#1 in 2009
(#531 overall)

Tuesday
January 13

#2 in 2009
(#532 overall)

Saturday
January 31

  In case you are wondering about this photo, this was a scavenger hunt where we had to get bartenders to pose like this. :)

#3 in 2009
(#533 overall)

Saturday
January 31

  In case you are wondering about this photo, this was a scavenger hunt where we had to get bartenders to pose like this. :)

#4 in 2009
(#534 overall)

Saturday
January 31

#5 in 2009
(#535 overall)

Saturday
January 31

#6 in 2009
(#536 overall)

Saturday
February 21

#7 in 2009
(#537 overall)

Saturday
February 21

#8 in 2009
(#538 overall)

Monday
March 30

#9 in 2009
(#539 overall)

Friday
April 10

We had a seat at the rustic wooden bar, designed to look sort of like a stable or maybe a blacksmith shoppe. Behind us some gentlemen were playing poker at the tables, and far in the back were a couple of pool tables. We were offered menus, but I had already eaten and B wasn’t quite ready to eat yet.

#10 in 2009
(#540 overall)

Friday
April 10

Situated at the far end of a huge gravel lot, this place looks smaller than it actually is. Inside the bar area is in the front, while the back half has tables, games, and a small stage area for bands.

#11 in 2009
(#541 overall)

Friday
April 10

This place was big, and obviously catered to live bands and dancing. At not quite noon, though, we were the only people in there.

B noticed this doorknob to nowhere, evidently a door that at some point was converted into a window:

    The upper wall of the bar area was lined with classic vintage beer cans. One in particular caught my eye:

#12 in 2009
(#542 overall)

Friday
April 10

#13 in 2009
(#543 overall)

Friday
April 10

Then we rounded the car and saw the “Marfield’s Pub” sign in the front. Huh?

Once seating inside we asked the bartender about the confusion.

“Oh, this is Marfield’s, an Irish pub,” she said as she handed us menus that contained food neither of us were in the mood for, as we were expecting Mexican. “A few years ago we were sandblasting the building to repaint it and that old sign appeared under all the layers of paint, we decided to keep it, something historic.”

I was happy to at least be able to get a Guinness, but the taps were down (temporarily) so I had to settle for a bottle of Coors Light.

#14 in 2009
(#544 overall)

Friday
April 10

The men’s room had a couple of eye charts: one of a stripper that gets smaller as she undresses and one telling you that if you can still read it you need more beer. There was also a flow chart for determining whether it is time to go home.

#15 in 2009
(#545 overall)

Friday
April 10

Once we had finished our drinks our eyes had adjusted, so we were re-blinded by the sun and white sidewalk upon leaving.

#16 in 2009
(#546 overall)

Friday
April 10

#17 in 2009
(#547 overall)

Friday
April 10

I don’t understand the concept of places that call themselves Irish pubs but don’t have Guinness on tap. We grabbed our Bud Lights and went to the back corner to play some Silver Strike.

#18 in 2009
(#548 overall)

Friday
April 10

We took in an episode of “Cash Cab” on the big screen before walking down to the next place.

#19 in 2009
(#549 overall)

Friday
April 10

“Now that you’ve had the tour, you gonna order something?” gruffed the bartender. The entire place erupted in laughter at our expense. I timidly got the beers, and as I paid for them the bartender asked if we had membership cards.

“Not yet,” I said, “do we need to fill them out?”

“Naw, forget it,” he said. I think he figured we weren’t worth the trouble and not at all likely to become regulars.

#20 in 2009
(#550 overall)

Friday
April 10

#21 in 2009
(#551 overall)

Friday
April 10

Little Bar appears to be a converted gas station from the 1930s or so. The actual bar has seating for about 5 and had no room for us, luckily some time in the past a couple of small additions were made so we were able to squeeze into 2 chairs around a tiny table holding a trivia machine. The people here were very friendly and welcomed us among them. This was probably our best find of the day.

#22 in 2009
(#552 overall)

Friday
April 10

It turns out I was right after all, there is a bar here, but it’s virtually impossible to see from the road. But being hidden doesn’t seem to hurt business, Gator’s was absolutely jam-packed. We barely found room to stand around a Silver Strike machine.

#23 in 2009
(#553 overall)

Friday
April 10

This was an unplanned stop. I was minutes away from dropping B off at this home when his wife called and asked us to stay out later so she could get the baby to sleep. That’s a once-in-a-lifetime phone call, so we pulled over at the first place we found to kill some more time. :)

#24 in 2009
(#554 overall)

Saturday
May 02

#25 in 2009
(#555 overall)

Saturday
May 09

#26 in 2009
(#556 overall)

Saturday
May 09

#27 in 2009
(#557 overall)

Wednesday
July 15

The bar area was fairly small, and while several tables were occupied we were obviously the first bar customers of the day. The room (and much of the town, for that matter) was all decked out with a duck hunting motif. Down to the shotgun shells embedded into the bar top.

#28 in 2009
(#558 overall)

Wednesday
July 15

It only took our second stop to find our first bar with nothing on tap. We popped open a couple of cans of Coors while a table of old regulars chatted about the results of some sort of tournament.

#29 in 2009
(#559 overall)

Wednesday
July 15

It was pretty busy inside, with a smell of burgers and fries permeating the air. There was nothing on tap so we got some bottles of Bud Light.

#30 in 2009
(#560 overall)

Wednesday
July 15

To our right, an old man with a very, very large nose. To our left, a child shot pool while his dad was getting himself drunk. A good bar!

#31 in 2009
(#561 overall)

Wednesday
July 15

This was a pretty big place, and the bar had kind of a lunch counter feel to it. The older couple that was running the bar told us about various sights to see in Nebraska City.

#32 in 2009
(#562 overall)

Wednesday
July 15

Located in the unincorporated community of Paul, one of approximately 6 buildings in the village. The inside of the bar was a dingy white and fairly bright. We talked with a former truck driver (possibly the owner), whose beard merged perfectly with his chest hair, about the time several years ago that he spent 14 weeks driving loads of bagels to the Cold Storage building in the River Market back in Kansas City.

