People of TalkBass, tell us about your favourite bars!

**bassybill** · #1 02-04-2009, 01:03 PM

Okay, this is a nice uncontroversial thread where we can all have fun and get along together.

Tell us about your favourite bars, pubs, clubs, watering holes… whatever.

What sort of place is it? Describe the vibe/feel/style/décor… Big? Small? Modern? Frantically busy? Relaxingly quiet? What makes it great? Choice of drinks (or food)? Atmosphere? Value for money? Staff and service?

Who uses it? Old folks, youngsters or a mixture? Upmarket types, or more down to Earth?

Where is it? Your local? Or somewhere you discovered on your travels? What’s good about the location?

When did you last visit? Are you a regular? Or is it somewhere you found on your travels? How did you discover it?

Feel free to tell us anecdotes, tall stories, bar legends or whatever. But please leave out the stuff about how heroically you can drink or how tough you are, I don’t think most of us would be that interested.

This OP is long enough, so I’ll let you folks get it started and then contribute my favourites later. Okay, go…

tplyons · #2 02-04-2009, 01:14 PM

Not my favorite, but the one I frequent most often is called Old Brewery Tavern in Bethlehem, PA. Three block walk from my college campus, the "OBT" as the locals call it is a converted home, small, dark, loud bar. It's the college hangout most nights, as they've got $4 pitchers of Keystone Light. Very packed after midnight, full of college students, getting hugged by everyone you NEVER talk to while trying to get to the bathroom. Mostly college students, but locals have started to infiltrate as the other local bar was shut down. I'm there at least once a week to hang out.

**bassybill** · #3 02-04-2009, 01:19 PM

YOU are the first in this thread - congratulations!

Sounds like a fun place. I love student bars where it gets packed and frivolous.

**baba** · #4 02-04-2009, 01:21 PM

After extensive field research

my favorite bar is the Toronado in San Francisco. It has the best beer selection I've ever run across. I don't mean in quantity, but quality of selection. It's a no frills dive sort of place with a stellar selection of Pacific Northwest microbrews and imports on tap, and a great bottled Belgian selection. It is a MUST stop if you are ever in San Francisco. Haight at Fillmore.

And here it is: http://www.toronado.com/

lopxtc · #5 02-04-2009, 01:21 PM

Hands down for me was the "Cock and Bull" in Montreal on rue Sainte-Catherine. When I was in Montreal working for almost five months I spent most of my evenings there and the people working there treated me like a local.

It was mostly a small university bar, meaning most of the crowd was university aged people, but also some older regulars. Just a great hole in the wall. One small size pool table that a hand full of us use to pretty much run the nights we were there.

They used to have various activities going on during the week to keep the crowd there doing stuff and not just drinking lol ... they had arts and crafts nights, over Halloween they actually had pumpkin carving contests.

Aaron

Ben Lesser · #6 02-04-2009, 01:26 PM

My favorite bar here used to be a little split-bar joint called the Capital. Housed maybe 150 people total, between the two areas. Downstairs was standing only, and was a venue where most of the bands that came through played it. A lot of great music, a lot of terrible stuff, too. The upstairs was an awesome little lounge-style place with couches, tables, etc. Great local brews on tap. I still like it up there, but the downstairs has gotten to be too indie-tastic, and it's just too much for me most nights, although I still go see the occasional act there.

My main favorite drinking hole lately is a place called the Snooty Fox (I think there's a couple of them). Great local brewed beer made with the local brewery, awesome food, great low-light, sit-down atmosphere. Good acoustic and jazz acts play on a quasi-regular basis, with never any cover. Half-price apps on Wednesdays, and different beer specials every day of the week. Yum.

**bassybill** · #7 02-04-2009, 01:27 PM

This is what I was after, guys, keep 'em coming! I find it really interesting to hear what people look for in a good bar. I have a theory coming along on this... I'll say more later when we have more examples.

pointbass · #8 02-04-2009, 01:27 PM

My favorite joint is a venue where we play about once a month, Runway 34 in Wall NJ www.runway34.com

Very small restaurant with a bar, tucked away from the main highway next to a county airport. Food is excellent and they have several nice single malts available. I know everyone that is a regular there, so it's sort of like the old scenes from "Cheers" .... "you ought to go where everybody knows your name"

I know my wife can go in there on her own and everyone will watch out for her 100%. If I'm doing a private gig she'll frequently go to Runway for dinner and a drink and wait for me to stop by after the job ....

lousybassplayer · #9 02-04-2009, 01:28 PM

Dukenfields tavern in Jacksonville, NC. everyone knows everyone, the beer is cheap, it's about the size of a doublewide, the pool tables are leveled with coasters, and the women are..............There.

**bassybill** · #10 02-04-2009, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lousybassplayer

Dukenfields tavern in Jacksonville, NC. everyone knows everyone, the beer is cheap, it's about the size of a doublewide, the pool tables are leveled with coasters, and the women are..............There.

I hear ya.

What's a "doublewide"?

mike_v_s · #11 02-04-2009, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassybill

I hear ya.

