Salty Dog Saloon

A wonderful, most perfect dive bar. The drink selection is hard to beat– full liquor bar but lots of fun beers on tap including craft beers and international beers. It would be hard to find a better bar with better selection and prices. Get the fried pickles if you get hungry. A good place to watch a game too.

They are asses. Do not ever go there. They don’t know about customer service. They made my friend cry because they treated her like shit, and they laughed about it because they care more about ripping drunk people off than customer service.

Dog is one of my favorite bars in Gainesville. Nothing beats leaving the library at 3pm, walking a block down the road and having a drink.
They have a wide selection of beers on tap (around 30 at all times) and an even bigger selection of bottles from around the world. Happy hour is from open-​7 everyday and has pretty good deals, such as half off food and cheap 22oz domestic drafts. For those whiskey drinkers, their selection is pretty hefty with 28+ brands of whiskey.
A midtown staple. No matter what you call this bar (though the only correct name is just «dog»), it will for sure be a fun time.

A friend of mine once described Salty Dog as a bar that would be a hipster dive if it wasn’t located at midtown. I think that’s the best way to approach it.
They have a really boss beer selection — everything from nice imports like Orval Trappist Ale and Chimay to American microbrews like Abita.
Moreover, they always have a nice deal going on and one of the best happy hours in town. From 4 – 7 you can get a double wells for $ 2.25 every day of the week.
Not really a fan of the nights it’s busy — then you’re packed like sardines with a bunch of 21-​year-​olds that are still trying to make their college experience into a version of Animal House. But on less crowded nights, it’s a chill place with cheap booze, good service, and a dive-​y atmosphere.
If you want a clean, big bar with overpriced drinks, best look elsewhere.

Atmosphere can easily be summarized in one word: grungy.
Pro: ridiculously cheap beer.

The ultimate college bar in a town full of college bars.
Great selection of beer, good music, and good people. I like it because grad students like myself can find cheap beer and not feel completely old.
The bar does get ridiculously crowded and the bartenders can get a little snotty when you want to close your tab (which is why I prefer cash here), but overall one of my faves in Gainesville!

Heaven on Earth.

This is the quintessential college dive bar. They have a good selection of beers, and always seem to have one cider on tap. I especially like that they have Swamphead, the local Gainesville brewery, on tap. You can come here before, or after, a UF sporting event and get a 20 ounce beer, in a proper glass, for five dollars. There is a fun atmosphere here and this is definitely a Gator hangout. Their floor is even tiled with orange, blue and white vinyl tiles and I have often wondered how many years has it been since they have been thoroughly cleaned. I have heard they serve food here, someone I know told me he has eaten here for years and likes their food. One of my regular companions to this bar has said she would only eat a bag of potato chips that she opened herself here! I have never eaten here, I will admit I come for the beer and fun atmosphere on game day. If you are a Gator fan, and enjoy college town dive bars, this is a fun place.

AUTUMN AT THE SALTY DOG
Children, newly free,
mind the cool moon. Dwell they still
in a wet, black room.

The only reason I’d come back here is super cheap wells. Their long island wasn’t bad, and got the job done pretty quickly. It’s very cramped, though, and can be hard to find seating, but it’s an okay option for Midtown.

Salty Dog is cramped, loud, smoky, and grungy — a true college bar. It’s located right across the street from campus which makes it really convenient to grab a drink before a football game or after an exam.
The drink specials are awesome, especially if you’re living on a college student budget. There’s a great selection of beers, both domestic and imported. They offer $ 5 pitchers all day, a deal you definitely can’t pass up.
Come by during their happy hour where you’ll find even cheaper priced drinks and ½ off food items!

A Gainesville institution. If you don’t like crowds, then this place isn’t for you.

Divey, dirty, smoky, loud, crowded, interesting regulars, horrible bathrooms (almost as bad as Balls), juke box, nice tequila selection IF you can get someone to open it up, and great beer selection — and very affordable if you catch it on happy hour.
Aw yeah, every now and then I need me some Salty Dog!

Great beer selection. It is one of the best in Gainesville. It is rundown, smokey, crowded and loud. Just like a college bar should be. The beer is usually cheap. The bartender smoking behind the bar while serving only adds to the charm.

It’s my favorite bar in Gainesville and not for any reason that makes sense. They have an awesome jukebox, but more importantly, this might be the most tolerant bar in Gainesville regarding drunks. My friend once brought in a monkey wrench that he was throwing in the air at the bar and told the bartender, «smile, it’s wednesday,» to which she replied, «it’s Thursday.» He then fell off his stool and we still were not asked to leave. Personal tip is to watch some of the characters that come in like the girl wearing a Michael Jackson glove I recently witnessed.

If I weren’t in college… or should I say a very recent graduate. I might rate this place lower. It is definitely one of my go-​to bars for cheap drinks with a decent atmosphere.
I prefer to go here in the late afternoon rather than the evenings… not very much fun when it’s super crowded; unless you’re already sauced and then you probably won’t care. They have happy hour every day until 7; they also serve food (not sure about the cleanliness of the kitchen) and the food is pretty decent for bar food. The best thing about happy hour is half priced food!
Their drink specials are different every day/​night; some days they have good specials on imports or just a specific type of drinks (for example seadog blue paw and woodchuck were $ 2 for ladies on saturday). As mentioned in other reviews Yunegling pitchers are always $ 5, good place to take turns buying pitchers with friends. Some night I have trouble meeting my $ 5 tab minimum, lol!
Draft/​beer selection is only bested by Stubbies and Steins, which is a bar dedicated exclusively to beer… so.
They also have a couple «drinking around the world» type challenges that you must complete in 30 days (free shirt involved). They have beer, whiskey, and tequila categories.
It’s a college dive bar with a fun atmosphere and cheap drinks, go have a drink and be merry! It might not be as fancy as Swamp but it’s a hell of a lot cheaper!

A place to get good beer at a good price in GLASSWARE?! On the strip? Right next to an equally awesome and laid back place that had a cracked toilet bowl behind a puddle of vomit the first time I showed up.
Salty Dog, back in the 70s apparently was the only place to get hot food delivered when you were up late. Now days I don’t think you can even buy food here. But you can definitely get beer. It does get crowded, but they’ve got a bar in the back and a bar in the front, and a door at the back and a door at the front. A bit of a collection of old Gator gear and Florida décor on the walls and ceiling. One of the things I love about Salty Dog, other than their clubs for drinking their assortment of beers or whiskeys, or the fact that they have a decent selection of beer and you don’t have to go downtown. Is that they have air conditioning. They also have pool tables and a juke box.

This is a great place to go to meet normal people. Home to some of the least pretentious people in Gainesville, Salty Dog is a great place to meet some friends and just have some beers.
Yuengling Pitchers are always $ 5.
Don’t come here if you like to gel your hair high, wear lots of chains, and compulsively grind any girl around you.

I would have given Salty Dog 5 stars if it was a little bigger. They have an impressive selection of beers on tap, and offer bottled beers from 30+ countries. It’s definitely one of my favorite bars in Gainesville on nights that aren’t too packed, but the bar is so narrow that the crowds generally aren’t worth messing with on Fridays.

A good bar overall. Yes, it is cramped. But what good bar isn’t? It has a good selection of beers on tap and the prices are as cheap as it gets. Good place to chill, but get there early to get a table or some bar stools.