Today, the term "icehouse" evokes visions of convivial conversation, shaded seating and cold longnecks slick with condensation. Back in the 1840s — when scholars agree Texas icehouses made their debut — the gathering spots were more utilitarian than social.
The icehouse phenomenon went statewide in the early 20th century, popping up in San Antonio neighborhoods to sell the ice blocks residents needed to keep their kitchen staples cool. Proprietors quickly realized they could make more money by also supplying household commodities such as milk, butter, eggs and beer.
As modern refrigeration made its way to South Texas in the 1930s, the joints' connection to frozen blocks of ice became more figurative. However, the beer never went away, nor did the places' sense of community. Especially in the Alamo City, they remain gathering places for residents from all walks of life.
"A decade and a half ago, people would seriously side-eye families that had their kids out late," said Jody Newman, co-owner of Southtown's family-oriented The Friendly Spot Ice House and its across-the-street counterpoint, the adults-only Bruno's Dive Bar. "But over the last few years, specifically after the pandemic, I've seen a shift, in that people are just more accepting of different schedules and lifestyles, different needs when it comes to gathering places."
Welcoming and affordable
Though some longtime San Antonio icehouses closed in the wake of the pandemic, including The Texan Icehouse, which shuttered permanently in April 2023, the concept lives on in casual joints including The Friendly Spot, Dakota Eastside Ice House and Cibolo's Old Main Ice House.
You won't find a massive walk-in freezer stocked with huge blocks of crystal clear ice at any of these establishments, but you'll find plenty of outdoor space that capitalizes on San Antonio's weather. They also boast an abundance of food and drink, not to mention regular a clientele receptive to newcomers.
What's also notable is that the prime hours have changed.
"Many years ago, icehouses would typically see those with first-shift, or banker's hours, schedules, and they didn't necessarily know other people with later working hours, [like bartenders and foodservice workers]," Newman added. "But now, we see second- and third-shift workers whose family schedules may have seemed less traditional meeting up later at night for some quality time together ... . Of course, it's also not uncommon to also see people posting up at noon and relaxing with a beer. I think there's a newfound flexibility that's being embraced more readily."
It makes sense that icehouses' casual, low-key vibe would thrive in the current economic climate. After inflation did its number on food and beverage prices, plenty of people are looking for drinking spots that are easy on the pocketbook.
Beer costs rose nearly 6% from April 2022 to 2023 as brewers struggled to keep up with the increased cost of aluminum packaging and transportation, Yahoo Finance reports. Amid those price hikes, low-overhead icehouses are often better prepared to keep their prices low than bars and restaurants dealing with escalating rents and higher labor costs.
Community spirit
The owners of San Antonio's newer icehouses said they understand the spots' approachability and are eager to play to it.
"I never wanted to open a niche bar with a theme or specific target clientele. Each place I open, we strive for it to be approachable to all kinds of people, families, pet parents, beer drinkers, whiskey drinkers, old, young," said Nick Marquez, owner of low-key Cibolo watering holes Old Main Ice House and The Hidden Grove. "When people ask me what I do, I say I own meeting places, because that's what they are. It's not so much a bar as it is a place to hang out and enjoy each other's company."
As proof that San Antonio hasn't gotten too cosmopolitan for the icehouse concept, Marquez will soon open downtown's Bar House, his first drinkery inside the Alamo City proper.
In November, Marquez's Old Main Ice House suffered an early-morning fire that destroyed much of the building's interior. Although the watering hole reopened in mid-January, it was still a setback. Marquez said support from the surrounding community helped soften the blow. One questions whether that would have happened had it been another kind of business.
"The first responders wouldn't tell me over the phone how bad the damage was, so that drive from my house to Old Main at 4:30 in the morning was honestly the worst drive ever. I was just hoping against hope that the place could be saved," he said. "I spent the entire day there onsite, talking with city officials about how we were going to get the place back open. But the outpouring of support from the community via texts, emails, social media messages, everything, was really what helped me take a breath and think, 'This is going to be alright.'"
The luxury to gather
"There is a hazy line differentiating icehouses from cantinas and beer bars," San Antonio-based historian Sarah Gould told Southern Living magazine in 2023. Icehouses were more prominent in San Antonio, Houston and Austin, while cantinas were king in South Texas.
"Today, the lines are less distinctive, and many of the traditional icehouses that flourished in the 1960s and 1970s have disappeared or evolved," Gould said.
That evolution, Friendly Spot's Newman believes, is based on a relatively newfound acceptance of differing schedules, lifestyles and social needs.
"The historic gathering at the icehouse was more a needs-based thing, you know, a social visit tacked onto a necessary household chore. Today, it's about the choice to gather," Newman said. "I think we cherish being together more than we every have before, and now it's not just a luxury for those that work [a typical 9-to-5] shift. It can be a luxury for everyone."
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