#33 in 2009
(#563 overall)

Wednesday
July 15

Looked like a converted Pizza Shoppe. Had a sand volleyball court outside, something we soon found to be common about Nebraska bars. (The other commonality is that nearly all of them have Keno.)

The Silver Strike machine had inadvertently been left in admin mode, so we could easily have had a lot of fun with that.

#34 in 2009
(#564 overall)

Wednesday
July 15

This was a tiny, tiny bar. Though no one was eating at the moment, the lunch cooking in the kitchen filled the bar with a delicious, beefy smell.

#35 in 2009
(#565 overall)

Wednesday
July 15

By now it was a little after 3:00 in the afternoon. We walked up to the front door of the bar, and it was locked. We turned to walk away, then noticed the other door we were standing right next to. Open. We had been tricked by a false door.

The bartender was not from Union herself, and told us about how the nearby town of Nehawka is where most of the people around this general area go to school.

Midway through our drinks the back door opened and a thick, tough-looking farm guy entered. He sat down to our left and ordered, a vodka cranberry??? C’mon, dude!

#36 in 2009
(#566 overall)

Wednesday
July 15

This place had a pretty big beer garden to the side. We asked the bartender who Ruli is and we learned it is an amalgamation of the names of the bar’s owners: Ruth and Lisa.

By the way, Ruli’s had been the end point of Bikers for Boobies just a few weeks earlier.

#37 in 2009
(#567 overall)

Wednesday
July 15

We played a few games of bartop trivia and set a respectable new high score.

#38 in 2009
(#568 overall)

Wednesday
July 15

When we first arrived the bar was empty. As we drank our beer we asked the bartender for directions to our next town, Manley. He was new to the area and didn’t know, so called a friend. His friend’s first question to me was if we were riding bikes or driving. “Driving,” I said. He told me he’d come down and hung up.

The bartender told us the story of how he came to be in this area and working at a bar, and within moments his friend arrived and started giving me directions.

The route would take us on dirt roads and the instructions included an important detail: “You’ll see scale houses on each side of the road. As soon as you pass the scales on your right, that’s when you need to turn.”

By the time he finished giving us directions the bar had filled up, and some nearby patrons had overheard and asked where we were heading. We explained that we were going to the bar in Manley, and they wished us well.

#39 in 2009
(#569 overall)

Wednesday
July 15

The people in this bar were very friendly. While walking back from the restroom I accidently bumped into a biker, causing him to spill some of his beer. “Oh, I’m really sorry,” I told him. “Oh don’t worry about it,” he said with a laugh, “it’s no harm at all.”

#40 in 2009
(#570 overall)

Wednesday
July 15

We got inside and the first thing we noticed was that our friends from Hopkins Tavern back in Weeping Water were there.

“It’s about time!” they said.

They got a good laugh out of it when we explained that we had arrived by way of Louisville.

The bar was completely full so we had to sit at a table. We decided to go ahead and get a little food, just some fried appetizers, and the bartender was so service-minded that she wouldn’t hear of it when we got up to order from the bar and she instead came around to take our orders.

I knew it had to be getting late since the evening news was on, which meant we had fallen a little behind schedule. As we watched the TVs we noticed that the ceiling was decorated with dozens of classic beer tap handles.

#41 in 2009
(#571 overall)

Wednesday
July 15

We made our way over to Murdock and parked across the street from the bar, conveniently right in front of the post office. Unfortunately I still did not have any stamps and this was the town I wanted to mail my cards from.

As we stepped in the door we were bum-rushed by two little kids who darted in past us and took the only two remaining seats at the bar. Most of the tables were occupied. As we looked around for a place to sit, three guys at the other end of the bar scooted around to make room and invited us down to sit near them.

Our bartender’s name was Lori and she was very busy dealing with a full house, but I was finally able to get a moment of her time to find out if she or the bar had a couple of stamps I could buy. Unfortunately, she did not.

Just as it looked like my hope of mailing out these cards with my last name as the postcard was dashed, one of the local guys who had moved earlier to make room for us chimed in. “I think I have some stamps in my car,” he said, “I’ll be right back.”

A few moments later he returned. I gave him a buck for the stamps and bought him a beer for going above and beyond the call of duty.

Had those two little kids not chumped us for the barstools, I’m most likely have had to mail my cards from Lincoln instead and lose the fun of the Murdock postmark.

#42 in 2009
(#572 overall)

Wednesday
July 15

Biker bar with a pretty good sized beer garden. This was where we really started noticing the popularity of Keno. We read through a Keno book and B played a few games.

#43 in 2009
(#573 overall)

Wednesday
July 15

A retro lounge (in decor, not theme) with a regular, laid-back vibe. The bartender was really into what we were doing and, after getting a feel for the kinds of bars we like, wrote down a good list of places we should check out. (Unfortunately, as it would turn out, the only bar on his list we would make it far enough today to see was closed.)

(For the curious, he recommended: Zen, Marz, Zoo Bar, Buffy’s, Watering Hole, and Cliff’s. Zoo Bar was the only of these we reached before the end of the night and it was closed for some inexplicable reason.)

#44 in 2009
(#574 overall)

Wednesday
July 15

It was ‘Crappy Beer Night’ on our visit, so we got $2 Miller High Lifes.

#45 in 2009
(#575 overall)

Wednesday
July 15

There were quite a few motorcycles in the parking lot. We stepped inside and the first thing we noticed was that the floor under the bar was covered in piles of used lottery tickets. “I dropped a winner in here the other night, I’m here to reclaim it!” B announced to the bartender.

Saddles hung from the ceiling, and beer was served in jars. I was bothered by a strange smell that I thought was similar to baby diarrhea, but B thought I was crazy so maybe it was just my imagination. We reminisced about our trip to Salina back in 2007 and discussed plans for a domain name inspired by that trip.

