I keep coming back and every time I am so sadly disapointed. I keep hoping for a glimpse from the Graduate of the 70's & 80's. Those of you from Davis know exactly what I am talking about. Back when the Grad Burgers rocked our world, with that yummy triangle shaped fresh baked bread, fresh ground sirloin, local produce - crisp green lettuce and vine ripe tomatoes. Fresh cut french fries. The menu was larger with great sandwich options and the highest quality ingredients. Oh how I long for that menu and the Grad burger of my youth. I hope that mangement is reading this and will take to heart my review. Come on now, you know and I know, the quality of the food has degraded. The focus of the Graduate has always been the bar, it's where you make your money. But the old management at least understood the value in providing a good meal along with that pitcher of beer. Ok let's talk specifics about the menu these days. The bun is dry, stale and tastes like cardboard. The lettuce is always wilted, sometimes brown on the edges. The paper thin sliced tomatoes are never ripe - a crime since we are living in the middle of the Central Valley. Heirloom Tomatoes are plentiful here - buy some please! Â Your BBQ sauce tastes like someone mixed A-1 and Ketchup together and said, this will save us some money! Â Let's talk about the Steak sandwich - either buy higher cut of meat or trim out the fat and unedible connective tissue. It's not nice to take a bite and realize you have to spit it out because it's all fat. Last but not least, throw out the frozen fries. Bring back the fresh cut ones made from real potatoes peeled daily. Make some changes PLEASE! Your past patrons will rejoyce and you will be giving the next generation a fond food memory that they will carry forward. Come on fellow yelpers and past Davis Grads - chime in. What do you remember best from the old Graduate menu?
Review Source:Quick bits and pieces to know:
(1) Nom, nom hamburgers and fries!
(2) Very nice bartenders
(3) Must to a beer and be bro-star
(4) You can eat, you can drink, and you can even dance!
(5) Salsa night ... man... people know how to dance
(6) Game nights are the best ... hang out with ppl and drink beer... yeahhh man!
(7) Lots of room, so good for large groups!
**OVERALL: Great place to drink and hang out with friends
A great place to gather friends and either watch a good game on their many TVs or drink and dance the night away during one of their special events. The staff is absolutely phenomenal and friendly. The Graduate is just an overall wonderful place to hang out during any time of the day.
Review Source:The Grad is your typical college sports/dive bar. I have only been there during the afternoons after sporting events. There are many TVs and big screens. They have entertainment and dancing at night. The restaurant has some good pizzas, especially the BBQ Chicken. The burgers are OK but the rest of the menu is mediocre. Â Don't order the Salads.
The main attraction is the bar and its beer on tap. You can order pitchers and save some $$. Since I have only been there in the afternoons there are always seats. This is a no frills bar so get your own drinks pick up your own food from the counter. Service is minimal.
The Davis Graduate is just your average american food restaurant / bar. I have had their burgers and I can safely say that they seem to always burn my patty, usually I do not mind, but I get annoyed when I specifically request that it not be burnt. The Grad does get quite a bit of traffic during the nights for it's variety of college nights, country, line dancing and salsa nights. They also have very large screen projectors so you can watch most large sports events (including UFC fights). However, if go then, come early and expect huge lines. Overall, the grad gets big points for their variety of events that go on almost nightly, however, their food is 2.5 stars at best. Better environment than the food at times.
<a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.davisgrad.com%2F&s=3f62bb160e4d9229f9a02f53844dccdeb267f6a5e55af692770b6aef0397ef0b" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.davisgrad.com/</a>
Stopped by the The Davis Graduate on my way to Tahoe and had to visit one of my favorite places when I was a student at UCD.
The Gradburger seemed to taste the same, juicy and tasty and good. Â However, it may have been enhanced by the slice of Nostalgia. Â Don't remember this place hosting any "Men of Exotica" parties when I was here, but I guess whatever brings the people in.
Glad to see they still serve the Party size fries. Â I remember they would call out your name when the fries were done and never checked for a receipt to ensure you truly purchased them....never had so many free fries in my life! Â The good old college days......
