Scooter’s 1721st bar, first visited in 2023.

510B Edmond St
St. Joseph, MO 64501
US
[launch map]
+18162616328
Visit Web Site

Scooter’s 1447th bar, first visited in 2020.

I had a flight of Goldlion (golden stout), Arrowhead Red (Amber Lager), Jerry’s Porter, and Tee Time Mild (English mild ale). I also got a half pour of the Piper on the Bluff (Scotch ale).

1224 Frederick Ave
St. Joseph, MO 64501
United States
[launch map]
+18162595339
Visit Web Site

Scooter’s 1446th bar, first visited in 2020.

In the basement is a “speakasy” area that you are welcome to take your drinks to even if the basement bar itself is not open.

I had a flight with Sif’s Hefeweizen, Lupulin Smash IPA Centenniel, and Valkyrie Vanilla Porter. I also had a full pour of Mjolnir Stout.

513 Francis St
St. Joseph, MO 64501
United States
[launch map]
+18166174038
Visit Web Site

Scooter’s 930th bar, first visited in 2011.

The bar is U-shaped and juts into the area where the salad bar would once have been. The remaining space is filled mainly by the pool table, with room for a few small tables around it.

The bar had about 8 guys in it who were disinterestedly watching a college football game while waiting for the rain delay of the Royals game they were more interested in to end.

2602 N Belt Hwy
St. Joseph, MO 64506
US
[launch map]
(816) 364-9276
Visit Web Site

Scooter’s 929th bar, first visited in 2011.

The stage is in a recessed area at the far back, the venue tapers to a point at the front end of the bar.

There’s pool tables, a punching bag game, Silver Strike, and Golden tee. There’s lots of seating, they make good use of the building’s odd shape.

Outside the north door is a pretty good sized enclosed patio.

5617 Lake Avenue
St. Joseph, MO 64504
US
[launch map]
(816) 238-5020
Visit Web Site

Scooter’s 928th bar, first visited in 2011.

What I love about these really-old bars in old parts of town is that, no matter what the exterior may look like, inside there is often hidden beauty. And such is the case here.

The bar makes full use of the building’s first floor (the second floor is living space). The floor is hardwood, the ceiling is the building’s original ornate tile. All of the woodwork inside the bar is breathtaking and well-maintained.

There’s pool tables, a jukebox, darts, Silver Strike (which was being played by an amusingly enthusiastic old man), and a very small stage/DJ area behind a rail in one of the front windows. Over my table was a disco ball, which was plugged in and had a spotlight aimed at it, so obviously the area in which I was sitting gets turned into a dance floor from time to time. The bartender was very friendly, too.

This was obviously truly a “Neighborhood” tavern, as there were only a few cars here yet a couple dozen people inside.

2112 South 10th Street
St. Joseph, MO 64503
US
[launch map]
(816) 232-8060

Scooter’s 927th bar, first visited in 2011.

The J-shaped bar sits in the middle of the back wall, and numerous tables and pool tables fill the vast space. The band area is on the east end of the bar.

Other entertainment includes darts, a punching game, Silver Strike, a South Park pinball game, and huge TVs. Kurt played pinball while I played Silver Strike.

2316 North Belt Highway
St. Joseph, MO 64506
US
[launch map]
816-233-0123
Visit Web Site

Scooter’s 926th bar, first visited in 2011.

Tuck’s Bar is a biker-friendly bar attached to the front of Belt Bowl. It has pool tables, several TVs, a foosball table, and a patio out front.

We sat at the short, angular bar and watched the first half hour or so of “Angels and Demons” with the bartender.

210 North Belt Hwy
St. Joseph, MO 64506
US
[launch map]
(816) 364-9805
Visit Web Site

Scooter’s 925th bar, first visited in 2011.

The U-shaped bar takes up most of the cozy main room, with a few round tables along the windows. A secondary room a few steps down has a pool table and a few more round tables.

There’s a snack machine in one corner, and Golden Tee in another.

Our bartender was a very friendly woman whose sister owns the bar. She was a big part of what made this the best find of the day. Their family has owned this bar since 1998.

