Taco Tuesday (go chicken instead of chorizo to forego grease), amazing jukebox (dub step cover of AC/DC, kris Kross and Sinatra), and a decent selection of brews ($2 domestic cheapies ftw). Â You can definitely ball on a budget here. Â Do not forget to ask about the specials. Â Why did I just now discover this place?
Review Source:I had an absolutely middle of the road experience.
The set up and ample seating was nice; lots of tables, in various sizes. The decor was cute. I was charmed by the paintings of horses winking/being coy on the wall. Â Their jukebox is digital, so there are literally thousands of songs to choose from. The shuffleboard is massive (see: awesome). Once the Wings game started (did I mention they had a couple of reasonably sized tvs?) there were 2 dollar draft and bottle beer specials. Â Most of the days of the week they have a food special: Sunday = Dollar Burgers , Monday = Dollar Hotdogs, Tues= 2 Dollar Tacos, and Wednesday = Sloppy Joes. The waitress was friendly and prompt. The drinks were strong and affordable. Â
The food didn't take long to cook. Â The burgers were bigger than I expected and delicious; the quality of the toppings was readily apparent. Their serving sizes for the tater tots and onion rings were fair.
Now, with all of this positive commentary, how was this a middle of the road experience instead of a great one, you ask? Once we left, both my boyfriend and I ended up feeling waves of nausea  for the next couple of hours. All we could think to blame was the burgers. I know people who are regulars at Sunday Burger night that have never had any cause to complain about this place, so I'm willing to assume that my experience was a fluke.  Would try again.
Definitely had ye old hangover after my visit this past weekend. Well worth it! Strong vodka drinks must have been $4 a pop - was pleasantly surprised with how inexpensive our tab was at the end of the night. Did not eat, so I can't review the food but someone got nachos and they looked so good I had to hit taco bell on my way home. That could have been a result of the numerous $4 vodka soda's.. but still.
Good crowd and even had a small area to dance in.
My husband and I stopped here after a disappointing venture to purchase a car. Needless to say we were grumpy. After a couple of the on special dollar beers and cheeseburgers we were good as new! The burgers are so good! Perfectly pink in the middle and a little crisp on the outside, just the right amount of pickles. The fries are the thick kind and the cheese sauce they had for dipping was awesome. Basically i'm sad we hadn't stopped in here sooner. And next time i'm bringing quarters to play AC/DC pinball!
I almost forgot. My hubby has been wanting to try a scotch egg so bad and he finally got one today! It tastes like breakfast. tasty breakfast. Also the waitress/barkeep was nice and attentive.
You can't beat a bar that has table scuffle board.
The saloon works on any night for any number of people. Sundays offer $1 (additional costs per topping) that is a really-good-bar-burger. Mondays have a similar $1 hot dog night and Tuesdays are taco night. They also have scotch eggs (if you have never tried it you need to) that come with tots and saloon sauce. The staff/service is good. Orders are quick and get to the right person. The food does take a bit of time, especially if you have a large group such as a Monday night kickball team, since there is only a small grill and fryer. But that is ok because it just gives you drinking time.
Old school " joint"
I prefer this place when it's pretty empty or any Sunday. It's kind of a small space, and there is just something so much more appealing to me about a place like this when it's populated by a small handful of other bar patrons. Peace and quiet. When it's packed, it loses it's lustre. ....but that's just me.
The Sunday  1$ cheeseburger is heaven on Earth. Sure they charge for extras, but for a few dollars more you get one of the juiciest, tastiest burgers of your life.  I get mine with bacon and double slices of pepper jack cheese. (I'm getting hungry for one just writing this ) Of course it takes 15 minutes but be patient, it's worth it. That is a seriously good burger. The basket of fries are also nice. Really flavorful.
Definately an honest, cool bar. Great food and cool atmosphere. Old school shuffleboard abnd pool tables. A nice place to go and get lost from the world mid afternoon!
If you're looking for a dive bar in Royal Oak, look no further. Crowd is not pretentious and the bartenders are friendly and keep the (inexpensive) drinks flowing. The burgers are also pretty good here.
They also have shuffleboard, which I haven't seen anywhere else in the area.
I don't come here all the time, but its fun to stop in occasionally to change it up from the typical Royal Oak crowd.
This is consistently the best bar in Royal Oak.
