JJ’s Alley

The place is tiny and reminds me of a Freddie Kruger Nightmare /​Boy’s Dorm Room. Full of smoke and swinger looking middle aged people. Could not get a beer and no waitresses. Music was good. I’ll never go there again. If you want to pick someone up, they are ready to go.

Long story short, a friend and I were in town for the first time ever and only for one night. It was a DEAD Monday night but we decided to bar hop to get a feel for OKC. We went to Tapwerks for a brew and then decided to go to JJs. BIG MISTAKE. I think I would have been more welcome crashing a strangers funeral and giving the eulogy then we were walking into JJs. There had to have only been 4 people sitting in there drinking, but the bartender repeatedly ignored us sitting at the end of the bar. He made eye contact numerous times… But apparently he felt the need to not DO HIS JOB. It was sad. There was someone playing great live music… yet after five minutes of waiting we got up and left. We headed back to Tapwerks and told them about what had happened — they said it was strange, but they bought our next round as an apology. Man… Pretty crappy that a different bar is apologizing for YOUR bad service.
I work at a bar in Iowa, so I know it’s NOT rocket science. But since y’all don’t get it, here is a lesson for you– Treat people better… Or better yet, just DO YOUR JOB. Otherwise, you just might not have one… Because you’ll have NO CUSTOMERS!
Good luck — Tapwerks is the place to go!

This is one of the first places I visited after moving to town. The bartenders and staff are all very friendly. The drinks are always delicious, and the prices are more than fair. It has a comfortable lounge atmosphere, and I love that there is live music. Now, whenever I go out in bricktown I at least pop into JJ’s Alley to start the night!

What a fun place! I’d never been here until the other night, but always heard great things. We were out in Bricktown for a friend’s birthday and staying at the Hilton right by JJ’s, so we stopped in on our way back for the night. Like many of the reviews say, JJ’s is a lot different from its surrounding bars and clubs. I’m not really a club person, so JJ’s was a breath of fresh air. Live music, fun crowd, cheap drinks — what more could you ask for? It’s itty bitty, but it adds to the atmosphere of the place. The upstairs bar was very smoky, but not too surprising. I’ll definitely be back!

I simply walked in off the side of the road for drinks. Places like this are made for me. I hate bars that I feel uncomfortable in. This place is an absolute dive bar with a ton of character and I love it. That and I drank for an hour and a half for $ 13. Got to love that. Anyways, the bartender was good company and so were the locals. The comedy going on upstairs was nothing short of terrible, but what can you expect from amateurs. This place is a must go if you just want to enjoy some cheap drinks and relax.
Beware…every stitch of clothing you have on will take a bath in cigarette smoke. Not my jam, but it was worth it.

When I travel into OKC, I always make an attempt to stop at JJ’s Alley. For an out of towner, Bricktown seems to be the main attraction in OKC but is always quite dead to me… especially during the week.
I can count on some good live music when I step through the doors, and that is always a start to a good night. The drink prices are very fair and while the place gets really smokey, it doesn’t bother me so much since most of OKC’s bars seem to allow it; you kind of get used to it?
The crowd is usually laid back and conversations easily started.

Really, really limed this place. Nice to have a dive-​ish laid back bar in this area, something for the non-​club crowd. Good live music, neat place.