Really -- really bad! Â I had purchased a Groupon for $30 worth of food and took my daughter to have lunch. Because it was just the two of us and we had $30 we both got Large Sandwiches, one pastrami and one Club. Â Now, this is a $11 sandwich and comes with fries - we upgraded both to Garlic Fries and Onion Rings. Â We also shared a bowl of soup -- Chicken Tortilla.
The Soup? Â Was disgusting, I would swear that it was Campbell s bean with bacon soup, the chicken was non existent and there were certainly no tortillas in it. Â Ok - just let that go (but for $5? and it was a small bowl? Pa-lease!)
When we get our sandwiches - the first thing is the fries? Â They were completely COLD - like gross cold -- so I had to take it back (and they suck quite frankly) then we cut our sandwiches (because we like to do share-sees and it's like there's nothing on the sandwich. Â There is the most pathetic pieces of meat on this sandwich -- seriously? Â Subway puts more meat on theirs than the Graduate -- and this is almost a $12 sandwich -- and we had TWO -- when i went back up to talk to the kitchen manager I said, "Wow - if I was a big burly guy and paid $12 for a sandwich with one tiny slice of meat on it -- I'd be pretty upset" . Well, I'm not a big burly guy - but I was po'd anyway -- jeeze, it was seriously disgusting. Â So, we wait FOREVER to get the re-fire - and when he brings it back? Â It was the same - they must think that everyone in there is drunk and can't tell what a sandwich is supposed to be like.
The thing is this... i grew up in Chico and I've been eating at the Grad since i was a kid -- I don't know if the Grad has just gone completely down hill -- or the one is Davis is HORRIBLE!
So - if you're going for the Uper cool ambiance and some beers - hey, it's probably great -- but if you're going to have a decent lunch? Â DON'T GO HERE -- you will seriously get a better sandwich at Subway -- Come on you guys -- for a $12 sandwich i should definitely be able to identify the difference between the meat and the lettuce!
It's obviously about the Beer and the TV's -- Â (yea, it stinks in there too)
Awesome staff. From what I hear, it's a little pricey here aside from the happy hours. However, the bartenders will not personally rip you off at all, and in my experience even hook you up quite a bit if you're just nice to em. Yes, even if you're a dude. Due to this friendly service, and the frequency of cool events they have at the Grad, I'm writing this review. Also, very convenient location!!
Review Source:They can be a little pricey, but it's well worth it. They've redone their menu and you can pretty much get whatever you want (for a slight charge) on your burger. I highly recommend  the garlic fries. It's a great place for Monday Night Football but can get pretty crowded if the Raiders or Niners are playing. And count on the line being out the door for lunch.
Review Source:I know alot of people say they love this place. I don't get it. It's a bar with a good beer selection I'll give you that but I don't see what the big deal is. I've come here a few times and it's always the same. During the day, it has a family restaurant feel, a lot of families with kids, parents having a beer watching the game while their kids eat. At night, they can get really crowded and loud with people having a beers, playing pool and sometimes line dancing. I don't live in the area so I don't make special trips here. They have an impressive beer selection so if friends are going I'll tag along but in my opinion this place is just ok.
Review Source:The Davis Grad has one of the best happy hours in town during the day. They have a pretty good micro brew selection and you can order premium pints like Pliny the Elder for $3 during HH. I've only had a a few bites of the bar food and it wasn't anything special, and I don't know how the grad gets at night when they turn it into a club, but the daily happy hour is worthwhile.
Review Source:This place is nice to shoot pool, play video games and  watch sports' games during the day.  Also, a good place to go to for a fun night out! Â
Average bar with average food for average prices.
College fundraisers and other events are often held here and people go - particularly college students.
so I'm leaving Davis in a few days, I decided to get back to Yelp and do a mass review of all the places I've been over the past year.
Happy hour: 5 stars
Regular: 2.5 stars
Happy hour deals were, until a few days ago, 4 dollar pitchers of rolling rock/coors/pbr, and 4 dollar pints of anything else or double wells. The burgers are also pretty solid, but not on the level of burgers and brew at all.
Real 3.5S
Given I came here years ago, I still have good memories of the place. Â For a college location the food was decent. This was before Davis is more booming now...however...
The place was a really cool place when I turned 18 to go dancing near the college campus. My roommate and I always went here every weekend...Friday and Saturday if we were staying in Davis to study. Â Just great times. Â No BS.