#46 in 2009
(#576 overall)

Wednesday
July 15

Whenever you have a bar that’s set up primarily to be a music venue, very often you wind up with a bar that doesn’t seem to have any character or personality if there isn’t a band playing. That seemed to be kind of the problem here. B though this place blew and wanted to hurry and leave, but I thought that any bar that had Family Guy playing on the big screen can’t be all that bad.

#47 in 2009
(#577 overall)

Wednesday
July 15

There were a couple of college kids loitering outside. “I don’t want any trouble!” B informed them as we stepped inside.

As is the case with most bars in college towns, beer gets served in oversized glasses that make it hard to drink it all before it’s warm and flat. (At least, unless you are one of those 22-year-old fratboy types who still thinks drinking beer is about chugging as much as you can, as fast as you can.) So, to get around that problem, we requested cans. Much to our chagrin, we were given 16oz cans.

As we worked our way through the volume (keep in mind, this was beer #21 for each of us and our stomachs can only stretch so far) we told the girls sitting next to us about the trip we were taking. They were in utter disbelief that we had walked here from 27th Street, making me wonder if maybe Lincoln is less safe than I assumed?

#48 in 2009
(#578 overall)

Wednesday
July 15

On the advice of our friends at The Spigot we crossed the street and found ourselves in a nice little dive, the kind of place we really like.

We ordered beer, but evidently mixed drinks are supposed to be the way to enjoy this place. While other bars are stingey, this place serves up a basic mixed drink in a beer mug, at least in the demonstration we were given.

#49 in 2009
(#579 overall)

Wednesday
July 15

Upon entering we noticed that this was definitely a fratboy hangout.

#50 in 2009
(#580 overall)

Wednesday
July 15

It was microbrew/import night, all microbrews and imports were $2.50. While B perused the cooler I I went to use the restroom. “Just get me whatever,” I told him, “I trust your judgement.”

I returned to find a choice between Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Mike’s Hard Lemonade. I chose the Sierra Nevada. I chose poorly. I forgot I really don’t like the Sierra Nevada ale. We ended up trading bottles halfway through.

#51 in 2009
(#581 overall)

Thursday
July 16

I think we were the day’s first customers, though more began trickling in. There was no shortage of service, we had at least 3 people taking care of us. I got myself a nice big steak, while B ordered one of the day’s specials, sirloin hash. The latter was so good that I have since learned the recipe and made it a few times.

#52 in 2009
(#582 overall)

Thursday
July 16

Luckily for us, Lou and Mary Ann were awake and doing business. This place felt like a perfect small town gathering spot. It was also a welcome relief after the land of oversized college beers in Lincoln: nice little 10oz draws! As we enjoyed our drinks, we watched Judge Judy decide a case about a vandalized car and a case about a sick dog that had been put to sleep.

“Do you know if there’s any more rain coming?” the bartender asked me.

“No, I think it’s over,” I said. “I hope it’s over, anyway.”

“I hope it’s not,” he replied. We really, really need it.

Guess it was pretty selfish of me to want good weather for the drive. It hadn’t occurred to me how important rain is here.

#53 in 2009
(#583 overall)

Thursday
July 16

We weren’t 100% sure if there would be a bar here or not, our research had given us an iffy impression that it might have gone out of business a few months ago. But it was open and business seemed to be good.

There was a beer garden, and this place was unusually clean and well-maintained for a bar in such a small town.

#54 in 2009
(#584 overall)

Thursday
July 16

This was a bowling alley bar but was pretty isolated from the bowling, enough to give it its own personality. It had a very unusual, split-level layout (see pictures above) that made the bartender actually lower than the customers at about 2/3 of the barstools. They had recently opened a new patio, I believe they called it “The Beach Club”.

#55 in 2009
(#585 overall)

Thursday
July 16

This was originally supposed to be our first Seward bar but it was closed when we arrived, we spotted it open as we were leaving town. A nice big clean bar. $1 draws, some of the cheapest we’d find. It took us about 10-15 minutes to drink our 12oz beers, meanwhile a guy behind us drank a 32oz red beer in just a couple of minutes.

#56 in 2009
(#586 overall)

Thursday
July 16

This was a COMPLETE bonus bar, absolutely nothing in our research indicated this would be here and we wouldn’t expect a town of this size to be able to support two bars side-by-side. The Bullet Hole is over a century old (believed to have opened in the late 1800s) and it has always been named The Bullet Hole. The bar itself was constructed in 1892 by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company in St. Louis and originally used in Dubuque, IA before being shipped here in 1906. For being so old, it’s in amazing condition!

#57 in 2009
(#587 overall)

Thursday
July 16

After The Bullet Hole there really wasn’t much to say about this place, it was pretty plain, but it had some interesting grandma’s-house-like décor.

#58 in 2009
(#588 overall)

Thursday
July 16

This place has a split personality. When you walk in you are presented with a choice of two doors: one leading to the Keno lounge and one leading to the restaurant/lounge. We chose the door on the right and sat at a bar that was your basic bar & grill type of place with a slight sports bar feel to it. We also checked out the other side, it was much darker and more lounge-like with more of an emphasis on hard liquor and mixed drinks as opposed to the beer emphasis on the other side. Though the Keno lounge is where the hard core Keno players hang out, you can actually play Keno on both sides.

#59 in 2009
(#589 overall)

Thursday
July 16

This was a long, narrow space that was well lit. It was really more grill than bar, the actual bar was just a small section at the front end of the lunch counter. In the back past the pool table were several older arcade games including a few that seemed to be just getting stored there.

Behind the bar I noticed a police scanner — something I later spotted in a number of bars — and a two plaques. One honored Midway as the best bar in York, the other was an award for best Bartender in York. Which are nice accomplishments, although as best as we could tell there wasn’t a whole lot of competition.

