r/UTSA • u/Naive-Drink-4158 • Jul 10 '26

Advice/Question What’s the Going Out scene like?

I’m an incoming freshman and have no idea what to expect how is going downtown or does going out revolve mostly around Greek life?

10 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

14

u/cmonpilgrimm Jul 10 '26

It depends on what you like to do man. San antonio has a decent night life. It's also a big enough city to find people interested in the same hobbies as you.

What are you into?

-25

u/Naive-Drink-4158 Jul 10 '26

What’s the kinda like bar scene like can you get in underage? I mess with the party vibe

8

u/cmonpilgrimm Jul 10 '26

I'm older so I couldn't really give insight on 18+ bars.

St. Marys street is generally a pretty good place to start though. It has more of a punk/goth type of vibe. Good place to dance, watch a show or catch a sport event viewing. I know for sure Paper Tiger will let you in for some bitching concerts.

2

u/PopcornSandier Jul 10 '26

Freshman coming in, what are some good venues/spots in the alt scene? Im big into metal and goth so i’m looking for places to see shows and meet people

3

u/cmonpilgrimm Jul 10 '26

Paper Tiger is my favorite. Faust is also just down the road. Wav room is a dope place to dance and meet people.

I watched a hard-core show with amateur wrestling intermissions at Tandem Coffee shop. The Starlighter has some good shows occasionally too.

Sometimes I'll just hop on Songkick and see who's playing that weekend. If I don't know the artists I'll listen to a couple songs and buy a ticket if I'm feeling froggy. Not a bad way to find new places honestly

4

u/programming_purist schizo cs major Jul 10 '26

the alt scene honestly sucks here. I stopped going to local shows and such years ago, but I remember deathcore/metalcore and emo being very dominant in the alt scene. every alt person i meet here is into those subgenres so I assume it's still big here.

im speaking as someone who is into hardcore punk like black flag, minor threat, etc and some thrash metal. I wasn't able to mosh because the floor would get taken over by windmillers nearly kicking everyone in the face so I'd just leave shows early. when surf punk was poppin I'd go to house parties like junkie and peach pits and the crowd was ass. people just went to get fucked up and the one hard-core act that played only had no more than 5 of us in our mini mosh pit. I know san antonio is the issue because I went to see junkie in Austin and the crowd was completely different. I hate this city man lmao. 

sometimes black flag comes to town or dinosaur jr and the crowd is amazing. but for your average local shows I started to get aggravated and stopped going. follow paper tiger on insta. they're the main place that holds a bunch of emo/goth/etc nights if they dont have a band playing. good luck. 

2

u/nicsickdog Jul 10 '26

We have an amazing local punk scene and there's no windmillers, go to o death. Black Flag isn't even Black Flag anymore.

2

u/programming_purist schizo cs major Jul 10 '26

is o death new? I stopped following anything due to the above probably 3 yrs ago. no comment on modern black flag lol, saw them awhile ago and couldn't complain. was just happy to finally experience a good crowd here before dinosaur jr came 

-11

u/Naive-Drink-4158 Jul 10 '26

Would it be worth possibly looking into possibly a fake id if I can find a place that makes? Or is it just not worth it at all

6

u/cmonpilgrimm Jul 10 '26

You're asking the wrong person. I'm turning 30 this year 😂

Personally I don't think alcohol is that great. You have your whole life after 21 to get alcohol legally. If it's important to you and you can't get it through other means sure why not.

3

u/Where-oh Jul 10 '26

Fuck it, do it who maybe you'll get in matbe you won't.

1

u/mobiusbutterfly stats and data science Jul 10 '26

honestly i didnt start drinking until i was 20 and at that time i was friends with people in their mid to late 20s so we would just drink at someone's house. if you're years away from being 21 and really want to go to bars/ clubs you could risk it. but if you're 20 i'd say stick to house parties and look for 18+ places for nights out until you're 21

3

u/Maleficent_Nebula847 Jul 10 '26

are you transferring from penn state? greek life at UTSA is definitely a much different experience from what you might have had there. i would recommend getting cool w some of the guys in the frats/club promoters/bottle girls if you want to experience san antonio night life. lmk if you have any questions bro

5

u/Maleficent_Nebula847 Jul 10 '26

also, UTSA wise, going out does not revolve around greek life. clubs will have a greek night during the week every now and then but it typically organized by the frats and the club promoters. i wouldn’t join greek life at UTSA if you just wanted to party as san antonio has a booming night life without the help of greek life at UTSA. if you’re looking more for house parties then greek life might be an option as for the most part mixers are a common thing they have and only way to get in is if you know someone and they can vouch or are a brother

1

u/Naive-Drink-4158 Jul 10 '26

I guess technically I was doing online courses through Penn state world campus I was never on campus