Downtown Waco Pub Crawl (Baylor)

Downtown Waco sits just across Interstate 35 from the Baylor campus, and its bar scene runs from brick storefronts on Franklin Avenue to a sprawling outdoor concert yard near the Silos. This short route starts at a long-running draft house in River Square Center, visits a whiskey bar inside a former printing shop, and ends at one of Central Texas's busiest live-music stages. The stops sit in two tight clusters a few blocks apart, and the whole crawl comes in under a mile on foot. 21+ only — please drink responsibly and plan a sober ride or rideshare home.

Downtown Waco lies just across Interstate 35 from Baylor, and after dark its brick storefronts and patios fill with students, locals and visitors in town for the Silos. This short crawl samples the range, from a long-running draft house and a serious whiskey bar to one of Central Texas's busiest outdoor music stages, and the whole route comes in under a mile on foot.

Cricket's Draft House & Grill has been a downtown fixture since 1997, with more than 100 beers on draft alongside pool tables and shuffleboard; its name nods to the cricket swarms that descend on Waco from time to time. J.S. Barnett's Whiskey House fills a building that was home to J.S. Barnett's printing and supply company from 1917, and it bills its collection of more than 1,200 whiskeys as the largest in Texas. The crawl also takes in a quieter, conversation-friendly bar and a late-night dive known for karaoke and a patio dance floor.

The Backyard Bar Stage & Grill opened in the fall of 2015, just before the Magnolia Silos made the neighborhood a tourist draw, and its outdoor stage has hosted acts from Snoop Dogg and Nelly to Parker McCollum and Koe Wetzel, with fire pits, a rooftop deck and lawn games between sets.

The stops sit in two tight clusters a few blocks apart, so the walking is easy. This crawl is 21+ only; please drink responsibly and plan a sober ride or rideshare home.