Many of the other reviews for Sidelines are right. Sidelines is the closest you can get to a sports bar/night club in Arcata. They have a great electronic jukebox, but the downside is that its $1 per song. Certain nights, especially Thursdays, they have DJs playing Top 40's and popular bumpin' tunes. Lots of people dance and get down.
I enjoy going to Sidelines during the daytime or early evening because my friends and I are pretty much guaranteed a table to sit at, and the happy hour prices are great. I believe their happy hour is from 3-6 on the weekdays. However, Thursday night is their pint night. It's a super popular night, especially when Humboldt State is in session, so come before 10pm to get in for free and a stool to sit at. Otherwise, it's $2 for a cover charge after 10pm. $1 for cheap beer like PBR, Budweiser and the like. It's $2 a pint for the good stuff. It's a deal you can't beat if you can stand the sweaty crowds, loud people, and the cover charge.
All in all, I enjoy going in the early evening when I can get a $5 pitcher of PBR to share with friends, and when the crowds are very minimal. The bartenders are pretty cool, and even kinder when they recognize you. However, it reminds me a little too much of the bars down south- bright neon lights, TVs surrounding the seating area showing sports games, and loud (sometimes terrible) DJ-ed music.
I worked here as a bar tender in 1981-82 and also the Alibi. Â Our rugby team also had many a party here too. Â Nobody was violent as described in earlier posts. We sang along with the jukebox, ate pickled eggs from the bar, and drank way too much beer as was expected from college men from Humboldt State. Plenty of wholesome fun.
Review Source:When I go I go on Thursday Pint Night. $2 for Micro brews, $1 for Domestic. It was great until they started charging $2 at the door on Thursdays as well as every other day,
The places gets super packed and the doorman is a douche. The bartenders are cool though. The selection of beers are great and the are even cheaper than the breweries themselves on Thurs.
Don's Pizza & Donuts is 24 hrs and super close which is a plus as well.
Prepare for panhandlers and weed dealers bugging you whe  you go outside for a smoke.
Beware of sluts/skanks because remember this is Humboldt Co.
Mix Drinks are expensive ($7-$14) so avoid. This is the college people's bar so be prepared for immaturity and drama surrounding you.
For the more refined individual, go to Mad River or Redwood Curtain Breweries.
im one of the many weirdos that come here to people watch. many of the bouncers read and count @ a 3rd grade level. Â the music sucks, similar to what you imagine an American Idol soundtrack would be. Â people cant dance because the dance floor is gang raped by wallflowers and people who cant dance. . every week, there is at least one fight involving someone crying (usually a girl being touched) or someone bleeding (a hillbilly posse beating up on drunk idiot). Â
the two stars are for a decent beer selection and pint night Thursdays, or as its called, "fingering thursdays" because thats what happens on the dance floor.
A sportsbar by day and the closest thing Arcata has to a nightclub by night.
On Friday and Saturday night be prepared to pay a $2 cover for entry into a bar full of college students and young adults. They have the only dance floor in town that plays top 40, hiphop, and dub step. Most weekends you can find this place packed with all kinds of different people.
This should be a 3 star bar for the weak drinks, but I gave them 4 stars for security. There are some bars in Humboldt I don't feel comfortable going to because there are too many bar fights and that kill the party mood and scare the ladies away. Sidelines has amazing security! Many of them play Football at HSU and bring their large size to keeping the peace.
I grew up in Humboldt county. This bar always has the same group of people. There are always people mean mugging you and talking shit. Its always packed on the weekends because of course, theres nothing else to do. It smells horrible and theres always fighting. The short bald guy that works there (i think its the manager or owner) is a cocky asshole and doesnt know how to deal with people who are drinking. I have even seen him try to fight customers! Thats not a very good thing for the bartenders to act this way. Why be in that occupation if you cant handle drunk people? I will not go there again and would advise for anyone else not to either! I would way rather go to Toby and Jacks.
