The Ice House at Lone Star Dry Goods

It’s all about music at The Ice House. Everything from the decor to the food and drinks, to the entertainment – it all centers on music and the home-grown joy of having a beer. Owners Ted and Allicyn Evans planned it that way all as part of the unique atmosphere of their businesses.

The Ice House is located in downtown Abilene on the corner of Walnut and North 2nd Street.This beer bar satisfies those that want a mainstream bar, where they can get a Shiner and relax with friends. And because the bar is a part of the men’s clothing shop, Lone Star Dry Goods, guests can also shop before or after having a drink.

Ted and Allicyn first owned a canvas printing business in the building on North 2nd Street. Lone Star Dry Goods, their retail store, was located where The Ice House is now. As the canvas business grew, they eventually had to move it to another location. They moved Lone Star Dry Goods to the large warehouse space, freeing up the storefront on Walnut. Another company wanted to rent the space and put a bar there, but COVID put a stop to it, so Ted and Allicyn decided to open a bar themselves.

“It goes with what we do in the store,”Allicyn said.“We already had Shiner Saturday where we were giving away Shiner and we had products that were cross-branded with Shiner.”

Lone Star Dry Goods offers men’s lifestyle items ranging from

grooming to grilling and hiking. The products bring to mind traditional, Americana vibes, and Ted and Allicyn made sure the music played throughout the store always fit the theme. They have a Spotify channel so curated, people often ask about it.

“It’s a lot of Americana, home country music,”Ted said.

The cocktails at The Ice House are all named for song lyrics. The Lone Star Dry Goods store features a mural of John Prine. On Mondays a local artist plays John Prine music at an event called “The Long Monday,” named for a John Prine song. Cocktails have music-themed names like “Mr. Bojangles” and “Jolene.” And guests can enjoy live music from local artists almost every day of the week.

When it comes to beer,The Ice House features six different beer taps, all Shiners, which is a unique offering among Texas bars. They also serve sandwiches, snacks, cocktails, and bottled or canned beers.

“We fill in kind of a niche in downtown Abilene,”Ted said,“a place to just go and get a beer. The craft beer places and cocktail places have a good following, but some people just want a beer or a frozen margarita.”