One of my favorite bars in State College, its the epitome of a dive bar. You walk down a flight of steps into a dimly lit bar with all sorts of character. You sit on wooden benches at wooden tables that resemble picnic tables. The drink prices are reasonable and they have some nice live music. You can or at least used to be able to buy a cast iron mug that they hang in the bar and gets you discounted drink prices, a neat little feature. Its one place I can always go with a good group of people and have no desire to leave and go to another bar. Everytime I'm back in town I make sure and stop there. Everyone needs to try table wars at least once. read more

Great music. Good alcohol. Low ceiling. Seems a little musty. The bathrooms are really clean. The service is quick and friendly. Overall pretty fun and if you're not a tall guy those low ceilings won't bother you at all read more

If you only had time to go to one bar in State College this is where you have to go. The bar is a lot of fun, constantly having live music. The space is small with limited seating, but the great drinks, prices, and pool tables in back make up for it. read more

If you enjoy the 'life' of The Phryst chances are that you're a regular. The Phryst Family is always a good time and the regulars know the words to every song. Don't get caught unawares during 'Table Wars' or you may find yourself being called out to drink. Ah...the college days. Yes, it's crowded and yes, it's loud but for a rauncous good time this place is it. read more

Not sure why this place is so "legendary". Other than a few decent drink specials, this place is reminiscent of a frat basement. It's hot, small, dark, and loud. Good luck trying to have a decent conversation, even with your friend funneling his voice into your ear. This place is primarily filled his a newly 21 year olds & their entourages (one of the only sc bars to let you in on your 21st). The bartenders are known to be attractive, which apparently gives them the right to be rude all night. Overall, this place has some decent qualities, but the pros definitely don't outweigh the cons. read more

Loud, smells like vom, and absolutely crowded... but what more could you want, easily one of my favorite bars in town. Always has a live band always has action goin on no matter what day of the week. No matter what bar I started at I found my way back to the Phyrst around 12:30 because everyday of the week its somebody's birthday and they're goin to the Phyrst whether they like it or not. Get to know the waitresses and they'll hook you up just make sure you look out for them too. There is food upstairs at Earnie's at that you can bring down... best fries in town cheasesteaks are damn good too read more

Wats wrong with this place! Don't buy anything online especially a gift card. I didnt recieve my items! I have contacted them several times. The management promises me someone will contact me every time I call and they never do. I emailed with no responses! And when I called they got me confused with another women who didn't get her gift cards!!! Beware! read more

A few friends and I went to this establishment looking to have a good time and maybe get a little tipsy for my buddy's 23rd birthday. While there, not only were we neglected by our waitress but when we asked for a drink it took over 45 minutes for her to come back with our drinks. It seemed almost as if we were second class to everyone else in the establishment. Not only was the waitress rude but she made it seem like it was our fault for ordering drinks at the table. Not to mention the women working were wearing minimal clothing and seemed to be flirting with my father in front of my mother. The man singing at the bar wouldn't listen to our song requests but yet listened to everyone else's. I've been to this place numerous times and it's the same thing every time. I would think twice about going to this establishment. Lots of other better bars in the area :) read more

My Friends and I have been long time patrons of the Phyrst and generally put up with the hovering stench of puke (usually accompanied by remnants of a partially digested meal), and dirty sticky surroundings - although I'm not sure why. While the staff try their best to help you out its nearly impossible due to the ineptitude of management. I had the pleasure of interacting with the owner, although I find it hard to believe that this man has the mental faculties to run a bar let alone dress himself in the morning. I have never been treated with such hostility and disrespect. Allow me to provide context - I had had a maximum of two drinks (over an hour an a half) and was disappointingly sober. After waiting over an hour for my cheese steak I decided to ask if I could cancell the order as I was leaving soon and due to the long wait was no longer hungry. Thats an $8 refund, big woop. After being castigated by the manager/owner he tyrannically ordered the cashier to give me my money back. After continuing to berate me and ordering me to go sit the F*** down I decided it was time to leave. Its clear that I am not the first one to complain about how the Phyrst is run. The owner is an insolent (insert choice of profanity here). Even the staff are terrified of him. He deserves to run this establishment into the ground. So if you feel like being berated by hostile offensive management for no logical reason, the Phyrst is for you. read more

