The Funhouse is unique, and unique is good. This is a dive bar, but they have live music every night - no where else in the area can provide this! There is outdoor seating in the back, and a pool table if you don't mind playing in a cramped space.
Minimal cover some nights, but where else can you get live music?
I once learned to play pool at the Funhouse.
There was a lot of traffic near the pool table, and there's a tiny cue because there's some walls that are pretty close that make navigating pretty tough. For hours, a friend schooled me on trick shots, defense, banking...all the while sipping on brilliantly cold PBRs and listening to some sweet 90s cover music.
Nothing about that sounds too special. Indeed, the band that night was particularly bad. But that's exactly why the funhouse is so perfect. There's an alchemy inside (and yes, out on the deck, too) that just makes it all work, even when Collective Soul is blasting into your skull played by some dudes who definitely aren't Collective Soul.
The Funhouse has a deck that makes it a total gem during summer and it has enough smoke and loud music to keep a lot of Lehigh students away. That's fine by me - Bill J is right to call it a dose of sanity, much like Your Welcome around the corner, the Funhouse is a loud, smoky haven where Bros fear to tread.
Oh yeah and I don't remember how to play pool. So that's how that evening went.
Best bar in town. By far.
This place was my dose of sanity while I was at Lehigh. I hated all the other bars that would be mobbed with greek life and pumping house music. Great bartenders. Great music (usually). Cheapish beer with a couple of micro breweries on tap. In the summer, the porch out back is great - especially if the music gets a bit loud. Wish I didn't smell like an ashtray the next morning, but that's a price I am willing to pay.
Don't let the facade fool you - The funhouse isn't the Stephen King murder scene it looks like from the outside!
This is probably my favorite Bethlehem bar, after Loopers.
Yes, it looks a little struggs but this is definitely a fun bar. There is usually live music going on and the drinks are really cheap. There is a deck out back for when it finally gets warm out.
Lehigh students will usually tell you to avoid this place but I will tell you otherwise- this place is fun and has a good laid-back vibe.
Order an electric lemonade!
"Funhouse: Where fun people meet and party"
Where fun people meet and party indeed. I love this place. Definitely one of the best bars in South Bethlehem, which really isn't saying much when you have options like Leon's and Molly's around. It is definitely a dive bar. Dirty, dark, smokey, relatively cheap; now that's what I call a freaking bar! It is a little small inside but that's why there is an awesome deck out back.
Do not believe Lehigh students when they tell you this place is sketchy. It is "sketchy" because it has locals and people older than 25 that haven't been driven away by Lehigh students yet.
A friend of mine was coming into town and, unsure of which happenin' joint in the thriving metropolis of Bethlehem I should take her to for the evening, I Googled "Bethlehem nightlife" for inspiration. I know. It's tragic.
Anyway, The Funhouse popped up in the search and after a cursory glance at the website, I dismissed it as looking shadier than a deciduous tree. As Julia Roberts once said in Pretty Woman, BIG MISTAKE. BIG. HUGE.
A few days later, my boyfriend and I unknowingly found ourselves at a bar around the corner (Your Welcome Inn), where the vibe seemed a little off. Determined not to spend the rest of the night listening to fraternity brothers taking turns selecting increasingly terrible tunes from the jukebox, we walked up the street and found ourselves in front of Molly's. A glance in the window revealed that the interior was like a flashback to a high school dance crossed with the promising beginnings of what might turn into the worst night ever. We immediately backpedaled and found ourselves face to face with The Funhouse. I believe my exact words were, "Oh god," to which my boyfriend replied, "Do we dare?"
Okay, I know we sound like total snobs slash losers at this point, but I'm pretty sure there's a little snobby loser in all of us. What I'm trying to say is, don't lose faith, this is when I actually start reviewing The Funhouse instead of just recapping my anticlimactic evening.
We walked in and immediately, I started to feel like maybe I had misjudged the place. It was personable and cozy inside. We went on a Wednesday, and it was crowded enough that we didn't feel like lone alcoholics, but not so packed that we couldn't get a seat. We sat at the bar and instantly, we were asked what we wanted to drink. Then, just as instantly, our drinks appeared. I'm not even kidding -- Jess, Alix, Tammy, and Dion aren't even bartenders. They're MAGICIANS. No matter how packed it gets, they take care of you *and* remember your name, which is more than plenty of us can say about some first dates we've been on, am I right? And once we found out they had Hoegaarden on tap, we were sold.
We came to realize that they have live music every night -- it's hit or miss, but it's usually pretty enjoyable, and regardless, I'll take almost any live music over a jukebox dictated by people who are unintentional walking Hollister posters. As an added perk, we've basically met some of the greatest people in the Lehigh Valley within the confines of The Funhouse.
What I'm trying to say here is that if The Funhouse isn't on your weekly agenda, you're missing out.
I'm pretty sure this place was written up in Maxim, Stuff, or one of those man magazines as being a top dive bar in the country. It's a pretty relaxed place, although I would avoid it at all costs when it's crowded in the winter. In the summer they open the back, so there's a little room for overflow. This place is so narrow though, it's impossible to have a good time when it's crowded and there's a band playing.
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