Spot Bar

Fantastic local dive bar. Friendly folks. Nothing fancy in the best way.

For me neighborhood bars are the heartbeat of the community. A good place to get information on things to eat, see and do. The Spot has that feel. A smaller place with room for 6-10 at the bar and 4-6 booth/tables. The flavor in the air was a musty grandmas living room with a hint of an ashtray. A pinball machine, darts and machine fed pull tabs are available as well as paperback books and a big Bible. The bartender was the kind that uses a lot sarcasm to keep things in order and that’s not bad especially when you see the same people most of the time. A shot and a beer was 9$. If I was ever in the neighborhood again I’d check out another place for variety but would have no issue with going back. Enjoy!

Was looking to hit up this joint for my birthday and upon just looking at photos it's clear that this place is run by a whack job who doesn't know how to run a business. Who advertises their politics in a bar on the wall? I'm far more tolerant than my progressive friends, but this is just a terrible way to attract business. Do they do circle jerks in the back room on nights when there are no meat raffles or bingo?

It is a neighborhood dive bar. Drinks are cheap.

St. Paul, Minnesota —- “The Spot Bar” was a pARTy Gods’ find ... a GREAT neighborhood bar - customers walk here, bike here & even bus here ... originally a “Hamm’s” beer bar in the late 1800’s & still has “Hamm’s” beer on tap ... bartender “Kevin” was super & the customers were really “neighborly” ... my newest “Run-A-Way Bill” FAVORITE sticker winner bar with “Coon Trap” status - this bar drew me in & now I am trapped forever! “Run-A-Way Bill” was here! 07.22.19

This place sucks. Bartender refused to serve me after one drink for no reason.

Mold growing under their tap area. I'm surprised more people don't get sick at this place. This place should be shut down!

Absolutely charming little dive bar. We were in yesterday for the first time ever, and the bartenders were very welcoming and made excellent cocktails. The drink prices are cheap too. Will definitely be back again.

Do you like cozy dive bars with incredibly friendly staff, a wide drink menu, jukeboxes and dart boards, and character oozing from every ounce of the wood paneled walls? The Spot is the place for you. I'm from NJ visiting my sister who lives two blocks away. Her boyfriend brought me and a few other out-of-towners here on a Sunday night, and we all loved it. I rocked up to the bar in an Eagles sweatshirt and NJ accent fully expecting to get flak for it, but the bartender was as nice as ever. Later in the evening when we were the last patrons left, he asked us where we were all from and struck up a conversation with us. Bonus for movie buffs: the 2023 movie "Downtown Owl" with Ed Harris filmed a scene here. Great atmosphere, great customer service, great drinks, great music. Can't wait to come back the next time I visit my sister.

Frills? Nope. Friendly barkeep? Yup. Good Old Fashioned? Well, it was okay. I had an hour to kill before needing to pick up a kid, so I thought I would nurse an old fashioned at The Spot and read a book at the bar for an hour. Its not big - room for the bar, a few tables, a dartboard. But it has all the ingredients for a neighborhood dive bar in spades. I would happily go back for the welcoming atmosphere and the reasonably priced cocktails. A better than average tap selection by the look of things too. Check it out!

Well. Well. Well. Hello Review #400 and hello! The Spot Bar. This place is like an old sweater. For example the bar pizza. Here you get Giovanni's (no Heggie's here) so that is a plus as they offer some different flavors. You also have pinball, darts, and TouchTunes. I dig the TouchTunes app as I can load up music and many places around town also use TouchTunes and I can just let it rip from wherever I'm at straight from my phone. In general, this is just a good old place to enjoy a drink. The Spot has even has better prices then the dive institution I'm in walking distance of, Ted's Rec. For example, if I get my special of Hamm's and a bump of blackberry brandy (on the rocks), the Spot saves me a whole quarter, which goes towards my pinball. But let's not forget the meat raffle. The Spot as a meat raffle and in this state, that is something you need to find when you search. Plus the area has many additional establishments close by if you want to get something a little more substantial for food. #meatraffle

What's not to love? Oldest bar around. Good beer. Great atmosphere, friendly staff, and a rotating cast of neighborhood regulars. best dive bar in the Twin Cities, hands down.

