Dunbar’s

was back in the slimy basement for reunion. it still stank. the popcorn was still stale. kamikaze shots come in a paper cup. the bartenders are so young they don’t know who magnum pi is! but this is still the best damned spot in the world to lean up against the bar and drink beers with some of the best people I will ever have the privilege of knowing. and as a bonus I didn’t have to learn any new songs since the jukebox selections haven’t changed in 30 years !

Long live Pep! The popcorn is as tasty as the bathroom is scary. Please wear closed toed shoes, and watch out for vomit. Play # 147 on the jukebox. Cash only, and be sure to tip the very attractive bartenders.

I absolutely dislike this place. Any time I have gone here, it has been because I have been in a group that for some god awful reason wanted to go here. There’s never any place to sit, the bathroom is awful, and is cash only. It’s also so small. If you are that terrible type of person that «loves dive bars» then, sure you’ll probably love this place and have a great time.
My female friends and I always had a standing agreement: if you are really drunk and having one of THOSE nights and you find yourself at Dunbar’s — CALL, TEXT, OR SEND SMOKE SIGNALS TO ONE OF US AND WE WILL RESCUE YOU.

If you are checking Unilocal for reviews of Dunbar’s you are not worthy to go there. A Collegetown classic, you love it or leave it and if you leave it they are probably better off without you! Go to one of the «pretty people» bars up the block and leave the real people at Dunbar’s. Tip: consider bringing your own TP «just in case». And the music is NOT crap!

Eek! What a terrible bar.
Yes, the cheapest bar in Ithaca. Group Therapy on Wednesday gives you a pitcher of beer and 5 kamikaze shots. But ALWAYS extremely crowded. Very disgusting, everything is covered in a layer of grime. Music is pretty crap.

Dunbar’s has the following things that make it unique (both good and… the not so good):
–salty and often stale (but very free!) popcorn
–Wednesday Group Therapy special: a pitcher of beer and kamikaze shots
–cheap and strong Long Island’s
–grimy, sticky floors
–jukebox with cool jams
–signatures written and/​or etched on the walls (a whole lot of _​_​_​_​_​_​was here, _​_​_​_​_​_​sucks, curses, sorority and fraternity names, and names of body parts)
–smelly, little bathroom
–arcade games
–Photo Hunt (in its own category of greatness)
–darts
Sniff. I know Dunbar’s is closing, but visiting it again the other day made me want to write about the only dive bar in Collegetown. There is no other place like Dunbar’s and I’m so sad to see it go.
Likelihood of another visit:
…sadface.

Cheapest bar in Ithaca, but its a bit skeezy and not in a good way.

If this place could get zero stars it would. I used to go here a lot and was just here last night. The place is still dirty and reeks of stale old mil and urine. There were only 8 people in the bar (5 of them with me) and the owner came up to my group and told us to stop throwing popcorn in our mouths because it was for eating and it costs money to make it. This just pissed me off… I am sorry that some of your precious popcorn fell on the floor and was wasted among the garbage, broken glass, stale beer and piss. If there was any way I could break a penny up to pay for the few kernels that fell on the floor I would. The owner is a old jerk, the place is garbage. The only reason I went here in the first place was because you could kind of act like a jackass, I guess now piss filled bars hold their clientele to a higher standard. Plus, why go here when you can go to Pete’s in the commons which is a far superior dive bar.

The smelliest bathrooms in all of Ithaca… may be part of the «dive bar charm», but I think it’s just laziness on the owner’s part.

This place is ridiculously dirty… Drinks are decent, and free popcorn means I can always have a full stomach. But the dirtiness of it really puts a damper on my review and prevents a 4 star rating. Prices are reasonable and atmosphere & space is alright for larger groups.

DUNBARS = Cornell’s dive bar and I LOVE IT. I lived on Eddy Street for my last two years at Cornell. Dunbars was the place to be on Thursday night for long island ice teas, or on Wednesday night for group therapy… or any night you wanted to sing along to jukebox tunes. Dunbars = Floor completely soaked with alcohol, walls with names engraved, salty popcorn, and I guarantee you’ll be packed in like sardines — BUT — that made it one of the best bars of Cornell’s collegetown. Grab some friends and go early to snatch one of the window tables, if you get one, you are golden for the night.

I love this place! Did anyone else hear that they closed?

The epitome of dive bar. It is a very small place with writings in permanent marker and carvings all over their walls. There are darts and a few old arcade games towards the back of the bar. The entire place is very small, as are all bars are in Ithaca.
They only accept cash, but the drinks are pretty strong. It has a fratty feel to it, so it’s not really my cup of tea, but I’ve come anyway just to meet up with some friends who do like it. The music they play is generally like Southern rock (e.g. Lynyrd Skynyrd, etc.)
One of the best times I came was when an old friend of the owner was in town, and for some reason, all drinks were on the house. All you needed to do was tip. I don’t know why this happened, but I don’t really care, and I’m not going to complain. Needless to say, word spread quickly about this, and soon the bar was packed. Of course, that night, I got drunk very easily.
Their long island iced teas are pretty tasty. I was able to drink it without wanting to gag, unlike the ones at Dino’s (when they were still open). I also love their Alabama Slammers. I had never had it before, but my friend had ordered them, and they were delicious … and apparently really strong ;)
I don’t know what the normal day for group therapy is, but I went here on a super slow Monday night during finals week for a friend’s birthday, and the bar owner was nice enough to give us group therapy for his birthday. Yay for a pitcher of beer and kamikaze shots in tiny medicine-​looking cups?
The door says that you’re required to have two forms of identification. I don’t know why they have that sign up because one will suffice.
Dunbar’s was definitely not my first choice bar to go out when I was a Cornell undergrad. If you want a cheap and somewhat sketchy place, go to Dunbar’s.

