Welcome!
Some people collect autographs, some collect antiques, others collect stamps. My hobby is a little different, I collect bars. This site represents my collection, documenting each bar I visit.
This is not a review site, there's plenty of those already. Most posts in this bar diary are slice-of-life recaps of the half hour or so I spent having a beer. I hope you enjoy browsing through my collection!
--ScooterJA Few Random Favorites
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Quarthouse Bar
19 July 2009(Downtown, Council Bluffs, IA) Scooter’s 656th bar, first visited in 2009. We headed over to Main Street and drove up and down both sides trying to decide what our next...
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Boiler Brewing Company
21 November 2018(Downtown, Lincoln, NE) Scooter’s 1301st bar, first visited in 2018. Spectacular brewery in the basement of the Grand Manse building, a former courthouse. Accessed from a stairwell in an alley....
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Nick’s Saloon
27 November 2008(Newark, OH) Scooter’s 523rd bar, first visited in 2008. This was a classic, rustic dive bar. The bar was covered with photos of the regulars, an internet juke box provided...
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Browse By Location
Dates of First Visit
Types of Bars
Van Till Family Farm Winery
(Rayville, MO ) Scooter’s 1844th bar, first visited in 2025. This winery has been on our list for a while, as we had been to its former satellite location in…
Crazy Gnome Brewery
(East Nashville, Nashville, TN) Scooter’s 1843rd bar, first visited in 2025. I decided I wanted to visit one brewery in Nashville while camped about 15 miles north of the city….
Bryson City Brewing
(Bryson City, NC) Scooter’s 1842nd bar, first visited in 2025. It was a toss-up which brewery in Bryson City we were going to visit today, but this one won out…
Native Brews Tap & Grill
(Cherokee, NC) Scooter’s 1841st bar, first visited in 2025. This Native-American (and I believe women as well) owned restaurant and brewery has two locations as of the day before our…
River’s End
(Nantahala Outdoor Center, Bryson City, NC) Scooter’s 1840th bar, first visited in 2025. Cane here for dinner and drinks. Couldn’t sit at the bar due to it being a small…
Clad & Cordon Vineyard
(Creal Springs, IL) Scooter’s 1839th bar, first visited in 2025. We stayed on their RV campground on the first night of a 9-day vacation. We tried pretty much all of…
Strawberry Hill Brewing
(Strawberry Hill, Kansas City, KS) Scooter’s 1838th bar, first visited in 2025. After a few years of delays, this finally opened in the Fall of 2024. But since it’s only…
Missy’s White Rabbit Lounge
(Downtown, Eureka Springs, AR) Scooter’s 1837th bar, first visited in 2025. Missy’s White Rabbit is located in one of the staircase alleys, either one flight down or 2 flights up…
Jack Rabbett’s Whisky Bar
(Downtown, Eureka Springs, AR) Scooter’s 1836th bar, first visited in 2025. This is one of two bars in the Basin Park Hotel, located on the 1st floor (which is actually…
Voodoo Lounge
(Downtown, Eureka Springs, AR) Scooter’s 1835th bar, first visited in 2025. This is the other bar in the New Orleans Hotel, at street level and tucked away in the back…
The Quarter
(Downtown, Eureka Springs, AR) Scooter’s 1834th bar, first visited in 2025. One of two bars in the New Orleans Hotel, I wouldn’t necessarily call this a basement bar because it…
Brews Taproom & Java Joint
(Downtown, Eureka Springs, AR) Scooter’s 1833rd bar, first visited in 2025. A combination coffee shop and craft beer bar. Also offered at least some cocktails — my wife got a…
Spring On Main
(Downtown, Eureka Springs, AR) Scooter’s 1832nd bar, first visited in 2025. This bar/restaurant is accessible only via an outdoor flight of stairs on the second floor of a downtown building….
Kon Tiki
(Downtown, Kansas City, MO) Scooter’s 1831st bar, first visited in 2025. I didn’t even know this tiki bar existed until visiting it on this Sunday afternoon for a birthday party….
