Linebacker Lounge

Want to have a drink with entitled 20 year olds and not get served for over 30 minutes? Then this is your South Bend place to drink. Youre better off taking your keys and throwing them in the St. Joseph river.

I visited here from texas… and i wished id never left. i met the most prettiest and most intelligent girl ive ever met in my life… and yes i miss her…

Well, its the Linebacker, whattya expect. Working class patrons from the town during the day, dippy-​doowa Domers at night. Not overpriced, decent place to stop in during the day for a brew and a smoke… At night it becomes another creature. Daddy Warbucks Jr. comes in and it is a dancing, young boys staring at young girls dancing kind of place. Big place to watch the Bears, the Irish, the whatever sports crap is on that night. Don’t bring a date here, lol.
Food ok for bar food, does get gross in the johns late on Domer nights. My Dad drank here for decades. Me not so much, but it ok in clutch.

The place is utter shit. Barely deserves one star. Think of the shittiest dirtiest sticky college bar you have been to and then think of that times ten. That’s the backer. Way to loud. Shitty DJ who has no clue how to play quality music or keep his music from clipping or put a set together. Even worse is the asshole management that kicks people out for being «drunk» when they have only had 2 of their extremely watered down shitty mixed drinks. While I went out with high expectations, I left severely disappointed in what a shit hole the management and staff make this place. Will never return.

Perfect dive bar. Cool bartenders, fast service, and fun atmosphere.
Free popcorn.
Cheap pitchers.
Homemade chili.
‘Nuf said.

Place would be ok if the security wasn’t so hostile. They threw my gf out of the bar for no reason and wouldn’t even let her inform us that she was kicked out. I eventually found her outside where I asked security what happened. They threatened to arrest me and told me they are also police officers. 1) why are cops working security at a bar and 2) why are they such dicks? Read more reviews and saw this is a pretty consistent theme with them. Also, food sucks, think I saw a mouse turd on the floor, and one of the bartenders looks like a washed up 2 dollar hooker who struggles to stay clean while quoting bible verses. Go to Mulligans… it’s a stones throw away.

The Backer is the quintessential dive bar. Local, typical bar food, and cheap drinks with the chance to meet people from all walks of life with one particular thing in common… The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. Go Irish!

Lots o’ fun for a couple of oldies reliving their youth… or living it since we didn’t have regular college experiences. When I saw saw the cover charge I was like «huh?» and then when i saw the drink that came with it i was «whaaaaat?!» music was great, lots of old stuff and new stuff. It was a less than busy night so great room the dance floor. don’t anticipate that to happen again when school reopens.

Weekends are crowded, you can’t move, you get groped, you will almost always have some sort of drink spilled on you. I want to hate the Backer but I just… can’t. It’s my go-​to hometown bar and I never have a bad time. Drinks are cheap, service is fast, especially if you treat your bartender well. The food is typical bar fare but it’s tasty and always does the job.
They tend to play the same music on repeat but everyone knows the words. It’s true that you find unexpected camaraderie when you’re 6 drinks deep and belting out «I Don’t Wanna Lose Your Love» with 50 other people… and half of them may or may not have been in your high school graduating class.
Oh Backer — I wish I knew how to quit you.

Sardine can! This is the place you go to when your already drunk and don’t care where you are or the people you are around. Strictly for ND students.

Bouncers were very hostile, and the entrance is sketchy, but as far as crowded, college dive bars go this place was rocking! Great music.

They have a security guard in there that has a chip on his shoulder. I was in there w my buddy having a good time when I walked into the bathroom to find nasty vomit all over the floor in the stall. I informed staff there and this same security guard approached my friend and said that I had to leave bcuz I threw up in the bathroom. A patron informed him that that wasn’t me. He was hell bent on getting me out of Linebacker. Perhaps bcuz I’m real police? Or perhaps this wanna be tough guy, whom I’m guessing never has been in a fight in his life, doesn’t like women police? Otherwise, love the bartenders in there! Bathroom seriously needs work though. As always GO N.D.

And this place is insanely dirty the bathrooms are Horrendous there’re only two stalls in every bathroom people are caught in the bathrooms doing inappropriate things the security pics and choose who they want to let in… They are always over capacity! God forbid there is a fire in their! They over serve. The dance floor is filthy & a health hazard people slip and fall all the time. Fights break out all the time. I will never go here again! Disgusting!

I love this place! Especially when it’s game weekend, surrounded by fellow Irish fans, singing along and just having a down right good time!

You either love the Backer, hate the Backer, or can’t remember what happened at the Backer. Sometimes all three. It’s a dive bar at its best. Partly townie, partly student, and cheap as hell.
Parking seems a little precarious, and the place looks shady as they come, but it’s how these places work.
There’s a cover some nights, though it takes the form of a drink minimum that you have to pay for at the door. Smoking was allowed last time I was there, though I’ve heard the law might change soon. Free popcorn though.
The place can get unbelievably crowded some nights. Don’t come if you want fancy drinks or a conversation.

Looks can be deceiving. Driving by on the main street one would think this is dirty townie bar. And well you are correct with the first part, it is pretty dirty and a dump but its the BEST dump. On game days expect a packed house and many alumni reminiscing.

This place looks like a prison from the outside and feels like a typical dive inside.
The wait staff was courteous. Typical drink selection. Pool table in the back.
It’s a famous dive bar that gets the job done.

So there was a cougar in this place that spent her evening grinding on anything on the dance floor… college-​aged guys… college-​aged girls… college-​aged couples… even inanimate objects. All of the above ignored her. Especially the table.
No, it was not me. But this spectacle was better than anything on TV.
I have now given 5 stars more than once to a bar that actually plays «Party in the USA» from Miley Cyrus and «How Can We Be Lovers When We Can’t Be Friends» from Michael «No-​Talent Assclown» Bolton. Self-​respect is clearly overrated. That cougar has taught me well.

Oh, the ‘Backer…What can I say? I would now and again slip on the floor, not out of drunkenness, rather because of the beer/​liquor/​other-​liquids-​I-​will-​not-​deign-​to-​inquire-​about and the lack of traction on my kitten heel knee-​high boots. And, yet I would make the short trek to that place without qualm the next time I had cash and/​or a Saturday I could afford (or not, for that matter!) to dance, get felt up «accidently» by some Domer’s friend from «back home», drink the best Long Island Iced Tea ever made, in my opinion, and just be ridiculous for a bit.
This is not a classy joint, but it has its purpose. Nothing, and nowhere, else in my life prior to, during, and after my South Bend days has earned the «pleasure» in the term «guilty pleasure» more than the ‘Backer. The only comfort I get out of the fact that I was a complete and utter tease with guys, is that their disappointment was probably short-​lived, due to alcohol-​related memory loss and the immediate need to relieve a hangover.
Don’t go here if you want to take yourself seriously. Go here if you want to take your shenanigans seriously, because whatever your style, that’s what you will get.
Not worth going during the day; the night is when things get fun, crazed, and maybe even a little bit dangerous (in terms of possible fire hazards, overcrowding, structural integrity, at least)
I was very anti-​Backer, because it seemed so cheesy and lame. But after I succumbed to peer pressure and came for the first time, I saw that the overriding positive vibes of everyone drinking and dancing totally beat out the minute presence of weirdos and snobs.
Dancing, drinking, kissing, hugging, and being proud of the dysfunctional culture students and ND pilgrims/​fans are privy to and hold close to our hearts!
The next time I am in The Bend, I will see you again, my friend! ^_^

The Linebacker Bar is your epitome of the neighborhood bar, the only diffrence is your neighbor is Noter Dame University.
The beers are cold and cheap, nutten wrong with that. The bar food is palitable, but its a comfortable place, and earned those stars. Not a real great eating bar, but a comfortable one just the same!
This is a smoking bar, not to thrilled, but you are warned!