Ottobar

This will be the shortest review ever:
They’re playing Dir en grey, and the sound system is awesome. They win. Everyone else can close up. This is my new favourite bar.
Reminds me of small live houses in Japan. I love it.
Slightly more helpful update:
Okay, this isn’t the fanciest or most convenient venue in the world, but I like it.
There’s a small lit lot for parking and street parking after that. The street parking can be a pain so I recommend getting there a little bit early. I’m sorry, I can’t remember if the lot was paid or not.
The club is kind of cut up funny, but oddly enough, it still flows. When you enter you’re immediately in the pit in front of the stage. If you walk straight back and go up a small set of stairs, you’ll find bathrooms in front of you and a bar to your right.
Fancy is not a word I would use to describe the bathrooms. But again, not a fancy place. I’m talking local band stickers and graffiti covering every inch of the stall, empty mini bottle of Fireball on the back of the toilet fancy. Amazingly, still a decently clean bathroom.
The bar seemed pretty standard, I didn’t get the chance to check it out. The prices seemed good as far as venue drink prices.
To the side of the pit and the stage, there’s a loft area that looks down on both. there’s some beat up couches, benches, and signs repeatedly telling you not to stage dive from the loft or you might kill someone (there’s a story for every sign, I like to say). I find the loft area to be my favourite, as I have a good view of everything going on in the crowd– the craziness, crowd surfing, excitement– and the band. it’s good if you’re say, the only idiot wearing heels to a punk rock show and would prefer the bench.
I like it here a lot. It reminds me of my first favourite bars, «back in my youth» lol. It has that energy about it, like the regulars here have been coming here forever– and new people are welcome, as long as they like the music and don’t act completely stupid. or stage dive and kill someone. I’m actively looking for more shows to check out here.

We came here to see San Fermin. We last saw San Fermin at the Bowery Ballroom, and while you can draw parallels to the two venues, we liked the smaller size of this one. Bowery had better sound and lights, as it’s a larger venue. At Ottobar, we got there early enough to snag a seat on the balcony. It was really neat seeing San Fermin perform up close.
This place reminded me of Court Tavern in New Brunswick. It had that grimey but welcoming feel, everything is covered in stickers (even the toilet seats), and it feels like everyone is there to just listen to good music and have a good time.
The band simplified the show, no crazy lights, and you felt right on top of the band. We enjoyed sitting upstairs in the balcony and that was awesome. Good beer selection for $ 5-​$ 6 for drafts and friendly bartenders. Not much else to say!

Perfect dive /​metal bar atmosphere. Dilapidated internals, bare essentials bar. Two bartenders on duty pouring on the stiff side. Varied clientele: spiked hair, no hair, blue hair, bike messengers, tough guys, nerds, lots of attractive females covered in tattoos. Excellent viewing of the stage from floor, bar, or balcony.
Awesome value coupon available thru Groupon!

I’ve never been downstairs but upstairs is always pretty cool. Decently priced drinks, especially with the occasional Groupon. The jury is still out on if the pool table is free or not. Sometimes we step up and play, sometimes we are shut down in the middle of the game. But by that time, we are drinking so we’ve never cared.
Bathrooms are clean at the beginning of the night and progressively get worse lol. Ehh, what can ya do?
Now, my simultaneously most and least favorite thing about Ottobar is the customers dancing. It’s usually like a train wreck that you can’t stop watching. I’ve seen guys refuse to be friendzoned yet dancing like the FZ mascot… I’ve seen drunk party girls non-​ironically repeating all the moves from Hitch… I’ve seen drunk guys dancing like SpongeBob with the Krusty Krab Pizza… I’ve seen drunk couples grinding it out unnecessarily on the dance floor…(I was looking in a mirror. It was us. We had fun)…
Anyway, go. Have fun. You’ll thank me (idk why but that’s how I want to end this review)

Cool place, love how the pool table upstairs is a mere .75c. Gets some good bands coming thru. Pretty slow
During week nights but pretty packed on weekends. Service is good but sometimes I find prices varying up/​downstairs… Only .50cents but weird that it happens… Mostly good music and sometimes has a movie screening upstairs which I dig. Two for Tuesday great

I came to see a friend’s band play. It was a free show, with plenty of seating and standing space. The bartender was friendly and draft beer specials were offered. We found street parking on the street in front of the venue and found it to be a fun club to see local bands.

I like this place a lot on Tuesdays! Its 2-​for-​Tuesdays. You get 2-​for-​1 drinks! No cover, Dj, cool crowd, mostly students, divey, hippie, show your tattoos, dance crazy ;)

Ottobar is a cozy venue. They get some great bands coming through. I like the feel of the place and how it’s setup. You can view the stage from a variety of places and angles. The staff is pleasant enough. Drinks are made decent, though the price can add up fast.

I love you, Ottobar. I’ve seen many a show here and been to many Twofer’s.
I really love that downstairs has the balcony level because I am vertically challenged but still kind of like to be in the midst of things. Drinks are cheap and the bartenders are quick and friendly.

Nice people, but we were looking for something a little more edgy. Tattooed women, louder music, etc. This is more like a great place to take work buddies if you work w a younger crowd.

Small, intimate venue for shows. For parking, your best bet is to park behind the venue and it’s pretty simple to find and navigate. Make sure you get there early for parking or else it will fill up (not really worried about this because there is a substantial amount of parking space). It is also air conditioned pretty well. No complaints about the sound. This venue has a balcony that’s high enough that you are still in arm’s reach to the artist/​band performing on stage. The balcony is also a perfect spot to ask for the setlists if you are into that kind of stuff. I stayed in the balcony for a show and there were around 3 – 4 benches (that were really uncomfortable to sit on) lining the edge and a sketchy sofa near the front. You will not get a good view unless you find a seat up there. I would not recommend the balcony for *tall* people if you are planning to lean on/​stick your body out on the railing unless you want to hurt your back. The balcony is vertically compact so beware tall people! Other than that, just make sure you don’t accidentally stand behind the posts/​columns scattered throughout the floor.

