Irish Mikes Old Town Pub

Cool dive bar. There was an empty pool table and large sized draft beers with a decent selection. Me and 3 close friends — all ladies — we had a great time. No harassment or ill treatment whatsoever. Friendly folks and good beer. If you love shooting stick in dive bars, you would love this place.

Ok… if I could choose 2.5 stars for Irish Mike’s I would, but 3 stars is cool too. It’s a «benefit of the doubt», kinda thing. I visited early evening on Thursday and they had a few customers, but not many. People were friendly enough, but the beer-​tender was a little unlikeable from my perspective. Very slow to arrive and seemed way too stand-​office (and I should know… I am pretty damned stand-​offish myself). I am old and ugly, but I still deserve a «howdy, how can I help you» from pretty young beer-​tenders.
They do have some decent craft selections on tap (but the beer-​tender won’t tell you about them and the logos on them taps are hard to see in the dark).

I agree with Keith C. on this one. I love a good dive bar, but this was bad. On busier nights, it’s unprofessional and disorganized. It was crowded outside and I started to go in before a guy wearing street clothes stopped me to see my ID. He seemed exasperated that I didn’t know he was the bouncer, but it was unclear considering he was hanging out with friends wearing jeans and a tshirt. Inside, another guy in street clothes asks for my ID. Oh, this situation again.
The bar was absolutely packed and we were all squished into each other. Managed to squeeze over to the bar and waited to order a drink. It was busy but there were a few bartenders just standing around. Finally, someone approached and let me know there was a $ 20 minimum on a tab. Considering this place is really cheap, it may get difficult to get up to a $ 20 minimum, FYI.
Besides the slow and kind of surly service, my biggest gripe was security. Security is basically just one guy who has zero people skills and doesn’t seem like he could handle de-​escalating a situation if something serious happened. We heard a man screaming like a maniac and assumed it was a fight– Nope, just security screaming at some guy. He screamed at a few more people for pretty minor things, then ran up to me and started screaming at me because I accidentally went into the wrong bathroom (they’re not shared– It’s a single bathroom for men and women) Relax, dude. Later on he began freaking out because someone called the police on them and complained about the loud music. With the way he freaks out over little things like that, I’d truly hate to see how he handles an actual situation.
As I mentioned, the entire bar was packed– Way past the point of it being safe or legal. There’s another section of the bar with pool tables that was almost empty, but you’re apparently not allowed over unless you’re playing pool because the security guard will get pissed again. One of my friends who has been there before said regulars call him the «Pool Table Nazi». Wtf?
I left not too long after I arrived. I do love a good dive bar… But this isn’t one of them.

Wow, I’ve been to plenty of dives in my life, and I usually feel at home in them. This was not one of those places. The people were depressing and drunk (at 8:00 on a Saturday night). The young male drunken testosterone was over flowing and the place smelled like piss, old beer, and mold. Skip this place and try the Golden Fleece across the street… A more «respectable» dive bar.

I went for drinks on a Friday evening with a friend just after happy hour. Drinks were fairly priced and it was quiet enough for my friend and I to have a conversation. Although the atmosphere was not very fun or charming, it served as a good spot to hang out with friends, drink, and watch games if you’re into that. I also like that you don’t have to pay for parking after 5pm.

straight up trash and not just the bar. but the bartender not all just one she’s like old, tattoo, wrinkle’s, false teeth and always showing her butt to every guy in there. they call her Pebbles i guess thats her old stripper name cause she’s a straight up ho. she has a heroin addict boyfriend and im just saying who wants to be served food or drinks by someone who has sex with a junkie? not me.

A lot of words come to mind when I think of this place yet «shithole» seems to be most applicable!

This is possibly the worst dive bar I’ve ever been to, and I’ve been to quite a few. It’s full of scummy Doverites (what do you call a Dover citizen anyway? It’s either Doverite… or inmate, I suppose) pretty much from morning to night, and at any given time, half of the patrons are hanging out in front of the place getting their nicotine fix. (They should give a smoking exception to this place, just to keep the scumbags inside so they don’t scare animals and small children who might happen to need to walk past on the sidewalk.)
This place only gets 2 stars because the last time I went there, I ran the pool table for a few hours and decided I was the Irish Mike’s pool champion of the world, so therefore should liberate the place of one of their gigantic pool trophies that are all over their pool room. Luckily, the bouncer didn’t kick my ass when he caught me walking out with one! I figured I was 86’ed for life for that escapade, but, turns out, those folks have less brain cells than I do, and they didn’t remember me, so I’m free to experience Irish Mike’s hospitality any time I like in the future. Woo Hoo.

An honest-​to-​God fun dive bar in Downtown Dover… who knew it could happen?
You’ll see townies, you’ll see DSU kids, you’ll see Wesley football players, you’ll see Delaware state legislators… and you’ll see them all in various states of sobriety, because no one comes here to discuss philosophy or art. Shut up, grab a drink, and hit on a girl. If you’re a girl, be prepared to be hit on. Decorum isn’t really a strong suit around here.
Drinks are cheap, strong, and are helpful in reminding you that though you are in Dover, it could be worse… you could be 3 hours from civilization instead of 45 minutes. Delaware is an interesting place for many reasons, but this bar could be dropped in a lot of towns still be a fun joint. In Dover, it’s a damn Godsend.
A mandatory stop on any Dover bar crawl, and most likely the highlight of such a sojourn. Check it out!

They were still smoking in this place the summer of 2005, and the smoking ban started in Delaware in 2002…
Great times the few times we’ve been.
The crowd is kinda sketchy, but drinks are fairly cheap, and they have beer pong! The dartboard in the corner is somewhat treacherous for passersby going to and from the back area.
Favorite memory was a guy falling in the bathroom and smashing one of those R2D2 trash cans. He literally must’ve been standing on the sink with the sound it made…

For a long time this was my favorite place to hang out in Dover. It’s a local dive filled most days with loyal regulars. A bit cramped but definatly worth it.