Celebrating the Down-Home Dive Bars of Corvallis

The cash-only Suds & Suds, just north of downtown, was an unlikely, yet welcome part of the Corvallis Dive Bar Crawl. The cozy beer bar shares a building with Woodstock’s Pizza Parlor (as well as a defunct laundromat, hence the name) and shows off that influence with a few arcade games and wood-paneled walls. But that’s where comparisons to typical dive bars end. Suds & Suds eschews stiff drinks for a curated selection of Pacific Northwest craft beers, some of which you won’t find anywhere else in town. Enjoy it all in the bustling bar area or on a partially covered patio just outside. Locals who manage to drink at least one beer from each of the bar’s 30+ taps are immortalized on gold-plated plaques lining the walls.

It's not every day you get to patronize a dive bar that's been a local institution for nearly a century. The Peacock Bar & Grill opened in 1929 and is vital to Corvallis’ downtown scene with comfortable vinyl booths, pool tables, shuffleboard, and—on the top floor—live DJs twice weekly. It all pairs well with breakfast platters, burgers, nachos, and other bar-friendly foods. Another claim to fame is the bar’s nightly karaoke sessions, which draw singers from all walks of life; one of my all-time favorite nights in Corvallis took place a few years ago mostly at The Peacock, where a few friends and I spent a snowy winter night singing our favorite hits from the ‘90s and early 2000s while the gathered locals cheered us on.

I’d walked by and visited China Delight Restaurant & Lounge countless times on earlier visits to Corvallis, never aware of a back bar behind the eatery’s quiet dining room. It was on the most recent trip that I asked my server about a possible dive bar—at which point she pointed out a hallway that headed past the restrooms and ended at a door to the lounge. When a friend and I walked into “China D’s”, as the bar is known locally, we were charmed by the low lighting, wide drink selection, and appetizing food menu—which bypassed the typical fried fare for the restaurant’s own offerings and was available well into the night. (Who among us wouldn’t love a plate of orange chicken after a few cocktails?)

The iconic Squirrel's Tavern, a local mainstay since 1974, cheekily calls itself "a learning center in downtown Corvallis." For my part, I received an education on what makes a down-home dive bar great with a surprisingly robust selection of beer and wine, an alternative food menu that included poutine and deviled eggs, and a lively atmosphere across two stories. The wood-paneled walls, plentiful seating, and a colorful mix of posters and artwork covering the walls made Squirrel’s feel less like a dive bar than a friend’s kitschy living room.

Not far from the Oregon State University campus, Clodfelter's prides itself on being a hub for Beavers fans. It does so by showing all Beavers football games, sure, but Clodfelter's goes above and beyond with wooden booths, an extensive menu of shareable pub-food favorites, plenty of televisions, and festive decor.

It's not every day you'd describe a dive bar as "spacious", but that's a big part of the charm at Harrison Bar & Grill at the northern edge of downtown. Even with plenty of seating, a full bar, pool tables in the main dining area, pinball, and a photo booth, there's still plenty of room for your whole crew. Classic American fare is served for all three meals, and weekly events include karaoke and trivia nights.

Looking for a fun night out? A hearty breakfast the next morning? You’ll find both at Tommy's 4th Street Bar & Grill, which resides downtown and shares a parking lot with the Hotel Corvallis. The laid-back lounge at Tommy's includes a full bar, video lottery machines, televisions for watching the day's sporting events, and a few pool tables. Its food menu, meanwhile, covers American classics for breakfast lunch and dinner. Hungry diners, in particular, can challenge themselves with the Beaver Buster Breakfast, which includes (among other items) an omelette, biscuits, potatoes, and three breakfast meats; anyone who eats it all within an hour receives the meal for free.

From the road, it's hard to miss the Meet'n Place Tavern, the dive bar crawl's lone outpost in Philomath; a massive steel sasquatch lords over the front door, welcoming visitors inside the building, which is believed to have been erected more than a century ago. Inside, the tavern offers a classic pub food menu (with the option to swap french fries for jojos—a kind of potato wedge that was invented in the Pacific Northwest) along with occasional live music, karaoke nights, and surprisingly detailed decor—like an old ax that’s been refashioned as shelving support over the bar.

When I first learned about the Corvallis Dive Bar Crawl lineup, I was a little mystified by the presence of The Bière Library. I’d only ever enjoyed it as a restaurant and bar dishing frites, baked brie, crepes, and other European-inspired comfort fare, as well as classic Belgian beers. But upon further inspection, it all made sense: Every Monday, The Bière Library hosts its Dive Bar Night promotion, which pairs shots of Malört and Underberg with tallboys of Rainier and a variety of hot dogs. Something like Malört never really goes down easy, but it doesn’t sting quite as bad as in The Bière Library’s warm atmosphere—a brightly lit space buoyed by wood-paneled walls, plenty of natural light, and dozens of books crammed into every nook and cranny.