The Phyrst is definitely something I enjoyed more as an undergrad than I do now. It's dirty, smelly, crowded and it has arguably the worst bathrooms downtown. I've had my feet smashed, drinks spilled on me and almost accidentally gotten in the middle of a fight there on numerous occasions. But if you're in your early 20s and looking to get rowdy and listen to some music, it can be really fun, and it's a must for 21st birthdays. read more

If I could live at the Phyrst, I would. In fact, majority of my friends joked that I did. The Phyrst is my favorite bar in the world. I HAVE NO IDEA HOW ANYONE HATES THIS PLACE. I love the dingy wood tables and the basement feel. Their happy hour is the best deal ever. $3 beer pitchers and $3 car bombs? How can you beat that?! Ugh and the tray of fries, or should I say MOUNTAIN of fries is so ridiculously cheap. Always an incredibly fun time with great friends. The only thing I ask they change is the bathroom situation. Nothing is worse than waiting in that line, and not trying to hit people with the door. WORST. I graduated in May, but every time I visit I look forward to going to the Phyrst as soon as I get there. What a place. Phyrst. Forever. read more

I was in town for a energy conference and asked around where some great places were for my friends and I to grab drinks and to meet other college kids. The school during summer is crawling with freshmen, and we needed a slight older graduate crowd. This was recommended by many. State college has a lot of basement bars, when you walk up its a huge heavy wooden door that leads you down. It seems they always have live bands every night. Which is great but being in a closed space it was hard to talk to my friends let alone meet people. I woke up the whole week with a sore throat from trying to yell over the music to just have a normal conversation. The server even said she has to lip read most of the time to take orders. Again I am a huge concerts goer, so live music at a bar is a huge plus, just turn it down a touch. Speaking of wait staff. My god! They hire great. The eye candy there is prime, shouldn't expect anything less from a college bar. Also being a college bar the place doesn't come alive till after midnight. There are a couple pool tables, and the cheap bar food. We ordered a tray of fries, and ended up getting true to its word tray of fries. I wish I had a picture, it was enormous! We ordered more for the 7 or us, ended up giving fries away. Beware, and this doesn't go for just Phryst, but every bar in State College, there are always two doormen/bouncers at every bar. Even before the sun goes down! I don't know if state college use to have a huge problem, but coming from NY that blew my mind and was kind of off putting. read more

Tables are super cheap, ceilings are dirty and seems unsanitary. Went after a game. $6 pitchers of Yuengling. "Eye candy" is more like young ladies who look like they are 13. Bartender is hot. Wouldn't go back unless I'm with that group. read more

My second home.... worth the wait in line. Almost always live music. Pitch deals are fantastic and so is the happy hour.

The Phyrst always provides a good time with good music and brews on tap! It can get loud and is not a place to go and dance or have in-depth conversations with a group of people, but if you want to listen to live music and play table wars, then you better feck'n visit the Phyrst next time you're in state college! read more

At this bar I had one of the worst experiences ever, I felt discriminated for talking in Spanish with a peer. I'm from DC and I've never been to the Penn State area; I was in the area because I just graduated from a MBA. The locals had told us to go to this famous college bar and we did but what happened there was something that I have seen in the media lately but never have felt for myself. I wasn't going to make a big deal about it but I got charged for "criminal trespassing" and I have to pay a fine just because I asked the manager to give back the money that we didn't even consume because they told us to leave as soon as we ordered some drinks, very convenient, just because they thought my peer was "slurring" his speech when in fact he was just talking Spanish to me. And on top of that they also asked another non-caucasian guy in the bar to leave as well who was also in our MBA group. With that being said, to all my fellow minorities, if you don't want to feel discriminated don't go to this bar it's very racist. read more

