Texas Tailgate Party!
Sholtz Beer Barden The Place To Party Before Games

Forget Hook 'em Horns, how about hooking these Texas hotties!.

There's a big party in Texas, and it takes place on fall Saturdays.

No, it's not the usual crazy shenanigans on Austin's 6th Street – that's a year-round spectacle – but on and all around the campus.

Texas girls love to flash the "Hook 'em Horns" sign.

For it's the pre-game, post-game and tailgate scene for the University of Texas football games. And it's a bash as big as Bevo, as fluid as the fastest receiver, as lively as the Longhorns themselves.

This is the premier Texas tailgate party guide from the party pros at PubClub.com.

At Texas, you can get up close to the cheerleaders before the games.

– TAILGATE PARTIES & A BEER GARDEN – 

With the patio and beer garden at Scholz, there's a big pre- and post-game party.

At Texas-sized Scholz, there are people warming up for the game.

Now who can not be smitten with those Texas smiles!?

The truly dense area for tailgating is the area just to the Southwest of the Stadium between the campus and the Capitol. Follow San Jacinto Blvd south from the stadium and as you cross Martin Luther King it's everywhere.

A must-stop without question for fans of visiting teams without their own tailgate spot is Scholz Beer Garden (17th and San Jacinto). It's the prime pregame party place in a Oktobefest-style bar and beer garden about five blocks from Texas Memorial Stadium.

It's a pretty large place and 17th Street is blocked off to the entrance to the beer garden, where people are greeted by girls selling cans of 24-ounce beers for $5.

Properly stocked, it's then into the beer garden where the local radio station is broadcasting its pregame show and hundreds of Longhorn and visiting team fans are gathered.

The inside bar at Sholtz's can be preferable to the patio.

In addition to the outdoor beer garden, there is a bar set up in a building to the back of the patio and a permanent bar inside to the right. The latter is a great place to hang, get more varieties of beer from its multiple taps ($6 and $7, including Stella, in 20-ounce cups) and watch one of the other games on TV.

Further back is another room with picnic-style tables, mainly for people who have ordered a BBQ sandwiches, burger and fries. This food is more sustenance than mouth-watering, but it's a good idea to get something here rather than to rely solely on the kindness of Longhorn strangers by attempting to crash their tailgate set-up. Texas A&M fans should not even consider the possibility of the latter.

It's advisable to get to Scholtz at least 2 1/2 hours before kickoff. Not only could there be a line to get to the area, but there are lines to get from the patio to the inside bars.

Scholtz is also the first place where people gather for their initial postgame partying. Before heading to 6th street or the other bars of Austin.

Posing not with Bevo, or what we call BevMo.

Get your picture made with a real Texas Longhorn. Well, this one is hardly the age, size or power of the team's mascot – it's doubtful it could make it from one end of the block-long side street to the other without a lot of assistance – but it makes for a great photo op. PubClub.com has designated this Longhorn not Bevo, but BevMo.

Texas BBQ on a Texas-sized grill at a pregame tailgate party.

After posing with BevMo, about an hour before kickoff, start walking down San Jacinto toward the stadium. That will pretty much take you through the most intense tailgating, and you may be even invited in for a drink or hot dog wrapped in a tortilla. The Tejana Tailgaters – look for the Texas-sized grill with the Longhorn logo – will sell you a coozie for $5 and provide a cocktail to go in it.

There is also tailgating in the parking lots for the LBJ Library just to the East of the stadium, but that is more laid back than what is found to the south.

For those looking for a college-bar type atmosphere, try Posse East or Crown and Anchor just to the north of campus. Cain and Abels at 24th and Rio Grande, a few blocks west of campus, is also a popular college-bar tailgating spot.

– THE STADUM SCENE – 

Texas fills up its stadium each Saturday for its favorite sport: football.

The scene in the stadium is not as wild as it is later that night on 6th St.

Texas Stadium, side view filled with fans.

The Lornhorns take the field led by huge flags.

Unlike the "other" UT (University of Tennessee) there is no pregame walk through campus by the football team or the band's march through the streets to "Salute the Hill" – click here for a look at these pregame rituals – so take time to walk around and check out Texas Memorial Stadium.

It's massive. And impressive. Make your way to the Red Combs Red Zone, where the Texas marching band – known as the Showband of the Southwest – marches through the tunnel onto the field. Position yourself at the area where fans are blocked off by string pennants; this is where the cheerleaders gather before the band arrives. They don't mind posing for pictures.

Then the band rolls through and it's onto your seat.

The stadium, which has a capacity of 100,119, was renovated in 2009 and looks like it was just built yesterday. A gigantic video scoreboard occupies the other end zone (you have to nearly squint, though to see the score of the game; it's at the top in an ad), which is open on either side of the scoreboard.

Take a few moments to walk around the outdoor perimeter at the new end zone and take in the spectacular views, which includes the skyline of nearby downtown Austin.

There are food courts (no alcohol is sold) and pass-outs are provided at select gates to allow fans to leave and re-enter the stadium during the game.

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