This place is the coolest place to hang out and have a drink in bricktown and that’s not saying much. I mean I wouldn’t be caught dead in most places in bricktown. It’s all touristy, overpriced, & overrated.
Then there is JJ’s
This tiny, super small Pub that was build by three friends, Jeff, James & some other friend that starts with a J. Jerry or Jake something like that. I was pretty drunk and indifferent about the story as it was being told to me at the time. But, as the story goes, they bought the alleyway bc it was prime real estate and built the bar literally over the alleyway hence the name JJ’s Alley.
You come in the front door, it’s like 15 feet wide max and walk straight back to the outside patio or you can go upstairs in the back to a upstairs smoking bar area where it looks over the downstairs. People throw garbage, money, limes, all kinds of crap over the balcony onto the people downstairs so beware of being impelled by flyin objects and/​or struck by pennies from ‘heaven’.
My Unilocaler friend Bonnie E. aka pissywillow thought it was a bowling alley so I just want to clear that up. It’s not a bowling alley, there are no turkey bangers here Ace! lol Just a pub that serves cheap drinks, has live music & proudly serves DiGiorno pizza by the slice that was built over the top of what used to be a inner city alleyway.
The downstairs is non-​smoking, it’s not too crusty but def divey. The bits & bobs hanging around everywhere looks kinda like your in a small bar in Nola. It’s cute.
The smoking upstairs bar is a different story, completely gross. Crusty crap everywhere on homemade benches that are covered in shag carpet for you to sit on. Not a great place for a germaphobe. You couldn’t get me drunk enough to hang out up there or pay me enough to sit under the Antler head with all the smoke infused, used nasty bras hanging all over it in a rainbow of colors.
FYI, it was also brought to my attention that by further examination by a male friend of mine they are all small bras. So the big busted women must party somewhere else bc there are no big busted girl bras on the antlers. Just thought I would pass that useful information along ;)
I like to go for happy hour after work, & hang downstairs only (no-​smoking) or the cute little back patio. There is never a crowd, it’s always chill during happy hour with older professional types.
The one bartender chick that swears like a sailor, pours a strong drink, & likes to watch food network, I LOVE her! She is fun & from all the tv we been watching I know she can make a mean cupcake!
I love a great dive bar, but this one is borderline too divey for me. I won’t go upstairs & I won’t hang late at night bc of the overwhelming stench of smoke & random impalement. The late-​night crowd is also mostly young, single something’s that I understand enjoy this barmy, baccy, crusty dragon for their drinkie benders. To each his own. I will stick to the more chill happy hour for my after work benders and as far as the pizza goes, remember its not delivery it’s just DiGiorno.

If this place wasn’t in Bricktown, I’d be a regular. With that being said, if I do happen to be in Bricktown, I try to visit this place. It’s just a really cool, really relaxed, and to be quite honest… a really different bar from the rest that are in Bricktown. Now, it’s time to tell you why I think this place is the bee’s knees.
Oh, let’s start with the vibe of this place. Take the best part of the Drunken Fry (their cheap drinks) and mix it with the best part of a place like the HiLo or Grandad’s (their atmosphere) and you have JJ’s. For being in Bricktown, you’d think the drinks would be overpriced, but they are dirt cheap… among the cheapest in the city, including what I’m starting to consider the bar standard of «PBR and a shot for $ 5.»
They are a 2 story bar, with no smoking on the lower level and smoking on the upper level.* There is an odd collection of things decorating the place (see my pic) and the lower level has a place for local musicians to play. During my last visit, there was a gentleman playing the saxophone and I couldn’t help but to think that I was in an episode of Louie… which thoroughly amused me.
In the summer, if one were so inclined, he or she could venture out back and enjoy some patio drinking. Their patio area is big enough to accomdate 10 – 15 people, which is just big enough for such a quaint bar. Overall, I was considering giving this place 4 stars. However, the more I think about it… the more that I am convinced that this place is truly among the best of the best when it comes to dive bars in Oklahoma City and is worthy of some 5 star love. Go check it out for yourself. It’s definitely worthy of a visit!
*I’m not sure if the upper level is in fact a smoking section, as I did not see any ashtrays nor have I even seen a person up there smoking. There is a single sign in the bar that alludes to the fact that a person can smoke up there, but I believe that people just go out to the patio to have a schmoke.