I've become something of a veteran on the State College bar scene. I've also become a regular at the Phyrst. These two factors have changed my perspective somewhat. People probably should get over the fact that it's a bit dirty. It's a dive; it's a basement bar; that's the point. The Phyrst can meet pretty much all drinking needs, and, during happy hour, it is one of the cheapest bars in State College, especially for common beers. I have yet to encounter an establishment in the region that offers a pitcher of Duquesne for $2 as the Phyrst does at happy hour. Compared to pretty much every other bar in downtown State College, the bartenders at the Phyrst are the most efficient and the most friendly. Most of the bouncers are OK, too. read more

I ts been 20 plus years Since I (we imy hate husband and f r i ends ) Iwas so much Fun T hen .

Love this place. Great cheap beer, fun staff, Partners in Crime was playing, Suzy Wong egg rolls are still the best. So there's beer on the floor and it's sticky - it's a college bar. read more

Came here for my brothers 21st bday. My brothers girlfriend, my sister, and my boyfriend came here around 11pm and it was very crowded. A garage type band was playing which was interesting...felt like I was in a teenagers dirty basement party. We found a high top table and were on our second round of beer. We were all talking with each other at our little table, not bothering anyone when two bouncers ask my boyfriend to leave. My boyfriends eyes get really tired when he drinks and he closes them at times. He was very much so coherent and not overly intoxicated, simply sitting and talking. He doesn't put up a fight at all because he's a good guy, but they decide to walk him out like he's a child. I'm not a regular here at all, just visiting my brother, and wouldn't have planned on coming back anyway, but having someone from my group get kicked out for no reason sealed the deal on never coming back again. read more

The Phyrst girls (bartenders) are mediocre, and they will serve every guy in the bar before taking a girls order, but at least the music and bands that play are good. read more

Id give this establishment negative stars if I could because of my experience. I have mostly retired from the bar scene but one of my good friends was having a gathering here for their birthday and I wanted to be a part of the action. I don't drink alcohol, I don't mind being around it but I do not drink alcohol and had not consumed any alcohol that night which is ironic because I was kicked out for public intoxication in less than ten minutes of entering the bar. Good business motto eh let someone in make them pay cover then toss them out immediately to make room for the next sheep on the conveyor belt (there wasn't even a line outside). Someone had told me maybe they kicked me out because I was not buying drinks but I had only been there for around seven minutes so that's a bit early to gauge whether or not I was going to purchase anything. When the bouncer approached me I had a very clear and articulate conversation explaining that I was indeed not intoxicated, had not drank any alcohol that evening and was here as the designated driver for my party. There is no way this fellow could have interrupted my speech and body language as intoxicated so maybe they really are such money grubbers to the point they would throw someone out for not buy themselves a drink in seven minutes, not that I wasn't going to buy drinks for the people in my group. So I did not enjoy my stay at this bar and I am still quite angry about the situation. Plus they make the female staff where those uniforms good god give those girls a break once in a while. read more