Gentleman serving at the bar was extremely unfriendly. Reluctant to serve and I had a REAL ID, and I am well over 21. He doubted my ID then denied serving us shots, basically stating they "don't do that here"..... But proceeded to serve shots to the next customers....Will not forget this treatment.

St. Paul, Minnesota --- "The Spot Bar" was a pARTy Gods' find ... a GREAT neighborhood bar - customers walk here, bike here & even bus here ... originally a "Hamm's" beer bar in the late 1800's & still has "Hamm's" beer on tap ... bartender "Kevin" was super & the customers were really "neighborly" ... my newest "Run-A-Way Bill" FAVORITE sticker winner bar with "Coon Trap" status - this bar drew me in & now I am trapped forever! "Run-A-Way Bill" was here! 07.22.19

The Spot Bar is as friendly as it is vintage! I was killing time here while waiting for a table at nearby Mucci's, Neighborhood bars are not usually my thing since I don't drink, but this is still a cozy place to hang out! And since Mucci's is awesome and I'll be going back there a lot and there is often a long wait there, I suspect I'll come hang out at The Spot Bar again. Note that there is a ten dollar minimum to use a credit card.

Walked in one day. Asked the bartender if he would make me a sidecar. He gave a look and politely said, "sorry, this is a working man's bar." Had a long day? Go to the Spot. Want to play a little pinball while you're knocking back rum and cokes? Go to the Spot. Are you a grown-up who needs a stiff grown-up drink? Go to the Spot. Need to plot your next heist over drinks with your crew without people poking into your business? Go to the Spot. Are you looking to get loud and rowdy with the boys/girls, maybe get in a fight, and vomit everywhere at the end of the night? Don't go to the Spot. This bar ain't for kids. It's for working people. Nuff said.

Are you looking for somewhere cool, dark, and quiet in St. Paul to get a $3 Hamm's or Grain Belt where you can just play darts with your friends in peace? Or, maybe you have an hour and half to kill before your table opens up at Mucci's. Either way, The Spot should work for you. It definitely seems to be a throwback to simpler times, full of history and local charm. As others have mentioned, it is indeed what you'd probably expect from the outside-- small, divey, old-timey. The bartender seemed to know all of the patrons who were there, but was still pleasant to my group of young, Minneapolitan friends. It took us a few minutes to realize what was different about this bar-- there was no music playing. But there was a juke box, so I suppose we could have changed that. Also, they have pull tabs, "analog" darts, and a tiny library.

A great cozy, dive bar find! Went here for the first time last Friday and enjoyed my visit. Drinks are cheaper than most bars in the Twin Cities. Nice place to play darts as there are four dart boards (two electric and two classic wooden boards). Also a pull tab machine. You can buy pizza to eat and bags of chips. Will come back for sure!

A great neighborhood dive. A couple friends of mine live four blocks away, and whenever it's late and we're out of beer, this is where we hike. Said friends are on first name terms with the owner, and recently had an outdoor lawn-game / piñata themed graduation barbecue here. All that said, the divey nature of the place does carry over into the bathrooms, the seating is limited, and the parking in the neighborhood can suck. But if you're near Randolph and West 7th, and you need a place to get your night-cap on, this is THE place to go. A bare barroom with a couple booths and sweet pitcher deals. No nonsense, no pretense, and after a couple rounds, no sense.

We've driven by the spot many times and have always wondered what the place was all about. I must say I wish I would have kept driving. This is nothing special. I think I step back in time and fell down my high school friends basement stairs. Bad decor and strange people. What ultimately pissed us off was the anti TRUMP hand written sign behind the bar. What a turn off. Keep your politics away from your business.

