Gunther’s Pub

I was pulled in by the sign that said «Kerouac drank here» and that alone makes it a cool place to me. But it also stands on its own. It is a very chill place and it seemed filled with locals who knew each other. It has a pool table and a jukebox. It is a low key option for when you want to just go and drink beer. The beers on draft were good options but they were few. It also seemed like the hangout for the middle age crew so if you prefer a younger (or older) crowd, this probably isn’t the place for you. All I wanted to do was sit and drink thought so I didn’t mind. There was also a dog in there so I guess they allow that? So that’s another plus in my opinion.

This is a TRUE dive bar. Sure, its claim to fame is that Jack Kerouac reportedly spent many a night throwing back whiskies here in the years he lived in Northport before he found success as a writer. There is a sign that pays homage to Gunther’s most famous client taped to the window.
Inside, you will find a clean establishment that is well worn by years and years of hard boozing inside. Just about everything inside from the cigarette machine with pull handles to the rough and tumble customers are well worn. You will hear some funny stories and be immediately cast as an extra in a hard scrabble real life version of the show Cheers.
The drinks are average priced (for non-​regulars) … Unfortunately Northport is a town which hates credit cards. Gunther’s is just one of the many bars/​restaurants that don’t take credit cards … Heck, I don’t even know if the Capital One Bank down the street even takes credit cards! There is an ATM machine in the bar, but using an ATM machine that looks about as lightweight and well made as a Walmart microwave oven is probably an engraved invitation for identity theft.
If you are not a regular here, you will be welcome to drink here. Most of the bartenders/​customers seem to have grown up together but I didn’t get the uncomfortable outsider feeling here. If you weren’t afraid to jump into a current events discussion, you could join in the fun.
There is a pool table and a jukebox. Although at the $ 2 per song they charge, it is cheaper to BUY a fucking song on your iPhone than to play one on the jukebox! I do think there is an option for $ 10 for 10 songs but they play very loud and I didn’t want to piss off the locals by playing 20 minutes worth of music at glass rattling volume which made it difficult to talk.
This is the kind of bar I’d come back to every day if I lived closer. And not just because I was hoping to get a glimpse of the ghost of Jack Kerouac downing cheap scotch and insulting people. This place is the stuff dive bar dreams are made of and after a while of drinking here, this is the place you’d have the best shot at having them yell out your name when you walk in the way they did for Norm on Cheers.

I’m not the person to post bad about a place, but it was gross. The glasses smelled bad and there were tiny ants all over the bar. A complete disgrace to the village and all locale businesses. The bartender was nice and is the only reason the place will 2 stars.

One of… if not the best bars on long island. Gunthers is more than a bar… its a state of mind. The highlight of northport village… do yourself a favor and come here… unless you are pretentious and hate having fun… then just stay home.

Most bars in this town, my Hometown, range from horrid to barely tolerable. This one is nothing less than an American Classic. One of the most perfect dives anywhere. I mean c’mon it was a favorite of no less than Jack Kerouac himself, surely one of the most legendary booze hounds of all time. His spirit lives on here, as well as the spirit of a much more funky and salty Northport that vanished decades ago. I have heard legend that in the 70s Northport was a rough and tumble artsy fishing town, but I only knew it as the uptight insular yuppieville it had unfortunately «progressed» to by my formative years. Well grizzled fisherman, straight from a hard days work on the boat can often be found here during the late afternoon, along with other similar often borderline shady types who seem out of place in this village. Nights the place gets rowdy and crowded with even more shady types as well the cooler people from here, around my age and younger that I actually wouldn’t dread to run into when back in town. I have been here on every Christmas night for the past 10 years straight now, and it is often the highlight of my holiday. The décor is dingy & perfect, servers are world class & still acknowledge and practice the dying art of the BUYBACK! One of the best Jukeboxes anywhere, and live music is played in cramped corners on occasion. Prices are also cheap which is nothing less than an anomaly on this Main Street, home to some of the most absurd rip offs on the Island.

Good place to stop for a drink if you’re shopping/​strolling around Northport shops. Very quiet bar, with a couple of small screens to view the games.
Seems like it’s full of regulars there which I saw people walk in and the bartender referring them by first names. The thing that really surprised me was the cigarette vending machine. I have not seen one of these since the early 90’s. I could’ve sworn that these were all taken out because minors were able to purchase these without showing ID. But I guess since it’s a bar and you need to be 21 to drink anyway, you should be old enough to smoke.
Overall pretty decent bar, but I think it’s a little too quiet for me.
3.5÷5

Love this place. Great dive bar with live music!

This is one of those places where you can go back to after a 10 year hiatus and see the same people — and they all remember your name.
I think the claim to fame of Gunthers is that Jack Kerouac used to hang there back in the day… or at least that is the story.
Good things: Great pool table, excellent juke box, reasonable drinks.
Bad Things: Not much going on, tends to be a younger crowd on weekends. Many more men than women.