Disrespectful trash - both the bar and the staff The only reason why this place is even getting one star is because zero stars is not an option! We loved this bar as students 6-8 years ago and this was on our "must hit list" when a large group of us got back together in State College for the football game this past weekend. The night started normally with myself and five friends getting to the bar at around 9pm, with a second group following approximately 20 minutes behind us. When the second group arrived the bouncer decided that one person was "too drunk" to be allowed in. (Just a little background information, this was the first bar we were hitting, and the guy was NOT drunk). In an effort to understand what had happened, I asked the bouncer what the deal was and instead of getting a normal person response I was cursed out, told to f-off, told our friend was "either f-ing drunk or a f-ing a-hole," etc. I was stunned. I have NEVER been spoken to like that before in my life. I was ultimately able to figure out that our friend had picked up a pile of green plastic hats that were sitting on the steps, and the bouncer became angry enough to deny entry over that. I explained that when we attended school at Penn State those hats were given out to patrons for free, and that my friend intended no disrepect. I then tried to find out who else I could speak to about the problem (not because we were planning to stay at that point, but because I was pissed and was going to let a manager know what had happened.) So a skinny 21 year old employee came over. I stupidly thought he came over to speak with me and answer my questions about why we were being spoken to so offensively and to have a normal adult conversation...wrong. The first thing out of his mouth was "you're leaving," and I assured him that yes, I was leaving because there was no way I would be spending any more money there, but that I would like to speak to someone in charge who could take a complaint. His response was to lean into my face and scream "WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE." I am a 5'2", 115 pound woman who clearly was not a threat to anyone, and all I wanted was to be spoken to without being called offensive names and cursed at. Who knows, maybe we just didn't fit into the 22 year old fratty image they were trying to maintain, but the joke is on them. They managed to kick out a group of nine alumni that included two lawyers, and engineer, and a finance manager, and our group included season ticket holders who will obviously not be going back there again. We were there to have fun, reunite with friends, and blow a decent amount of money on a good night. After that experience, however, we will be taking our business elsewhere. read more

Watered down drinks. But that's Standard I guess for state college. Good bouncers. Great music.

The Phyrst is easily one of the best bars in all of State College and a favorite haunt of alumni and current students alike. Great original drinks, especially the beer cocktails, good specials, and a laid back atmosphere make this an excellent place to be nearly any night of the week. read more

Classic state college basement bar. I preferred when they allowed smoking, as I prefer stale cig smoke to stale beer and cave. Great place to hear a live band and do some drinking. Great happy hour and decent beer selection. They have great fries, wings and eggrolls for late night snaking. read more

It is the phyrst, your quintessential Irish bar. You go in knowing what to expect and thats what you usually get. It's dark, smokey and the seating is wooden benches to narrow wooden tables. It's where everyone goes on their 21st. It is nothing special but at the same time it is and sometimes its just the place you want to be. Plus with fairly good prices on pitchers its a good place to go when happy hours end or maybe when you are just feeling beers in a more casual (though not quiet by any means) environment. And when they have the right live entertainment and everyone is drunk and feeling good and singing along it is amazing. read more

An institution in State College. A real college place and an authentic Irish bar. I never loved anything about this place - dark, dingy, just decent food, and more expensive than other State College bars. BUT, a visit to State College just isn't complete without a stop here. read more

This bar was so much fun to attend on Thursday night when we were in college but after going back this weekend we realized how much they have changed for the worst. It smelled quite bad and was way over packed! They charge people $20 if you want to skip the line but that doesn't include cover. We couldn't even walk two steps or get by because there was so many people. The employee checking ID was extremely rude too. The red white and blue shot will always be a shot we love here but the staff needs to be more friendly and the capacity level inside needs to be cut down. It has always been a packed bar but now they only allow one drink a person so you can't have your friend or significant other go up to the bar and grab you a drink too. They removed some tables which increased the amount of people standing in a tight area. Why anyone would pay $20 a person plus cover fees to skip a line to go inside and not be able to walk or order a drink ( no VIP extra incentivizes) is beyond me!! read more

Nice old, irish bar. Decent music, but very crowded and hard to get around in. Good bar to attend for 21st birthday. Try a dirty girl scout shot. read more

I never write reviews and I've had some pretty bad experiences at places but this takes the icing on the cake. Some friends and I went to this place last night and were kicked out because they thought our friend was drunk and he was our sober DD. The bouncer said we all looked like we were falling asleep including our DD which was a complete lie. The bouncer also appeared to single out our DD because he was a minority and gave very vague reasons for telling our DD he had to leave. We hadn't caused a scene or bothered anyone else in the bar. We were keeping to ourselves. I found this place racist and completely disrespectful. We even called the manager after the fact and didn't get an apology. The manager just said we error on the side of caution when it comes to kicking people out. This place should really reevaluate who they hire to bounce this bar. I will never be going back to this place. read more