Partying seems more complicated now whenever I am in the city...I hate growing up and wish I kept the good party days like The Grad.
Ah Groupon. Â Without your discounts, I really would never try places like this.
Had a burger and a chicken strip basket. Â Tasty, greasy bar food, blah blah, standard issue. Â Nothing to praise to the heavens about, but hey, it was pretty ok.
Pitcher of blue moon was danged expensive though, something like $18.00 + tip. Â Not sure how many broke college students are buying that.
I've been to the Graduate a few times now. This place is more like a sports bar to me. Plenty of room and T.V's. Excellent beer selection. Way better than any corporate places like buff wild wings, B.J's, etc.
I was so stoked they had Pliney on tap!! 2 star bonus for that alone! Happy Hour is fantastic as well. $4 pitchers and $4 apps - if you're hungry get the nachos.
I gotta give The Grad a five! Â No complaints. Â Okay, the food is pricey (10 bucks for a burger and fries?!) but there was no cover and it's worth it for the dozens of large screen tv's and great dancing. Â Tuesday night is Salsa night which I prefer to Country, but there are always lots of people having a great time dancing after 9pm. Â Before dancing, you can comfortably watch any and all televised sports - the place is plenty big and there's more than one huge projection screen.
The bartenders are fun and friendly - especially Greg who mixes the best Long Island.
Stop by to watch a game, watch the dancing, shoot some pool, or just have a beer.
This place is one of the nicest clubs to go around the area that are 18+. The music and drinks are not bad at all. The best part is the many beautiful girls you see here every single time ;-) The down of it is that if you don't know or don't like dancing country music you are going to have to either get some drinks on you to get some courage so you dare to jump into the dance floor to try to follow and learn or you are going to have to stay sitting/standing watching everyone else have fun in the dance floor. I haven't been in for the salsa night but I've been told is fun as well.
I have come here a few times and haven't seen any fights or anything of that style. For the most part everybody seems to be nice including the bar tenders. It's not my first choice but if I am going out with someone under 21 or into country I always bring them here.
BETTY W.!!!! This is your shout out girrrrrrllll!!
Cheap drinks + the Gunners + many law students + Betty and Sam's sweet moves = an amazinnnnggg time last night.
The Grad is also a good spot for happy hour. The food isn't bad and when the Giants were competing in the World Series, everyone and their mamas were there. If you're bored at night, its a cool place to hang out since they have themed events (i.e. salsa nights) and a huge dance floor.
Looks like it would be a fun place to party at night, but for lunch it is just ok.
They have some great daily lunch deals - I think a cheeseburger was $2.50 - but otherwise things are pretty pricey. My gardenburger, along with fries and a soda (only one refill, and it tasted weird coming from the bar) was something like $14, which was way too much. The food was all decent, and they had a lot of options on the menu, but the prices were way too high, especially for a student-targeted establishment.
The inside is also very dark ("dank" is a better description), so if it is a sunny day out it feels like you are walking into a casino or strip club. Nice outdoor patio with a waterfall, but inside, while huge, was not very inviting. Could use a few more pool tables too rather than rows of picnic-style tables.
So bottom line: If you want what their daily lunch special is, then it's worth dropping in. Otherwise, you'll just be spending way too much money.
Went here once and will not be back...
It was karaoke night and I was meeting some friends. Â I offered to buy one of the guys a drink if he let me choose the song, without him knowing, and then going up to sing it. Â He was a trooper and sang whatever ridiculous song it was and everyone was having a blast. Â
So I approach the bartender and let him know I was buying the next shot for the man that was singing to which he replied, "Oh you're buying a shot for the fag?"
I paid for the shot, walked out and will never be back.
Beer is good - but now that the David Beer Shoppe is in town, there's no reason to go to the Grad. Â The owner/manager is a real stooge, and it has that "you're here because we're cool enough to serve you" kind of vibe - no thanks. Â
Yelp the Davis Beer Shoppe, and tell Taylor hi - you'll be glad you did.
The Grad can be really hit or miss.
