John’s Place

Nice little dive bar, the bartender was a little too friendly at times but ive had worse.

Beer + pinball + pool = a winning combination!

Nothing fancy, no gimmicks. A proper bar. Save for the lack of liquor, that is. Good food, good people, decent draft selection, and a nice collection of pinball machines. Smoker and biker friendly. One of the best bars in Fairfax.
Edit: Closed down about a year ago. I hate Fairfax now.

First let’s get this outta the way: my only real reason for not going more often is i am tired of being smoke-​bombarded while i drink my beer. That and not really any good deals for beer/​food. It is in suburbia so there will be no bar-​crawling but that is not my cup-​o-​tea anyhow.
secondly, i wish they would have country radio playing or top 40. i would be broke if i continually put dollars into juke box. i like music playing while i relax.
I always forget her name but the bartender i see all the time there is one of the coolest people i know period. She is the reason i continue going and the fact i always have interesting conversations with the regulars, which when i go for happy hour is older, granted. I would rate the service a 5.
dive bar this is but my absolute favorite is the roof top. nothing like nice breeze to blow away smoke. the rooftop also brings people around my age, which is fun. food is good too. rooftop is a 4.

As many others have said, you do not go to John’s place for a mixed drink or an in house made craft beer. You do not go to John’s place to try to impress everyone in the bar with who are what you are wearing. You go to John’s place to relax, have a beer (they do serve wine, just haven’t seen many drinking it) and to shoot the breeze with someone you may have just met. You go here to have a fun time at a place that is non judgmental, and, after awhile, a place where everyone knows your name. This is definitely one of those places that feels like a great neighborhood bar which is a rare and precious find in an area that is constantly changing and constantly having people move in and out of the area. Also, there is a great amount of parking out back.

This place is certainly a dive, and if you go in there with this mindset, you will have a good time. I wanted to find a place that was a little different from our usual happy hour joints. This place was definitely different.
They allow smoking in the main bar so we decided to go into the game room. We wanted to play pool and pin ball anyway. It was not real busy so we were all able to sit around a table and talk and enjoy an occasional game. The Monster Mash was my favorite pinball game as I kept winning free plays.
The bar only serves beer and wine so that was disappointing for a few of my liquor-​only friends, but it wasn’t a problem for me. The people at the bar were friendly and conversational. They even bought us some drinks and gave us some quarters for the pinball machines. They were all definitely regulars, but they enjoyed talking to us newbies.
They have a roof top bar that is supposed to open in a couple weeks. I will likely go back and check it out in the next few months. This is not somewhere I want to go every weekend, but it’s a nice change of pace when you’re in the mood for a dive.

I came here looking for a simple dive bar, and a simple dive bar is just what I found. Cheap pitchers and pool tables make this a great hangout. The bartender is friendly and repeatedly brought over popcorn to complement our quench for thirst. We tried some of the food, and it was surprisingly tasty with large portion size. The menu deviates from the usual pub grub, although we weren’t feeling adventurous enough to take that leap.
I didn’t try the pinball, but they had the caliber of machines that is unmatched in this area, or era. Similar to how Dan put it, it’s a great place to «grab some buds,» or whatever the catchy slogan for visiting a local bar and drinking American beer is. There’s no reason an import should ever be ordered here.
The place is smoky. Really smoky at the bar, and still lingering in the recreation room. If you have a high sensitivity to smoke, it’s too bad Chad. Although the smoking sections are partitioned as required, there’s enough seepage where I found myself tossing my threads straight in the wash when I got home. Beware if you use Johns as a pregame, which would otherwise be a great idea except its location, as you’ll probably need a new shirt for later unless you stay in the rec room.

If you are a pinball wizard who cares to drink out a bottle… this is your place. Otherwise… just stay home and get drunk there… we do not need more drunk drivers on the road!

A TRUE dive bar. Smoky, cheap beer, best pinball machine selection I’ve ever seen, pool tables, rooftop lounge, no yuppies. What more can you ask for? Last time I came here towards the end of the night, there were two legit bikers hanging out. Perfect for hanging out with your homies.

I’m going to say this right from the start: I’m adding a star because I can smoke here. Not just cigarettes, but cigars, pipes, and so far as I can tell anything else that’s legal. They even have cutters, torch lighters, and large cigar ashtrays handy for their patrons which makes this the only place I know of until you get to D.C. which does that for their clientele. And it’s a dive bar off 29 in Fairfax!
The selection of pinball machines is another reason to come here. Since there really aren’t any arcades in the area geared towards an adult clientele (such as Dave and Busters) this is one of the only places where you can get your game on and have a beer at the same time. It is worthy to note that the pinball machines, pool tables, etc. are all in the non-​smoking portion of the restaurant.
Each time I’ve been here I’ve been treated well by the staff and the other customers, had my drink order promptly taken and delivered, and been extremely pleased at the low prices. Over the last year they have also expanded their beer selection and appear to have redone both their kitchen and their menu.
I certainly plan to be back here in the future.