#60 in 2009
(#590 overall)

Thursday
July 16

Bonus Bar! We have now established the First Law Of Rural Nebraska Barfinding. Grain towers of suitable size = bar in immediate vicinity.

Our bartender had a tattoo on her breasts and wasn’t shy about joining in with a beer of her own. Behind the bar we saw signs identifying this place as both Hoffman’s Bar and as Rog & Lou’s Bar but the Hoffman’s name seemed to be the predominate one.

#61 in 2009
(#591 overall)

Thursday
July 16

This is about as incognito as a bar can get. Circling around the block a few times we deduced that this was the most likely building given the address, but there was absolutely no identifying signage, or any signage whatsoever. We tried peering in windows and couldn’t make anything out. Finally I worked up the nerve to go open the front door, hoping I wasn’t stepping into someone’s house. Thankfully, we were right and had found the bar.

#62 in 2009
(#592 overall)

Thursday
July 16

This was a pool hall with a very nice bar. Lots of original brick and exposed timbers. When we first stepped in I thought this might be a gay bar because the bartender had a big mustache and was wearing very short, tight denim shorts, but the place was pretty full with women slightly outnumbering men so it must have just been his personal style.

#63 in 2009
(#593 overall)

Thursday
July 16

The front area was a buffet style restaurant, serving up all-you-can-eat fried chicken. It smelled really good and we were starving, but we wanted to hold out for pizza. The bar was in another room in the back and overlooked a golf course. We were a little early for a bartender so had to wait for an of-age server to become available to serve us.

#64 in 2009
(#594 overall)

Thursday
July 16

We had to drive around the building to get to the parking lot, and we noticed several people out back smoking. “The cool people must use the back entrance,” B said. We pulled around front, where we were the only car, and went inside. “Oh! I’m glad I remembered to unlock the front door this time!” said the bartender.

We played some Silver Strike and B set a new high score. Meanwhile on the bar’s TV, ABC was airing a segment on J.K. Rowling (the author of the Harry Potter series, in case you’ve been in a coma), specifically focusing on her sorrows and tribulations. “I, [sniff] I fell asleep in a big pile of money, and [sniff] I didn’t know where I was!” exclaimed B in his best sobbing British female voice, to the delight of the other patrons.

#65 in 2009
(#595 overall)

Thursday
July 16

Entering this place was kind of strange, we walked down a smelly, carpeted hallway though a series of glass doors, with meeting rooms on either side. At the end of the hallway a couple of flights of stairs led to the bar that occupied most of the building’s upper level.

Their draws were all pints so we ordered 12-oz bottles. B asked for a glass to pour his beer into. He was handed a pint glass, and B’s beer filled it to the top. Busted! One of the barbacks overheard us talking about it and gave us a physics demonstration showing that what looks like very little liquid at the the top of the glass looks like a whole lot at the bottom of the glass. But that still doesn’t explain where other other 4 ounces went.

#66 in 2009
(#596 overall)

Thursday
July 16

Finally, the place we had been waiting for all day! The owner of this place owns a few other places around town, and the person B talked to a week earlier during our planning was very nice and helpful. We’d been waiting all day to try their pizza.

Our plan was to put in an order, go hit up a couple of nearby bars, and then come back. But when they said it would be only 15 minutes, we decided to just stick around and wait.

After several minutes of watching others eat we were getting impatient, so I went outside to call our backup motel and reserve a room, knowing that stepping away always triggers food to arrive. It worked.

The pizza was absolutely delicious and very cheesy, one of the best pizzas I’ve had!

#67 in 2009
(#597 overall)

Thursday
July 16

This was a rock bar. As we entered, B expressed concern over the “NO NUDITY” sign posted at the door. “Oh, it’s more of a guideline,” joked the bouncer.

B had tremendous difficulty finding the restrooms, which turned out to be in the room with the pool tables. When he returned, he told me to go look for them and even showed me which room. I went to the pool table room and looked around, and I was stumped. One wall of windows, 2 bare walls, and one wall painted with graffiti. No doors anywhere! I was just about to give up when suddenly a rectangle of light appeared on the graffiti wall as someone exited a restroom. The doors were camouflaged, blending perfectly into the wall.

#68 in 2009
(#598 overall)

Thursday
July 16

This was a cool place. We started out at the angular, stainless steel bar but later moved into the lounge room and relaxed on a very comfortable leather sofa looking out onto the patio.

#69 in 2009
(#599 overall)

Thursday
July 16

This place was more restaurant than bar, though by this time of day the bar was the only thing open. Everything inside was woodwork, and the dining area included upstairs and downstairs booths forming a ring around the outer walls.

#70 in 2009
(#600 overall)

Thursday
July 16

This was a good, basic roadhouse-style dive. There was a menu and the food smelled good, but we had leftover pizza waiting for us back at the motel. The Game Show channel was on the big wall TV, we watched some “Deal or No Deal” and another game show I was unfamiliar with.

#71 in 2009
(#601 overall)

Thursday
July 16

A pretty generic strip mall bar in a new building. A big, open sports bar with a high ceiling and blank, gray-painted drywall walls. The place was so new it hasn’t really established any character yet, but business seemed to be good and customers were enjoying themselves.

#72 in 2009
(#602 overall)

Friday
July 17

A very big, old bar with all sorts of large, inflatable objects hanging from the ceiling.

#73 in 2009
(#603 overall)

Friday
July 17

When we got out of the car we were greeted by a cute little scruffy dog named Chloe who was waiting outside the bar. The bar was a big, wide open space and was fairly active for this time of day. Chloe kept trying to come inside, so her owner finally told her, “Chloe, go home.” And she did. I guess small town dogs are smarter than city dogs.

#74 in 2009
(#604 overall)

Friday
July 17

I later found a notation in an earlier draft of my guide book for this trip:

Also check out the local hotel, it has a liquor license. Probably just to serve wine for dinner but maybe it has a bar.

