Swaby’s Tavern

Wow, for a corner bar this place is awesome! Great food and actually have good wine. Big screens for the game, pool table and darts. Burger was cooked perfect!

Interesting décor and cool bar. But food was just okay.

Swaby’s is a really neat place to check out if you happen to be in Auburn! The place is full of all kinds of eccentricities which are super fun and interesting to browse through. Our booth was next to some notes an SNL guy’s sister had written about him, along with photos and a song he wrote for the show. That’s a relatively tame example of their décor, though.
The décor also features an electric chair, a trumpet used to assemble prisoners at Auburn City Prison, a tiger’s head from 1895, a skeleton sitting cross-​legged in midair, and much much more.
Lucky for this place, the odd décor isn’t the only thing they have going in their favor. The food is also great. The burgers and wings are both awesome.
My only complaint is that the service was a little slow for a Saturday afternoon when the place was nearly empty.

Without a doubt, the best bar in Auburn New York. The bar tender Eli is the most awesome bar tender /​amazing guy (cutie) ever. We have visited most of the bars in auburn and bar none Swabys is the best.

Probably one of the top 5 bars in Central NY… unique, bartenders explain the bevvies with some knowledge, and the interior looks like an antique show (some of it really bizarre in sort of a John Waters/​David Byrne thought process). Another example of never judging a town by it’s cover… great theater at the Merry Go Round in the summer and the Auburn Public Theatre occasionally has a great show too (saw Bruce Cockburn here). Equally quirky crowd in this place as well… in a good way.

Never a dull moment at Swaby’s! The space is great, with plenty of décor to indulge the eyes. This is a bar I could come to by myself and read a book in the corner or just gaze around at all the cool memorabilia without the need for conversation. Conversely, the friendly staff and the college-​age crowd make Swaby’s a great place to come for drinks with friends or to make new ones! The price is right and the venue is fun. A+ in my book.

If you come to Swaby’s, don’t be surprised if you stumble home to tell all your friends that you met a cool bartender. However do not report their hair color. They may only understand that you met a blind bartender as your slur your speech. When your friends show up they will ask for blind Sarah. Only to find out that she is a blonde Sarah.
With that said, none of the cool shit on the walls are for sale. I tired buying peewee on the unicycle. I also tried buying the place with an instructional knife guide currency. The staff is smart, so they didn’t accept. With that said, even if I could buy the place, I wouldn’t fire a soul. They’re the bees knees.

If I lived near Swaby’s I’d be a regular, no question.
The place if filled with not only antiques on the walls, but bits of history, interesting characters and a great staff.
Upon entering town for a wedding my buddy Pat and I found our way to Swaby’s for a beer (or 12) and ended up having such a great time we went back…
.every.night.of.our.trip.
Thursday was kinda slow but after a day of traveling a few Labatts and a chat with the locals made for a great night. I also got to dance with one of the young gal patrons doing this thing called «twerking.» Pretty sure the locals hadn’t seen that move before.
Friday more of my friends joined us in town and our group fled back to the bar after dinner. There was more of a crowd than Thursday and my friends and I had a blast flirting/​annoying/​harassing the caricature artist that makes residence here on Friday nights.
By Sunday we had made friends with a few of the bartenders, throughly creeped out the caricature artist and learned the history of all the antiques and the electric chair in the back corner. Not even the bartenders have been allowed to sit in it!
I doubt I’ll be back in Auburn any time soon, but if I do, you’ll know where to find me!

The décor is worth the trip. It has so much to see and a great bar feel. The drinks were generous and the staff friendly. It was so cool we went back the next day.

We stopped in here while we were in town visiting my boyfriend’s family. It was a week night and the place was pretty empty. The staff completely ignored us for 15 minutes while we sat at the bar waiting to order. There were two bartenders on duty that were chatting up some of their friends sitting at the bar and some of their time spent ignoring us, they just stood there and stared into space. It was kind of bizarre. I’ve never experienced this in any customer service situation I’ve ever been in. As a service industry employee myself, I know that this is unacceptable. I finally just spoke up and asked for a bucket of beer and the girl behind the bar silently prepared the bucket and handed it to us with an attitude similar that of preteen girl being forced to do a chore she doesn’t want to do. We tipped anyway despite the strange service we got. The décor is cool but the god-​awful top 40 music they were playing ruined the atmosphere and the theme they were trying to create in the place. This was almost a year ago so I hope things have improved. I hope those kids working there that night learned some people skills.