If you've ever been out in Royal Oak and couldn't seem to get away from the "BlackFinn crowd" or couldn't find a bar with a bathroom where you DON'T have to tip the strange man / woman standing in there waiting for you to get done so they can offer you a paper towel and a mint, then Ye Olde is the place for you.
Bartenders / Servers are experienced and great at what they do (which makes all the difference in the world). Â Drinks are strong (unlike most other bars we go to around there), and the food is GREAT for "bar food". Â
We also go there for their Sunday $1 Burgers, and you'd expect a crappy dry, tasteless burger for $1, but it's not at all - WAY better than the $6-$7 burger you're going to get somewhere else. Â Go once, and it'll turn into an every week trip. Â Plus this place has a shuffle board table.
Nothing against all the other RO bars, because I do like several of them, but when we're trying to decide between them for which one to go to, this is the easy choice.
I've been coming here for a few weeks now, and I have to say it's one of my new favorites. Â The other reviews pretty much cover the atmosphere. Â It's a divey type bar, but not too bad. Â It's comfortable. Â The crowd varies quite a bit.
The food here is pretty typical bar-type munchies, but everything i've had has been really good. Â The fried zucchini is out of this world. Â I hear the burgers are top notch too, but i'm a vegetarian so I don't really give a shit!
They've got a shuffleboard, pinball, an arachnid dart board that sometimes works, and of course golden tee.
The best part of this bar by FAR is the staff. Â Everyone is super friendly and knows their shit. Â Michelle is easily the best! Â Just don't pick any shitty songs on the juke box, or else you'll piss them all off and they will skip your song!
I wish I could give this place less then 1 star. I wish I could give it less then no stars. I've been here more than once and have never been that impressed, but my most recent trip sealed the deal. I will never return and I will tell all that I know to stay away.
A friend and I went here a few nights ago and I started a tab and he payed cash for his drinks. Little did I know that the bartender was putting all of our drinks on my tab and taking my friends cash for his drinks at the same time.
When it came time to cash out I got the bill and saw what was going on. When I asked about it I was told it was all right and nobody would hear me or my friend out. As far as they were concerned we were too drunk to know what was going on and was told to pay and leave or they would call the cops.
It's a poorly run business and I will never return so some bartenders can retire early with a great scam.
After logging in much time watching the British sitcom Peep Show, my man was soon on the hunt for something called Scotch eggs. Â Hard-boiled eggs wrapped in sausage then battered and fried sounded like handfuls'a heaven to him! Â On a quest to procure said layered delight, we learned that Ye Olde Saloon has them and I smiled. Â
This place is the anti-status-quo Royal Oak bar...I bet puka shell necklaces and Ed Hardy would poof into smoke on contact! Â The decor is FABULOUS. Â Made to look like the inside of a barn complete with mural horses in stalls, wooden beams and lanterns also abound. Â There's a shuffleboard table, pool, fun pinball games, and I was delighted to find a Multicade game complete with Frogger! Â Uncle Butch loved his Scotch eggs served with yummy "pub sauce", and they even had a tasty veggie burger for me!
The chick behind the bar was an attentive sweetheart, and due to happy hour and "Beer o' the Month", my Coronas were $1.50 and colder'n Frosty's nuts!
Ye Olde is like your fun, Rodney Dangerfield-esque uncle walking into a trendy Royal Oak suare clutching a Bud. Â Nah, on second thought he was there kicked back his recliner the whole time.
I successfully moved my friend's party from Fifth Avenue to this place, although I've never been here, in hopes of a less-douchy crowd.
The crowd was much better, although it was really packed on a Saturday night - barely standing room. The service was nice at the bar; quick and friendly, and the prices were cheap.
Music was a good mix of classic rock and 80's. I would totally come back to check out the food specials and enjoy some drinks.
The first few times I cam here I wasn't much of a fan, but in the last year they've made some major changes.
$1 burgers on Sundays - I hope they keep that special going all summer. Each thing you add the burger has an extra cost, but I still ended up with a $3 burger and it was amazing. I was expecting a little slider, or a mini patty of beef, but this thing was so good - both my husband and I were impressed.
The drinks are also cheap, plus they have drink specials all the time.
The staff was nice and attentive. We went in the mid afternoon during a basketball game so it started to get a bit busy but we never had to wait long for a refill.
I haven't been late at night, but I think on the weekends they'll have a DJ - not really my scene, I'm more a fan of horrible off key karaoke. (Stop Spot, anyone?)
Wow!! I just got whisked back into a far away place... my childhood!
