Dunbar's has the following things that make it unique (both good and...the not so good):
-salty and often stale (but very free!) popcorn
-Wednesday Group Therapy special: a pitcher of beer and kamikaze shots
-cheap and strong Long Island's
-grimy, sticky floors
-jukebox with cool jams
-signatures written and/or etched on the walls (a whole lot of ______ was here, ______ sucks, curses, sorority and fraternity names, and names of body parts)
-smelly, little bathroom
-arcade games
-Photo Hunt (in its own category of greatness)
-darts
Sniff. I know Dunbar's is closing, but visiting it again the other day made me want to write about the only dive bar in Collegetown. There is no other place like Dunbar's and I'm so sad to see it go. Â
Likelihood of another visit:
...sadface.
If this place could get zero stars it would. Â I used to go here a lot and was just here last night. Â The place is still dirty and reeks of stale old mil and urine. Â There were only 8 people in the bar (5 of them with me) and the owner came up to my group and told us to stop throwing popcorn in our mouths because it was for eating and it costs money to make it. Â This just pissed me off...I am sorry that some of your precious popcorn fell on the floor and was wasted among the garbage, broken glass, stale beer and piss. Â If there was any way I could break a penny up to pay for the few kernels that fell on the floor I would. Â The owner is a old jerk, the place is garbage. Â The only reason I went here in the first place was because you could kind of act like a jackass, I guess now piss filled bars hold their clientele to a higher standard. Â Plus, why go here when you can go to Pete's in the commons which is a far superior dive bar.
Review Source:DUNBARS = Cornell's dive bar and I LOVE IT. Â I lived on Eddy Street for my last two years at Cornell. Dunbars was the place to be on Thursday night for long island ice teas, or on Wednesday night for group therapy... or any night you wanted to sing along to jukebox tunes. Dunbars = Floor completely soaked with alcohol, walls with names engraved, salty popcorn, and I guarantee you'll be packed in like sardines - BUT - that made it one of the best bars of Cornell's collegetown. Grab some friends and go early to snatch one of the window tables, if you get one, you are golden for the night.
Review Source:I've been going to Dunbars for a long time. Love it! It's a fun place any night of the week...especially Wednesdays and Thursday nights. Cheap, strong drinks. Great music. Sports on the TV at all times. Darts. Great popcorn.
One of the best bars in collegetown because its low-key and you dont have to get all dressed up to go there. Everyone is always welcome, and its a gauranteed good time.
The epitome of dive bar. It is a very small place with writings in permanent marker and carvings all over their walls. There are darts and a few old arcade games towards the back of the bar. The entire place is very small, as are all bars are in Ithaca.
They only accept cash, but the drinks are pretty strong. It has a fratty feel to it, so it's not really my cup of tea, but I've come anyway just to meet up with some friends who do like it. The music they play is generally like Southern rock (e.g. Lynyrd Skynyrd, etc.)
One of the best times I came was when an old friend of the owner was in town, and for some reason, all drinks were on the house. All you needed to do was tip. I don't know why this happened, but I don't really care, and I'm not going to complain. Needless to say, word spread quickly about this, and soon the bar was packed. Of course, that night, I got drunk very easily.
Their long island iced teas are pretty tasty. I was able to drink it without wanting to gag, unlike the ones at Dino's (when they were still open). I also love their Alabama Slammers. I had never had it before, but my friend had ordered them, and they were delicious ... and apparently really strong ;)
I don't know what the normal day for group therapy is, but I went here on a super slow Monday night during finals week for a friend's birthday, and the bar owner was nice enough to give us group therapy for his birthday. Yay for a pitcher of beer and kamikaze shots in tiny medicine-looking cups?
The door says that you're required to have two forms of identification. I don't know why they have that sign up because one will suffice.
