Third Street Dive

Yep it’s a dive. You have to appreciate a bar that strives to be a dive. I enjoyed the back pool table room and the fact that you can write whatever you want on the walls. I would post pictures of all the good wall postings I found from past guests, but too many profanities.

I love this place. There is always an eclectic crowd from people with gauges the size of hubcaps to old hillbillies like me. Always an interesting indie band playing. The bartenders are great and the drink prices are decent. And everyone gets along. I have never seen a fight there. Just a fun spot to hang with your buds.

This place is the epitome of a dive bar. Super cheap drinks and a crazy mix of patrons. While visiting Louisville, we were looking for a cheap bar to visit before heading to 4^th street. This place was perfect for that. $ 5 for a shot of Jim Beam and a beer, you cant beat that deal. Plus $ 2 PBRs, $ 4 – 5 craft beers, and $ 3 makers and gingers… way cheaper then the drinks on 4^th street. The bartender was just friendly enough. It seems like they have live music most weekends. The band we saw was just ok, but it was fun to watch. This place looks like a dirty old bar, but it was surprisingly clean inside. I would definitely go here again to pregame before going over to the more expensive popular bars.

This is the cleanest bar ever. The staff is very helpful, even the local patrons are nice and are a fun group of people to hang out with.

This venue stiffed two bands tonight, one local and one from Nashville. We tried to get them to honor their deal with us, but nothing we said mattered. They made money off the backs of local musicians and kept the cut we earned. Sad, but I won’t spend another dime there.

Fun crowd for karaōke and great atmosphere.
Drinks were standard for drinks and there was really interesting art displayed on the walls.

The owner Lynn is a cool lady and takes no guff from customer. There used to be a machete behind the bar for unruly customers, lol. No really! Pinball machines here are nice, the single pool table is nice and bathrooms are always coated in interesting graffiti.
Tory is the best bartender, so tip her well or buy one of her bowties from the wall, cause bowties are cool! UofL and UofK ones.

A staple hangout for industry folks in the Downtown Louisville area. Service is adequate for a «dive bar» and the owner is a little abrasive, but that’s part of the charm of the traditional dive bar. The staff is consistent and courteous, and the drinks are cheap enough to keep you there. Karaōke on Monday and Thursday for the singing enthusiast.

It is what it is. A «dive bar» and they do it very well! Fun, inexpensive, clean and great service. Wish I found this place years ago!

My husband and I popped in on a Wednesday night after seeing everything on 4^th street was almost closed. This was our last bet. We are from the east coast exploring what the south has to offer. It’s a cheap place to grab a drink. Beers and rails were cheap. The tshirt they sell earns them one extra star. It has a punk rock kinda vibe, and ya can’t hear yourself think or talk when the band plays. For my kind of music/​scene, it’s not my taste, AT ALL. But those who like that type of scene/​music, it’s a cute little nifty spot downtown.

Somehow I have lived in Louisville since 2001 and I am just NOW getting to Third Street Dive.
I joined some coworkers here on a Thursday night for karaōke.
The first things I noticed about this place were that it was very dark and cave like, even though it’s street level and they have 2 pinball machines available for play as well as a pool table in the back. All of these amusements accept quarters. :)
The beer list was reasonable. Bottle selection as well as about 6 beers or so on tap. They have a full bar of course and looked to offer some specials on all drinks depending on the day.
The guy running the karaōke was very friendly and helpful in setting up an app that allows you to select your songs from your phone instead of the old pen and paper drill. You can tell the Thursday karaōke thing is a normal around here. They were prepared and had no issues getting it rolling. I noticed how well the microphones worked without having to constantly fix them as you do occasionally at other karaōke joints. Kudos for that!
I am glad I can say I have been here. It is definitely a worthy dive bar.

I really really really liked this place. It fit the dive feel for sure. Pool table in the back, Pinball machines on the side and no real ambiance or theme feel. Drinks were priced much better than the other places on Fourth street which was a nice break.
For anyone looking for a casual time with some friends, this is the place I’d recommend!

I’m not a fan of this place. In fairness, I have only been here once. Hopefully that night wasn’t representative of an average night.
For starters, the bouncer was calling out at passersby on the street to come to the bar. Which seems unnecessary to me. I don’t think many (if any) other bars around town have guys on the street doing his. We were already walking straight towards the bar and he starting hollering at me/​my friends. It didn’t offend me much. But some of my friends were really put off at being yelled at from across the street.
Secondly, like a lot small bars, you can’t take your drink outside (if you want to smoke or just get some air). It’s nothing they can fix (they don’t have a patio or beer garden and their front door is right on the street) but it’s annoying if there is a band playing, as there was the night I was there. I couldn’t hear anything. I had to shout my drink orders to the bartender. And I had to leave or finish my drink if I wanted to go outside to actually have a conversation with my friends. The band was placed right by the door, 15 feet from the bartop. The space is just too small for a loud band. It’s impossible to hear yourself, much less the bartender telling you how much you owe on a drink. Side note: they had a $ 10 minimum on cards that night and a $ 5 cover. I would happily pay these things at Play or Marquee or Nowhere bar, because I know I am paying to be inside a quality location. But at a dirty dive on third street? It seems cheap and desperate.
To be fair, the band was great. And the patrons at the bar were great. The bartenders seemed annoyed all night… but who could blame them? They probably couldn’t hear anything their patrons were saying. I didn’t explore much of the bar space. The crowd was gathered around the band (which was by the door) so there wasn’t much room to walk around. The crowd around the band also blocked the bar so it was difficult to even get a drink. So, I hung by the bar off to the side. My friends and I were all silent. And we’d finish our drinks and go outside to talk. Come back in and do it all over again.
Maybe I’m not the best person to review a place like this. If you came to see a band playing or you just want to sit quietly and sip your drink alone, by all means, you might enjoy it. But overall, I found myself bored and annoyed all night. I definitely don’t recommend putting yourself through the same.