Parkville Wine House
(Downtown, Parkville, MO) Scooter’s 1830th bar, first visited in 2025. This wine bar (which also features a curated set of craft beer) opened in 2024 in a converted house right…
Warbird Whiskey
(Downtown, Excelsior Springs, MO) Scooter’s 1829th bar, first visited in 2024. A whiskey/cocktail bar that opened a few months ago, this one with theme honoring American military aviation history. When…
Huey’s Hidden Vault
(Downtown, Excelsior Springs, MO) Scooter’s 1828th bar, first visited in 2024. This is a new whiskey, cocktail, and cigar bar that opened this past August. Don’t worry if you don’t…
The Undertow
(Orange Beach, AL) Scooter’s 1827th bar, first visited in 2024. One of the locals suggested we go here next. We were a little let down when we saw it was…
The Sloop
(Gulf Shores, AL) Scooter’s 1826th bar, first visited in 2024. We were looking for a true dive bar among a sea of touristy bars, and we struck gold with this…
Grassroots Garden Lounge
(Downtown, Smithville, MO) Scooter’s 1825th bar, first visited in 2024. While I was circling around the block after leaving the brewery I noticed this cocktail bar and decided to check…
WelCo Brewing Project
(Smithville, MO) Scooter’s 1824th bar, first visited in 2024. I was camping nearby at Smithville Lake and got bored one afternoon so decided to head into town to check out…
Ron’s Bar
(Petoskey, MI) Scooter’s 1823rd bar, first visited in 2024. While we were at the winery my wife asked one of the servers, “If we wanted to go to a dive…
Mackinaw Trail Winery, Brewery & Bistro
(Petoskey, MI) Scooter’s 1822nd bar, first visited in 2024. This winery / brewery is a few miles south of Petoskey. I’d originally planned to do a wine tasting or have…
The Back Lot
(Downtown, Petoskey, MI) Scooter’s 1821st bar, first visited in 2024. We were looking for someplace to get lunch, and I was charged with finding a place, but no one could…
Legs Inn
(Cross Village, MI) Scooter’s 1820th bar, first visited in 2024. This historic tavern is a must-see tourist destination at the end of the Tunnel of Trees scenic highway. It was…
Petoskey Brewing
(Petoskey, MI) Scooter’s 1819th bar, first visited in 2024. This had been on my must-visit list ever since I saw a picture of the building a little over a year…
Tap30 Pourhouse
(Downtown, Petoskey, MI) Scooter’s 1818th bar, first visited in 2024. Since this was right next door we decided it was a must-visit before heading out of downtown. Most of the…
Mitchell Street Pub
(Downtown, Petoskey, MI) Scooter’s 1817th bar, first visited in 2024. We had parked a couple of blocks away and shopped and a candy shop and a clothing store. I took…
Great Turtle Brewery & Distillery
(Mackinac Island, MI) Scooter’s 1816th bar, first visited in 2024. After high tea at the Grand Hotel we went to the bar at the top of the hotel, which offers…
Mustang Lounge
(Mackinac Island, MI) Scooter’s 1815th bar, first visited in 2024. While we were at the Pink Pony we heard about the oldest bar on the island, so headed over there…
Latest Posts
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#1088: Radius Brewing Company
Posted on April 2015 | No Comments(Downtown, Emporia, KS) Scooter’s 1088th bar, first visited in 2015. Radius Brewing Company opened just in the past year or two and appears to be very successful. We were starting... -
#1087: The Scoreboard Sports Bar & Grill
Posted on April 2015 | No Comments(Downtown, Emporia, KS) Scooter’s 1087th bar, first visited in 2015. We expected this to be the busiest bar of the night, instead it was the quietest at this particular time.... -
#1086: Town Royal
Posted on April 2015 | No Comments(Emporia, KS) Scooter’s 1086th bar, first visited in 2015. This place is apparently an Emporia institution, one of the town’s most beloved bars. While we were seated at the large... -
#1085: Brick Yard 20 Ale House
Posted on April 2015 | No Comments(Downtown, Emporia, KS) Scooter’s 1085th bar, first visited in 2015. This is an enormous new establishment that was still under construction at the time of our visit, but had been... -