1310 South Belt Highway
St. Joseph, MO 64507
US
[launch map]
(816) 364-9007

Scooter’s 924th bar, first visited in 2011.

This place is much bigger than it looks. The horseshoe shaped bar appears to be in the middle of the back wall, but continuing down a narrow corridor past the bar reveals another seating area in the bar back.

There’s a full kitchen, pool tables, darts, Golden Tee, a hunting game, at flatscreen TVs galore. If you’re there with a few friends, enjoy the beer towers!

621 South 36th Street
St. Joseph, MO 64507
US
[launch map]
(816) 279-9389
Visit Web Site

Scooter’s 922nd bar, first visited in 2011.

This is a rock-and-roll dance club. The bar runs down one side, while the stage and dance floor are on the other side. There was no cover, though i don’t know if that’s normally the case or if it was just because we were there so late.

512 Felix St
St. Joseph, MO 64501
US
[launch map]
816-617-6668
Visit Web Site

Scooter’s 921st bar, first visited in 2011.

This is technically a gay bar, but other than the dancers in a back this seemed more like an all-are-welcome type of place. Similar to Balanca’s or The View back home.

There was a cover charge, but it was only a buck so I went ahead and paid. The drink was a mystery shot, something minty tasting. We chatted with a middle-aged couple standing at one of the tables.

615 Felix Street
St. Joseph, MO 64501
US
[launch map]
(816) 364-2625

Scooter’s 920th bar, first visited in 2011.

619 Felix Street
St. Joseph, MO 64501
US
[launch map]
(816) 364-9105

Scooter’s 919th bar, first visited in 2011.

The bartender only served us because we were walking, which I appreciated. We had Jim Beam shots.

726 Felix Street
St. Joseph, MO 64501
US
[launch map]
(816) 364-4400
Visit Web Site

Scooter’s 918th bar, first visited in 2011.

We were getting full at this point so settled on shots. Unable to make up our own minds, the bartender served us Hot Damn.

There was a guy passed out at the end of the bar, you can see him in the first photo below. We were asked to be very careful not to wake him. That’s his scooter next to the pool table in the other photo.

1111 Frederick Ave
St. Joseph, MO 64501
US
[launch map]
816-279-4645
Visit Web Site

Scooter’s 917th bar, first visited in 2011.

We played Golden Tee here. I, at least, played quite badly, perhaps my worst game ever. This is evident in my third photo below.

In addition to the two main rooms of the bar, there’s also a really nice rooftop deck.

Additional photos from another visit in September 2011. By the way, the food here is great! (Oh, and I redeemed myself on Golden Tee.)

1117 Frederick Avenue
St. Joseph, MO 64501
US
[launch map]
(816) 364-9043
Visit Web Site

Scooter’s 916th bar, first visited in 2011.

B had a Venom energy drink, while I had a Guinness.

We played Golden Tee here. By this point we weren’t paying any attention to scores at all, I have no idea how either of us did.

The exterior photo shown on this entry was taken on a re-visit in September 2011, my original photo was too blurry.

1415 Frederick Avenue
St. Joseph, MO 64501
US
[launch map]
(816) 390-9999

Scooter’s 915th bar, first visited in 2011.

Once we got inside, though, we realized that the answer should have been obvious from the name — it’s a pool hall.

The bar area is semi-partitioned away from the area with the pool tables. It’s not a huge pool hall, just 3 or 4 tables. There’s also a stage area in one of the corners towards the front of the building.

We ended up shooting a game here, and I played the worst game of my life. I didn’t sink even one ball at all.

1811 Frederick Avenue
St. Joseph, MO 64501
US
[launch map]
(816) 232-6633

Scooter’s 914th bar, first visited in 2011.

I saw Golden Tee and lots of flatscreens, but I didn’t notice any darts or pool tables. That doesn’t mean there aren’t any, though, since I didn’t see the whole place.

B tried to pass us off as freelance journalists in order to get some good stories, but no one was buying it.

Here’s a better picture from the bar’s web site:

1817 Frederick Avenue
St. Joseph, MO 64501
US
[launch map]
(816) 233-7363
Visit Web Site

Scooter’s 913th bar, first visited in 2011.

