Pinch Penny Pub

I really like this bar. From 3:30pm to about 9 it’s a really calm crowd– older. Free popcorn which is always on point. Free veggies and dip too. Good prices on drinks, always specials going on. The outside is great. Private areas, and large areas. A stage, bathroom access, even heaters for smokers when the outside is closed.
They have insanely good pizza. All their food has been great. I sometimes get the pizza to go even when I’m not drinking at the bar. Great place, not too loud and obnoxious.
They’ve always taken care of me when I’ve gotten too intoxicated in my younger days.

Pinch Penny is exactly that! A great place to go if you are watching your money. Prices are reasonable and food is good. Atmosphere is friendly and they offered free veggie platter plate with dip and kept refreshing it while we were there. It was nice to experience the small town potluck feel.
I would like to rate this 4 stars but I am OK with This OK. We will be back next year.

Best pizza in town and don’t forget to get the Greek salad. Have Frank make the salad. I love the pizza with sausage, extra cheese and onion.

Public nuisance.
I live on park street and every time they have live music it is super loud, and for the working individual it’s unacceptable to have this much noise late at night. I have called and asked several times for them to turn it down and have been met with a dismissive response. Yes I know it’s a college bar and on certain nights gathering people is important but live music doesn’t have to be so loud this late at night.

This is the only place in town where you can get real Chicago style pizza and I’m not talking about deep-​dish. Get the sausage, green pepper, and onion. The tap selection and wait service is good and the outdoor garden is the coolest I’ve seen compared to pretty much any bar anywhere. This is a cool local spot with SIU sports gear on the walls. I’d go here over a Buffalo Wild Wings chain any day. I’ll go with 4 stars because you will wait for a while to get a drink when it gets really crowded.

What sets this place apart from the other bars in this town is the outdoor area in the back. When the weather is right the outdoor area is bumping with live music on the weekends. Prices can be a little on the higher side in relation to the other bars in town. The outdoor area doesn’t accept credit cards. Also the food served leaves little to be desired.

Pinch Penny will always be Pinch Penny, no matter how old you get. I attended SIU from 02 – 06 and never came here until after I graduated. Drinks are cheap and my girls and I always come here when we are in town and we love this place.

This place is disgusting. More like Bar rescue needs to visit this place. The food was all frozen appetizers. Nothing fresh about this place. Better get something bottled because I doubt they have heard of sanitation. Overpriced and lots of DRAMA!!!

I worked here for a summer and found out how racist this place really was. Granted this was a couple years ago, let’s just say if you dressed «wrong» you weren’t let in, and all the other people I worked with were told the same thing. A white person complaining about racism against the blacks — in Carbondale? Yes, unfortunately we were forced to ruin it for all of them, although I never kicked anyone out. Instead of ruining it for everyone they should have focused on the people who were doing the damage whether they were white or black.

A great little college bar. I was mesmerized by the glow of the neon fish in the fish tank. I’ll return the next time I’m in Carbondale.

Ya, this place brings back lots of memories. I use to sneak in here when I was underage. It can be a huge hassle and not worth it during the weekends, but a chill place to have a drink when the students are not in town, or a weekday. There are a handful of good taps. Goose Island, Bells, Schlafly. The service is bare bones, but efficient.
The food is generic pub grub that can be down right offensive. The wings are nasty as are the pizzas. Overall, since Mugsy’s has closed, this is one of the best places to catch a game. The the patio is always full of the typical college fun time. Lots of bands, and Polar Bear night is always huge. Not to mention a beer fest every year. To bad Copper Dragon does not make beer anymore, cause they would always have some of their beers on tap. This has become an institution in Carbondale, for better or worse.

Great bar, terrible place to work.
I was a bouncer here over this last year (and no Ry N., we don’t look to start fights… that’s not what our job is) and while I HATED working there, it was the place to go in Carbondale.
In the summer there are always live bands playing in the beer garden, the beers are cheap and the girls are pretty. The food here is surprisingly good, but it’s still bar food and you could find better if you took a short walk to the strip.
If you are a student or a local to Carbondale, there is one event that you MUST participate in: Polar Bear. This event takes place in February, the doors open at 10 am, and close the following morning at 4 am. I still get sick when I remember getting there at 9am and living at 5am, but I was young. Dollar Coronas all day (after you muscle through the first one the rest taste a lot better), the main purpose being to sell more bottles than the year before. The bar will be OVERRUN. There is no room to walk through the bar, the bathroom are packed, you will lose your friends, it’s freezing outside, if you leave you’ll be waiting at least an hour to get back in. I’m not going to lie, it’s not the best time, but it’s an experience I recommend. After going through Polar Bear you’ll never complain about waiting 10 minutes for a beer again.
On a side note. STOP BLACKING OUT AT POLAR BEAR. When I worked it last time I never got to stop moving or sit down. Between the fights and the 80lb girls that forgot they’re 80lb girls blacking out on the benches and the floors in the bathroom… it’s too much to handle. Drink responsibly. The bouncers and paramedics will keep you alive as best as we can but… what are you doing?

Best bar in the world!!! Food is awesome too, try the pizza!

They have really great bar food. My friends especially enjoy eating the alligator sandwich!
But on drink prices are a little steep for a college town bar!

Great place. Dumb servers/​bartenders. Too many fights and jagoffs. Great atmosphere and music when it’s live.

Given its location, Pinch is a center of Carbondale’s nightlife scene for better or worse. The bartenders are consistently attractive, but inconsistently skilled at bartending. Keeping drink orders to nothing more complex than one mixer plus one liquor general prevents problems with beverage quality. One more than one occasion drinks that weren’t on special were quoted for different prices on the same night.
The bar is very well stocked with a variety of liquors which is a shame given the inconsistent quality of bartenders.

Not a great place if you are looking for a mixed crowd. They seem to tailor the music to keep it that way. No hip-​hop or even top 40 nights… This is definitely a beer garden bar, so don’t expect to dance. People tend to mill around and drink. I keep my distance…

People are such haters. I like the concept of this place. Its spacious and more so than a lot of other bars/​pubs. I guess you have to be from NY or LA to appreciate not being cramped in bars, being charged covers for limited space, and not having a beer garden, because that would have been turned into valet parking in LA or NY.
So yes i do appreciate Pinch Penny. and I like it. The beer garden boosts live music some nights, and while not really ideal for winter time, its good to just have for the rest of the year. Drinks are cheap. $ 2/​$ 3 drafts. Very good vibe, especially with the college kids in town.

The favorite night spot for many of Carbondale’s frat bros, douchebags, girls gone wild, and other completely boring average people. Don’t come here unless you like getting into fights and having drinks spilled on you.

This place would get five stars if the bouncers weren’t unreasonable and looking to start fights.
This is the premier bar to go to in Carbondale. Everyone makes an appearance here every weekend, and the bands they have are second-​to-​none in Carbondale. The place is pretty packed, but the beer specials are always great. It’s a good place to socialize, and they have awesome special events like Polar Bear, where they open the beer garden for one day in the winter so you can approach hypothermia while downing many Coronas.
The bands that frequent the bar such as 17^th Floor, Mike & Joe, Hairbangers Ball and a few others are always a good time with new material and crowd-​friendly.
I definitely recommend this place, but beware of fights and bouncers looking to start stuff.