The Haunt

Fantastic food and a super music venue! Waitstaff like Krysta are attentive and friendly. Come and get your jam on.

My review is based on the one show I’ve seen at The Haunt. I haven’t tried the food, nor have I been for karaōke or any other regularly-​scheduled event. I was pumped to see the Drive-​By Truckers last night, so we made the trip down from Syracuse. They were great, but honestly, The Haunt was quite possibly the worse venue I’ve been to. A few major problems: 1. There’s simply no way it wasn’t filled well above capacity. They advertised several days before the show that is was sold out, but we were packed in like sweaty, testy sardines. So much so that it had to be illegal. 2. There was way too much movement in the crowd, mostly because the bar is at one end and the stage is at the other, so people had to push and shove their way through the crowd to get a drink. But then they came back, drink in hand, and tried to reclaim their original spot near the stage. If the crowd is big and you’re packed in tightly, you should probably expect a lot of elbows in your back and getting groped a few times. 3. The sound was OK, basically comparable to other venues of this size. Not bad, but a lot of echoing. I’d go back if that was the only way I could see the Drive-​By Truckers again, but otherwise, I’ll try to avoid it.

If only I had realized they were having a karaōke duet competition. And if only they had started on time. If only… then I may have not wasted my last night in Ithaca on waiting. Thanks… For a couple beers.

i’ve been here a few times over the last 4 years to watch live music and also just to eat. the stage is pretty big for a small to medium size venue and they do have a pretty good sound system, and the bar itself is on the divey side but that’s what you need for a rock music venue, so it works. as for the food, the menu seems to have changed a lot over the last few years and i think it’s going to change yet again because they are closing soon to revamp the place, i guess they are reopening in february. i originally came here for the BBQ. the first time i got this big sampler that i don’t remember too well. it came with ribs, smoked wings, i think there was pulled pork and onion rings and coleslaw. i remember the ribs being ok, and the wings were good too. i went with the honey BBQ sauce and i could tell that it wasn’t a sauce that was made in house, but it was very good. a little while after that i went back and after a night of drinking i got the fried chicken and ribs combo. they don’t have fried chicken on the menu anymore, but i remember it being pretty good. unfortunately the ribs that came with it was on the dry side. i guess they only do ribs one night a week now, probably just so they can serve em more fresh.
i went here a couple times recently and there was a lot less bbq on the menu. they still have the smoked wings and a pulled pork sandwich. the pulled pork was a let down, it didn’t even taste like it was smoked. it wasn’t dried out or anything but it was overly sauced and you couldn’t taste much of the meat. the coleslaw that came with it was good, and the side of fries i ordered were also ok. the wings are still good, but the house bbq sauce isn’t really anything too special. the corn nuggets were pretty good though. i also got their burger with bbq sauce and onion rings. it was ok, but it was a lot like other bbq burgers i’ve had, nothing special to set it off. i didn’t care too much for the bread it came on and the meat patty itself wasn’t that great either.
the haunt does have a good selection of beers, but they can be a bit on the pricey side. the service has always been good, the bartender was pretty friendly and attentive and i’m looking forward to see what improvements they make over the next month

I would have given this a higher review, but the staff is rude. I have been to the Haunt for various occasions: many crush parties and a low key acoustic concert. At all of these time, the staff were being rude. Its annoying and makes me not want to go back.

Came to The Haunt to see James McMurtry — anyplace in NY that will book him is a place I’d go to again. Ample parking is available, albeit hard to figure out when a show draws a big crowd (don’t park in the bus lot). The layout inside lends itself to a good viewing experience. Bar service was slow and the locals crowd a bit too much at times. But all in all it’s what you’d expect for a hole in the wall bar. Did not try the food — it smelled good though.