Pop A Top is located in a remote semi-wooded area in extreme northern St. Joseph, far-removed from any other bars or restaurants. It is part of a tiny cluster of brick buildings surrounded by gravel lots of old or rusting industrial equipment, buses, trucks, and other vehicles. Aging mobile homes making up most of the remainder of the surroundings.

It was originally a bank, but was converted to a bar in the 1950s and operated as Family Tavern for about 30 years. Family Tavern closed after the owner died, but later Pop A Top re-opened the space.

There’s no taps, so we got a couple of cans of beer. Either there was no air conditioning or it wasn’t working. A pair of noisy and powerful fans were employed to attempt to ventilate the place. Despite the fans, with it being 100 degrees outside, it took only a few minutes for our beer to warm up to room temperature.

It was quite a bit darker in there than my pictures (taken with a high exposure setting) let on. There appeared to be a back room that looked big enough for pool tables, but the lights were out and we could not really see for sure without risking tripping over fans. I’m going to assume that there was indeed at least one pool table.

[Update: I visited again a couple months later and visited the back room, there is indeed a pool table back there.]

As rickety and run-down as the building is, the woodwork of the bar itself is beautiful.

Additional pictures from my second visit in September 2011, better showing the bar’s woodwork and also showing the back room:

5107 Savannah Road
St. Joseph, MO 64505
US
[launch map]
(816) 364-9744

Scooter’s 912th bar, first visited in 2011.

The L-shaped bar occupies the front half of the narrow space, framed by a Silver Strike machine and a dart board. The back half has darts, pool tables, and a dance floor. The restrooms are up a small set of stairs in the far back.

It was very smokey in here and a true dive. Music was playing and B danced to it a little, an employee promised him it would be rocking in here in about another hour.

1805 St Joseph Ave
St. Joseph, MO 64505
US
[launch map]
816-364-9590
Visit Web Site

Scooter’s 911th bar, first visited in 2011.

This is the second of two St. Joe bars (that I know of) with the Hamm’s Bear painted on the outside. (Sadly, no Hamm’s Beer is sold inside.) From the outside it looks quite big, but the interior is more intimate.

The main room features a straight bar that runs to the back of the corner building. To the side is a smaller game room with pool tables and Golden Tee.

We decided to play Golden Tee while a class reunion was getting set up around us. To pass the time while it was my turn, B pretended to be a long-forgotten classmate.

2028 Saint Joseph Ave
St. Joseph, MO 64505
US
[launch map]
(816) 279-4422
Visit Web Site

Scooter’s 910th bar, first visited in 2011.

I was really surprised to find it open, as several online sources list it as closed and there are no recent reviews or posts on any web site I could find about it.

It’s really more an upscale-casual restaurant today, but there is a bar along the back wall. I’d like to take a moment now to apoligize to the host, as we walked towards the bar I didn’t notice you standing there trying to ask us about our seating preference.

I was kind of beered out so I decided to try a Twisted Tea instead. Big mistake, that stuff is nasty!

We were getting hungry so ordered a basket of fried pepper jack cheese bites. These came out in record time, but turned out to be cheddar cheese. I had a few anyway but let B finish them off.

Since we had paid our bar tab earlier, I forgot all about the addition of the appetizer and nearly walked out without paying for it. Whoops!

The First Ward House also has a very nice, well-shaded deck around the back. But it was way too hot to be out there!

2101 Saint Joseph Avenue
St. Joseph, MO 64505
US
[launch map]
(816) 279-9930
Visit Web Site

Scooter’s 909th bar, first visited in 2011.

The bar is a U-shaped island with a small gap, there’s a couple of long tables beyond that. There’s a couple of pool tables, Silver Strike, and an odd empty area in the left portion of the room that perhaps serves as an area for live entertainment. (I’ve found references to live music and stand-up comedy, but these were from older sources so I don’t know if that sort of entertainment is still booked here.)

The special this evening was $2 MGD 64 bottles, so we reluctantly ordered the beer-flavored water.

2007 Saint Joseph Avenue
St. Joseph, MO 64505
US
[launch map]
(816) 232-3440

Scooter’s 908th bar, first visited in 2011.