I’ve only been here once — but the one time I went I thoroughly enjoyed it. I went for a burlesque show, which was excellent. It is a nice intimate venue (the location is a little difficult for those without cars). The wine selection could be better, but it was cheap. I look forward to going back for karaōke nights and live music!

Cool spot! Arrive early for parking behind the building. Upstairs and downstairs offer different music, fun to run back and forth and see what’s going on! Great 90’s night upstairs. Cool live bands downstairs!

Had a great time at Astronomy On Tap! Thank you Otto for hosting this event. I wish I’d be in town longer to catch a musical act here. Next time for sure!!!

This is your standard, dive-​y local bar (upstairs) and concert venue (downstairs). Then downstairs also has a bar and upstairs a concert area. When a friend from out of town wanted to experience local B’more, we went here and had a great time drinking cheap, dancing weirdly, and playing pool (not free).
There is a balcony level to the downstairs concert venue with some seating that I enjoy. If you’re a teen or teen-​at-​heart you can General Admission crowd surf mosh pit your heart out.
If you have any mobility issues, unfortunately this space may be quite difficult to navigate.

As I travel a lot for concerts, both as an artist and fan, I had the pleasure of going to many an establishment… from opera houses to house parties, and in between, more dive bars than you can shake a stick at.
Now, don’t get me wrong… I freakin’ love dive bars.
The dark, no frills, somewhat «seedy» atmosphere of a true dive bar is a beacon, to me.
I got a chance to check out Baltimore’s Ottobar while in town last year, for the Maryland Deathfest, a 4+ day underground metal music festival.
They host the Fest kickoff/​prefest show, with Immolation, Misery Index, Crowbar etc entertaining the masses.
The venue has two floors, and there wasn’t a bad «seat» in the house.
As I film, I opted for the upstairs area which gave me a great overhead view of the stage.
The stage itself was pretty good sized, and stood about chest high (I’m 6′).
The interior in on itself is pretty bare bones, with the random band flyer/​poster serving as the bulk of the interior decorating.
Despite the crowd, the layout makes it rather easy to navigate, with plenty of open unencumbered areas to walk.
The staff was friendly enough, and drink prices about average for a dive bar, though I mainly stuck to beer, so I can’t vouch for liquor prices.
It did take a while to get a drink, though. Yeah, it was crowded, but it seems like attractive young women are quicker to be served than some dude, regardless of cash in hand.
Hey bartenders, not a good way to get a tip… and that girl’s not going home with you; she’s just working you for stronger /​or free drinks… so you’re losing twice.
No tip, and no action… just sayin’
Took off a ½ star for the repeated slight at the bar, so would give 3 ½ stars for Ottobar.
All in all, a pretty cool dive bar/​music venue that is supportive of underground music, but if you’re a dude trying to get a drink, have your girlfriend order ‘em, you’ll get served quicker.

I like this place, always good sound, and I like that there are monitors at the bar so you don’t miss a thing while getting your drunk on. My only gripe, $ 5 for a shot of bottom shelf whiskey? So for three shots I could just go and buy 2 bottles? Such a bummer. Next time I’ll come «prepared»

Great small venue for concerts — there’s not a bad seat in the house. Don’t expect anything to be terribly clean, particularly the bathroom. (But, hey, what are you going to do – it’s a dive.) Convenient parking lot out back, and if it’s full the neighborhood is not too difficult to park in anyway. Ottobar attracts an extremely diverse clientele, from middle-​aged music fans to youths just cutting their concert teeth. It’s kind of cool to see all those people come together.
Ottobar loses a star for its upstairs, however. The karaōke DJ is literally the worst. He was completely drunk by 6:30 p.m. and could barely figure out how to use his equipment — the pauses in between songs while he attempts to cue up the music are almost as long as the karaōke performances themselves. He has friends in the audience who he lets sing over and over again while everyone else gets shaken down for tips just to get one chance. It was pretty disappointing and not fun experience.
So, TL;DR don’t bother venturing upstairs. Just come for the shows downstairs and leave happy.

This place is a total dive. If total dives are your thing, you’ll love it! If, like me, your tastes are a little classier, you’ll be a little uncomfortable. We went there to see a show and were surprised there were so few seats: maybe 20 upstairs, many of which were reserved, and some risers along the wall. The rest was standing room. For a show, that’s a long time to stand, and seriously, you don’t want to touch any more of the floor or walls than you have to.
The crowd was pretty diverse. We saw college kids with X-​ed hands and plenty of senior citizens as well. Yep. Tie-​dyed hippies and fedoraed hipsters. Little black dresses and cutoff jorts. It takes all kinds to make a world, and all of those kinds are adequately represented here. We got more entertainment value out of the crowd than from the performers!
The reason they get 3 stars and not 2 has to do with the drinks. They were strong and cheap. For $ 13 we got two premium liquors, and the bartendress was friendly and fast to boot. So, if there’s no cover, it might be worth it to stop here for a drink or two and see the sights!

Can’t believe it’s taken me this long to write a review of possibly my favorite place in Baltimore.
Anywho… I’ve seen so many shows here over the years that I’ve lost count. They always have an awesome lineup, and even if you don’t know the band that’s playing that night, odds are they’ll be good and/​or interesting.
The drinks are reasonably priced for a venue, and all the staff are friendly and unpretentious. If you have issues here it’s cause you’re the problem.
They often have fun dance parties up stairs and all kinds of other random events. Definitely a gem of Baltimore and this town would be a whole lot more boring without the Ottobar.