This was a new adventure for my wife and I. I selected Swaby’s because we have never been there before, and the reviews looked good.
The bar and antiques are beautiful. Magnificent woodwork throughout. Aside from some high tops and booths, they have limited seating available for sit down service.
While at the bar having a couple drinks, we ordered wings extra crispy. The wings took almost 35 minutes. We were told they were backed up in the kitchen.
We ordered traditional wings but they tasted like char-​broiled. In any event they were good.
The process for obtaining a table was slow. This is in part due to the fact that they don’t have adequate seating.
We informed by the bartender that Dauts closed in Auburn due to a divorce and that their chef joined the them the night before.
In my opinion, this will offer Swaby’s the
opportunity to expand their menu and reconfigure seating to attract a larger dinner crowd.
We gave also dined at Dauts. The food was really good there too. Sorry to here they closed…
For dinner at Swaby’s, my wife had a steak sandwhich. It was cooked to perfection and lean. Her food was hot.
I had a salad with the prime rib entrée. For the price it was an ok piece of meat. I ordered it medium rare and it was cold upon arrival. Potatoes were hot.
I sent it back and a slightly smaller piece came back. It was luke warm. I left it at that.
There was no au jus. Only gravy served. The potatoes were garlicky. My salad arrived at the same time as my meal. In all it was ok.
Overall I believe Swaby’s will be a great bet In about a month with a new chef at the helm. Transition takes time and will afford them the opportunity to succeed.
The service was excellent! The waitstaff and bartenders did an excellent job. They were friendly and made the evening really nice.
In the future we will return. We want to see how things progress with the new chef.
Large

We were staying in Auburn over Columbus day and made this our haunt for three nights. Walked by the first time and was confused about what was happening. A group of 20 somethings leaving at 11:30 was the place closing?
Nope it was still packed, stayed for about an hour and enjoyed some beers. Nice selection, I would have liked a few more local beers. I was traveling and what do do on vacation drink the local beer. Pretty loud late into the evening. They have a double sided bar and both sides were pretty packed with a very eclectic crowd throughout the weekend.
Saturday night there was a block party in the city and it showed in the bar, Good spot to watch the baseball play offs. Sunday was the quietest stop. We tried a few other places in Auburn to hang out, but this place was welcoming and friendly throughout.
If your heading through check it out.

I can’t believe I only just discovered this place. They have a full menu and full bar. The food was great and they have $ 5 burgers and chicken sandwiches on Saturdays and Sundays. The décor is like a mad Applebees. All manner of crazy ephemera on the walls and ceiling. There’s an electric chair in the corner and a hall of mirrors leading to the restrooms to give you an idea of what I mean. We went in the late afternoon/​early evening and the place was nearly empty. The waitstaff were happy to be there and did I mention the food was good? The wings were delicious too. Order them charred!

By far my favorite bar in Auburn. Plenty of random stuff all over the place so it’s kind of like drinking inside of a Ripley’s Believe It Or Not museum. About 20(?) or so beers on tap, $ 5 burgers on Fri and Sat, pool table (hidden in the back), and they play a good indie and pop mix of music over the speakers. The ambiance can vary from chill/​empty to I-can’t-effing-move-or-effing-hear-myself-think.

Lots of weird stuff in this bar. Like taxidermy and odd knickknacks. There’s a mummy in an electric chair. It’s fun to show to out-​of-​towners.
The air and carpet feel kind of damp and gross, but it is a local bar so you expect that.
Earlier hours= good multigenerational crowd. Later hours= douchebags. I once saw an epic altercation between two such creatures. It was unlovely.

Try their wings. Their hottest actually impressed me… They WERE in fact HOT! Also, nice, meaty wings — tender, moist and tasty. Kudos!!!

Aesthetically speaking, this bar reminds me so much of San Francisco. I am not sure of the history of this place, but it seems to be old but not in a dirty way.
The crowd is eclectic, which is rare for this area. The staff is amazing, smiling bartenders are great. I love when I sit at a bar and the bartender actually is happy to be serving me.
They offer some nice taps, Oktoberfest was delicious.
Overall a great bar for sleepy Auburn. I am happy I finally checked this place out.

Went to Swaby’s last night and had a lot of fun — GREAT bar. Only problem is the popcorn is way too salty.