Review Source:This bar is pretty much the only bar I go to in Arcata, and I usually only go here on Thursday's pint nights. You can get the good stuff for only $2. However now you must pay a cover charge on Thursday. It wasn't like that at the beginning of this last spring semester.
It's always crackin Thursdays-Saturdays. Especially Thursdays. It gets extremely crowded. Good for people who like night clubs rather than people who prefer a quiet bar good for talking about your day with locals. Almost all of the people I ever see in this bar are under 30 years old and are probably HSU or CR students.
PROS:
Club-like on Thursdays-Saturdays
$2 pint night
Dance floor/Good for dancing
Pool tables
Pretty good beer selection (they have Mad River double IPA)
CONS:
Douchey bouncers
Tiny, disgusting restrooms
If you don't like loud/cramped bars
Lots of drunk people bumping into other people (spills happen)
Cover charge on pint night
Here's the deal:   Its 1 of 2 booty shaken bars in Arcata  and the only true sports bar during the day.  Overcrowded on weekends playing top 40 type music with a 2 $ cover and horrible bathrooms.  You may see an occasional fight, just get out of the way and watch the dumb asses pound on each other.  Its a college bar. No more no less.  Tiny dance floor that gets extremely hot when crowded but if you ain't sweatin then you ain't dancing. Â
Glad this place is around for when I'm in the mood to get stupid.
There's only about three or four bars in the plaza of Arcata, of which this one had a Thursday night beer special. I visited here with a couple of acquaintances, which turned out to be a mistake.
Pros:
+ $2 Pints
+ DJ kept the volume at a respectable level giving the very small dance floor with low ceilings
Cons:
- Massively overcrowded, probably beyond fire limits
- Rude bouncers
- The bathrooms were sticky over the entire floor and were unfit for animals to take a leak in
- Drunk girl number one spills a drink on one of our group
- I danced for 14 straight songs, but with only two girls who were friendly enough to join in, the rest were all dancing in groups of girls, then all of the guys were walking around awkwardly looking for dance partners, none of the girls willing to oblige
- I was getting my grove on the dance floor with one of the few friendly girls I could find, when out of the blue there was this girl who was dancing by herself slipped on a wet spot and went crashing to the floor. I step over to her and ask if she's okay, helping her up by the hand at the same time. As soon as she's on her feet again, she shoves me in the chest with no warning and then tries to take a punch at my face! I blocked her fist and told her to get lost, or I'd have her thrown out. As she slunk off the dance floor, I noticed that her eyes looked like saucers, as if she had about six shots too many.
- Another member of our party upon leaving had a guy come up from the street and sucker punch him straight to the face! He quickly sprinted into a waiting car and sped off. We didn't even recognize the attacker and had no idea what brought it on.
There are good dive bars and bad dive bars. If you wish to congregate with the trashiest girls in Humboldt County and the men that love them, look no further than Sidelines! If you have any level of self-respect or are concerned for your personal safety, then avoid this dump at all costs. There are good dive bars and bad dive bars. This one can be categorized as the later without hesitation.
DO NOT COME HERE IF YOU APPRECIATE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:
- a quiet night out
-not to smell vomit 2 seconds after you walk into the joint
-to dance without being groped
DO COME HERE IF YOU CAN APPRECIATE:
-fun customers
-decent prices on kegs
-a good jukebox
As you can see, sidelines is a mixed bag. one i hope won't include date rape.....just kidding!!!!
I'm honestly undecided about this place. We kept coming in and out of here and sometimes I liked it, other times not so much. A lot of weirdos hang here, but we did get to do some dancing on their dance floor one night.
It's a pretty big bar though with lots of space to move around, dance, play pool, sit down, etc.
Most of these reviews are terrible. It is a SPORTS BAR so yes there will be "meat heads" otherwise known as guys who enjoy watching sports.
When it gets crowded it smells pretty bad inside. Being in Arcata where people don't understand you should wear deodorant and shower regularly, it is something you cannot really avoid.
