You Won’t Believe How Old The Oldest Bar In Texas Is

From the very beginning, Texans have wanted two things: independence and a place to drink.

The internet told me two things: Texas won its independence in 1836 and one of her oldest bars wasn't very far behind.

The Menger Hotel opened in 1859 and the Scholz Garten was established in 1866.  Menger does NOT get the title though.

Old hotel, younger ... and not continuously operating ... bar.

As it turns out, while the Menger Hotel dates to 1859, the Menger Bar as we know it didn’t come into being until 1887. What’s more, during the dark Prohibition years, the bar apparently was disassembled and packed away and not unpacked and reassembled until 1949. - Texas Monthly

So, there you go; Scholz Garten for the win.

As for El Paso, the first bars in El Chuco probably went up in the earliest days of the 1800's ... maybe even late 1700's. They didn't all last though.

My grandfather ran a couple of bars in downtown El Paso back in the 50's, early 60's. That's not too far from where the title "EP's oldest" kicks in. Of course, his are no longer around so they wouldn't count anyway.

As for bars you can actually walk into today, there could be some neighborhood bars around that aren't big enough to get Google's attention but I think I have the answer.

My first guess as to oldest, continuously operating, bar in El Paso was between The Tap downtown or Rosa's Cantina on Doniphan. Nope, neither.

The Tap dates back to 1956, Rosa's Cantina to 1957. Even though Rosa's had operated under another name in the 40's, that's still not old enough.

Another bar, still operating, has the '40's era Rosa's beat by about 20 years.

Oldest bar in the 915 props go to L & J's Cafe.

"The old place by the graveyard" has been serving, and situated next to, spirits since 1927.