Best Campustown Bars by Decade

[NickTheGreat]

Tony Yelk worked the door at Paddy's/Sips. He was great and let me pass the line. Paddy's was my go to...Sips was if you wanted to dance!

There was always one guy in the group who wanted to go to Sips because "that's where the girls were." Like that mattered.

 

[deadeyededric]

There was always one guy in the group who wanted to go to Sips because "that's where the girls were." Like that mattered.

The loser who wanted to stand in line at 11 for 2 hours just to get one drink at last call?

 

[Cy4Lifer]

1980’s: Cy’s Roost & Don’s Deli. Grand Daddy’s. Cave Inn. My Top 3!

Oops, just thought of one more…not sure of name of a downtown pool hall…maybe Copper Dollar?

 

[FDISU]

Wow. Haven't thought of Grand Daddy's in a while. It burned down my last year in school (89-90). If I recall, it was the favorite place for folks in the marching band.

I had no idea Grand Daddy's had burned down. I had always wondered what happened to it since it was probably the most popular bar while I was at ISU 1980-83.

 

[cyhobby]

1980’s: Cy’s Roost & Don’s Deli. Grand Daddy’s. Cave Inn. My Top 3!

Oops, just thought of one more…not sure of name of a downtown pool hall…maybe Copper Dollar?

Yes, it was copper dollar, they had orange felt on the pool tables, at least in the 70's when I was there.

 

[NWICY]

I was in Ames throughout the 80s. Welch Ave Station was our go-to joint, but we spent (too much) time in pretty much all of them. I could build a cup snake that reaches the Campanile tower for all the nickel/dime/dollar draws I've drank of crappy, slightly flat beer at Cave-Inn. But it was cheap. Damn, that was a long time ago....Also, the shaker bar was terrible, do they even have those in college towns anymore?

A year or so ago there was still 1 a block or so N of main st. Didn't go in same building as Dallas Club(?)/ Dangerous Curves. As long as there are 20-40 somethings there will be Shaker bars. The dirty is down to just 1 compared to 3 in its heyday.

 

[CyCrazy]

Do they still have coin drink specials? I always enjoyed going uptown to The Zone penny pitchers. Then Big Shots started doing them.

No Ames shut down those coin drink specials a couple of years after we graduated. I was 05.

 

[4cy16]

A year or so ago there was still 1 a block or so N of main st. Didn't go in same building as Dallas Club(?)/ Dangerous Curves. As long as there are 20-40 somethings there will be Shaker bars. The dirty is down to just 1 compared to 3 in its heyday.

At one time in the mid 70s FD had 4 downtown.

 

[bozclone]

I mostly frequented Cy's, Welch Ave. and Top of the Town in the late 1980s. I went to Cy's with my ISU student kids a few years ago. No even the same bar. Sad.

 

[bozclone]

Drank a lot of these in the early 80sView attachment 127533

I had my first legal drink in Grand Daddy's when I turned 19.

 

[qwerty]

I had no idea Grand Daddy's had burned down. I had always wondered what happened to it since it was probably the most popular bar while I was at ISU 1980-83.

I believe it burned down in 1985.

 

[JP4CY]

Tony Yelk worked the door at Paddy's/Sips. He was great and let me pass the line. Paddy's was my go to...Sips was if you wanted to dance!

Tony is a great dude. Became quasi friends with him. Always seemed pretty laid back.

TBH a lot of our athletes back then pre social media were so much fun. Hiawatha and especially Jackson Vroman.

 

[deadeyededric]

Tony is a great dude. Became quasi friends with him. Always seemed pretty laid back.

TBH a lot of our athletes back then pre social media were so much fun. Hiawatha and especially Jackson Vroman.

Homan and Vroman were awesome. I saw them out every night. Its probably why we weren't as good as we should have been.

 

[CyTuT]

Just to through some out from the 80’s. SIAM - Corner Pocket, Dallas Club (Graffiti’s), and what about the bar at O’Malley and McGee’s? That place was amazing!

 

[qwerty]

What was the name of the bar (1985) where Valentino's used to be? I think it was on Chamberlain (maybe where Outlaws is now?)

 

[jcisuclones]

Had BNC Fieldhouse been around when I was in school (15-18), that would've taken the cake for me. I'm a sucker for a good patio bar. I'm 30 now living in Ames, but don't mind going up there in the afternoons during the summer when most of the students are out of town to take advantage of the college student targeted drink prices.

 

[cyclone83]

Can't remember the name of the Main Street bar, but Carl and Marty would perform there

 

[Cy4Lifer]

At one time in the mid 70s FD had 4 downtown.

And, how good is your memory? Scarlett O’Haras & Top Hat are two that I can name.

 

[4cy16]

And, how good is your memory? Scarlett O’Haras & Top Hat are two that I can name.

Anvers, Frontier Lounge, where the police station is now, Top Hat, and the Hungry Eye which became Scarlett O'Haras.

 

[bozclone]

I believe it burned down in 1985.

It was after 1985, but not sure when. Likely 1986 or 1987.