Dunbar's was definitely not my first choice bar to go out when I was a Cornell undergrad. If you want a cheap and somewhat sketchy place, go to Dunbar's.
dunbar's used to have a drink special back in 2005 when i first started my first masters degree at cornell and was living on east buffalo street with francisco after my apartment had burned to the ground and his father had passed and we were basically living the cornell university depressed student with no passion no leisure time no money just work hoping one day things would be better glorious dream
the drink special was called group therapy and we went there after this Korean girl i was crushing on rejected me again for a casual afternoon to meet for coffee, long awkward silences, attempts at hand holding and comparing stochastic calc notes
anyway group therapy it was not
francisco and i showed up like we normally did back then, nervous, sweaty late and paranoid, checking for threats and emergency exits we were hoping for the actual group therapy the real thing he wanted to talk about his financial state and the fact that he couldn't afford a ticket back to DR to see his fathers funeral I wanted to talk about my dog mercury and how his only picture had burned in my apartment fire a few months earlier
all I had back then was an old barn jacket that smelled like bonfire (kind of like a sick joke, considering the fire, yes) and Franco had his sweater. We showed up expecting group therapy and realized it was not really therapy but a drink special (five shots and a pitcher for $20, or something)
some northfaced darien, ct native slut looked at us like "who are these bums?" I was afraid Franco was going to firebomb the joint
Was just here Wednesday night to chill but damn does this place get packed fast. There's a lot of college kids packed into this bar but somehow it managed to stay civil with no pushing or shoving. It's essentially a grungy dive bar with random drawings and writing all over the place, just taking one look at the ceiling might overload your visual senses so be advised.
Around six beers on tap, you can't really expect much usually from a dive bar so it's always the cheapest beer but for once I didn't see Budweiser or the preferable PBRs. The selection I saw ranged from Miller Lite, Milwaukee to Blue Moon's summer seasonal ale- Honey Moon, which just happened to be tapped out the moment I ordered, SADFASE. I was unaware that Wednesday night had a Group Therapy night special  until I read Yelp but I'll keep an eye out next time.
Cash only, was $8.50 for a pitcher of Miller Lite. Well drinks and beer glasses were served in small glasses so keep that in mind. Where's my usual pint glass?
Worth a visit if you wish to get trashed for cheap college style.
I left my liver and many brain cells here decades ago, and on a trip last weekend for reunion, I realized they still have a piece of my heart.
Dunbar's is the quintissential dive bar. Â We used to have "Dunbar's shoes" that we would wear out, because there was unidentifiable sticky sludge on the floor (did we really care? no). Â Free popcorn, darts, names from over the years carved or written all over the place. Â The highlight is "Group Therapy": a pitcher of beer and a glass of kamikaze shots. Â 20 years ago it was $5, now it is $6. Â Awesome. Â Also, they make a drink called a Combat which is their version of the iced tea (now they are $5, don't remember what they were then). Â A jukebox so great we made tapes of the songs, and all these years later we remembered the songs on it (old, fun songs you don't really hear anywhere else and I probably wouldn't have heard if I hadn't gone there). Â
It is so hard to describe Dunbar's in words, you have to experience it for yourself. Â Thanks Dave (& Lee) for creating a place that was such a pivotal part of our college experience.
This is my favorite bar at Cornell. It's cozy, there's free popcorn, and the bar is pretty easily accessible because it's in the middle of the room. It's a great little dive bar where you can really feel the history of Cornell in... since there's graffiti all over from who knows how long. They don't take credit cards or tabs, so this place is pretty easy on your wallet!
Wednesday night is infamous Group Therapy night - 1 pitcher and kamikazes for $6. Great way to help you get over the fact that's only the middle of the week...
Go before 11pm, that's when it starts to get packed. Actually don't. I want the table you'd probably take.
Cornell's #1 Dive Bar!
Dunbar's was the best place in Collegetown for cheap drinks. This place was always packed on Long Island nights (Thursday) or the requisite Group Therapy (Wednesday)!
I was never the person rallying the troops to go to Dunbars, but when I went, I had a good time. The one thing I had to develop is a tolerance for germs. This place is NOT clean. They also have a popcorn machine... the popcorn is fresh, but those trays... oh, those trays...
The one day that makes Dunbars heaven on earth is St. Patrick's Day. They really now how to celebrate with an early morning opening, Irish Breakfasts, green beer, special shirts and an O'Dunbar's sign outside. St. Patrick's Day 2006 may be one of my favorite days ever... I was at the bar 9-5... and then rallied from 10:30-1am. Wow, I was a champ.
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