This is an official "Dive Bar". One of the few remaining that open at 0600. As any respectable dive would. If you don't care for second hand smoke this is not for you. Even though it's supposed to be non-smoking the clientele could care less. And a certain mixolagist. Â Parking is good. And there's a liquor store conveniently located across the street in case you need a little sump-in more. It's classic Old School. Not many hipsters. Also note a severe lack of chicks. Well ones that rate over a 5. They have a decent pool table. Beware the restrooms are nasty. The mens room you need to flush after a #2 and then after the wipe job or else she'll plug up.
Nice outdoor area to drink and smoke and whatever. Kelly does a good job trying to keep up with the times. Dad (owner) is locked in a different era. But that's all cool.
Juke box is old school. CD. Good tunes & cheap. Non of that hi-tech internet music. No sirree Bob. Also they have free Wi-Fi. Password is their phone number with area code. No spaces. Now go get your drink on.
ONE OF THE BEST NEIGHBORHOOD BARS YOU'LL EVER FIND! CAN'T BE BEAT!
Bucky's is dark enough to feel intimate. They have sports on a couple TVs, but if the sound is on it's low so as to not be obnoxious. They've got a jukebox that the bartender regularly feeds money into. It's not small, but not large. One pool table. An event room with a stage just off the bar that even has a kitchen. Not sure what they use it for most of the time, but sometimes poker night. Sometimes the bartender will give the designated driver free non-alcoholic beverages (or maybe it was just due to my charm). Bartenders are very friendly and down-to-earth. More often than not -- and this could be good or bad depending on your temperament -- there are some really really drunk regulars in there, being loud like drunks can be. I found it mostly entertaining.
THEY MAKE STRONG DRINKS. SHOTS ARE BIG. A MAKER'S SOUR TO DIE FOR.
Bucky's is a great dive bar . Always a friendly atmosphere , great prices & the best jukebox around . Kelly & Peanut are great & make you feel like part of the family . This is a cash only bar so remember too have cash but if not they do have an atm . Within stumbling distance of my house is also a + .
Review Source:Bucky's is great if you like dives like the Yuppie. Â Very generous pours, and if you can get by the soused clientele, you will enjoy this place.
... actually, I take it back. Â Bucky's itself is a bit divey, but it's the clientele that make it a true dive. Â It seems like the kind of place that sighs and keeps pouring even as it receives a bad check from one of its best regular drunkards. Â Go here to have a good time, but you may not want to come here if you are really depressed. Â Bartenders are all colorful and friendly.
This is an actual dive bar. No hipsters, no yuppies, just a dive bar. If you like that kind of thing this is the place for you! If you don't, then don't bother to stop by and don't write nasty reviews complaining that it's "gross," or "dirty," or "a dive," or whatever.
The bartender was friendly, even turned on the light so I could see the special NASCAR collection. Sweet!
This place depends on your taste in bars. Â If you're into true dives (no, not like the ones in the Mission in SF that pretend to be dives), friendly people, rocking out to The Carpenters, Elton John and the like, and cheap drinks, this is the place for you. Â Can be a bit loud, but for a local spot, you could do worse.
But I can see those that might feel uncomfortable here, with sometimes rowdy people and NASCAR paraphernalia everywhere.
Here's the deal.
This place is a dive. It's cheap. The patrons are entertaining. The bartenders are great too!
No use getting dressed up or even getting out of your jammies. Because it's that kind of bar. & I like it that way.
Nothing I like more than a dive bar, a high life & smoking on the putting green with my friends. Oh, and people watching. Because there is a LOT of that!
Let me just say that I've only been inside Bucky's once, so my review is half based on that, and half based on the fact that my own store is directly across the street from them. I live in the neighborhood and thought it would be cool to have a laid back neighborhood bar but we're not in SF anymore Dorothy. When we walked in literally the whole bar went silent. Then, they carded me, and I am clearly not under 21. We sat ourselves in a booth to try and hide but it was evident that the bar goes one of two ways - you're either an every week regular or you're a stranger. I felt really uncomfortable but that's likely because I wasn't trying to get to know anyone. I only wanted a drink.
My own awkward experience aside, Bucky's is extremely popular with the regular crowd. Seriously. They are streaming in to the bar at 10-11 on a Sunday to throw back a couple two, five, ten beers. It's the same couples, single women of a certain age and men wearing Nascar shirts each week. They never, ever cause any ruckus. They stay in their little back "garden" and do their own thing. I respect that. Unlike the bar in the restaurant a couple doors up where the drunks stumble out at 2PM and pee in the alley next to my store. Yeah. Bucky's folks would probably beat someone's ass for peeing in the alley. They're stand-up American folks. Gotta love it. Once in a while I see totally out of place crowds (renting the side room maybe?) and they get way too clubby for the 'hood but they're new, they don't know. Velcro F? Was that your crowd that filled the street and thought for a minute my neighborhood was actually hip? Hmmm.
I may try it again sometime when I'm in the mood to conversate.
Sunday Bloody Sunday ... oh how I fucking love this place for the best bloody mary on the planet served up by Bill on the weekends!! The quiet oasis of the back patio filled with plumes of smoke and astro turf has to been seen to be believed, in a word, special, two words very special!