Very much a dive bar. You can get cheap and really strong drinks though. Can be fratty at times but a fun experience if you are looking for a decent dive to get boozed on the cheap.

DIVE DIVE DIVE
Dive Bar, but the best kind there is!
Great customers. Great Staff. Drinks — its a DIVE bar. Cheap booze, cheaply made. Come get drunk.
The man at the door is named Pep, usually will remember you if you take the time to say hello and be polite… and he has seen it all.
When I just want to relax without giving a crap about what I (or anyone else) am wearing or look like and could care less about anything except drinking and the people I am with, I go here!
TIP: IF YOU HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM, GO BEFORE YOU COME OR HOVER LADIES. GUYS, no problem.
Favorite dive-​bar in town.

dunbar’s used to have a drink special back in 2005 when i first started my first masters degree at cornell and was living on east buffalo street with francisco after my apartment had burned to the ground and his father had passed and we were basically living the cornell university depressed student with no passion no leisure time no money just work hoping one day things would be better glorious dream
the drink special was called group therapy and we went there after this Korean girl i was crushing on rejected me again for a casual afternoon to meet for coffee, long awkward silences, attempts at hand holding and comparing stochastic calc notes
anyway group therapy it was not
francisco and i showed up like we normally did back then, nervous, sweaty late and paranoid, checking for threats and emergency exits we were hoping for the actual group therapy the real thing he wanted to talk about his financial state and the fact that he couldn’t afford a ticket back to DR to see his fathers funeral I wanted to talk about my dog mercury and how his only picture had burned in my apartment fire a few months earlier
all I had back then was an old barn jacket that smelled like bonfire (kind of like a sick joke, considering the fire, yes) and Franco had his sweater. We showed up expecting group therapy and realized it was not really therapy but a drink special (five shots and a pitcher for $ 20, or something)
some northfaced darien, ct native slut looked at us like «who are these bums?» I was afraid Franco was going to firebomb the joint

Yay!
I used to come here on Thursdays for their $ 3 long island iced teas. Perfect. Get drunk on a college student’s budget! They have other specials during the week too, like Group Therapy on Wednesday (pitcher of beer and 5 or 6 kamikazes in shot glasses).
I miss it.

Was just here Wednesday night to chill but damn does this place get packed fast. There’s a lot of college kids packed into this bar but somehow it managed to stay civil with no pushing or shoving. It’s essentially a grungy dive bar with random drawings and writing all over the place, just taking one look at the ceiling might overload your visual senses so be advised.
Around six beers on tap, you can’t really expect much usually from a dive bar so it’s always the cheapest beer but for once I didn’t see Budweiser or the preferable PBRs. The selection I saw ranged from Miller Lite, Milwaukee to Blue Moon’s summer seasonal ale– Honey Moon, which just happened to be tapped out the moment I ordered, SADFASE. I was unaware that Wednesday night had a Group Therapy night special until I read Unilocal but I’ll keep an eye out next time.
Cash only, was $ 8.50 for a pitcher of Miller Lite. Well drinks and beer glasses were served in small glasses so keep that in mind. Where’s my usual pint glass?
Worth a visit if you wish to get trashed for cheap college style.

I left my liver and many brain cells here decades ago, and on a trip last weekend for reunion, I realized they still have a piece of my heart.
Dunbar’s is the quintissential dive bar. We used to have «Dunbar’s shoes» that we would wear out, because there was unidentifiable sticky sludge on the floor (did we really care? no). Free popcorn, darts, names from over the years carved or written all over the place. The highlight is «Group Therapy»: a pitcher of beer and a glass of kamikaze shots. 20 years ago it was $ 5, now it is $ 6. Awesome. Also, they make a drink called a Combat which is their version of the iced tea (now they are $ 5, don’t remember what they were then). A jukebox so great we made tapes of the songs, and all these years later we remembered the songs on it (old, fun songs you don’t really hear anywhere else and I probably wouldn’t have heard if I hadn’t gone there).
It is so hard to describe Dunbar’s in words, you have to experience it for yourself. Thanks Dave (& Lee) for creating a place that was such a pivotal part of our college experience.

Cornell’s #1 Dive Bar!
Dunbar’s was the best place in Collegetown for cheap drinks. This place was always packed on Long Island nights (Thursday) or the requisite Group Therapy (Wednesday)!
I was never the person rallying the troops to go to Dunbars, but when I went, I had a good time. The one thing I had to develop is a tolerance for germs. This place is NOT clean. They also have a popcorn machine… the popcorn is fresh, but those trays… oh, those trays…
The one day that makes Dunbars heaven on earth is St. Patrick’s Day. They really now how to celebrate with an early morning opening, Irish Breakfasts, green beer, special shirts and an O’Dunbar’s sign outside. St. Patrick’s Day 2006 may be one of my favorite days ever… I was at the bar 9−5… and then rallied from 10:30−1am. Wow, I was a champ.