The Cactus Cafe is one of Austin's great acoustic music traditions. The Cactus is an intimate live music performance venue, and since the Cafe opened in February 1979, the Cactus has acquired a national reputation, showcasing the top local, regional, national and international acoustic music acts on the circuit today. Billboard magazine listed the Cactus as one of fifteen "solidly respected, savvy clubs" nationwide "from which careers can be cut, that work with proven names and new faces."

Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen, Lucinda Williams, Shawn Colvin, Nanci Griffith and Ani DiFranco are among the singer-songwriters who frequently graced the Cactus stage early in their careers. Over the last twenty-five years many well-known artists performed at the Cactus Cafe, many to return time and time again. Cactus stage. Among them: Alison Krauss, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock, Townes Van Zandt, Loudon Wainwright III, Bill Monroe, Richard Thompson, Guy Clark, the Dixie Chicks, John Hiatt, Iris Dement, Ralph Stanley, Suzanne Vega, Gillian Welch, Patty Griffin and the list goes on...
Honeyboy Edwards at the Cactus Cafe

When artists outgrow the comfy confines of the Cactus, we'll often move these artists to larger venues in the building such as the Texas Union Theatre (375 seats) or the Texas Union Ballroom (1200 seats). So watch for those shows too!

The Cactus is a non-smoking venue and has a full bar.