Bucky, yeah there is a Bucky ... he is real, he is cool with that wisp of coolness that exudes only from the likes of the super cool like Clint Eastwood!
Although hardly a regular to this establishment I always feel welcome. I set up a few shows here in the past and recently hosted a birthday party for a friend. This place is perfect to host any event, with a large side room, a kitchen and other ameneties.
My friends party went off without a hitch, the regular patrons don't seem to mind the intrusion and everyone had a good time.
If I lived in the neighborhood, I'd be a regular.
And like everyone else said: Kelly is awesome!
Ah, dive bar. Went on a Monday night. Tons of parking. Sexy NASCAR model posters. Bartender was friendly. Pretty simple beer choices. Very interesting patrons. Maybe too interesting.
We came for pool. Instead, we got this drunk Steve "Mongo" McMichael meets Meatloaf lookin' drunk guy who claimed to own the table. Like he made the damn table from his grandfather's tree from his backyard in Louisiana that was once struck by lightning. (Que theme from "The Natural")
My friends played them (Mongo & Friend) and he left (he talked sh*t the entire time). My friends start playing a new game, Mongo comes back and exclaims "When I say the table is ours. It's ours. I mean, did we go outside or something?" If I had a poison dart for every time....
I would give this place a better score if I was allowed to break a pool cue over that guy's head.
The first bar I actually felt safe going into as a woman!! Â Have made lots of great friendships with all sorts of different people. Â The back room is the perfect venue for a party, and we've had several. Â You can transform it into whatever your theme may be.
Kelly makes the best shots on the peninsula...hands down.
It's the place to go to unwind and let your hair down!!!
A nice little piece of middle America in the middle of San Mateo.
What you have here is everything you need for a nice relaxing evening after a long day of work.
-Olympia beer in a can, check
-Miller High Life in a bottle, check
-Nascar shrine, check
-Speed channel, check
-Dog friendly, check,
-Super welcoming bartender that looks like she can be on the Real Housewives of Orange County, check
-Sweet little pool table for $.75 cents a game, check
-The bartender even gave us a free pool game on the house, double check
Little perks like that make me want to come back here. The crowd is a little bit older (35-50ish) but really relaxed. Lot of contractor trucks out in the parking lot, so this is as a genuine bar you can get in San Mateo county.
Comfortable spot to have a drink, the bartenders are cool if you want a place to have a party, Bucky's has a large back room you can use for free.
Bucky (the owner) and his brother are San Mateo High School Graduates from 40 years ago and they have their football pictures from back in the day hanging on the wall.
Nascar seems to be a favorite here, and they could update the TVs, but the bar is a mile long and regulars seem cool.
MY BUDDY MARTY IS AN ALL-STAR AT THIS PLACE.
Bucky's has become one of my favorite hangouts. Â This is definitely not a trendy nightclub, it's a fun place to hang out with friends and DRINK. Â Sure you can't get a Guinness but they have Olympia in a can....don't see that all to often. Â Prices are very reasonable and the drinks are strong. Â I guess one could call it a dive bar, but then again who cares?
Most of the crowd are locals and have all been going there all their lives. Â Everyone is pretty friendly and it's not hard to pick up an interesting conversation with real people.
Their jukebox has a good selection of classics. Â Also they have an ATM, big screen and a pool table
So, I may be a little biased about this place because my uncle is a bartender and my family frequents this place, but I love this bar!
I'll admit, this place is a dive, but most people coming here know that. The bar itself is really long and has a good selection. Outside in the smoking area there is a putting green to keep drunky's occupied for hours, or to just set up some more drinking bets.
If you're looking for a place to throw a party at a VERY reasonable price, I would suggest this place. I threw my 25th birthday party here. You get what you pay for. The owner is extremely nice, as is his daughter, and they were more than accomadating to the specific drinks and needs that we had for the party.
During baseball season they have a really awesome pool that is too complicated for me to even explain, but it's worth checking out if you watch a lot of baseball!
In conclusion, this bar can do no wrong in my eyes!
If you're looking for a trendy drive bar, Bucky's is NOT it. This place is poison to annoying yups, and thank god ---these are some of the strongest drinks I've ever had!
If you like the Yuppie, swap career dirtbags with fun career drunks and this is your new favorite spot!
My personal fav bartender is Kelly.
My boss took us here to celebrate his Superbowl pool winnings, and this place fits my childhood mental image of a bar to a T.
"What beers do you have?" my first co-worker asked.
"The beers you can see," the bartender waved dismissively. Â Bud, Miller, you know.
"Uh... Â what beers do you have in bottles?" Â
The bartender sighed, and actually had to look. Â The answer was at best Sierra, and my co-worker fell back to a vodka-tonic.
Having observed this, I simply ordered a rum and coke.
"Could I have a rum and diet coke? Â With uhhhh, less rum than his?" Â My second co-worker ordered, after having observed my cocktail.
Bad bartender, bad beer selection, smoke outside so thick that I felt like I was in Europe rather than California *inside*, sports showing on one TV and Survivor on the other, a back room so brightly lit that you were blinded if you happened to accidentally look that way, sagging breaking seats, and a droopy smoke stained 40-something crowd of obvious locals  makes for a place that's so bad that I want to take my friends there to let them see it for themselves.