The prices are reasonable and they have a decent amount of tvs to watch whichever game you are looking to see. I can't really comment on how it is at night but if you want somewhere to watch a game in Arcata, it would be the place to go.
Best bar in Humboldt County. Â All these reviews are very funny because everyone mentions how sidelines is a meat market. The funny thing is Sidelines used to be an actual meat market. Â No joke. Â Still best priced beer, speedy bartenders that can make any drink. Â Sports all day, dancing and music by night. Â And there are women.
Review Source:This place is okay during the day due to the good beer selection and more relaxed atmosphere. Â However, it turns into a total tool shed at night. Â The bouncers are jerks, they charge a cover fee, the bartenders only serve girls and jocks, and the music is terrible. Â This place will work if you are an HSU athlete, a cute girl, or like dancing to loud top 40 music. Â Other than that it is just a bro bar.
Review Source:It's really the only thing to do at night in this town. It has it's good nights and bad nights but it beats goin to the local college parties. Tuesday is reggea night, Wednesday is progression regression, Thursday is pint night and Friday and Saturday nights are the only nights where there is a dj and people dancing or at least trying to.
Review Source:Local hang out, i come to this place every time i am in the area. Its the majority of the college aged kids. The bartenders are super chill, friendly, and knowledgeable. you want it you got it--tsunami whatever, you are covered 100%!! two pool tables, boxing, pinball and air hockey in the back. Sports on the right nights, with multiple flat screen TVs. This place is nearly perfect-- the down side?The ladies room! eek!
Review Source:If you like to get drunk in a bar with a bunch of douchebag-jock types with over-inflated egos in a meat market environment where a fight is certain to break out by the end of the night and all the while the current trendy pop music is blasting on the jukebox, this is the bar for you. If you're just visiting Arcata from the LA area, this bar might be the closest thing to what you're familiar with in Arcata. It has very little character and is the worst of the four bars. That said, if you're looking to hook up with a somewhat attractive person (warning: they will be promiscuous, idiotic and/or conceited) and you have run out of options at T&Js, Everett's, HumBrews and The Alibi, (I can't believe that I'm writing this, but...) this bar is worth a try.
Review Source:Sidelines is a must-go for me when visiting home over the holidays, though probably more for the novelty than anything else. It's a drunken trainwreck, laden with small town encounters. I mean, really, where else can I find myself getting hit on by that kid who used to eat paste back when we were in first grade?
AWESOME (after 5 drinks).
I've avoided this bar like the plague ever since I came of age but somehow decided to get myself entangled with one of their loyal patrons so alas I ventured into the steroid and lube sausage-fest that encapsulates Sidelines' signature musk. I still only enter in with a male escort as not to feel out of place. They do have an awesome TV setup which will keep any avid sportsfan well entertained for hours . I myself have gotten rowdy though shots definitely help aid in making it a good time.  Saturday nights there are questionable, if not down right amusing. Nothing beats seeing tubetop - and metallic clad Sidelines hoes on a chilly night  fighting over some stupid shit not even worth mentioning.
When Toby's shutdown for renovations I frequented it but it just wasn't the same, I went in one day after work and felt so goddamn awkward and out of place I sat in a dark corner by myself and slammed my drink and made a quick exit out the back door. I'll give it 3 stars,
I come here when I'm back in town and want to bump into people I've been avoiding since high-school.
I don't get charged a cover anymore.. guess that means the two years I spent living a block away from here and stumbling home trashed really paid off.
My favorite pick-up line experienced here: Â A guy came up to me on the dance floor and asked, "can I get up on you?"
The Sidelines is THE BEST dive bar in the Humboldt Bay Area. They have something like 25 beers on tap, most of them are great (Hop Rod Rye, and Old Rasputin on nitrogen, sweet.) Too bad the seem to lose their liquor license every couple of months... That must be a bitch of a fine. Honestly I don't ever get a chance to make it past the bar to the back and the pool table and dance floor, they just have so much good beer that you never see on tap up here......
Review Source:
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