Pro's:
Early drinking (6:00 am) on Picnic Day
Watching sports on their huge selection of TV's
Cheap booze
Cool bartenders
Tons of seating, even during football season
Con's:
At night this place becomes a mecca for tools
Weak drinks
Food sucks
Come to The Grad to watch the game and have some pitchers during the day, at night head downtown.
Between the salsa dancing nights (DJ Nehad), good service on the food side of things, bad service on the bar side of things, and 4 too many country line dancing nights, I'm a bit torn about how to rate a place I'd easily give a 5 if it were stand alone a salsa dance place.
People make fun of it as a freshman lair since it's 18+. But these are freshmen who go to UCDavis, not Sac City College. They are smart, ready to experiment with salsa dancing, newly released into adulthood wild, and make this a much friendlier place to salsa dance than, arguably, most of the valley if not also including the bay area. Indeed, on salsa night, there is a very peculiarly lively scene here that seems to be the one light over at the Frankenstein place that is Davis.
Salsa nights are now sequestered to Tuesday. Should you want to go, get there before 9pm and you have no cover charge. If you're not much of a drinker, don't worry, most salseros AREN'T. There is complimentary group dance lessons starting ca. 9:30 until 10, which gives you a preview into what salsa here is all about, but also allows you to meet potential dance mates casually as well...
DJ Nehad: a down to earth man with good taste in new and classic salsa, and readily plays requests.
Dancing goes from 10-1:30 typically. You will get numbers no matter your gender. Super friendly place if you're open to trying something new.
The Davis Graduate and I first became acquainted through graduate student night last Thursday, which supposedly only admitted graduate students inside. Seeing as I'm no longer a grad student and still got in, this obviously didn't work too well. I guess what was really meant was that it was a 21+ night, for legal drinkers only. For a $3 cover, we got 33 cent beers for the first hour or so of the night.
The lines were long and ridiculous to get inside The Grad, but once we got in we got our beers quickly despite it being busy. There was space for dancing, tables for sitting, and an area for beer pong, so this seems like a decent place to go for a group of people with different tastes in their nightlife. The crowd was super young... I felt ancient and am not that old! The music, not surprisingly for a student-oriented bar, was head-pounding loud.
I didn't get too excited about any one thing at The Grad but really had a pretty good time. My partner wants to come back every Thursday for graduate student night, so my impression may crystalize more in the future.
This place is shady. Been here numerous times however, today they pushed it too far.
They made patrons wait outside during World Cup 2010 for US vs England. They claim the line to get in was to allow the lines at the bar inside to flow through. If you've been to the Grad, you know there is a lot of room in this place. At any rate, they always make db excuses like this to charge a cover and make it seem like they're exclusive. Fail.
Was going to the grad for the Monday night line dancing for quite a while now.
Now I'll outright say I purposefully avoid the busier evening at this place, because it gets fairly full on Monday and the Fri-Sun nights are just far too packed for my tastes.
As with the "unrelated" Chico Grad, this place has a good drink choice on tap, and they do some fun specials many nights. Â Food is decent enough at night, though I know it's something to talk about more so during the lunch/early dinner atmosphere.
Agreeing with the Robert B. review that this place really is a sport's bar, at heart, and everything is sort of an add on concept. Â While they may have a decent dance floor, it just doesn't feel large enough for the crowds they're hosting in there. Â Their other events seem pretty fun, but the cost of it is just enough to usually not make it worth a drive out from Sac.
The atmosphere is pretty friendly at the line dancing, but the largest complaint I have about it is the dance choices. Â Went for a little over a year, and very often would learn a dance and never see it called again (or at least not again for several months). Â Reversely, I'll see them call some songs and the more practiced dancers (all 6 of them at a time, generally) get out on the floor for 30 minute at a time with nobody else out there. Â
If you're gonna have the big crowds, play the songs more people can dance to, and play the stuff you're teaching more often (or teach the stuff your playing, whatever). Â I don't like paying a cover charge to get in and only hit the floor 4 times in as many hours, especially after having been at this for a bit.
If they could adjust the lineup, and maybe drop the cover charge for those who actually are buying food/drinks, I'd be more willing to come back again. Â Really did enjoy it for a while, but the drive from Sac just isn't worth it anymore.
