Mediocre food, not enough space, mediocre beer selection, minimal atmosphere, EXTREMELY good price. Where else can you get a $4.50 pitcher of Moosehead? Bartenders usually very friendly. Live music on the weekends (sometimes) and usually it's good. Don't expect to get a seat. The wings used to actually be 10 cents on 10 cent Tuesday, but I guess that deal couldn't last forever. Oh well. You go here to get drunk anyways. Highlight would definitely be the dirt cheap prices, but that has more to do with its location in Binghamton than anything else.
Review Source:This is the best bar in Binghamton, hands down. Â Cheap, cool, mixed crowd, no annoying girls drinking bottles of Bud Light and taking pictures of themselves. Â Burgers are awesome. Â This is basically the epitome of a neighborhood bar. Â Some nights it's a SUNY bar, some nights a townie bar, some nights a gay bar, et cetera. Â If you don't like The Belmar you're a jerk.
Review Source:This is the best bar in the area. Â
AMBIANCE: Â Wild. Â Drunk. Â Engaging. Â Fun. Â Everyone is here to have fun and drink. Â This is the place where everyone knows your name. Â This is the place where you exchange shots of Jameson Irish Whisky with the bartenders (shot are always pouring here). Â This is the place where nuclear physicists bump elbows with ex-cons. Â There are no minorities here because there are all minorities here. Â Very inclusive and friendly patrons. Â This is the "melting pot" America dreamed about. Â More laughter per hour than anywhere else. Â There's no down time; you will not be the first drunk of the day.
BEER: Â A few craft beers on tap, for very good prices, and most importantly, they have Ommegang Abbey Ale by the PINT! Â Enough said. Â Non-craft beers are the norm for most patrons here, however, and I understand they also sell for very competitive prices.
FOOD: Â They've been pushing their food recently, yet it is still the best secret in town. Â Very tasty and generous bar food. Â Some items are absolutely over the top. Â Nicely inexpensive.
MUSIC: Â Very nice jukebox selections, which seems to be playing at least 50% of the time. Â Many local bands (several nights a week) are a staple. Â
SITE: Â A beautifully run down dive which is secretly kept up just enough to make it eternal. Â The building is painted on the bottom with the colors of the Irish Flag, and on the upper floors with the colors of a bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey. Â This is not a coincidence.
There is always something going on here... Superbowl parties, Syracuse basketball on TV, pig roasts, trivia, bands, charity benefits, etc. Â
Never a dull moment.
I'm a townie (Bingo. class of '89) who has long since moved away from this sad little town. This is the bar that used to serve me when I presented a cheesy medical ID when I was 16. I also had some good times there during some visits in the 90s (hey, they have the Pogues on the jukebox and pretty decent Guinness on tap). I visited there this year about 5:00pm with an old high school friend on a Wednesday night and we were almost forced to fight our way out of there. There were six scummy trailer trash losers sitting on the porch out front and they followed us in as soon as we entered. One guy with a ponytail was smashing his ass into me and this other short little turd was accosting my friend, repeatedly saying "how ya doin'?, how ya doin'". My friend and I have been in bar brawls before and we don't shy away from ***holes like this, but now we have jobs, kids and families (you know the story), and didn't want to risk throwing it all away duking it out with this scum of the earth. One of the ***holes was taking money out of a jar earmarked to bail one of the regulars out of jail. The bartender seemed afraid and it was clear that this once decent dive bar was now simply a place to go if you want trouble. Stay away. Not fun in a dive bar way. Just a dangerous ****hole and nothing more.
Review Source:Face it- You're not in college anymore (or in high school with your elder sibling's fake ID). "Downtown" is not the place for you. Picking up a chick down there would result in a warrant for your arrest for sex with a minor.
Instead, the Belmar is the place to be. Get a pitcher of moosehead. Then get a second and third and split with friends you brought with you or those that you're sure to meet there. A collection of hip youngsters and regular townies keeps the scene eclectic. The christmas lights are on year round with an average of only 50% of them working at any given time. And damn, get the wings on wing night!
If you like the Belmar, you will probably not like it downtown and vice versa. Unlike downtown, however, there is a definite dearth of other options for a similar venue. The result is an uncanny amount cross breeding.
That being said, the music is not great but tolerable. The drinks prices don't always make sense but are cheap and buybacks are possible with enough good karma. Â
People say it is hipsters that go there, but I don't think so. Just misguided youths. They don't know what a hipster is.
I don't remember it like this when I was in school...
Serious meat market. There is about a 2:1 guy to girl ratio and it seems most have gone home with most at one time or another. And if they haven't (or even they have), by the end of the night it gets pretty desperate with guys hanging (or more accurately "begging") by the bar waiting for their chance of one last quip for one of the pretty bartenders. Surprisingly, I've seen it work.
The exterior of the Belmar reminds me of something out of the seventies. A baby blue three story skinny building (with apartments on top), it stands isolated with parking lots of both sides. It has fantastic signage and also has the Irish flag painted on the front of the building. For the non-regular-bar-going-type, I was not sure what to make of the place.
It's cool. It's a local joint. My first visit was on a tuesday, "Wing Night" judging by the large amounts of Binghamton students scarfing down spicy delights. I've been told its not usually a college hangout and has a lot of character. I would believe it. Reminds me somewhat of The Drawing Room out in Los Angeles, except with a Upper New York state flair.
I plan on many more visits and hope to learn more about the place. Besides, anyone who rates a bar based on one visit can't really know anything at all. I guess that makes this entire review suspect, but heh, first impressions mean something too.
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