As it turns out, the Shelby Hotel is not a hotel at all. Or, at least, it hasn’t been for a very long time. It’s actually a bar and grill inside a historic hotel building. It was very busy serving up lunch and is apparently mostly a daytime operation, but it served us well.

#75 in 2009
(#605 overall)

Friday
July 17

This was a family run place, enough that children were working behind the counter and had to call for mom when we ordered beer. The only beer on tap was Keystone Light, and Mom had to look up the price ($1.35 each).

#76 in 2009
(#606 overall)

Friday
July 17

We picked this place first because we happened to stumble across it first. We ended up parking the car here to do the rest of Columbus on foot. The bar had just opened and the bartender wasn’t quite ready for customers but she took good care of us. She told us about the railroad construction that had nearly cut the town in half and how several trains roll by an hour.

#77 in 2009
(#607 overall)

Friday
July 17

75-cent draws! I discovered I had left my camera in the car so the pictures for this and the next few bars all had to come from my phone.

#78 in 2009
(#608 overall)

Friday
July 17

This was the busiest bar we’d seen so far today.

#79 in 2009
(#609 overall)

Friday
July 17

Having opened in 1876, this is the oldest continually-operating bar in Nebraska and one of the oldest in the west. It was a favorite spot of Buffalo Bill and more recently of Leon Sphinx. We really, really wanted souvenir glasses from here, but they were in the basement and the bartender had a broken foot and couldn’t get them for us.

#80 in 2009
(#610 overall)

Friday
July 17

We had trouble finding this place. First off, the building doesn’t look like a bar. Second, we went inside and the first set of doors took us to a fancy restaurant. Then we tried another direction and found ourselves in a business office. Luckily a friendly person there told us how to get to the bar through the restaurant.

B tried their American Gold, while I tried the 1916 Irish Stout. We met the brewmaster, who had actually just started working there a few days earlier. He had applied at a few places, including the 75th Street Brewery back home in KC. 75th Street had apparently called to offer him a job just after he accepted the job here.

We also learned that the Gottberg brew pub is owned by the same guy who owns Dorothy Lynch Salad Dressing.

By the way, $2 draws. How often do you see that at a brewpub?

#81 in 2009
(#611 overall)

Friday
July 17

Micek’s was really busy, we couldn’t sit at the bar and had to take one of the few remaining tables.

#82 in 2009
(#612 overall)

Friday
July 17

There were two things about this placed that cracked us up. One was all of the KISS decor throughout the bar. The other was the redundant urinal. The men’s room contained two urinals, but one of them was pointless because they were places side-by-side at 90 degree angles to each other so only one could ever be used at any one time. (Except I suppose in the case of conjoined twins, I guess I shouldn’t rule out the possibility the restroom was designed to accomadate two very specific regular customers.)

#83 in 2009
(#613 overall)

Friday
July 17

We watched an episode of “Cash Cab” here. I got a laugh out of a handwashing poster in the men’s room, which in an attempt to be politically correct seemed to imply that your ethnicity will change several times as you wash your hands.

#84 in 2009
(#614 overall)

Friday
July 17

50-cent draws! A new all-time price record for us! (Excluding quarter draws of Natural Light served in dixie cups at frat bars.) There were no normal white light bulbs in this place, each light was a different color.

The men’s room here fit the dive bar restroom mold beautifully. It was basically an alcove behind the pool table and pretty run down.

#85 in 2009
(#615 overall)

Friday
July 17

This was a surprisingly nice place. We played with some interlocking horseshoe puzzles for a while that were very tricky, though B finally solved one of them.

#86 in 2009
(#616 overall)

Friday
July 17

The bartender’s side of the bar is a pit sunken down about 2 feet below floor level. The bar itself is also shorter than at most bars. So there are no barstools, you sit in office chairs instead. There wasn’t room for both of at the bar us but everybody moved down so we could squeeze in another chair.

#87 in 2009
(#617 overall)

Friday
July 17

This place looked like it was built somewhat recently. I expected it to be a biker bar, but it seemed to appeal to a wide cross section.

#88 in 2009
(#618 overall)

Friday
July 17

#89 in 2009
(#619 overall)

Friday
July 17

Having missed the Big Red Keno in Lincoln, we made sure to visit this location. It wasn’t what I expected on the inside being brightly lit and restaurant-like. Every booth had a flat panel screen that could be used for Keno results or to watch any channel you want.

#90 in 2009
(#620 overall)

Friday
July 17

Before we went inside we walked around the block looking for a pizza place that was supposed to be there, but it was closed and looked like it might have been out of business. We continued around the block back to The Dugout.

This was an awesome little neighborhood dive. The bar was full so we had to take a table in the back corner. ELO was playing and the women in the bar were rocking out.

#91 in 2009
(#621 overall)

Friday
July 17

This was a bonus bar in a building that looked like it had been converted into some sort of mall. The bartender talked with us about the Royals and Kauffman Stadium.

There was food here, including a pretty good looking pizza being eaten by a couple a few barstools over, but it looked like it would take a little too long for us so we decided to wait.

#92 in 2009
(#622 overall)

Friday
July 17

Our beers were $1.80, an odd price. This was a risky place to enter and exit, the dart boards are immediately to the right inside the front door while the dart line is immediately to the left inside the front door.

#93 in 2009
(#623 overall)

Friday
July 17

There’s a pretty big courtyard, monitored on a closed circuit television facing the bar. The bartender told us that the owner also gets a feed and can watch it in her home.

#94 in 2009
(#624 overall)

Friday
July 17

We made it just in time, 10 minutes before the kitchen closed. B ordered a hot ham and cheese sandwich, an I ordered a smoked prime rib sandwich with swiss.

The food. Was. Amazing. A perfect barhopping meal!

#95 in 2009
(#625 overall)

Friday
July 17

Except for J’s Steakhouse, every bar we had visited tonight was busy. So it was surprising to find this place, dead. There were a few people out on the patio, but no one inside. The bartender seemed happy to have customers.

