Free Spirit Cafe - Vernon

AHHHHHH....the Dirty Bird as locals call it, or the DB for regulars. This local dive bar has been here and under the same ownership for 30+ years I believe. It is my regular Saturday night haunt when nothing else is happening and it NEVER disappoints. Saturday nights feature a DJ and a slightly different, more urban crowd packs the place than most other nights. My rule of thumb is live bands Friday (not really my thing and dance music DJ Saturday (YEAH! . It 's a late arriving crowd so what appears to be a dead night at 11:00 is usually packed at 12:30 a.m. Music is good, people dance, drinks are cheap and the crowd is the most diverse group you 'll see in one place. As others mentioned people watching can be an event in itself here. What 's cool though is people from all age groups, ethnicities and nationalities seems to party well together and at the end of the night everyone always has fun. I 've brought dates and friends here and when they walk in the give a funny look because the place is not visually appealing. When we leave they always smile and say THAT was fun! . Plain simple; I LOVE the DB!!

Don 't hate on the Dirty Bird. Its a local dive bar right next to the trailor park... What do you think you 're getting?? Its a great spot if your looking to have a great time but have NO desire to go to the Meat Market of Hartford, aka Allen St. Thursday Night Karaoke is great. There are not 50-60 singers waiting 45 minutes for a song. There is maybe a handful of regulars who are there to have a good time. Very judgement free, everyone claps and cheers at the end of a song. Drinks are average, but again if your looking for Fancy Craft Beers or a Wine list... keep looking. Cheap beer, okay wine, and average mixers thats what you get at the Bird. Its a DIVE and a classic local bar. Stop trying to make it into something its not. Its not classy, its not 's club, its not a downtown pick up stop. Its Cheers... but better because its real.

A true, stereotypical, perfect example of a dive bar awkwardly located on the outskirts of a true, stereotypical, perfect example of a suburb. I drove by this place for decades, never really wanting to go in but when a friend 's girlfriend saw the sign, she insisted we go. The night started with a $3 cover. I 'm kind of glad I didn 't just walk out then. They had an okay live band, the crowd was friendly enough, and incredibly diverse. I grew up in this area, and never saw such diversity anywhere else where are they finding these people? It 's a dive bar so expect limited selections of beer, cheap liquor, but they had sam adams, so I was happy. Of course, one in the party ordered PBR, and it came back kind of flat and skunked. I wasn 't about to send back a beer, so I swapped with her.. and yeah it was disgusting. The highlight here is people watching. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, and you could see unlikely groups merging as the booze flowed on. My favorite quote of the night was Yo girl, thanks for hooking me up. He 's cuuute. Yah, he 's gonna take me back to his place for some weed

Stopped in first time on business. Not busy staff few patrons friendly. They report to me the bar is sold and will be a private club VFW/American Legion shortly.

I am somewhat amazed and confused that The Dirty Bird as the local refer to this place is considered a restaurant if you come here to eat you should definitely buy lotto tickets regularly because the odds are definitely with you. I have been here on several occasions to drink and to people watch. Every night of the week comes with a different theme and a different crowd. It 's amazing to me that a place like this survives as long it has but it 's consider an icon around here so it gets an extra star. If you look up dive bar in the dictionary there is a pic of this place.