So I’ve been to this bar a few times over the year & I must say this is my TOP fav bar to visit while in Bricktown. I will either start my night or end it at this spot.
Went last night about 7:40pm and it was calm with a couple patrons upstairs and then the one man band came inside about 9:30ish when things started to perk up. The bartender was awesome for it to be just him upstairs and wasn’t afraid of throwing comments back to patrons.
This is a cozy 2 level bar where the action mostly happens upstairs. This isn’t a dance bar/​club, not your dry stale bar, not even your hipster bar (maybe a pinch). Let’s say you can drink in peace with great live music, meet even better people & enjoy a decent priced drink. I recommend this spot hands down if you want great company with your drink.

Came here with my parentals, and it’s pretty much the definition of «dive bar.» The bar and couches look like they’re covered in a layer of scuzz and the bartenders seem pretty indifferent to your presence. I absolutely loved it.
The drinks are cheap, cheap, cheap and not messing around. Compared to Manhattan prices, I’m pretty sure I actually I made money drinking here. But then again, I was drunk.
Minus one star for the extremely smoky upstairs. Sadly, the smoke drifts downstairs and permeates everything (see «layer of scuzz,» above). Fortunately, you can walk out to the back and hang out in the alleyway.

Out of all the bars in Bricktown, I’d have to say I enjoy this one the most. I’m not a club-​goer so as far as that goes there aren’t a whole lot of choices downtown. JJ’s a perfect little dive bar smack dab in the middle of top 40/​hip-​hop dance clubs so it’s a refreshing find among the typical scene. Very cheap prices, $ 5 PBR + well shot, can’t get much better than that! I also really like their back patio. They have tons of local musicians who play here as well. Definitely will be my go-​to bar in Bricktown from now on.

Don’t blame me for this being blurry… This is one of those no-​dance, late night, live music (Karaōke on this particular night, methinks), lots of drinks, only one bathroom per gender, dive kind-​a bars. Sprinkle in some OU Yuppies, hipsters, bikers, and some normal people and that’s who you’ll meet here.
It wasn’t too loud, and I loved the seats that they had at the top in the back (behind the stairs). They weren’t the most comfy, but had plenty of pillows! I loved that they had speakers back there so that you could hear the music that was going on. And several of the karaōke peeps were pretty good!
Can’t give too much feed back on the drinks, since my first was paid for. They made them well and the second I just ordered a simple drink and it ended up costing $ 4 – 6 with tip.
I was told that there are some great bands that play here! And it’s a great place to chill with friends.

fantastic spot for either first glass or last call. live music here is generally upper level stuff, see Eric Dunkin play when you get a chance to!

After walking around Bricktown for a good half hour, my friend and I decided to stop at JJ’s Alley since it looked like a much low key place than the burlesque place next door.
This is an alley bar and holy crap it is awesome (at least I dug it!). My friend had 2 very stiff Jack & Waters and I had a Red Hook IPA all for under $ 13 total. Upstairs was a bit too smokey for me but had 2 singer/​songwriters posted up onstage upstairs next to the busy & full bar. All of the décor alone is worth going in and checking out. I really liked the wall in the nook near the back bar/​patio that had ceramic cups, coins, trophies, etc stuck into the wall. It gave the whole place character. All of the vintage toys & décor up on the ceiling made for good conversation with people all around us. I couldn’t stop staring at the carousel horse hoisted up on the 2^nd level of the bar. Too cool!
Unlike the rest of Bricktown, this place had 1) no cover, 2) DJ mixed music, and 3) seemed like it had a really decent crowd that was chill and much more relaxed in the atmosphere we were under. I highly recommend this place if you just want to meet folks, drink some good dranks, and feel like you’re in a basement bar in NYC.

This is a great little spot if you happen to be in Bricktown and don’t feel like dancing. Nestled between a parking garage and a burlesque club, you could miss it if youre not paying attention. There are two floors, smoking allowed upstairs, and their patio is nice with easy access to your next destination. Sunday is their open mic comedy night, I recommend checking out the local talent.

Ordered a Jim beam and coke. Charged me 6 bucks and It was VERY weak

It’s actually called JJ’s Alley. A delightful little place in Bricktown with live music and reasonably priced drinks.