Dan Brown’s

Although it is no longer called Dan Brown’s anymore, a new bar establishment (now just simply called «Bar») has re-​opened at Dan Brown’s old location. DB’s was my favorite dive-​bar in all of Palo Alto (sorry Antonio’s Nut House) so gotta give 5 stars for old times sakes.

Closed…
Had an awesome patio for the smokers among us.
Had some pool tables for the «drunk athletes» among us.
Had karaōke nights for the wannabe stars among us.
Had amazing turkey club sandwiches for the drunk binge eaters among us.
Had cheap, stiff drinks for the non-​snob Palo Altans among us.
Yes, I was part of all the above «among usses». RIP, Dan Brown’s.

I just moved to Palo Alto, was looking for a dive bar and was going to go out tonight… only to find out that this place closed last monday night.
Bummer.

If Palo Alto had an official «dive bar», Dan Brown’s would be the spot. Between the dim lighting, funky music selection and great brews it’s a wonderful place to kick back with new friends or run into old ones.
There are pool tables in the main area and a great patio if you’d like to venture outside; the bar area can get crowded at times and is always boisterous.
I’ve been going here with friends for a few years and every time I go I run into familiar, smiling faces. It’s really too bad that the place is closing down, I’m going to miss it!

Came here with grad students. I’m not a big fan of public karaokes but I can handle it. The crowd definitely does bring in the energy and all the times I’ve been there, I definitely enjoyed drinking and just singing my heart out.
I don’t however recommend buying the food from there.
Three star because I’ve definitely been to better places. Would have gotten two stars but I think this is the best that Palo Alto offers and I’ll just deal with what I have.

as far as neighborhood bars go, this is the spot!!!
I love that they do karaōke all the time (or so it seems.) and happy hour twice a day, one of which begins at 10pm, pimp shit!!!
The vibe is always cool and I always run into peeps from ‘back-​in-​the-​day’
I also enjoy the fact that Dan gets out and busts melodic moves on the karaōke mike.
oh and the best part of all, happy meals of PBR $ 5. YES!
bottom line, come here and have a great time, everytime!

i love me some dbs!
Been coming to this bar for years and i love how as the time passes the faces dont change… it makes dan browns feel really homey… and of course its a good sign if the staff stick around.
The late night happy hour is awesome and i like how if need be i can come here in pajamas (which i have) and not have to care… everyone is very chill and there are all types of people and ages, a great escape from the downtown palo alto spots.
They used to have a cool reggae night but because of some unruly patrons had to cancel it… sucks some lame drunkards ruined it for the rest of us! but nonetheless the karaōke is fun and they have some cool djs and bands come and play also.
cool people & staff
cheap drinks
good food
and bunch of different games to entertain you when you got your buzz on
need i say more?!

The first time I heard of Dan Brown’s was through a friend who was at the bar. My reaction: you are at Dan Brown’s? Do I know this guy? Does he have a nice house? At which point I realized that (obviously) it is the name of a bar! Actually… it took me like an hour to figure that out, but that is a different story.
I think you would either really like this bar or really not like it so I suggest stopping by to check it out! It is laid back and relaxed. It is kind of in a random location so if you want to go anywhere else you would have drive, which is a downside. The crowd on a Thurs/​Fri night is mixed but mostly younger people in their 20’s. Thursday nights they have karaōke which is surprisingly fun.

Who could ask for more in a dive bar? Dan is adorable with his shining bald head and amazing singing voice! The music is always different and before you know it you’ll be singing along with people you’ve never met before. They’ve made sure to accommodate wine snobs like me by having a few decent wines to choose from. Their food is both bar fare and restaurant savvy — nachos, hot links with sauerkraut, BBQ, salmon tacos. There’s karaōke a couple of nights a week for the brave or drunk. The walls are covered with old movie star photos, including a picture of naked Marilyn Monroe over the bar and a great shot of Jane Mansfield’s boobs getting the stink-​eye. The best part is that Dan will let you slide your beer glass down the gutter of the half-​moon bar — empty or full. A *great* little dive bar!

