Dive Bar Thursday – Patterson Pub

When I moved to the Dayton area in the late 1990’s, one of the first places I frequented for an adult beverage was Taggart’s Pub. It was close to my apartment and had a friendly atmosphere with inexpensive beer. Perfect for someone in a new city just out of school! As a bonus it was also a Browns bar, adding that little touch of home. Every Sunday, I would head over with other masochistic fans of Cleveland football and watch our team struggle, enjoying complimentary food far more than the football games. We were happy the team had returned to Cleveland, but it was painful to watch. In 2014, the owner of Taggart’s Pub announced he was going to move to a larger venue. Unfortunately for Dayton, that new space never materialized. Even as they were leaving their seventeen-year home, they announced there was going to be a new owner taking over the space. After an incredibly short closure, the Patterson Pub opened up and has been going strong ever since.

If you have not been to Patterson Pub (970 Patterson Rd Dayton, OH 45419) in a while, you need to come and visit. Other than the ownership, little has changed in this Belmont area staple. There are two main areas to the pub: the spacious front room and the much more intimate back bar. The front room holds three large televisions and all the dart boards you could want. Six steel tip and three plastic tip board are there for the throwing, with multiple dart leagues through the week and the occasional tournament. The back bar is just that. It is the place where the magic happens. There is plenty of room to belly up and watch television or play some digital golf while enjoying a beer or cocktail. They have held on to their Irish roots as a pub. Their reverence for a good Irish whiskey and all things green, white, and orange still shines. Along with the orange of the Irish flag, they are still proudly (or, after last season, not as proudly) displaying the orange and brown of the Cleveland Browns. Whiskey and football are two of their great loves. Yes, they still are a Browns bar and show their games on Sundays in the main room. Other games are shown in the back bar area, for reasons that will become clear.

They offer beers for every palate, from $5 Miller High Life pitchers (when they have it on tap) to a nitro tap to infuse extra smoothness into a beer. While some craft options, like Rhinegheist’s Truth, are always on tap, they bring in a variety of other selections that rotate through the seasons. If that is not enough, there are bottles and cans that expand on the tap offering. They even have a variety of specials through the week, including happy hour pricing from 3 to 7 PM daily. That pricing includes cocktails as well. And yes, they do have a cocktail menu to order from. As with the beers, it changes with the seasons but always has at least one Irish whiskey cocktail on the menu. Their liquor selection is continuing to grow, with plans to add some local Belle of Dayton gin and expand their selection of whiskeys. They do offer the normal bar foods like pizza, nachos, pretzels, and pepperoni and cheese breadsticks known as Bosco sticks. You can bring your own food as well, and their neighbors at Corleone’s Pizza are willing to deliver right to the bar.

How friendly is this bar? Very. They are friendly to the service industry, with Monday night being their Service Industry Night. On a slow night for most bars, they offer special pricing for all of the other hard-working bartenders in the Dayton area. They are also still very friendly to Browns fans. They have continued the tradition of the Browns Club for the diehards that have suffered through over two dozen quarterbacks and one minor logo change.

The games are shown on the televisions in the main room along with food, cooked by one of the patrons, for members of the club. For a small fee, you get a t-shirt, a lanyard with an ID card, a magnet with the schedule, and a host of other specials and benefits. If you have a group of fans that want a table for the season, there is a way to buy that as well. Not only that, but any patron who comes in for those Sundays can imbibe a special house made Bloody Mary. Not just the Browns fan. The spacious front room is also available for other events as well, with a small deposit.

Many of the traditions that made Taggart’s Pub a beloved staple in the community have been carried over to the Patterson Pub. The staff is as friendly as I remember and the atmosphere is just as comfortable. They are making their own inroads into the community, embracing their neighborhood and offering a friendly barstool and pint to anyone who stops there.

The Patterson Pub, located at 970 Patterson Rd Dayton, OH 45419, is open 3 PM to 2:30 AM daily. You can call them at (937) 296-9476 and follow them on their Facebook page for more information about events and specials at the pub!