The cleanest dive bar I've been to. I was here for an author signing of local mystery author, Mike Faricy. Very Irish, as I'm sure this place is. They offer chips in 2 flavors and peanuts. Very friendly staff. Why such a high rating? My husband had to get 2 beers to add up to ten bucks to use a credit card. I had gingerale. Don't know what kind but it was sweet with a full, as opposed to a watered down flavor. They gave me a free refill. I'd like to see pictures of it in the beginning, although I don't think the outside is much different. Clean bathrooms that give the illusion of a water closet, but are actually quite roomy.

You get what you think. Cheeky bartenders and stiff drinks. Always a good time coming here!

This is the best bar I've been in. Kind and interesting workers and good clientele with cheap and strong drinks. Steel tip darts too!

I've got to start coming here more often! We were out on a recent Saturday night and friend called. "We're at the Spot Bar. Come and meet us." I'm glad we did. It actually reminds me of my regular hangout, which is also on the corner on Victoria and another cross street. The bartender was friendly and made a drink with his version of diet ginger ale, because I'm high maintenance, without complaining. The customers are friendly, the restroom passable, the jukebox full of great tunes, and the bartender Jimmy very kind. And, if you need to leave your car overnight, no problem. It was in one piece when we arrived in the AM.

$3 Hamm's on tap. I was the only female in the joint. There was a guy playing the ukelele. Left me feeling nostalgic for the 1980's on Randolph.

Every time I go to this bar I think of Moe's on the Simpsons. A bunch of sad, sad, fall down alcoholics telling the same old stories from their high school glory years and women still rockin' the 80's poof hair style. My buddy used to live about 6 houses down from this place until recently, and we'd walk over to the spot. Been here way more times than I would care to admit - or remember. The bar is about as big as my basement. I have to agree with Joseph W's review. There's nothing memorable about this hole in the wall. The food is underwhelming, the bartenders are very friendly (the only bright spot in this bar is the staff) but pour weak drinks, the prices are the same as bars that are much, much better, and the clientele is sketchy. There are two halfway houses across the street and down a block on Armstrong Ave that the county puts recovering alcoholics in. They are not allowed to drink on the halfway house premises, so those sketchy dudes start here and get wasted enough to get kicked out, and then go drink a case of Icehouse a few blocks down at the railroad tracks - I've been invited by these randoms a couple of times now to "hit the tracks". (Lock your car! and make sure valuables are out of sight!). The parking is non-existent, the bathrooms are hit or miss. The credit card machine has been "down" several times I've been there and the ATM charges an outrageous fee. This just isn't someplace I'd go by choice, unless it was because I could park at my friends house and walk here - and avoid the cleanup of having a house party. The clientelle just kills it for me. Not the vibe I'm looking for.

Everyone always talks about this place as a great dive bar. Being a dive bar is no trick. Any bar can be shitty, but what makes a great dive bar is that it is shitty in an interesting way. I've never had anything interesting happen to me in this bar, so (to me at least) this is not a great dive bar. I imagine that if you live a few blocks or less from this place, it is like a second home; but because I'm driving, I need a little more.

What can you say about the Spot..This place anything can happen..The patrons here have names like Billy Stars,POO,fish,Tony the ear Bobby O.J..ect..A very ecclectic cast of characters..If the bartender isn't more trashed then you ,then your really trashed or if the owner is working you will be lucky to get a drink ,he is usually doing something much more interesting than serving drinks.. If your going out to pick up girls this is not the place to go..If your going out to drink..This is the place..I like to meet up at the spot then head out on the town..They do have ping pong on Wednesdays and they do serve free lunch on the weekends..And Sunday nights late night they have a event they call the redline where they crank the jukebox and jam old school blues,funk and whatever.. All in all the spot is a fun place and a great place to meet to go out before going out..

the bartenders are nuts, and awesome. the regulars are mostly crazy and fun to talk to. it's a comfortable place to come by yourself, sit at the bar and get shitfaced, if that's your plan.

Just driving by looking for a screen to catch a game, this looks inviting. Friendly greeting by ponytailed bartender, fresh beer. He soon passed a plate of house-made sub slices that were great. Had a nice talk with a regular and there seemed be be a lot of them. Wish I had one of these in my neighborhood in the Keys. Love these small places and miss St. Paul.