Need information about Austin, Texas nightlife....?

My pals and I are planning a trip to Austin in early Feb. and I was wondering if anyone could make some suggestions of where a bunch of 25 year old girls can have some fun. We would love to find a nice bar that is full of mid 20 to 30 year olds. Also, we would LOVE to ride a place where we can ride a mechanical bull. Any suggestions????

For the crowd you are looking for, you need to hit the 4th and 5th street area (or warehouse district), the red river district, and South Congress or South Lamar. While it is fun to people watch on 6th Street, a great deal of the crowd will be underage punks or drunken sorority/fraternity types.

I have lived here for almost 15 years, and I have never seen or heard of any place with a mechanical bull, but The Broken Spoke is a must see as it is one of the oldest 'honky tonks' in Texas.

Have a safe trip and enjoy your stay!

there is a bar called Jovitas with a mech bull
I think "broken spoke" might have one too

as far as night life - thats easy. it is a college town, thus there is a strip of roads where ALL of the bars are grouped.

the original is "world-famous" 6th street. there is a stretch of 3 or 4 city blocks lined with bars that all the students go to

recently, more people have turned to neighboring 5th street and 4th street, as they have a more "upscaled" atmosphere (and also price). this is where grad students or young professionals prefer.

its all basically in the same area, so you can cover them all in 1 night

For a nice brunch, I would suggest Z'Tejas on West Sixth street -- it's a national franchise that started right there in Austin and it has tremendous food from the Southwest:
http://cityvoter.com/profile/39224/zteja...

For nightlife, the above poster mentioned Sixth Street which is where all of the college crowd hangs out -- it's definitely a fun time, but there is some more sophisticated stuff down on South Congress Ave (San Jose Hotel Bar, Continental Club) that is definitely worth checking out.
http://cityvoter.com/profile/66115/san-j...
http://cityvoter.com/profile/39374/conti...

As the above poster said Jovitas has the bull -- i'm not quite sure if Broken Spoke has one -- it would surprise me.

Personally I would stay away from 6th street - it's a spectacle but it gets old quick (save for a few places, it is basically a bunch of drunk college-age kids dancing to top 40 hip hop.)
Like the other person said, definitely check out 4th street (Warehouse dist.) as it tends to be an older/more mature crowd - personally, I like Red Fez, Whisky Bar, Lucky Lounge, etc.
I'm not sure if Jovita's still has a mechanical bull, so you might want to call ahead. It might be something you have to go to a bigger city for.

There have been some good suggestions to your question. But, here is what I recommend based on your group.

With a gaggle of girls out for a good time, you want several options. I know that when I go out with my girlfriends, we end up wanting to go several places and you don't want to waste precious drinking time on long walks between bars. So, hit an area with a lot clustered together. Since y'all are 25, you probably don't want to be doing jello shots with a bunch of 20 yr. olds. So, I recommend that you go to Red River between 6th and 10th or so. There are a lot of great bars...lots of different kinds and a slightly more sophisticated crowd(in comparison to 6th street). Club Deville is especially cool. There is also the Wharehouse District around 4th street and Colorado/Lavaca. Not far from there is a very cool L.A. style restaurant/bar called The Belmont. It has upstairs decks with comfy lounge chairs and a wonderful atmosphere. I went here recently with a group of ladies and some champagne overlooking the Austin skyline.

WIth both of these areas you are still in the heart of downtown with lots of bars to choose from, and probably people your own age or a little older. I don't know of a bar downtown that has a mechanical bull...but, you can always ask around when you are down there.

Hope this helps! Have fun!!

-Kango Traveler