Well, I don’t live in the bars of Houston quite like I used to (the b***c! came along, spent a decade breaking me of my bar habit, and then left…JK, we’re still friends), but I still get out a bit. Nowadays when I get out it’s usually the Ale House which is a pub, owned by a Brit, that I’ve been patronizing since it opened ~1982. Good food, a wide selection of brews and a full bar, well, two (it’s a 3 story bar) with manny places to carry on a bit of conversation. Sometimes I just go there for dinner. I think I personally financed the addition of the room with the fireplace. It was an active music venue back in the day; they do still have bands.
Other than that, the Mucky Duck is another decent pub given towards quieter music (Irish folk, etc.) and I’ll sometimes meet friends at Downing Street which I’d characterize as a cigar bar; after the symphony I enjoy dropping in to The State Bar of Texas which is downtown in the old Rice Hotel - loud, crowded and everybody’s dressed out and I’m often the oldest guy there - good for a now-and-then.
Back when I saw last call every night I divided most of my time pretty equally between the Ale House and Lola’s, which is still around. I liked Lola’s (an unmarked purple one-story building with a fenced in patio) for a variety of reasons: 1) $5 would get you drunk, 2) I never ever saw anybody get cutoff (saw plenty thrown out for fighting), 3) gobs of outrageously procovative women prepared to prove it, 3) diverse crowd - artists, women, trannies, lawyers, losers, bikers - I actually had gay friends who thought it was a gay bar and 4) I kept running into friends there. Other past joints of notable enjoyment that still exist are Rudyard’s (originally on Kipling St.) - pub that was a “new” music venue, La Carafe - beer and wine bar downtown on Market Square in an incredibly old building (~1840 or so), Kay’s Lounge - a dive on Bissonnet, Marfreless - an unmarked door in a building off West Gray; back in my dating days an “OK” on a suggestion to go to this place was 
:D! Bingo! Marfreless was two stories; downstairs had a bar and tables while upstairs was dark, with couches only, and some private rooms - they played classical music and had discreet waitresses - and you did not go there alone. You would not meet anyone there, but if you had a date that was the right atmosphere, and I imagine still is (somehow that last part seems out of my board character,…oh well).
Ack! There’s too manny to go on…
So I’ll wrap it up with a fond memory of an establishment that was walking distance from my place and is sadly departed. Goozby’s, run singlehandedly by Mr. Goozby, was a…well, how to describe it? I’m pretty sure it was an illegal bar - it was in a house on a residential street with no exterior markings and it had a little ~2"x2" peepwindow on the door like a classic movie speakeasy. It wasn’t in the phone book. The door was locked and you had to knock and be examined through the peepwindow before you entered. Mr. Goozby was a friendly older (I’d guess mid-60s when I met him) black gentleman, and the crowd ran toward young to middle-aged black professionals - advertising, lawyers, etc. - and there were usually not more than ~15-20 people there. In fact, besides myself, my friend who brought me there the first couple of times (until Mr. Goozby knew me) and our mutual friend who introduced him to the place, I never saw any other white or any other race besides black there. But it really didn’t matter once you were a “member” so to speak. The place was very clean, sort of fern/bar with bright lights/country club style. Very laid back atmosphere, jazz always in the background; if you were there you could have a conversation with anybody else there. The way the bar deal worked was when you ordered a drink you’d buy one for whomever you were talking to at the moment, and another for Mr. Goozby (he must’ve had Superman’s liver) and it was strictly cash. I really loved the joint.
And one day it was just…gone.
A fraternity rented the place. Wherever you are, Mr. Goozby, thanks for the memories.
Geez, if I could subtract out of my life the time I’ve spent in bars, I’d probably be about 26.
30p for a shot of spirit, can’t beat it.