This was a big place with a barn-like feel. We played a Silver Strike series while cartoons played on the bar TVs. More customers arrived just as we were leaving to begin our long walk back for the night.

#96 in 2009
(#626 overall)

Saturday
July 18

We had called ahead and knew that this place opened at 8am, though neither of us remembered this at the time and were surprised at first to find it open.

There were a handful of people here already, including a guy who from the looks of it had been there since opening. Everyone was watching the movie “Sorority Boys“.

#97 in 2009
(#627 overall)

Saturday
July 18

I honestly didn’t expect this place to be open, suburban style sports bars usually do not open this early. But this one does, at least on Saturday, in order to take advantage of the nearby golf course. And sure enough, there were already a few golfers inside.

The problem was, the linoleum part of the floor was being waxed, during business hours. We were not able to enter through the main door and were only able to enter through a side door by making a jump to the carpeted area. All the furnishings had been moved to this carpeted area so there was very little room to maneuver. The four golfers were trapped, and the room smelled of floor cleaner. We even had to reach to get to our beers, unable to completely approach the bar. Luckily we were limber and sober enough to make a leaping escape when we were ready to go.

#98 in 2009
(#628 overall)

Saturday
July 18

A railroad themed bar, though we didn’t notice the theme quite so much on the inside as we did on the outside. There were breakfast customers inside, we were the first bar customers. However it didn’t take too long before others started coming in and filled up a majority of the barstools.

#99 in 2009
(#629 overall)

Saturday
July 18

Not too far from The Depot we found The Fire Barn, a firefighter-themed bar in a brand new strip mall. (Which is why the map link puts it in the middle of a field.) The bar was covered with photos of burning buildings, the walls were adorned with fire station memorabilia, and there was even a fire pole near the door. (Unfortunately, with no upper level from which to slide down, it is more forr show.)

#100 in 2009
(#630 overall)

Saturday
July 18

This one came very close to not making the cut, but it was saved only because the very nondescript web site suggested that it was a dive even though the location suggested to us otherwise. We were intrigued enough to check it out.

The Lighthouse was very tricky to get to from Maple. It was only barely visible — we’d never have spotted had we not plotted its location in advance. Two congested left turns, then a parking lot maze that took us around the back of a strip mall in order to get us around to the far side where the entrance was.

It was still early so we were the only customers. We watched part of the movie “Cocktail” with the bartender and learned about the heroics of a local legend, illustrated in one of the photos above.

#101 in 2009
(#631 overall)

Saturday
July 18

We picked this location on name alone, and the fact that its advertising uses the phrase “Why Soitenly!” sealed the deal as this being a “Three Stooges” themed bar.

#102 in 2009
(#632 overall)

Saturday
July 18

An “Animal House” themed bar! The walls were covered with props, publicity photos, and posters from the movie. We were the only customers at this time of day but this place looks like it could be a pretty fun hangout in the evenings.

#103 in 2009
(#633 overall)

Saturday
July 18

This was a place we had selected simply because of its name. If we had pulled up and found it was named anything else, we were going to move on. Thankfully we found that we could indeed go on inside for a drink.

We sat at the large rectangular bar. It was now lunchtime and a few tables were occupied with families sitting down for a meal. We watched an episode of “The World’s Most Amazing Videos” and drank the raspberry version of Mike’s Hard Lemonade. This would be the last of the girly drinks of the day, our stomachs were now ready for a return to beer.

#104 in 2009
(#634 overall)

Saturday
July 18

This was one that barely made our list, primarily because we couldn’t find any information about it whatsoever. Instead it turned out to be one of our favorite stops.

At first it looked like a basic boring cookie-cutter joint in a run-down strip mall. But that was from the outside. Inside we found an honest-to-goodness neighborhood dive bar, the kind that people make their home away from home. This was a nice place and we enjoyed our visit.

#105 in 2009
(#635 overall)

Saturday
July 18

Why did we have to eat breakfast????? This place was serving up a pizza that looked even better than the one we saw earlier in the day at The Fire Barn. Actually we were starting to get hungry, but we had plans of another sort for food coming up soon.

#106 in 2009
(#636 overall)

Saturday
July 18

This was probably the dive-iest dive we went to today.

#107 in 2009
(#637 overall)

Saturday
July 18

We found a place to park the car and began a short walking adventure in the Benson neighborhood. We started out with this place, a little removed from the main strip.

After nearly four full days of taking pictures in bars, it took until #81 for someone to ask us what we were doing. They were cool about it though, the people here were friendly.

#108 in 2009
(#638 overall)

Saturday
July 18

The bartender offered us up some free hot dogs and popcorn. I declined, but B went ahead and dug into the corn. I enjoyed the barber chair inside the front door.

#109 in 2009
(#639 overall)

Saturday
July 18

This place looked like it’s probably a music venue or dance club by night. B and I had a discussion about Tourette Syndrome, Tourette camps, and some of the things that each of us are constantly thinking in various situations that we might accidently blurt out if our internal filters were impaired.

#110 in 2009
(#640 overall)

Saturday
July 18

There was a cute little dog running around in here that loved to chase the ball and play fetch.

We noticed that this bar had more shuffleboard tables than most places. Turns out the owner is Shane Hagen, a champion shuffleboard player.

We asked the bartender about the name of the bar. He didn’t know the origin, just that it had had that name for nearly a hundred years and the current owner saw no reason to change it when he bought the place.

#111 in 2009
(#641 overall)

Saturday
July 18

We picked this place because the online reviews we read talked about the rowdy crowd and that customers are constantly getting their cars towed.

Admittedly we did have trouble figuring out how to get to their parking lot, but once we did it wasn’t too hard at all to park legally. The crowd inside seemed pretty mellow, thought it was still early. We played Silver Strike. Starting at the 9th frame a little kid repeatedly asked us when we’d be done because he wanted to “play”.

#112 in 2009
(#642 overall)

Saturday
July 18

We would end up going to 101 bars on this trip, yet this was the only one we went to where we were the only white people inside. Usually that should be the case at about at least 4 or 5 places. Oh well. It was still daytime so the handful of people in here were older.