This has got to be one of my favorite bars ever. Dan Brown’s is the kind of neighborhood bar where you can walk in at any time of the day and have a great time. For those of you who love to play pool, there is a large room with a couple of pool tables, as well as some video games etc. I’m a bit bummed they removed the Fussball table :-(
The bar itself is pretty cool. It is one of those large rounded bars where you can slide your drink on. There are tons of pictures of Frank Sinatra, the Rat pack and old movie stars on the wall. I heard the owner is a huge Sinatra fan, which he will demonstrate every once in a while at Karaōke night. The bar tenders here have always been very friendly.
The drinks are pretty cheap and strong. They have Happy Hour twice a day. The other day I had their BBQ for the first time and it was amazing. There is nothing about Dan Brown’s I don’t like. I love going here, I probably always will and I never had a bad time at Dan Brown’s.

DB’s is the most fun on Thursday nights, especially if you enjoy singing your lungs out! This bar is so fun to hang out at in large groups and they serve pretty decent bar food during their happy hours. Sometimes the kitchen service can lag, but there’s plenty of other things to do while you’re waiting. So in the end, it doesn’t really matter.
The pool table in the back is a plus, as well as the outdoor patio area seating. Overall fun place with amazing vibes. Definitely a place to check out with your buddies or even classmates. I would definitely go back in the future.

True meaning of dive.
fun hangout, pool tables, nice large bar area, lots of seating, never over packed. Fun place to go if u want an intimate night with friends playing pool listening to the jukebox and chatting it up… not something you can do at the bars in DT PA.

Best sports bar in Palo Alto. I’ve been to them all. Many times.
First off, the food is fantastic. Lucky’s makes the best BBQ food on the peninsula — always fresh, always delicious!
Never too crowded, and the $ 3 drinks at happy hour every day 4−6pm and 10pm-​midnight make for very happy clientele.
Ask Dan about the Redskins. He’s got lots of good stories to tell. Dan is the man!

Best neighborhood bar in Palo Alto.
In fact, the only one!
Since the «New» Old Pro, in downtown PA, was never a «cool» neighborhood hangout, (unlike the «Old «Old Pro), there is only one place in Palo Alto where «everyone knows your name».
This place is Dan Brown’s.
Oh yeah, DB’s doesn’t charge a cover fee for anything!
Like, I’m going to go to the «New» Old Pro for a drink on a Friday evening and be asked to pay a cover charge. No Band, No Music, and very rude wait staff. NEVER, EVER…
DB’s is best.
Dan Brown’s!!!

Love this place.
Their retro signage and unique lil building caught my eye but their strong, reasonably priced drinks and fun games hooked me.
HAPPY HOUR: 4−7pm, 7 days a week
KARAOKE: Tue and Thur nights
LIVE DJ: Friday nights
Last year, I found Dan Brown’s on Unilocal and my boyfriend and I met for a meet-​in-​the-​middle rendezvous. It’s located on El Camino Real in Palo Alto, which is kinda between our houses. It was a slow weeknight but fun just the same. They gave me a free shot of jäger in celebration of… something and then, the bartender handed me money for the juke box because he liked the music I’d been playing. Great time. Our following trips were just as fun but we were surprised that the weekend night we visited wasn’t very crowded. Maybe it was just an off night. We don’t really like a packed house anyway.
The joint is clean with a neat outdoor patio. They keep people from all walks entertained with pool tables, video games, foosball, air hockey, and best of all, PINBALL. The bar staff is nice and efficient enough — sometimes you might have to wave them down though. I have yet to try their bar food.
See ya there!

A pretty cool little place in the middle of boring non-​downtown Palo Alto. They have a poor beer tap selection (read: PBR, Bud Light), but they have pretty decent bottles and they are cheaper ($ 4). I came with a friend on karaōke night and it was a little creepy, they were singing some pretty weird songs. So we mostly spent our time in the pool table/​non-​bar area so we could hear ourselves think.
We also played pool ($ 1/​play.) Lastly, I had a lot of fun with the video game tables ($ 0.25 per player, 2 player max but it is not true multiplayer, you take turns.)
+3 for good bottles.
+4 for video game tables with Pac-​Man, Donkey Kong, Galaxian, Missile Command… OH MY GOD.
–1 for creepy old guy who told me to «watch out» during my pool game because the 8 ball was hovering over the corner pocket.
–1 for creepy karaōke songs (Copacabana… and Tom Lehrer…)
–1 for the douches who make a lot of noise after coming back from the Sharks game while drinking mini pitchers of bud Light.