I'm sure you think that sounds pretty weird considering i'm reviewing a bar, but this isn't just any bar.
This is the bar I grew up in. Â Yep, no shit.
I am not sure what color it is now, but for years and years it was baby shit green with piss yellow trim. Â I remember how it looked BEFORE THAT! Â It was brown with cream trim.. Same funny looking guys, same horses.. Same ole same ole Ye Olde... heh..
My mom started working here in 1978 when I was 3 years old. Â Although I was not quite a "regular" at that ripe ole age, I would be in 1981, when I was 6.
Don't see many kids in bars anymore. Â Ha!! the times they are a-changin'! Â
A lot of the reviews talk about the shuffleboard. Â It's probably the same one my Uncle Mike sold them from North American Interstate in the late 70s. Â He also sold them a cig machine, 2 pinball machines, and a jukebox. Â I'm sure those are all gone now. Â It's nice to hear the shuffleboard is there still.
My mom is one of the sketches on the wall. Â So are a few others that I remember; her boyfriend Ray, a barmaid named Lori, and a barmaid named Linda. Â
I remember the boss back then, Bob. He was also a lawyer so if you got busted for DUI after drinking in his bar, he would defend you. Â Bob passed away many years ago, as did my mom. Â RIP.
They all looked after me. Â I would come in after a long hard day of 2nd grade over at St. Mary's Royal Oak on Lafayette and oftentimes stay until past closing, sleeping in the back office. Â
I could play pinball for hours with just one quarter, albeit, standing on a chair. Â
There used to be a guy named Jerry that came in, he was a.k.a. Pinball Wizzard... I gave him a run for his money a few times. Â I was 7, he was in his 40s. Â
I remember my mom having her 40th birthday party there in 1981. Â I remember she got all embarrassed over some wierd shaped thing she got that she wouldn't let me see. Â Now of course I know it was a vibrator, a gag gift from one of her friends. Â
I remember the food and the Shirley Temples (xtra cherries please) and learning to play backgammon, and dominoes. Â I remember having to hide in the back office if the cops had to come, since I wasn't supposed to be in after 9, but often my mom had no choice for lack of sitters (or money for one).
I know this isn't your standard every day bar review, and won't help you decide if they pour a good shot, but i'm glad to do it, and re-live some good *and maybe age inappropriate* memories. Â
The staff always looked out for me, and I always got fed good food and I'm glad that the Ye Olde was there and still is there. Â
Memories....
Shuffle board is cool. Â I've heard the bathrooms are absolutely terrible - so I have never gone into them. Â The floor and ceiling look like they haven't been cleaned since 1975 at least. Â
Drinks are good, prices not bad, but the food...oh the food. Â I hope that the staff is focusing on cleaning the kitchen, and that is why they have over looked the bathroom, because I can't not order a Scotch Egg when I go here. Â It is Ah-mazing. Â I feel like if I was on that show, The Best Thing I Ever Ate, I would be talking about the Scotch Egg at one point or another. Â They take a hard boiled egg (yum!), wrap it in pork sausage (double yum!), then they deep fry it. Cue drooling. Â The egg masterpiece is then served with a special sauce...I have my guesses as to what is in it, but quite frankly I don't give a damn what is in it...it is excellent and tops off this side dish of wonderful. All the other bar food is good too, but you have gotta get one of these eggs. Â :)
Oh, Ye Olde, how I love thee (thou?). Eh, whatever. This place rocks! Let me tell you why....
Ye Olde is a dive bar located a couple blocks outside of downtown Royal Oak. You can still walk from downtown but the beauty of this is that they have FREE parking aka a private parking lot. So you don't have to circle around and around like a vulture to find a parking space or worry about throwing more quarters in the meter even at prime times.
They have your typical fried bar food that was mentioned in the other reviews. The digital juke box, darts, pool, and FREE shuffle board(!!!) is always a treat. Go during a local game and they have really nice drink specials. The staff is always cool and easy going. One time, this drunk dude would not stop talking to my friend and I. We told the bartender we were going to kick his ass so she gave us doubles for putting up with him. We didn't and it was appreciated!
My suggestion....DON'T go on the weekend as it gets very crowded with retarded out of area retards. Yep, they are double retarded. During the week you can usually get a seat at the bar and don't have to wait for shuffleboard or darts.
My ONLY gripe and you can't blame the establishment....there's no eye candy. This place is a pure sausage fest. Oh well, I still love you Ye Olde!
