3rd Generation Bar

This establishment its now closed.

3^rd Generation is a dive bar located on Olive Blvd. in STL. It’s kind of in U-​City but kind of in Overland, it’s just a kind of no man’s land bar. We come here for Happy Hours sometimes (I’m not sure I’d feel safe walking to my car alone at night) and we love the friendly people and staff here. The drinks are reasonable (esp. at Happy Hour) and they have dart boards; I love to play darts. This is a fine dive bar– which are lacking in this part of the city– and it’s a pretty decent time.

The name of this bar comes from the fact that it has been family owned for three generations. Portraits of all three proporitors hang over the bar.
Olive Blvd. is somewhat of a dividing line between a largely working class African-​American neighborhood and a more diverse neighborhood which includes a lot of Wash. U students. The clientele and staff of the 3G are mostly working class, mostly older than me, and almost all black. They embraced the group of law students I went with: we were bought or comped more than one round of shots, and several people made a point to come by to talk us up. We mostly sat in a booth upstairs drinking buckets of bud and watching people play darts. I believe some of the people downstairs were playing spades, and it seemed like they were selling hot food. At one point, a member of our party instigated an impromptu «chicken noodle soup» dance contest, which was fun until I saw the cameraphone playback of my performance. We ended up staying a lot longer than we had expected to because it turned out to be such an interesting place.
Because of the location, it is not surprising that there is a slightly shady element here: a member of our party received an unwelcome proposal in the men’s room, but it was not really a big deal.
Third Generation has a long history and a lot of character. Many of the regulars have lived in the neighborhood for decades. If you go with a group of friends and an open mind you can have a great night. We did!