We almost missed out, too. After leaving American Tavern, had I simply continued straight north, we’d have found it easily. But I mis-remembered the layout of this neighborhood (there are streets running at odd angles) and I made an unnecessary left turn just short of our destination. When the road came to an end I knew I’d made a mistake and we began searching the neighborhood, to no avail. After several minutes we were getting close to giving up when the GPS finally honed in on it and got us to our destination.

We knew we were in for a treat when we found this to be a neighborhood dive, surrounded by houses on all sides. We knew we were going to love this place when a neighbor came out to distract his pit bull as we walked by. And when we stepped in to head the bartender explaining to a couple of other customers how terrified she is of clowns, we somehow knew we were going to have more fun here than we’d had all day.

It turned out that bartender’s name was Becky, and she’s 1/2 of the couple who owns the bar. The other half is her husband, Waylan, who showed up later at the end of our visit. “Having a name like Waylan is like having the biggest cock,” she said. Or maybe it was B who said that, I don’t remember and my notes aren’t very clear.

There is quite a collection of bras on the bar, a recent development. “A while back one of the customers just up and took her bra off, and said she wanted to hang it up. So we did. Then other ladies started doing it,” Becky explained. “Now boxer shorts have even started to join the collection.”

She also told us the tragic story of a night around Christmas, when the bar was empty, and about 20 young guys from another town stormed the place and beat the crap out of her husband. There were never any arrests made, and it is believed to have been a case of mistaken identity, them mistaking her husband for someone else from a different bar who they all apparently felt had wronged them in some way.

Apart from the somberness of that part of the conversation, we really enjoyed our time here sitting and talking with the owners. In addition to the great personalities, this is a fun-looking bar all around and I’de love to visit again when it’s busier.

In fact, here’s how good a time we had — when we first arrived we noticed the Silver Strike machine and put a few dollars in it to play. But we never got around to actually doing so!

Panorama of Jumpin Jacks’s. Use the slider below the photo to view.

301 Middleton Street
St. Joseph, MO 64505
US
[launch map]
(816) 387-8888
Visit Web Site

Scooter’s 907th bar, first visited in 2011.

Though they have draft beer, we decided to go with bottles for this one. Our bartender, Jessie, was very friendly.

The main room features a long L-shaped bar against a wall of brick and detailed woodwork.

There’s also a big back room that takes up the ground floor of the neighboring building, that room has pool tables, Silver Strike, darts, and aenough room for live entertainment. We spent most of our visit back here playing Silver Strike.

The men’s room floor slopes down to the right, and the toilet is installed in such a way that the bowl is partly under the sink.

1001 N 3rd St
St. Joseph, MO 64501
US
[launch map]
(816) 364-9103

Scooter’s 906th bar, first visited in 2011.

There’s Silver Strike, but I don’t recall if I saw a pool table or not due to the crowd. I’m going to assume it does, as every VFW I have ever been to has at least one.

We talked to a really nice gentleman at the far end of the bar, but as we asked questions about the area he informed us he was new in town and referred us to an acquaintance of his at a nearby table. That person was able to answer our questions but one member of his party was noticeably annoyed by our intrusion.

I went to the bar and spoke to Evelyn, the bartender, and purchased a round of drinks for that table (as well as the man we spoke to first) in order to try to smooth things over. Hopefully it worked, I felt badly.

As we left, B said to me “Look at all those spools.”. I laughed, thinking this was either some ethnic slur I had never heard before, or was some new term making fun of older people. I didn’t noticed that there was literally a whole bunch of spools right across the street:

View Larger Map

821 North 4th Street
St. Joseph, MO 64501
US
[launch map]
(816) 364-3076

Scooter’s 905th bar, first visited in 2011.

Though it’s essentially one big room, it’s divided in that the south half is a deli and the north half is a bar.

There’s a pool table and a handful of flatscreen TVs, but the most prominent feature is the vast collection of beer bottles. Literally thousands of bottles, on multiple shelves, all the way around the room along every wall. (See the panorama below.)

While I was using the men’s room I noticed I had a nice view of the charming little house next door. Hopefully the residents don’t also have a nice view of the charming little urinal I was using.

Panorama of Magoon’s. Use the slider below the photo to view.