If you want to feel like you're drinking in the movie Mary Poppins, you should come to Ye Olde Saloon. Â Not only does the name Ye Olde Saloon make you want to talk in a cockney accent a la Dick Van Dyke, there are horse murals on the walls that look just like the horses from Mary Poppins.
Now that is really the most negative thing I will say about Ye Olde (I'm really not a big fan of Mary Poppins, and I especially disliked the animated horses). Â As I've mentioned before, I adore dive bars, and Ye Olde, or YO, can definitely be classified as a dive.
YO has cheap beer, good specials, and an awesome shuffle board! Yesssssss! Â One night we shared the shuffle board with another group, and while we were waiting for our turn, we did rounds of quarters. Â The waitress was in full support of this, bringing us shorter glasses and helping us find an ideal table to bounce quarters off of. Â Good thing that we were playing with separate beer glasses, as YO is definitely not the type of place where you'd want to put something in your mouth after dropping it on the floor. Â Anyway, staff here will go above and beyond to make sure you have a fun time.
The only other negative comment I have is that there bathrooms remind me of "The Shining." Â Seriously! I just googled "the shining bathroom," and I thought I pulled up an image of Ye Olde!
In conclusion:
Mary Poppins + Cheers + The Shining = Ye Olde Saloon
Ye Olde is the place to be if you want an authentic dive. It's a crappy place to drink but that is kind of the charm. The average clientele is a little shifty, the whole place is kind of appropriately run down, it's dank and it's dingy.
All that is, of course, the point of the place.
There's a shuffleboard table, and a pretty decent electronic dartboard, if you're into that.
Of course, the drinks are where it's at. The pours are generous and you are definitely getting your money's worth.
Also worth noting, the staff is pretty great. They will look out for you. Had too much? They'll cut you off and call you a cab. Forget your card for the tab? They'll run out to the parking lot to catch you. Solid folks working there.
Ye Olde is a pretty good place for a night out. Don't take anybody here who needs to be impressed, but for some real laid-back, salt of the earth kind of living, it's the place to be.
I come here time to time with my friends. Â We take a particular liking to the old shuffleboard table they have.
The place is just OK. Â They serve what any bar serves. Â The prices are that as most other bars in Royal Oak. Â A big +1 for serving Edmund Fitzgerald on tap.
The decor is old, the tables and chairs are old, a good old fashioned dive bar. Â
What totally sets this place apart from any other dive I've been in is the shuffleboard table. Â My friends and I have spent countless hours sliding the pucks around. Â Usually a good time had by all.
Nothing special about it, but in the end if you have a good time with your friends, you can't ask for much more.
I effing love this bar.
I love Allison, Katie, Colleen, & Donna. Those girls are solid.
Joe makes the best burgers ever!
We go every sunday for their $1 burgers. This is seriously the place with the best burger in the area. I know Red Coat is good, but there is just something about these burgz that are just a bit better.
I can't imagine how different my life would be if I never set foot in that bar. I love all the people who go there, & I would spend most of my nights there. That makes me sound like an alcoholic but sometimes I don't drink at all, I just go for the atmosphere & the food. If you've never been here or didn't like it, you should be ashamed of yourself. It's AMAZING.
The door man is hilarious & ID's us every time even though he knows us, kinda sorta.
Thank you Ye Olde for being the best ever.
I used to live around the corner from this divey dive. Hunter S Thompson would have loved this bar. The word degenerate was birthed from places like this.
It's got all the dive requirements and then some. If there was a competition for the diviest of all dives, this would be a solid contender. Take your definition of a dive and then amplify it about 50% and there you have it: Ye Olde.
If you're into shuffle board, super strong and cheap drinks, deep fried bar food, seedy characters and smoke dens, then this my friends is the place for you!
Ye Olde is one of the dirtiest, stinkiest and cheapest dive bars I've ever been to, and I absolutely love it!
You will leave smelling like a ashtray/deep fryer hybrid - so when you go home separate your clothes from all your other laundry - the smell travels. Â The food is great. Â Greasy, trans fatty and everything you want out of bar food. Â Pitchers, drafts and even bottles are cheap and shots are as well (and they're real shots too, not skimpy wuss girl shots).
Parking is easy, their lot is a pretty good side, although on the weekends after 10 it's gets hard to find a spot. Â Wednesdays there's a great band that plays covers (Jack Johnson, Grateful Dead and even Poison if you ask nicely).