Definitely lives up to its name… in a good way. I came across it as I was walking away from the annoyingness of 4^th St and would have walked by if not for the ‘$ 5 Beam and a Beer’ sign out front.
The bar tender (Ken maybe) kept my glass full, told me the history of the place, bull$hitted with the locals, and definitely kept my glass full. Cheap beer flows here.
The pool table’s a little too nice for this place. But the dart board is horse hair and they have two pinball tables (LOTR and Boobarella) so there’s plenty to do. oh yeah, and Trivial Pursuit cards on the bar.
A metal band was setting up when I left. From what I gathered they have music there all the time. My guess is it gets LOUD in there. Bet it’d be fun though.
If you’re ever downtown and sick of the overpriced scenesters, definitely head over to the Dive.

Stayed downtown for the derby and found this place as we were looking for something a little more «salt of the earth» than the 4^th street and main street joints. Ended up coming here each of the 3 nights we were here. The «divey-​ness» is a little manufactured (e.g., they have a pretty professional, full-​size pool table) and the prices are a little high for a «dive» bar, but most everyone here were the nicest people we met in Louisville and we were happy to be there until at least 4 am each night.

Monday night karaōke is a blast! They have plenty of good beers on tap and lots of friendly smiling faces.

Nice friendly dive bar. There are several regulars that hang out here to 3 or 4 am. Drinks are good, but a little light on the pour after the first one. Prices are good — and the specials are darn cheap.
It has a couple of pinball machines and a pool table.
I’d definitely go back … oh yeah, I did go back.

No food. Great if you want to step out for a quick drink. The staff was very friendly!

Fun crowd. Good space. Good drinks, though a little more expensive that I expect from a «dive bar» but they were made well!
Downtown bars aren’t usually on my list of good/​fun places to go, but I like Third Street Dive.

Never have I been treated with such disrespect by the owner of any establishment. I was hassled about giving my military ID card at the door, and required to provide other alternative ID. I was insulted, and told I was not welcome to speak with one of the owners, when I had the gall to say ‘Hi’ once. I subjected to a 15 minute diatribe of abuse which others at the time referred to as «appalling.»
I accepted this for a period of months, due to the simple fact that they have a great pool table, and several good friends have not yet been subjected to the amazingly poor customer service. Many of us have experienced the same level of outright hostility from the owner, and I have witnessed it first hand quite often.
Until such time as the management changes, I will no longer be a customer there, due to the complete lack of respect given to me by (one of) the owners. Other bars in the area provide a smile when you enter, and cheaper drinks. My typical drink cost me $ 7 at 3Rd St Dive, while another bar a few blocks away charges me $ 5.
If I could give zero stars, I would.
Edit: Since Rick seems to like to try to get the honest reviews removed, I will just continue to add details, each time if Unilocal chooses to remove it, until one sticks.
There is nothing, NOTHING, but the 100% honest truth in my review. And there never will be.
Also, Rick, since you feel the need to our what I termed as ‘one of the owners’ as your wife, I guess It’s OK to call her out directly for her behavior in the bar, and by full name, since you feel the need to use my full name. I knew others have experienced the exact same type of strange behavior, so I didn’t see the need to point out which owner it was. As for ‘personal attacks,’ since I didn’t mention anyone by name, age, race, or gender, you will have a very hard time showing that. And I have NEVER been anything but 100% polite to your wife. EVER. Your partner is just a bad person when it comes to customer relations. She treats people poorly. She bad mouths people behind their backs. She yells at people for no reason. And she does this in her capacity of a business owner, in her place of business.
And you charge me 40% more for the same drink and the same size drink as a place not far from you. Pool is $ 1, while another place its 75 cents.
Edit: Had to save this: «Your usual a Rusty Nail is made with two top shelf liquors (Grand Marnier and Drambouie)»
And this guy bar-​tends there.
At any rate, if you want to go to a place where the owners yell at you, think you are spying on them, claim you have emotional baggage, that you are dishonest, who will make fun of the clothing you wear (my ‘man-​bag’ is typically referred to as a wallet. You can find it on the Maxpedition site), and call your military ID ‘an accessory’ feel free. Not my cup of tea, when there are much nicer places in town.