$ 3 PBR Drafts were my drink for the night. There was a video DJ playing everything from Britney spears to The Pet Shop boys and everything in between with all the videos stolen from VH1 complete with little ad bits in the corner of the screen. Musically, I was in some deeper part of hell, but that is probably not what Dan Browns is all about. I will have to return on a better night to see if that part gets better.
The bar was nice and long with plenty of stools and two people tending bar towards the end of the night. The main bartender was nice and quick. He was pretty calm and did his job well. there was a separate pool room with about three tables and a pinball game. I didn’t try the food, but the kitchen looked clean. No burgers on the menu, but there were things like Hot wings, Nachos and Sandwiches. There was a meat plate on the menu too… a MEAT plate?
The people seemed pretty cool and calm. Some college kids, some older men and women. One old guy in a white tux. It was not too packed, and that is cool for the locals who seem to be the kind of people escaping from the trendy bars. I wouldn’t come here looking for a date, but I would come here with a few friends just to grab a drink .
Oh, the pool tables had mechanical dollar slots, like on ATMs and Soda machines, so the pool can’t be cheap.

So me and my homeboy Joel are continuing the Tour de El Camino where we drive down El Camino just looking for random bars to go into and there is a huge void from Redwood City to like South Palo Alto. That’s a good half an hour drive without hitting anything bars.
Dan Brown’s is super chill, really mixed, and diverse crowd with a good vibe!
They literally have something for everyone. Go here to do some karaōke in the bar area, go play some pool with their 3 pool tables, video games, go hang out in the patio and chop it up with the locals. One local «dude:» summarized why he liked the bar best with, «I like this bar because it’s close to my house and I can get smashed.» Hooray and good for you. So that’s what makes Dan Brown’s cool, a good mixture of locals and being close to the Stanford campus without being to close.

I don’t even drink and I enjoyed myself at this bar.
My friend was having a rough time with his personal life and needed some stiff drinks and an ear to listen to him so I found this place through Unilocal,I wanted something dark, quiet, divey, strong drinks for him and food for me.
At 5:30pm on Monday around 3 in the bar and 2 in the back game room. Street parking was easy at that time of night. We sat in the bar area, one of the bartenders came up to us, said we can either order with him or go to the back room to order the food.
We went to the back room and ordered a hotdog, nachos and pastrami panini sandwich. The panini was good and came with a whole dill pickle. The nachos were costco type chips but the cheese was shredded and plenty of quac, a dollop of sour cream with salsa, wish they had jalapenos. On the counter are tons of hot sauces offered. Dog was basic, dog and bun, it was grilled and you can put on your own condiments. Around $ 17. My friend was drinking Myers and tonic and lime and said it was strong and cheap. My tonic with lime and it was a good size and his double Myers and tonic with lime, came out to $ 6. He said his drink alone at other bars would be $ 7.
The crowd was mixed, some white collar types, computer geeks, a guy on his computer and wifi, some blue collar types, just a mish mash of people. The atmosphere is clean, didn’t smell of stale beer, comfortable and safe even for a group of women. The front bar is dark with tall bar stools and counter and tables but loud with the TV’s going, the back room is bright with tall bar stools and even louder with the TV’s going. At the football breaks, they would play some music. Staff was friendly and welcoming, people were into their football games, hooting and hollaring or talking with each other. On the weekends, they serve BBQ. Left around 7:20, over a dozen people in there.

My new favorite dive bar. Showed up on a Thursday night and had the time of my life. Great karaōke choices by the people inside, met a lot of cool new characters and enjoyed my strong drinks.
Dan Brown’s can stay.