632 South 8th Street
St. Joseph, MO 64501
US
[launch map]
(816) 232-3611
Visit Web Site

Scooter’s 904th bar, first visited in 2011.

This did in fact turn out to be true, as our entrance was met with complete silence and several looks of “What are you doing in here?” Indeed, the bartender seemed quite surprised when we actually ordered drinks and stayed.

We found a customer who opened up to us, though, and once we started talking to him the tension died down and others started talking to us as well. After a few minutes it was all back to normal.

We learned that the bar is owned by Babe McGaughy, and that “McGaughy” is pronounced “mig hoy”. We’re still not clear on the “A J R” portion of the name, but we were told that “A & J R’s” would be a more accurate way of putting it.

During the initial moments, when nerves were still a little high, one of us spilled a bit of their drink. I forget which one of us it was.

1702 Messanie St
St. Joseph, MO 64501
US
[launch map]
(816) 364-5033

Scooter’s 903rd bar, first visited in 2011.

But then a little dog named Rosie walked up to greet us, and after we petted her the ice was broken and we were welcomed into the fold.

We soon learned that Rosie had a special talent, she liked to sit on the shoulders of a guy named Mike while he shot pool. Mike happened to be sitting nearby, so B challenged him to a round.

And they weren’t kidding, that little dog happily climbed up on his shoulders and sat there through the whole game!

It’s quirky little finds like this that make me love going to these off-the-beaten-path dive bars. You never know just what to expect!

1927 Olive Street
St. Joseph, MO 64507
US
[launch map]
(816) 279-7299

Scooter’s 902nd bar, first visited in 2011.

Our beer choices were cans of Milwaukee’s Best Light or Keystone Light, so we took one of each.

The person we started talking to first turned out to be Michelle, one-half of the couple who owns Pappy’s. She’s originally from Minneapolis and we swapped stories about places we had visited on our trip there in 2006. Her husband Steven, who is the “Pappy” of Pappy’s, used to be a New York City cab driver. He wasn’t there during our visit.

The other person we talked to was the bartender, Mark. Between the two of them we got lot of great info about places we should visit while in town, as well as places to avoid. Of course, with us, telling us to avoid a place only guarantees we’ll go to it.

Michelle and Mark…

Pappy, as seen in his 1974 taxi license…

2501 Messanie Street
St. Joseph, MO 64501
US
[launch map]
(816) 390-9550
Visit Web Site

Scooter’s 901st bar, first visited in 2011.

$1 draws!

We played several 3-hole games of Golden Tee while a few patrons sat at the bar watching real golf on TV. The bartender asked us to turn the volume down on the game. We complied, but every time we started a new game the volume would default back up to maximum. We think she was starting to get annoyed with us.

I should add that this place is a popular college hangout. Of course, since we were here during the summer, we didn’t see any college kids.

Back side, showing an apparent upstairs apartment.

3229 Mitchell Avenue
St. Joseph, MO 64507
US
[launch map]
(816) 279-9484
Visit Web Site

Scooter’s 900th bar, first visited in 2011.

You can’t quite tell from these photos, but the west outside wall of the bar is actually leaning in a little!

Tracey, our bartender, congratulated me on #900. “Now go make someone number 901!” she said when we left.

A rare photo of me with my beer…

817 Garfield Avenue
St. Joseph, MO 64503
US
[launch map]
(816) 901-9971

Scooter’s 899th bar, first visited in 2011.

It’s smokey, and seems a little rough and intimidating at first, but we ended up finding the people to be pretty friendly.

There’s a pool table and a Silver Strike machine, as well as a vending machine that dispenses lottery tickets. B bought a few and won $5, then bought 5 more tickets and won $25.

The restrooms are too tiny for sinks, so a communal sink sits behind a partition outside the bathroom doors.

Amusingly, when we walked in, the bartender thought B asked for a couple of “straws” when he in fact asked for a couple of “draughts”. So there was some momentary confusion when she handed us two drinking straws.

A men’s room that looks like this is a sure sign that you’re in a dive bar…

1701 Garfield Avenue
St. Joseph, MO 64503
US
[launch map]
(816) 364-9083

Scooter’s 898th bar, first visited in 2011.