It should be noted that of the 640+ bars I had been to as of this visit, this is absolutely the nicest smelling bar I have ever been in.

#113 in 2009
(#643 overall)

Saturday
July 18

We have a winner! Normally it would be hard for me to pick a favorite bar of each day, but this was it. From the beeer trays on the ceiling, to the wall of cans, to our awesome bartender named Nikki, this place was perfect!

Oh, and did I mention that it serves champagne on tap?

That’s right! See for yourself in the photos. Naturally we passed on beer here in favor of a couple of glasses of the bubbly goodness.

We told Nikki about our trip and she gave us some great suggestions for places to hit up later when we reached downtown. (T Henery’s, Billy Frog’s if they hadn’t lost their license, The Dubliner, and The Maxx)

#114 in 2009
(#644 overall)

Saturday
July 18

The parking lot was very small and very full. I had to parallel park inside the lot, and the lot had only one entrance — behind me. We ended up leaving the car here for the next couple of bars.

As I took the picture of the outside, a woman ducked away saying “Oh, I can’t be in your photo!” B jokingly informed her we were with the FBI.

Underwood was one of our top picks and we soon found out why, this bar bills itself as The Hub of the Universe.

The bar was pretty full, and as we started taking he indoor pictures, the women who had been outside asked what we were doing. B explained to her the trip we were on and how we had been out since Wednesday morning on a quest to have a drink at 100 bars.

She thought that sounded awesome, and immediately turned to her friends and told them what we were doing. “Wow! That’s like one of those things people people talk about doing but never actually go and do,” said one of them.

“Are you guys talking about anal sex?” asked another woman sitting catty-corner to the first group.

That end of the bar erupted in laughter and word about what we were doing spread throughout the bar.

#115 in 2009
(#645 overall)

Saturday
July 18

Right across the street from Underwood. We had a very nice waitress who gave us 1/2 price, 1/2 pint draws so that we could continue on our mission quickly.

#116 in 2009
(#646 overall)

Saturday
July 18

At long last! B had been searching for the new PowerPutt Golf game for a few months, and now he finally found one. So we took a break to enjoy a game of virtual mini golf.

#117 in 2009
(#647 overall)

Saturday
July 18

This place is rated as one of Omaha’s top dives. The bar area itself is nice, and it has a beautiful deck in the back. We had also read a review that told us we needed to check out the basement bathrooms that would remind one of Buffalo Bill’s basement in “Silence of the Lambs”, but since neither of us had to go, we both forgot about doing so.

Update: On a later visit I did use the restroom. You go down a treacherous staircase with a very low ceiling into the very low ceilinged basement. At the bottom there are three small unmarked doors. Women’s has a nude woman on the door, Men’s has a Nebraska logo. I don’t know what’s behind the third door.

Many of my companions on the second trip thought this was a gay bar but I didn’t see it. Gay-friendly maybe but it wasn’t flaunted.

#118 in 2009
(#648 overall)

Saturday
July 18

We walked over here to grab one last been before in this area before calling a cab. Our cab showed up just as we finished, so that was good timing.

#119 in 2009
(#649 overall)

Saturday
July 18

Since Barry O’s blew, we were on a mission to find a nearby bar that didn’t blow. This was the least-blowy one we found on this street. We were able to get our drinks quickly, though there was no place to sit. B went outside and chatted with the bouncer, who was a nice guy, to get some advice from him as to where to find some less busy/upscale bars. We advises us to head further west and south.

#120 in 2009
(#650 overall)

Saturday
July 18

This was more like it. It wasn’t super crowded like the other places had been. The front end of the bar was open air with a garage door style entrance. The bartenders were fun, as were the customers.

The restrooms were down a long corridor and were pretty disgusting — obviously a public restroom not associated with the bar.

#121 in 2009
(#651 overall)

Saturday
July 18

We were making circles throughout the neighborhood and sort of stumbled across this place when we saw people disappearing under the sidewalk. The allure of a basement bar drew us in so we headed on down. We later realized this was one of the bars the bartender back at Homy Inn had recommended to us.

We found a basement sports bar that looked like a frathouse rec room, but I actually mean that in a good way. There was a DEA dog present, as far as I could tell it was here only because its handler was in for a visit, it didn’t seem anyone was getting busted for anything.

#122 in 2009
(#652 overall)

Saturday
July 18

I can’t remember exactly what it was that B asked the bartender for when we sat down. But when the bartender said he didn’t have it, B jokingly replied “You don’t have that? This is a pussy bar.”

“You’re the pussy who chose this place,” replied the bartender.

As we drank our beers, a girl came by whose shoe had broken and asked for advice. The bartender didn’t have anything to help out, so we tried to rig something using toothpicks, a stir stick, and matches. Unfortunately we just couldn’t get the strap back through the sole in order to fasten it in place.

#123 in 2009
(#653 overall)

Saturday
July 18

Just as we were giving up, the light of this place appeared. We only had 10 minutes left until closing time but we managed to get served.

A band that I think was called “Over The River” was playing “Night Moves” when we arrived. The bar wasn’t very busy and only a few people were dancing. The band had time for a couple more songs. They did covers of other southern rock hits, and when the final song played, everyone in the bar was dancing.

#124 in 2009
(#654 overall)

Sunday
July 19

This was a really nice looking old bar. However, the bartender was MIA. We sat there for about 10 minutes before she appeared from a back room, surprised to see us.

After she served us she disappeared again. A few minutes later a woman came in who had left her card here the previous night. She looked around, checked the other room, then came back. “Is anyone working here?” she asked us. “Nope, we had to serve ourselves,” B joked. She finally managed to find the bartender and got her card.

#125 in 2009
(#655 overall)

Sunday
July 19

This was a pretty nice sports bar. We discussed our plans for the day — would we stop when we reached 100, or was 100 just a goal and we’d hit up a few more until we were ready to go home? We decided we would stop at 100 since it was a nice round number.