This is a real s. hole. First the blond bar tender whose name is the same as a Georgia city only with one «N» appeared stoned. She cannot keep track of what time the bar opens, your drink order, or what is happening.
The patronage is a mixture ranging from down right scary, the guy who offered to have sex in the bath room with one member of our party was particularly enjoyable. Needless to say she was over joyed at the thought of a bathroom sexual encounter with an aging falling down drunk at noon. In all fairness there were a few nice people in the place. However the overall impression was that if this were a movie it would be Leaving Las Vegas” meets «Barfly». When I decide that I no longer want to live I am going to go here for a final act of desperation before taking a handful of pills and washing them down cheap whiskey.
On the plus side there are some redeeming things about John’s. The roof top bar is nice. The woman bar tender who works up there is all over it. Smart, funny, and very put together. Ditch the downstairs and head on up to the rooftop. There are a load of pinball machines in the bar. I don’t believe I have seen this many machines in a bar in years.

Some very fun pinball machines that rotate in and out. True dive bar, nice clientelle and employee’s. Cheap beer, cheap pub-​grub. Will return!

I go to John’s on a regular basis. It’s a great place to sit around with friends on the weekend. The bartenders are all really friendly, and John himself is QUITE the character. Don’t miss out on getting a word in with him – you won’t regret it.
The Food is actually really good, which you wouldn’t expect from the look of the place. And yes, there are pinball machines. I’ve wasted so many quarters on those things. There’s really no other place like it in the area.

A gal pal of mine and I stopped by for a drink after I googled «dive bars in Fairfax». I instantly fell in love with this place. There are 10 pinball machines, 4 pool tables and darts. The adorable bartender with beautiful long hair was blasting 80’s music and I felt like we had stepped into a Kevin Smith movie set. The locals in there were friendly and passing around a newly purchased welding mask. There was also a wall of bras. .. They should have karaōke. I will certainly be back, especially to check out the rooftop Tiki bar.

GREAT dive bar in the heart of Fairfax.
This is the sort of place you go into and just KNOW you are going to have a good time. As other reviewers have noted, they have a ton of pinball machines inside and a couple of pool tables. The bar will give you change if you need it for the pinball machines, all of which are a lot of fun and some that are challenging as well. They hold pinball tournaments here occasionally.
The rooftop bar is an absolute BLAST. It has a tiki theme and the bartenders working are all very friendly. You can be sitting on the far corner and she’ll look over at you to see if you need another drink and deliver if you if you give her a signal. The beer is decently priced and cold. The entire environment on the rooftop is very conducive to drinking, with comfortable padded lounge chairs and cool mood lighting.
Remember to bring cash, there is a $ 3 charge if you have to use a credit card.
This is definitely a place to check out if you have never been. Be sure to go in the warmer months to go on the rooftop!
I really hope that this place stays in Fairfax for another 30 years!!!

The would-​be missus spotted this one on Unilocal,while looking for local bars that have pinball machines. We were passing by the other day and swung in for a quick couple-​a-​few beers.
This place is great. Plenty of pool tables and pinball machines. The beer is cold. We didn’t eat, but the food looked and smelled good.
The crowd was freindly when we were there, which was late on a Saturday afternoon. Interesting mix of people.
So, it’s a little dive bar. But, in my limited experience, it was fun, relatively clean and freindly. We had a great time that day and I look forward to going back.
Peace,

Juke box, pinball and beer, lots of beer. A group of us used to meet here every Wednesday night. Coulda met anywhere but this was the spot. were we creatures of habit? Did we lack imagination? You Betcha! Did we get drunk? Is the Pope a Catholic? Fond memories of sleepin on the sidewalk before the ride home. Not a good way to impress a date. Went back the other day for old times sake. Place hasn’t changed much. No more Steppenwolf on the juke.

Ok so the place is pretty much a super dive bar in Fairfax but after one visit it is now my favorite bar in Fairfax. When you first walk in it might be a little much to take in because all you see are a few locals at the bar and really really old décor. Don’t be afraid though, walk up to the bar and ask for a pitcher. You will most likely see a man sitting at the corner of the bar smoking a cig and drinking a beer, its John himself! He is a nice guy so have a conversation with him. The pin ball machines are awesome and you can get change from the bar. There is a Tiki bar upstairs that will make you forget that you are in the middle of Fairfax and I believe it was just built so it looks clean and new. If you see a big biker guy at the bar that’s Big Albert and he can hook you up with some mean Jerky. If you see the only asian guy at the bar it will most likely be me so don’t be afraid to say hi.
*They only serve beer here and no liquor. Also there is a 3 dollar charge for using a CC so bring cash.

Neat selection of late 70s/​80s pinball machines – that’s why I went. I enjoyed it because it was empty and I got to play pinball alone. I’m not sure what I would have thought had I had to deal with any other customers.

Literally walking distance from home, so it’s the only reason I’d go.
That said, it’s not bad. It’s basically your grandpa’s bar. I think it’s beer only. They have all baseball games. The same old guy with the ChiSox hat who sits at the corner and controls the remote and will ogle your wife but buy you a beer. Jukebox is good. I saw the previous review about pinball and can vouch for that.
Seriously, just stop in for a cold one and watch a couple innings of baseball. Then head out to Auld Shebeen, Hooter’s or the Fairfax Corner.