What's a "doublewide"?

mobile home...specifically one that is twice as wide as a regular.

Mike

Phalex · #12 02-04-2009, 01:39 PM

Wow! Tough subject, but I'll give her a go.

My favorite bar is a place I haven't been to in years. (We used to play there long ago, but it's about 35 miles from home, so a casual drink isn't practical.)

It's the Old Hat Brewery in Lawton Michigan. The thing I really loved about this place is that all the prices are very reasonable, and everything ends in 0. You want a pint of awesome freshly brewed beer?? $3.00. Burger? $3.00. basket of fries to go with it? $1.00. They make their own beer (hence the brewery part of the name) and that's all they sell. I don't think they had more than four beers on tap at a time. They had a light pilsner, a red, and a dark beer on the menu, and they had a seasonal brew that changed once in a while. Very eclectic crowd, and the bartender rarely wore a bra. It's the most awesome place that I have ever been..........

My favorite place in town, is the River City Saloon in Grand Rapids. We play there frequently, and we just can't miss in that place. Great crowd, the bartender is the best I've ever seen, (He's truly amazing to watch when they're busy.) and best of all, they have their own lights! They do tend to have a few too many fights on the weekends for my taste, but it aint the bar from Road House either. It just kinda feels like home.

mike_v_s · #13 02-04-2009, 01:41 PM

There's crappy tourist trap on Decatur St. near the French Market. It consists of one drink shack, about 20 metal tables, over-priced alcohol, mediocre service and passable entertainment. But it's outside and partly covered. On a hot day when walking through the Quarter, the wife and I stop there everytime to cool off, listen to some generic tourist music and watch the mix of locals and visitors walk through either seeing it all for the first time or wearing blinders.

Mike

**SoComSurfing** · #14 02-04-2009, 01:43 PM

Callaghan's Irish Social Club. Started in the '20s by four friends straight here from Ireland. They've been in the same building for most of the bar's history, and have been voted Esquire's #1 bar a time or two. The burgers are killer, the Sunday brunch is the best I've ever had (the Charleston St. Special is the best breakfast dish ANYWHERE), the atmosphere is fantastic, and Champ is the beer-loving yellow lab that lives there. He gets along great with all the dogs that the neighborhood folks bring in.

lousybassplayer · #15 02-04-2009, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike_v_s

It consists of one drink shack, about 20 metal tables, over-priced alcohol, mediocre service and passable entertainment. But it's outside and partly covered.
Mike

Boy that right there has turned some of the lousiest places into my favorites a bunch of times. However in a Maine winter, that would be a big negative.

Passinwind · #16 02-04-2009, 01:47 PM

I'd have to go with the Blue Moon Tavern in Seattle. A tiny dank joint just a few blocks from a huge college, full of hipsters, beatniks, and assorted other miscreants. Tough enough to confound real estate barons (long story), and of course a sign that says 'Sorry, We're Open' and on the flip side 'Yes! We're Closed.'

These guys were on the very cutting edge of the US craft brewing revival in the mid-80s, and having the Moon within crawling distance of home back then was a mixed blessing at best.

Looks like the music scene is quite a bit different now then the miracle-needing hippie focus it used to have. Here's one of many online reviews on this place: PubCrawler reviews.

Croox · #17 02-04-2009, 01:48 PM

been hitting the Rock Bottom out here quite a bit, (or I was) I like dive bars, high life on tap? that's my kinda hang out!

**SoComSurfing** · #18 02-04-2009, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Croox

been hitting the Rock Bottom out here quite a bit, (or I was) I like dive bars, high life on tap? that's my kinda hang out!

Haha! We have one place here that tries WAY to hard to be a dive. Their main claim is that they serve High Life and PBR. Nevermind that the beers are $3 each and its nothing more than a place for the kids to spend their parents' money and somewhere for them to go to pretend like they're "slumming".

The one I mentioned above, Callaghans, has "Dad's Tuesdays." Cans of Schlitz are a quarter "just like your father used to drink".

Jared Lash · #19 02-04-2009, 02:12 PM

My favorite bar in college was Jupiter in Berkeley. I started hanging out there a lot my senior year when I got tired of constantly being in a crush of people or having to shout everything at a club. Laid back, lots of outdoor tables, a large number of microbrews on tap and often good live music.

These days I wouldn't say I have a favorite bar. In fact with the amount that we gig I really don't go to bars anymore when I'm not playing music.

My favorite brewery is either Anchor in SF or North Coast in Fort Bragg (CA).

Jared Lash · #20 02-04-2009, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baba

After extensive field research

my favorite bar is the Toronado in San Francisco. It has the best beer selection I've ever run across. I don't mean in quantity, but quality of selection. It's a no frills dive sort of place with a stellar selection of Pacific Northwest microbrews and imports on tap, and a great bottled Belgian selection. It is a MUST stop if you are ever in San Francisco. Haight at Fillmore.

And here it is: http://www.toronado.com/

If you are ever in Santa Cruz, check out 99 Bottles. The last time I was there I felt like it had gone downhill somewhat, but it still has an amazing beer menu. Check it out.