#126 in 2009
(#656 overall)

Sunday
July 19

We headed over to Main Street and drove up and down both sides trying to decide what our next bar would be. We were looking specifically for a place called Uncle Charlie’s Boston Boozers at 519 S. Main because that name is just awesome. But it either does not exist anymore or is very well hidden because we could not find it. But we did find the Quarthouse, and it was open.

This was a nice, quiet old-timer dive with canned beer. There we a few other guys in here. I believe everyone was watching golf.

Update: There is a pool table in the back room, and they have karaoke on the weekend.

#127 in 2009
(#657 overall)

Sunday
July 19

We were the first customers of the day, and the bartender was still cleaning up from previous night’s RAGBRAI crowd that had kept him extremely busy Saturday night.

This was a spacious roadhouse type bar with some pretty entertaining graffiti in the men’s room. We played our final game of Golden Tee for the trip before hitting the highway for real.

#128 in 2009
(#658 overall)

Friday
July 24

Seasonal rooftop pool & bar on the roof of the downtown Cosentino’s grocery store. There is a swim-up bar as well as a standard part for those who prefer not to get in the water. The Jones Ultra Pool is essentially an outdoor pool themed night club. Admission charges apply.

#129 in 2009
(#659 overall)

Saturday
August 15

A former Ponderosa restaurant converted into a sports bar with pretty good Italian food and BBQ.

#130 in 2009
(#660 overall)

Sunday
August 23

#131 in 2009
(#661 overall)

Saturday
September 5

#132 in 2009
(#662 overall)

Sunday
September 6

#133 in 2009
(#663 overall)

Monday
September 7

  Back room:

#134 in 2009
(#664 overall)

Monday
September 7

#135 in 2009
(#665 overall)

Monday
September 7

#136 in 2009
(#666 overall)

Monday
September 7

#137 in 2009
(#667 overall)

Wednesday
September 9

But, I got the most perfect pour of Guinness here that I have ever received. :)

#138 in 2009
(#668 overall)

Friday
September 11

The bar is an offshoot of the Dewey House Restaurant next door.

And, yes, there are goats!

#139 in 2009
(#669 overall)

Crescent Moon is the main bar where you first walk in. It has more of a sports bar feel. This was what we visited.

Huber-Haus is a German beer hall in the basement. We tried to go here but it was packed. This section features beer in boots.

Max & Joe’s is off to the site of the main level, it’s a more quiet, laid-back restaurant/lounge.

Beertopia is the liquor store portion. We didn’t see an entrance from the bar area but may have missed it.

#140 in 2009
(#670 overall)

Saturday
December 19

BT’s is brand new — in fact it had only been open just over a week when I visited — and so obviously hadn’t had time to develop a sense of character yet. But business was brisk and it does seem to have already established a steady stream of regulars. There are several large screen TVs around the room and each table has an individual sound system that can be tuned to any of the TVs. There’s also a good variety of bar food with different daily specials. And the staff was very friendly, too.

An interesting feature — if you live in the attached Bristol Park apartment complex, you can order “room service” from BT’s.

#141 in 2009
(#671 overall)

Saturday
December 19

Granted, the bar area is very small, a platform next to the kitchen with seating for maybe 6-8. But it does indeed seem to be serving as a neighborhood bar.

A couple of young guys setting next to us had been there drinking since opening. They had had breakfast (an appetizer sampler), has just finished lunch when we arrived (pizza), and were planning to stick around for dinner.

A handful of video games, a dart board, and a couple of TVs give this place a slight sports bar feel but it’s first and foremost a pizza place. And the pizza is VERY good. A true cracker crust and LOADED with cheese. I’ll have to come back for more.

#142 in 2009
(#672 overall)

Saturday
December 19

The interior is painted what I like to call East Berlin Gray, a medium-dark slate gray that makes the area seem darker and smaller than it actually is. This is definitely the “toughest” of the Grain Valley bars (apart from the dance club Whiskey Tango which has actually had a shooting).

My drinking companion was nervous about being here, but the rough & rowdy atmosphere wasn’t anything I hadn’t seen many times before.

Year’s ago on this site was a small white wooden shack that housed a tavern called Pete’s Place. It burned down in the 1980s and was replaced with the stark cinderblock building that sits here today.

#143 in 2009
(#673 overall)

Saturday
December 19

The space is clearly set up for live music and dancing, though none of that was going on this afternoon. There’s plenty here to keep you entertained, though, at any time of day.

The actual bar is a little tricky, it’s slightly elevated and as a result the stools are bolted to the floor, so if you’ve had a lot to drink it’s a bit of a challenge to get to get in and out of your seat. :)

#144 in 2009
(#674 overall)

Saturday
December 19

There were several customers here and they were all women. I wondered briefly if it was a lesbian bar, but I could find no obvious evidence. After we were here about 20 minutes several other guys came in, so I guess that was just a fluke. :)

Something about this place seemed familiar to me, even down to the Woody Woodpecker car hood hanging on the wall. I never figured out why I was having such a sense of deja vu here.

#145 in 2009
(#675 overall)

Saturday
December 19

Though there was essentially no difference between Jugheads and its neighbor Woody’s, Jugheads was nearly empty while Woody’s had maybe a dozen or so customers. I have no idea why the disparity.

#146 in 2009
(#676 overall)

Saturday
December 19

#147 in 2009
(#677 overall)

Tuesday
December 29

#148 in 2009
(#678 overall)

Tuesday
December 29

#149 in 2009
(#679 overall)

Thursday
December 31

To get around the smoking ban, the bar also has two private street-facing patios that are isolated from the lounge, have windows that can be open or closed, and include TVs and heat.

#150 in 2009
(#680 overall)

Thursday
December 31

The bar area is removed from the restaurant and has a more cozy feel than you might expect from a place of this size. The large windows behind the bar are a nice touch.