So, back in The Day, the conversation went like this:
Dormmate: Hey, so, a bunch of us are headed over to The Grad tonight for country line dancing. Â You should totally come!
Me: Â Hell no. Â I hate country music.
Dormmate: Â But you love to dance! Â C'mon, you'll have fun, I swear!
Me: Â Dancing or no dancing, country sucks.
Dormmate: Â Just come tonight. Â If you hate it, I won't ever ask you again, but if you don't come, I'm gonna bug you about it every single week till you come.
Me: Â Fine, I'll go just this once.
Result: Â I was hooked, country music and all. Â Seriously, if you have never been, it's a friggin blast.
Yes, typical me with my college friends used to go to the Grad every now and then (okay fine, pretty much every month). But hey, I'm in Davis, can you really blame us for trying to find things to do?
Anyways, the night life of the Graduate is not so bad. Depends on what kind of person you are. I love to go out, have fun, and dance. Drink here and there and get my mind away from studying and school. Unfortunately, a lot of people think the same way, which makes the Graduate pretty freakin crowded. Barely any walking room and just drunk kids throwing themselves around everywhere; not so great. But that's not really the Graduate's fault, is it?
One of the things that make the Graduate unique, is there daily night themes. One night is Country night, another is Salsa night, Karaoke night, open club night, and so on. Each night has something special appealing for different types people, which I think is pretty cool.
Another great thing about the Graduate: going there to watch a big game. They have a decent bar, beer is good priced, and their lunches are deelish. I once went there for a big soccer game during the World Cup, and I had a blast. It was loud, fun, everyone was cheering... What more could you ask for? The workers are fun and enthusiastic, and pretty happy to see basically everyone. From the bartenders, to servers, to bouncers at night, the Graduate has a lot of friendly people.
Normally, I'd give them 3 stars.
But I'm throwing in an extra star for all the awesome memories I've had there ;)
For the sake of "whatever happens at the bachelorette party, stays at the bachelorette party," I'm not going to head into any major specifics here. Big bar with quick tenders, a "straight from the rodeo" clientele, giant dance floor, and godawful country music.
Two things:
1. Gentlemen, if a girl tells you she lives in the Castro, a neighborhood of SF that couldn't get gayer if Tom Cruise and Will Smith had a parade down 18th street, the correct response is NOT: "I'm ok with gay people. They can do whatever they want, I just don't like gay adoption. They're going to mess up their kids." And the number you just gave me has been deleted.
2. Massive props to the bartender/owner who hooked me up with a free pitcher of long beach iced teas. Not so massive props to the rest of the party who ignored it, leaving me to nurse the drink for the better part of an hour. How I woke up the next day without a hangover is beyond me.
During my two years at Davis, I visited The Grad probably 4 times. Nothing too special about  the place they have t'vs, beer, food, and a moderate sized dance floor. Â
My vivacious Latina friend took me here for salsa night, well she actually forced me to come. Â I don't do the whole dance thing but I must admit, I actually had fun. Â She gave me the basics to salsa and after a few practice sessions, threw me from the frying pan and into the fire. Â We blissfully danced the night away, electricity running through our veins. Â Well not really, I stepped on her feet numerous times and the only thing running through our veins was the hennessy we savored in the parking lot prior to coming in. Â Turned out to be a fun night. Â
Thanks for the lessons Carmen.
I would like you to show me a place bsides the memory of an eighth grade dance that allows me to do the Men in Black choreography. I would like you to show me a place where you can buy a gallon (practically) of long island ice tea for only five dollars. So me a place where it's acceptable to wear cowboy boots and do the tush push without being made fun of. I'll show you where. I love the grad. I love doing the watermelon crawl and the cotton eyed joe. All of it. I would go here evry night if it wasn't a twenty minute drive.
One time this guy paid me five dollars to do the robot in the middle of one of the hard line dances. Man was I embarrassed but I had a free long island in my hand, so who's cool now suckers?
This place was great for watching the Lakers kick the Kings asses.
I didn't spend too much time here in college, but I do believe it was my first experience with dancing on a table. Oh wait, second. Yeah, it was my second experience with dancing on a table, but first in public, and it was on my birthday, and the DJ gave me a shout out.
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