Darts, Shuffleboard, those computer trivia thingies, boxing and a KILLER jukebox that is loud enough to actually hear the music. Â Bartenders are friendly, but prefer regulars, so take a whole 2 minutes out of your impending drunkeness to say hi and ask her your name, she'll be your friend after that.
All in all if you love DIVE bars and going out in your best Star Wars t-shirt an flip flops (which I do), this place is always a good time.
Had a really fun night at Ye Olde last night...
It helps that I was surrounded by a ton of friends that I don't get to see very often and since Sloan R posted this as a mini reunion on facebook, we had a ton of people come out...
I'd never been to Ye Olde before, but I was told to expect a smokey dive bar. Â I was pleasantly surprised. Â It wasn't too smokey and it had a great vibe inside. Â Fun music playing (perhaps a tribute to Michael Jackson), great service (thanks Sara!), darts and pool and cheap strong drinks. Â
Another unique thing that I remember from last night at Ye Olde:
Poncho, my new friend Smiley's dog, came into the bar and jumped right up on a bar stool and drank out of a glass!
Oh, and they have a private parking lot - it's so nice not to worry about parking when you go out!
Thanks to everyone who came out last night - I had a blast... it may have been my first time to Ye Olde, but it won't be my last!
Not impressed. Â Barmaids were not that busy, just alot of walking back and forth. Â Flagging, looking happy, looking mean, waving big bags of money did not get there attention. Â A guy sitting alone writing in his notebook flagged one down and said we had been waiting for about 10-15 and dont have a drink yet. Â She looked uninterested. Â I would not be upset if I never entered this bar again. Â I would drink water from a puddle sooner than buy a drink here. Â Doesn't matter, they probably wouldn't pay attention anyhow. Â This is not NYC. Â Ask me what i want, then bring it.
Review Source:This probably the best bar in Royal Oak but it can get pretty packed on the weekend, they have shuffleboard too. There are lunch specials for OCC students (3 dollars for Hot dog, Fries & a soft drink or draft PBR, 4.75 for a burger, fries & a soft drink or draft PBR).
They clean their beer tap lines every week so you won't get sick from drinking the beer. They also have Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter on-tap which is an excellent beer. Cool place overall.
We've been to Ye Olde a few times over the past couple of weeks, and daddy like.
One thing I have to disagree about (and maybe this has changed recently) is as a former smoker, I have a difficult time in smokey establishments now (backwards, i know... but it makes it harder) and I would consider this one of the lesser smokelicious bars in the area.
AAAND... and this one is of the utmost importance ladies... the Megatouch game at the end of the bar has the unrated version... aww yeah. Â Sexy.
Sick of all the stereotypical chic and hip bars that are overpopulating Royal Oak? Then swing on in to Ye Olde Saloon from some casual beer drinking, shuffleboard and more.
Finding its home on Main Street just south of Lincoln, this dive bar is the perfect place to unwind, play some darts, and fill your tummy with uber greasy snacks like fries and nachos. The bartenders are friendly and definitely don't skimp out when it comes to mixed drinks, which makes your $3.50 go even further!
Personally, my favorite thing about this smokey joint is the shuffleboard table. Taking up a good chunk of the back of the bar, Ye Olde Saloon offers not only entertaining customers, but entertaining games. In addition, they offer patrons a electronic dart board and a totally random jukebox with everything form Barry White to Carrie Underwood.
So, if you're tired of getting all dolled up simply to grab a beer and are looking for a low key, environment, Â Royal Oak's ye Olde Saloon is just the place for you.
Like smoking? Getting plastered on the cheap? "Curvy" bartenders? Let's just say I don't think the average patron uses Yelp, or the Internet.
That said, this is a great place to come, get trashed and sleep in your car in the parking lot. And smoke a pack of Reds, first or second-hand, take your pick.
Update: I can't believe I forgot to mention the drinks. Get a mixed drink or liquor, the pours are more than generous. They run like $3.50 or something, too. This place is kind of incredible on some levels.
Sick of the same ol' Royal Joke scene? Â Keep going down Main Street and you'll get to Ye Olde. Â Darts and pool and cheap beer! Â Not the same old crowd you see everywhere else! Â I mean, who can argue with that? Â Good times. Â One warning: it's one of the smokiest places I've ever been to, and I've been to a LOT of bars. Â Remeber to stock up on the Febreeze.
Review Source: