Lou Jones Inn

This place was a wonderful dive bar that was never really crowded. Loved the pool table and that space. This place has been closed since end of 2012 and will not re-​open.

I have a feeling I am going to be here a lot.

when you walk through the door pay very close attention and listen for the ‘whoosh’ sound.
it’s very subtle, but it’s the only indication of the black hole you walk through to deliver you to Minnesota, circa 1983
Welcome to Lou Jones, you betcha.

Cheap beer and interesting people.

There was a time in my life that I spent a LOT of time at Lou’s. Not anymore, but I have good memories of the place.
It’s THE local dive bar. It’s not a place to dance on the weekends or a place to get your buzz on and sing karaōke. It’s a BAR.
Like pool? There are some good players here, and the tables are usually full most nights.
Wanna drink? NOW you’re talking. This is the drinking man’s bar. Bartenders are pleasant, quick, friendly, and attentive. Drinks are done well, and the beer is cold. Mind your business, tip the bartenders, and enjoy yourself.
The crowd? This isn’t the Ould Sod or Rosie O’Grady’s. The clientele represents the neighborhood. The REAL neighborhood. Enjoy it!

This places loses one star because the lights are really quite bright inside. I assume so that the pool players can see what they’re doing… A big group of us went here during a pub crawl — it had great atmosphere and the bartender was super! Drinks were strong enough and prices were ok. No complaints at all!

Love this place. People are super friendly

It’s a DIVE BAR.
I don’t think I should have to write anything else. But here goes!
Three beers on tap and you know the first two: Bud and Bud Light!
They sell chips to snack on
$ 1.00 to use a card and $ 10 minimum
Go play pool and drink a bud and have a good time!

I have been going here for many years, it’s been a good place to meet friends, have drinks and play pool. The bartender on Friday nights, Wendy, used to be a San Diego Derby Doll with me so I was introduced to this bar in 2005. Since then I have frequented this bar on average once or twice a month whether it be to watch my sister play pool, stroll in during a festival on Adam’s Avenue or simply begin or end a night of drinking here.
There are a lot of good memories in this bar so far and there will be a few more memories made. If you have never been a patron of Lou Jones I suggest you stop in and have a cold, tasty one from the taps.

A true dive, it’s not sparkling clean, some of the patrons are questionable at best, and the beer selection isnt that great. If you can get over that it’s a pretty decent place. Drinks are cheap, they have a few pool tables and a ton of decent players hanging around, there’s also a dart board in the back if that’s more your thing. The crowd here tends to be mostly 35+, all the regulars are pretty friendly and mostly tolerable. Bottom line, if you want to get your drink on for cheap and play a few games of pool for cheap this is a place for you, if you want to hit on chicks in their 20’s and drink craft beer try a different bar on Adams.

Best pool hall in SD and they have both tournaments and league play. Most people who come here are average to extremely good pool players. Inexpensive drinks, good crowd and is a great dive bar with two great tables.

I was next door at Ould Sod over the weekend, catching up with Tony N. I had some friends over at Lou Jones and was going to head over.
Tony asks me, «Are they try to get some crack over there?»
Me: o_​_​_​_​_​o
True story.
Anyway…this bar, without a doubt, falls in the dive bar category. It smells of cheep booze and alimony payments. Not too bad.

Dipped in for a quick one with Sarah. It was a sunny Sunday afternoon and we needed a place that wasn’t packed out due to the Roots Festival. Peeked in Lou’s from the outside and it looked promising.
Stood around for five minutes and no bartender. And none of the regulars chimed in with a helpful and neighborly «she had to take a piss…» or anything else.
So we bailed.

I honestly cant knock this place for anything. Theres no pretentiousness, the patrons are mainly locals and its not trying to be anything that its not.
Its a simple neighborhood bar that serves beer and the hard stuff with no gimmicks.
I used to walk past this bar all of the time and I would always think «One of these days I have got to check this place out «.
Sadly enough that thought usually occurs as Im leaving the Ould Sod and Im on my way to either Rosies or BLAH
If I were hanging out with friends in Normal Heights and if I wanted to hide out then I would come in here. I know that my friends would check Rosies, BLAH and maybe even Triple Crown but they would never check Lou’s.

Honest drinking here.
Not the usual
place for drinks … you know … the high class joint masquerading as a dive …
Here there are no lies, no deceit.
Simple.
Beer.
Liquor.
Pool.
Darts.
Not everyone is beautiful.
Not everyone is polite.
But they are honest.
And I like it.

I’m normally a big fan of dive bars– that being said, this place has never done it for me. When I walk in everyone looks at me, but not in that friendly way. It is dingy and dark, there is pool but several people are usually already playing or doing a tournament.
The mixed drink I ordered came in the smallest cup I’ve seen in a bar. It took a good long while to get served, even though it’s never that busy in there. The regulars look a tad… rough, (and that’s coming from someone who loves Rosie O’ Grady’s across the street). I was a bit uncomfortable being there and that’s never a good feeling.
In short, if this is your type of place, you will love it. Otherwise, you’re better off at The Ould Sod, Blind Lady Ale House, or Rosie ‘O Grady’s– all within walking distance.

Lou’s is a good place to go when you don’t want to be found. No one will look for you there. I think of it as the red-​headed stepchild of Adams Avenue. You have your good beers with The Triple Crown and The Blind Lady. There’s liquor and way too many people for the space at the Sod and Rosie’s. And then there’s Lou’s.
They have a full bar with Bud and Guinness on tap. Two pool tables, two dart boards and a jukebox that you can download whatever. This place is never packed, the music is never too loud and it’s not overly priced. If you’re looking for somewhere to have a couple of cocktails and not be bothered, this is the spot. You can actually hear the person your talking to without screaming unlike the Sod or Rosie’s. If you want to meet someone or get a bit out of control, probably not your best bet.
Love it for what it is. I dive that’s never crowded and is a mellow spot.

LJ’s Inn is in some sort of an abysmal bar limbo between Rosie O’Grady’s and the Ould Sod. It is the one corner of the Bermuda triangle of drunkeness on 34^th and Adams that everyone knows about but never really wants to set foot in for fear of disappearing forever at the hands of the patrons inside.
Imagine a 200 pound woman in her 40’s wearing a t-​shirt reading «Here I am, what are your other two wishes?» That’s the bartender.
Now imagine a 200 pound biker. That’s the guy playing pool.
When our hero and his three friends walked in, some guys playing pool exclaimed (and not in a very discrete way either), «where the hell did all these people come from?»
PROS:
— It’s cheap, in more ways than one. (I hope you don’t have standards.)
CONS:
— Most of the patrons look like they just walked in from the street or live on the street. Yep, this bar is up there with Tobacco Rhoda’s.
— I’m not sure who Lou Jones is, but I really would not want to mess with him.

From driving past this place on Adams for years, I would have given it a 1-​star review. One of those «who the hell hangs out there» kind-​of 1-​star reviews. Well, last night… the super duper Unilocal kickball team, 2 Balls 1 Cup stopped in for some post-​game tequila shots.
It’s not a bad place. Much better than I originally thought! Drinks are pretty cheap, and the other patrons aren’t totally ghetto. They love NASCAR (Non Athletic Sport Centered Around Rednecks), which is evident from the paraphernalia adorning the walls. If I ever get into that awful sport, I’ll probably watch the Brickyard here.

Bars are like friends to me. For better or worse, I’m one of those people who has just a few really good close friends and tons of not-​so-​close friends. I tend to extend myself beyond my own limits and I end up losing a lot of the not-​so-​good friends because I don’t call or hang out with them enough.
I digress. What I’m trying to say here is that, for a quick minute, the bars along Adams Avenue in Normal Heights were my buddies, drinking buddies I guess you could say. You’ve got Rosie’s for karaōke and chile, Ould Sod for the best Guinness around (and some decent karaōke as well) and Lou Jones’s for, well, sitting at the bar and getting nice and hammered.
Lou Jones’s is a drinking bar. You go there to drink. Or maybe play pool, but mostly to drink.
So Lou was my favorite drinking buddy for awhile, but I stopped going and now I feel like Lou isn’t my friend anymore. I feel like it’d be weird for me to just walk in there and start drinking. It’d be awkward and it’d take forever to reacquaint myself with the place. It’s a neighborhood dive; you can just stroll in and out of their like an amateur.