We played a game of Silver Strike here while an incredibly skinny waitress took care of nearby customers.

When we first started taking photos, we got a lot of dirty looks from some of the customers. But eventually an employee gave us permission, making it easier to snap a few pictures.

1612 Commercial Street
St. Joseph, MO 64503
US
[launch map]
(816) 232-5513

Scooter’s 897th bar, first visited in 2011.

At one point in the past the bar was U-shaped and sat in the middle of the room. Now it is a linear bar along the north wall.

Everything here is old-school. Pool is still only 50 cents to play — the bar’s owner refuses to work with the local arcade supply company and their contracts, he wants to do things his own way. In fact, it’s so old-school here that the jukebox was only recently upgraded to a CD Jukebox, it had been a vinyl record jukebox until just a few years ago.

2302 South 11th Street
St. Joseph, MO 64503
US
[launch map]
(816) 233-6960

Scooter’s 896th bar, first visited in 2011.

I was unclear if this little outbuilding in the parking lot sold bait or fresh fish…

The men’s room has this little notch carved out of the door. Without it, it would be impossible to open the door without it slamming into the sink!

It actually seems almost like a family kind of place, so the condom machine in the men’s room was a little unexpected.

2221 South 4th Street
St. Joseph, MO 64501
US
[launch map]
816) 279-0826

Scooter’s 895th bar, first visited in 2011.

We’ll say that this place, uh, “pays homage” to the “Hooters” restaurant chain. From the logo to the uniforms to the menu, there are some striking similarities. It’s a little mroe toned down and divey than Hooters, though.

You have to love the way the burgers are named! (See the menu picture below.)

There’s free wifi, and (at least during the time of our visit) $1 cans.

408 Hickory Street
St. Joseph, MO 64501
US
[launch map]
(816) 232-4450
Visit Web Site

Scooter’s 894th bar, first visited in 2011.

The older couple running the place (I assume they were the owners) were playfully bickering back and forth. Our juvenile minds had a hard time not laughing at the shouting of “Why can’t I get any head?” during the filling of a pitcher of beer.

2414 South 4th Street
St. Joseph, MO 64501
US
[launch map]
(816) 232-5375

Scooter’s 893rd bar, first visited in 2011.

The small, angular bar is in the back corner. They serve a food here and were getting themselves ready for the upcoming lunch crowd.

Too late (we were already into our drinks) we noticed that they serve a beer we’d never heard of before, called Git-R-Done, which comes from a microbrewery in Nebraska. (We’d end up ordering this at another bar later, which I will not mention the name of. B thought it was too sweet and malty, while I didn’t detect the sweetness so much but thought the aftertaste was reminiscient of a sweaty foot. The bartender at that later bar, not this bar, asked us what we thought. After politely saying “It was okay,” she replied “Yeah, we don’t brag about it.”)

It should be noted that the men’s bathroom here at Pop’s Place smelled horrendous, yet paradoxically was one of the cleanest bathrooms we have ever encountered.

By the way, it didn’t occur to us to ask who Dakota is, or why he/she deserves congratulations.

238 Illinois Avenue
St. Joseph, MO 64504
US
[launch map]
(816) 238-3344

Scooter’s 892nd bar, first visited in 2011.

The bartender was outside on the phone and didn’t see us at first, but he noticed us after a few moments, apoligized, and got us taken care of.

6210 King Hill Avenue
St. Joseph, MO 64504
US
[launch map]
(816) 238-9950

Scooter’s 891st bar, first visited in 2011.

Evidently they aren’t used to having bar customers this early on a Friday, because no one working on the bar side knew how to work the taps. The beer was coming out as all foam, and they didn’t know what to do. After a few tries they decided to sell us bottled beer at draft beer prices. But then it turned out no one knew what they charged for either type. Eventually we all agreed on $2 each as the price. Hilarious!

The centerpiece of the bar is a working slot machine that dispenses tokens. We have no idea if there is a purpose for the tokens or if it’s just for fun. The machine is rigged so that you can stop each dial individually.

6106 King Hill Avenue
St. Joseph, MO 64504
US
[launch map]
(816) 238-2150