Last month, we announced major improvements to Zappy’s free plan, but we weren’t stopping there. This month, we’re enhancing the data for all users and adding powerful new search filters for our Pro subscribers.
What’s new?
Each Zappy listing now includes two brand-new data points:
1️⃣ Part of Town
2️⃣ Price Range
For all users, you’ll now see which part of town a bar or restaurant is located in and get an idea of its price range.
For Pro users, you can filter your search results using these new data points, making it easier than ever to find the perfect happy hour spot.
Part of Town: Search by neighborhood
Austin is a big city with a lot of happy hours. And let’s be honest—sometimes, location is everything. Whether you want to stay close to home, meet friends halfway, or avoid certain areas during big events (cough, SXSW), this new feature has you covered.
How it works
- Every listing now displays which part of town it’s in.
- Pro users can filter search results by selecting one or multiple areas.
- Choose from: Central, Downtown, East, North, Northeast, Northwest, South, South Central, Southeast, Southwest, and West.
- Downtown is dense and surrounded by the Central area. It’s specifically the area between North Lamar and 35, and 15th St. and Lady Bird Lake, including Rainey St.
Price Range: Get a feel for the vibe
We’ve introduced a four-tiered price system similar to what you see on Google Maps, Yelp, and OpenTable. While researching, we realized there’s no universal standard, and not every platform provides pricing for all places, so we created a system that we think will feel similar to what you’re already used to interpreting. Although we normally like to focus on providing objective data, we had to be pretty subjective when categorizing each place, and we had to account for the fact that many of our listings are bars that don’t serve food. Let’s break it down…
How it works
We categorize spots based on the average cost for one person to get:
- An entrée + an appetizer,
- An entrée + a cocktail, or
- Two cocktails
(During regular hours—happy hour pricing varies too much to factor that in.)
Our Price Range tiers
$ = $0-20
$$ = $20-50
$$$ = $50-100
$$$$ = $100+
We know pricing alone doesn’t tell the full story, so we designed this system as a vibe check:
- Looking for a casual dive? Stick with $ or $$.
- Want something nice but still chill? Try $$ or $$$.
- Feeling fancy but still on a budget? Filter by $$$ or $$$$ to find upscale spots where you can save with happy hour deals!
This update, combined with the Instagram links we added earlier this year, should help you quickly get a sense of a place’s atmosphere. But we’re always looking for ways to improve!
Have ideas on how we can better capture a venue’s vibe? Let us know!
UI enhancements: Even more user-friendly
We also made some small but mighty UI tweaks to make your experience smoother: Links in listings are now teal—making it clearer than ever that you can tap to view a venue’s website, Instagram, Google Maps, or Yelp.
Try our new features today
These updates are live now, so hop into Zappy and explore! Whether you’re looking for a cheap dive bar in North Austin, a rooftop cocktail spot downtown, or the perfect East Side hangout, these filters make it easier than ever to find your ideal happy hour.
Cheers to making happy hour hunting even happier!