#1084: The Noose
Posted on April 2015 | No Comments(Downtown, Emporia, KS) Formerly Lariat Lounge Scooter’s 1084th bar, first visited in 2015. Biker-friendly dive bar with a pool table in the front and a patio in the back. The... -
#1083: Charlie’s Place
Posted on April 2015 | No Comments(Downtown, Emporia, KS) Formerly Last Chance Cantina Scooter’s 1083rd bar, first visited in 2015. Though the bar counter itself is pretty small (though very nice and clean), this is a... -
#1082: Mary’s Place
Posted on April 2015 | No Comments(Emporia, KS) Scooter’s 1082nd bar, first visited in 2015. One of the ratings I sometimes give when visiting bars in new city is, “This is the Zoo Bar of ____.”... -
#1081: Just One More
Posted on April 2015 | No Comments(Emporia, KS) Formerly Purple Duck Scooter’s 1081st bar, first visited in 2015. This narrow dive bar features a long, boomerang-shaped bar with a pool table at one end. We watched... -
#1080: Coach’s
Posted on April 2015 | No Comments(Emporia, KS) Scooter’s 1080th bar, first visited in 2015. This place is quite a bit nicer than I expected. It’s really more of a restaurant than a bar, the bar... -
#1079: Wagon Wheel
Posted on April 2015 | No Comments(Emporia, KS) Scooter’s 1079th bar, first visited in 2015. This was originally going to be our third Emporia stop, but after we learned of its quirky weekday hours we decided... -
#1078: Bishop’s Brew
Posted on April 2015 | No Comments(Ottawa, KS) Scooter’s 1078th bar, first visited in 2015. We started out our weekend road trip with a couple of bottles at this 3.2% beer bar. There’s pool tables, a... -
#1077: Founder’s Club at Sprint Center
Posted on March 2015 | No Comments(Downtown, Kansas City, MO) Scooter’s 1077th bar, first visited in 2015. Had a few beers here before and during the Bob Seger concert. Great food, too. 1407 Grand Kansas City,... -
#1076: Hard Core Cafe
Posted on February 2015 | No Comments(Gladstone, MO) Scooter’s 1076th bar, first visited in 2015. This was our last stop of the night and honestly it’s mostly a blur. It was very busy but we lucked... -
#1075: The North End
Posted on February 2015 | No Comments(Downtown, Kansas City, MO) Formerly La Sala’s Scooter’s 1075th bar, first visited in 2015. Formerly La Sala’s Deli, this was converted into a bar a couple of years ago and... -
#1074: Tapcade
Posted on February 2015 | No Comments(Downtown, Kansas City, MO) Scooter’s 1074th bar, first visited in 2015. Officially part of the new Screenland Crossroads theater, this new arcade/bar (just opened the day before our visit) feels... -
#1073: The Belfry
Posted on February 2015 | No Comments(Downtown, Kansas City, MO) Scooter’s 1073rd bar, first visited in 2015. I’ve known about this place since it opened a while back, but bring that it’s in a spot that’s... -
#1072: Border Brewing Company
Posted on February 2015 | No Comments(Downtown, Kansas City, MO) MOVED – No longer at this location. Scooter’s 1072nd bar, first visited in 2015. This place had been in business for all of about 2 hours... -
#1071: Westport Ale House
Posted on February 2015 | No Comments(Westport, Kansas City, MO) Formerly Streetside Records Scooter’s 1071st bar, first visited in 2015. The last time I was here, this was Pennylane Records and I was buying cassettes and... -
#1070: The Garage Burgers & Brews
Posted on February 2015 | No Comments(Harrisonville, MO) Formerly an auto repair shop Scooter’s 1070th bar, first visited in 2015. This former service center is now a nice little burger joint with a racing/garage theme. It’s... -
#1069: Bier Station
Posted on January 2015 | No Comments(Waldo, Kansas City, MO) Scooter’s 1069th bar, first visited in 2015. This fairly recent addition to Kansas City has already leaped to top spaces in multiple lists of the best... -
#1068: Waldo Pizza Tap Room
Posted on January 2015 | No Comments(Waldo, Kansas City, MO) Scooter’s 1068th bar, first visited in 2015. It’s been several years since Waldo Pizza opened their Tap Room, but until this particular night I had only...




















