The 1899 Pub

Great little bar in Willoughby… the bartender was the sweetest and very engaging. She was always asking if we needed anything and very friendly. Went up with a few friends while in town and the service and drink prices were amazing! Love local spots like these in small towns. Anyone looking for a very nice atmosphere and great prices should definitely check out the 1899 pub.
Can’t wait to get back when I visit again!

It’s a pretty decent place. The night we happen to be there it was going to turn into a punch bar very shortly. It is a shot and a beer place, there are dollar bills staples all over the place from where people think that’s a good idea to leave dollar bills stapled to the ceiling and the walls.
They do have a pretty decent outdoor patio which looks like it was recently updated and they should emphasize that more but it didn’t seem like there was much going on outside even though it was a really nice night. Maybe incorporating some music outside or actually having a bartender standing at the bar and tending bar. Nothing is worse for a patron than having to try to flag somebody down to get them a beer. Heavens knows how many beers have disappeared from people leaning over the bar to help themselves simply because no one’s there to help them. I go here about once a year in my review reflects that. It’s a great bar to bar hop in on a bar crawl but definitely not a destination at least not for me

Nice little bar with about 17 beers on tap and another 75+ bottled micro brews and domestics bottled.

Weeeeee!
Got here and felt like a mix of a biker bar, a rock bar and a college bar. I’d heard this was a place to hit later in your bar crawl and when we got there, I looked around and wondered why. I could spend the whole night there. Great patio, but the real clincher was upstairs. For $ 8 you get a pile of cups, a pitcher of beer and two ping pong balls. You know what that means-​fun night out!
Is like to apologize to the top floor. I swear I used to be better at beer pong! How embarrassing!

This is a total dive, it smells, the people are generally totally hammered and the bathrooms are scary BUT the bartenders are friendly, fast and its super cheap!

Bathrooms are a borderline health hazard.
Bouncers are vindictive and extremely aggressive.
The beer selection is great though.

I’ve gotta give this place ⁵⁄₅ stars for their most awesome beer selection. The first time I visited Willoughby (four or five years ago) their beer selection was pretty meh. It was all the big label, to be expected beers on draft. I’m coming from LA so I want to see more obscure micro brews — particularly ones from the area that I would probably never see in the major cities. Sure they had Goose Island and Great Lakes but I know there are smaller guys making brews out there.
This past trip I decided to stop in (was getting bored with the other places Willoughby had to offer) and I was blown away by the changes. I ended up chatting with one of the bartender/​managers who was responsible for their tap selections. Turns out he and I had a similar interest — IPAs! The hoppier the better and I was also surprised that he knew a lot of my favorite IPAs on the west coast… and let me tell you, nothing is better than west coast hops.
After 2 or 3 glasses of beer he started bringing out some of his private collection that weren’t even on the menu. Stone (from SD), Green Flash (SD), Ballast Point (SD), Bear Republic (Sonoma) to name a few…
I hope nothing changes, will be my favorite go to pub for years to come whilst in Willoughby.

This place is great during the day, but by night: ATTACK OF THE DOUCHEBAGS!!!

I stood at the bar for at least 15 minutes without having a bartender offer to get me a drink. And they weren’t THAT busy at the time. The inside is too small for as many people that pack in there. The bathroom was pretty gross, with nowhere to sit or hang my bag, which is annoying.
I would not come back here.

Kick ass beer selection! Its great when ya get a bartender who likes to chat about beer too! Parking can be iffy on weekends. Now I hear Willoughby, Ballentine and 1899 are by the same owners… i hope the quality does not go down (like Willoughby Brewing has)…

A pretty cool place with a good patio that’s right next to the restaurant Ballantine in downtown Willoughby. The two of them together make for a pretty solid 1 – 2 punch, and are a good way to see a few of the hipper denizens of Lake County rubbing elbows with the typical bros and bimbos. The beer selection is good. The selection of drunken 20-​somethings is even better. Loud and packed all nights save for Sundays. I would say that it’s probably the best «bar» bar in Downtown Willoughby. Of course, at this point I would probably say anything to get you into bed.
Geez, just kidding.
I just said that to prepare you because if you’re a woman you’re probably gonna get hit on when you go there. Not by me, though. I’m shy. (Fo’ real.) Still, it’s probably the least meat-​markety of the bars in the area (excluding Ballantine), but Downtown Willoughby is kind of, like, one big historic meat market so there’s bound to be some lunkhead spillover.