I went to the Haunt again last night with a group of girlfriends for karaōke night. The crowd was fantastic – a really colorful selection of students and townies alike (it’s universal – everyone loves a good karaōke night!) – but the overall experience was not good enough to make me want to go back again. I get that it’s called «The Haunt,» but I’m always baffled by the décor of this place… it’s like it’s trying to exude some southern charm with the fake window boxes and ivy climbing up the walls, but the wrought iron fence and gravestones and skeletons over the bar just gives the impression that the clearance rack at a Halloween superstore threw up all over the place. Not to mention that everything is clearly covered in an inch of dust.
The BBQ can be hit or (usually) miss. Of the four times I’ve been there, three have been a miss. Wednesdays happen to be wing night as well as karaōke night, so we all shared a few different flavors of the smoked wings (meh), sweet potato fries (average), and nachos (disgustingly soggy). Someone later tried to order ribs and the waitress (apparently there is only one for the whole place, so you might as well order two beers at a time) mentioned that they were out, because Thursdays are their smoking days. So… does that mean that the wings we were eating had been smoked a week ago? Hmm. Maybe that would explain why they weren’t that stellar.

The location of the haunt kept me from visiting for months. It’s «on the wrong side of the tracks» and looks a little shady from the outside, but rest assured, it’s a hopping music venue with a friendly crowd. I popped in on a random night out and ended up staying all night listening to 2 great funk acts from NYC and a local 9 piece horn band.
The layout of the space is a little odd, but the acoustics are good and they seem to book talented bands. I was underwhelmed by the bartenders (they didn’t know how to make anything beyond the basics and even the basics tasted iffy) but I really enjoyed the music and had a great night out. I’ll definately go back.

Their menus boasts tons of fried food selections and I guess it might be a BBQ place?
I also saw a great Oregon band with a friendly 16+ crowd. Which was weird.

Thursday nights are «Ribs night», and they serve up fresh BBQ ribs hot from the smoker at $ 1/​bone. The quality of the ribs vary from night to night, and if you are lucky, they can be damn delicious.
Interestingly, ribs night also coincides with karaōke night, and the music is dauntingly loud making it impossible to maintain a conversation.
Waiting staff is nice and beers are cheap, although the Guinness has always been fairly flat.

I’ve decided to do a numerical list of things that are wrong with the Haunt. And while there’s an obvious less-​than-​zero joke hidden in here somewhere, I’ll avoid any further Bret Easton Ellis references.
1. The music.
Unless you like droning, repetitive techno that would make Skinny Puppy shit itself inside out in agony (makes Daft Punk sound like Does It Offend You, Yeah) or some local band scoring big on finding big nice drugs for the owner and convincing him to let them play in the hopes of fame, groupies, and drugs of their own, you’re going to have a rather unremarkable time with it.
2. The people
Well, this is Ithaca’s club. Which means you have Ithacans in there. And if you’re not entirely aware, most Ithacans are about as pleasing to be around as a pack of senile, boozed up ducks, always quacking some opinion in some issue they don’t understand. If they’re drunk, they’re even worse. I swear you could shout the word «bush» in there and they’d all start talking like political pundits of lesbian analysts.
3. The atmosphere
Much like an aspiring sociopath, you get the sense people are only in here out of desperation, not any allegiance towards The Haunt itself. A rather dank aura of «well, why the hell not» permeates the air as well as the stale, sharp aroma of watered-​down whiskey shots. Yes, I know it’s difficult to classify a smell as both stale and sharp, but believe me, it’s there. You know what I’m talking about.
4. Robert Downey Jr.
He’s not there! I mean, come on. Okay, that was a really obvious reference, but they can’t all be gold. Go see Kiss Kiss Bang Bang or something.
5. Trying to get out.
I swear, I came this close to being mugged when I came out of there. I didn’t even know there were muggers in Ithaca. I thought everyone was too bloody timid to do anything but shout like-​minded liberal opinions at each other. It turns out I was wrong, and in fact there was someone trying to roll me. Unfortunately for that dimbulb, I was out of cash, having spent it on the crappy drinks, and instead ending up giving him a tip on who not to attempt to mug and encouraging my friend to puke on him.
There you have it. I’ll recommend the Haunt to people, but only really boring people with stupid opinions who can’t actually handle their liquor… which, come to think of it, is a lot of Ithacans.

As I recall (and it’s been a while) there were some national bands that would come through here as well as local acts. I think it was pretty spacious and the sound system was decent.