Unicorn Tavern

Love the live music. Crowds can be a little sketchy at times, but overall enjoyable experience. Love the drink specials. Both bartenders who helped me were great. Bathroom placement is kitchy and makes me laugh. Great hole in the wall in old town.

I live about half a block from The Unicorn Tavern. And after I moved to Old Town, I gave the Unicorn Tavern a try after reading other peoples good reviews. That said, I’m not sure what the few largely positive reviews are supposed to be reflecting in actuality.
The unicorn tavern inhabits a cigarette smoke laden building on Grand River Ave. in Old Town and ultimately represents exactly the lowest common denominator of day-​drinkers and dive bars.
The one thing everyone will volunteer to tell you about the Unicorn Tavern is that the owner (a very, very elderly man) is very friendly and likes to tell stories. This is true, but it’s only charming right up until it isn’t. And I bare no ill will to the man, he only means well but, he consistently wanders over to the table interrupting conversations to comment on the women in the party or to repeat a story to you a few times, accompanied by photos of his dead friends. Again, I mean no ill will he’s just trying to be friendly but he’s very, very old and I don’t think understands that he is interrupting people.
That said, the owner exerts essentially no control over his clientele because he is incapable of it. The bar is usually frequented by rowdier drinkers and obnoxious drunks. It’s never full, so expect your party to be the only group present who aren’t regulars and permanent day drinkers. This habit of over-​serving, and allowing drunken rowdiness meant that the last time (and final time) I was at the bar I nearly got into a bar fight with some lush who decided to start shouting xenophobic nonsense at my wife and our European immigrant friend. Ultimately, it was I who diffused the situation and sent him packing, not the bartender or a (nonexistent) bouncer.
The bartender apologized with free shots but still didn’t kick him out… even when he continued to shout at my friend from across the room, taunting her. It would be one thing if this was some freak scenario but it isn’t (at least not at the Unicorn Tavern). The bartender seemed unsurprising by this regulars behavior. And the other regulars promptly exited stage-​right as soon as things got heated (clearly bar fights at the Unicorn are the norm).
That said the Unicorn Tavern is cheap. Very Cheap. Although they only take cash. That said, I can drink cheap most anywhere. I’d prefer to drink somewhere where my wife, my friends (both men and women), and I can drink without being accosted by some b — -y Will Hunting wannabee.

Dive bar that hasn’t been hipsterized yet. Cheap beer. Arrogant Bastard and a handful of the typical domestics on tap, but I suspect that the lines haven’t been properly cleaned in quite some time, so stick to liquor or bottles and cans. Still smoky after all these years. Cash only. Owner and operator Tommy is in his nineties and still going strong. Opens early and has live music a couple nights a week.

We were in Lansing for an event. We ate at Meat., around the corner. We finished eating too early to drive to the next venue. The waitress sent us to The Unicorn. What a surprise when we walked in. Now I’m used to dive bars. I like them. They have character. This is no exception. Very cool old place. The regulars moved over to give us a place to sit together, and were friendly. I was there I guess, during happy hour, and a pint of PBR was only $ 1.50! Didn’t catch the bartender’s name, but he was also friendly. Turned out to be a great way to kill an hour, and I’ll be back. Seriously, I think a 3.5 stars would be about right, but that’s not a possibility. If you’re around that part of Lansing, stop in and say «hello».

The Unicorn Tavern was one of our stops for St. Patrick’s Day. We did St. Patty’s on bikes, riding for DeWitt to downtown Lansing. The beer is cheap, after all it is cheap beer, but they did have Arrogant Bastard on draft. Be sure to being the bills because this place is cash only!

The Unicorn Tavern is an old school, divey type of bar. Great house band that plays a variety of classic rock and blues. The bar has cheap drinks, pool tables, juke box, keno, plenty of space to hang out, and a decent sized dance floor. The highlight for me is the owner, Tommy. He seems to be there every night, and proudly told me that he is 89 years old. He’s owned the place for over 30 years, and has seen Old Town through a lot of changes. This is a no frills, come as you are and have fun type of hang out spot. Bring cash because they don’t take cards– but there is an ATM inside the bar if you forget.

We stumbled into the Unicorn because Spiral wasn’t open yet, and had a BLAST! They had a bluesy band playing, an eclectic collection of unicorns behind the bar (including one with wings etched on a mirror — is it a unicorn or a pegasus?) and a motley-​looking array of regulars. A waitress spotted us walking in and immediately ushered us to a table and brought us some PBR drafts for only $ 2.50, she checked back on us regularly and made sure we didn’t run low.
After a few hours of dancing at Spiral, we couldn’t get a cab to pick us up in under an hour, so we wandered back over to the Unicorn. The folks smoking outside the front door said we should just tell the bartender and he would call a cab for us, so we thought it was worth a try — at the very least we could get another round of PBR! The bartender said he’d already called a cab for another customer and wondered if we wanted to share, so hey, why not make a new friend? When our waitress saw us, she ran up and apologized for not getting us a beer sooner?!? We’d been there all of 3 minutes and the bartender set us up just fine, but we ordered another round to make her feel better :-)
The band was talented, patrons were friendly, service was awesome, beer was cheap, and they had a unicorn collection. What more can you ask for in a neighborhood dive bar? If I lived closer they would get to know me pretty well around there!