Before I start my review, I’ll say I’m not legal to drink for a year and a half. That said, I’ll continue. I seriously think I want my first legal drink to be here. This bar is perfect for my age group, and the alcohol selection looks lovely and plentiful. I came here with my dad to find a place to eat out with my mother for his birthday. We had coke and some cucumberesque things, which were pretty good, but I don’t remember what they were called. It was a little loud, and I’m not quite sure why they have a tv in the corner if no one can hear it, but overall a nice bar for those of us in the younger crowd!

I was just at 1899 last weekend and it was packed with, like previous reviews, 20 something’s whooping it up and having fun. Now I can appreciate this because I was 20 something before and love coming to places like this. Where now in my 30’s, I prefer a more laid back, relaxed atmosphere. So I can’t knock 1899 for being packed.
The bar itself is small compared to surrounding places. But it seems that they are utilizing every extra square footage they have. The patio area is perfect for people to go out for a smoke and /​or to hang out with friends on a summer day. There also is an upstairs that can be a little less crowded, but that is hit or miss. The bar itself has a few tables and a nice L shaped bar with dozen or so stools. This is great during happy hours when getting a seat is easy, but when the people start pouring in, get a spot at the end of the bar by the window and people watch, otherwise you’ll get 2 – 4 deep fighting to get a drink.
Now this IS considered a dive bar and by all dive bar metrics, it fully qualifies. But in comparison to your typical dive bar, 1899 has the upper edge because of its beer selection. The people that go there are a complete mix throughout the day, so best advise is to find where you fit in and stick to that 2 hour window. Thanks 1899 for the good time on Saturday night, woo hoo for the extra hour of drinking!

Great pub atmosphere, great staff and selection of beers. The specials are awesome too, gotta love bucket days! The patio is awesome too, just not too fond of the crowd mixture from ballantine. It is The only bar in DTW worth going to if u want good service and a decent crowd.

We stopped by 1899 after dinner on a Tuesday night. It’s a pretty small spot, but it definitely has character and a very large selection on tap. I noted that there were a few TV’s, one displaying Lost (extra points from me). It had a great friendly neighborhood feel and really filled up after we had been there for a few minutes. They had a few round pub tables that are great for small group conversations and enjoying a night out.
It did seem like the lack of tables was an issue, though. Even on a Tuesday night we had (friendly) people stalking our table. The bathroom was a surprise. It was a converted residential bathroom in which the shower had been ripped out and and urinal had been added. If the door is even cracked an inch, most of the bar has a view of you peeing. I guess they had to work with what they had.

After a dismal ten minutes at Frank and Tony’s, this was sort of a relief. I’ve been coming here about once a year since 2000. It keeps getting bigger. Now you can go upstairs or into the back entrance of neighboring Ballantine. The patio is huge and gave my party some space.
Inside, it was a cluster F. REALLY loud, shitty music and 20 somethings from wall to wall. Don’t hang out inside unless you want to be the meat in a barfly/​lunkhead sandwich. I have no idea what the beer choices were. I just kept getting handed Bud bottles without having to go in. Hallelujah.
It is nicer than the average strip mall patio which usually provides a view of a parking lot. This patio is nestled between 19^th century brick buildings and lends an «alleyway block party» vibe. Still not a place i want to be more than once a year.
At one point i looked around and every single person was texting. It was like some weird arthouse movie scene.

Probably the only bar in downtown Willoughby that I feel comfortable in. It has a bit of a divey feel but I wouldn’t say it’s a true dive by any means. Owned by the same guy that owns Ballantine and McNulty’s so it has much of the same kind of beer selection.
Always a good time here and the clientele normally doesn’t consist of the usual d-​bags that hang in the DTW. You can usually find a random to chat it up with.
Bartenders are always super friendly and accommodating. However, they are not friendly enough to allow you to get so ridiculously drunk that you fall asleep on the bar. Always a plus!