensitive subject for some? So I will never return based on this suicidal comment this bartender wanted to make. With the fact that I am a veteran and 22 veterans a day commit suicide while dealing with the egregious acts of war keeping these idiots free to express themselves. Might want to think about your comments, especially so close to a military base. read more

This would be my local bar, but after my last two Saturday nights there, I will never be back. First instance, I was hit in the head with a beer bottle. I was told to get over it. I should have called the police. Tonight, I brought my dog as I usually do and the people that usually have dogs were not there and the same bartender that did not expel the human being that hit me over the head with a beer bottle, kicked my dog out. I am guessing this isn't a safe place if they allow this person to continue working. This used to be a great place to end a long day. Any ideas where else to go? read more

Thirsty turtle was the best place in town, very clean and sanitized. Very great food and drinks. I feel totally safe here and full

So my first experience at this place will be my last and it's all thanks to Jillian the bartender. Granted, just now I accidentally burned her with my cigarette, but that's because I dropped my hand to my side and she was coming up behind me at the same time. I apologized several times, but just got ignored. From the moment I walked in, however, she has made life difficult. I had to show her 3 ids and a debit card with my name on it to prove I am who I am on my id. Her excuse? You're hair appears darker on your I'd. Well no crap, I had longer hair then. Add to that the sheer amount of attitude coming from her and I'm done. I tried talking to her to resolve these issues, but im done. I'd much rather just report her to her manager and the bbb at this point. Never coming back again. read more