The Phyrst Review

Billiards are nice but not so nice music unfortunately

There is an obnoxiously large support beam directly in front of the stage, blocking the band that plays behind it. Beer was served to us warm, and service was terribly slow.

This place is horrible, my friend got kicked out when he was sober, "for being all over the place", when he wasn't. The bartenders are dicks, and the service is poor.

Good bands, decent bartenders and dummy bouncers. Add good friends and you will have a blast! If the meat-head bouncers jack with you, use big words to baffle them! Merry Christmas Happy Valley

It's an Irish bar located in a dungeon. Need I say more?

Post

Karen Temple
Sculptor
LoveJester

I will never come back to this place again... I live out of town and have been here two times. Both times I ve gotten kicked out because 4 months ago I dated the blonde haired bouncer s ex girlfriend and both times I ve been there after ordering my first drink he kicks me out and says I m too drunk. I don t know the kids name but in my opinion this is the most unprofessional thing I ve ever seen and if the phyrst wants to stay in business they should fire this gentleman immediately. He has blonde hair and is a bouncer. Every time I ask him his name he won t tell me but says this is for Jessica (his ex and the girl I dated after she broke up with him)

Exactly what you would expect from a basement college bar. Live music was fun. We went during the dueling pianos event. Kept the crowd entertained. Drinks are a good price. Try to get there early to avoid the cover.

Good bar with great prices, but the bouncers are kind of rude and try to prevent you from entering as wel as try to kick you out.

Great dive bar with amazing live music every night and cheap happy hour and daily specials

Good for college going crowd...they have live bands at all the weekends...during semester this is quite full....if you are looking for a place where you can get a beer and talk..then this is not for you

The phyrst is a sticky local bar with live music and good drinks and I love it with all of my heart. May it never change.

service was bad, I got my wings after one and half hours, and they are not following the covid protocols.

Phyrst charged my card and 3 of my other friend s cards with double the amount that we were supposed to pay and when I asked the server about it, she refused it. We then called the manager and the manager was simply like I trust my server . I was charged a $100 for 1 drink, one portion of chicken wings and 5 shots. Never go to this place unless you wanna pay way more money than you actually spent.

Racist & age-est security. Several guys in our grad program party we're told to leave. All were in mid 30s, not intoxicated, or loud, but they happened to be non-Caucasian & talked with younger Caucasian women! The white members of our party argued with the "manager" Ryan, over the ridiculous charges, but he was adamant that white women not mingle with non-whites. Ironically, the waitresses & bartenderesses were all friendly & great at their jobs. Ryan & a few other staff ruined the night of many business executives, simply as we dressed too nice for the place, were not white enough & were cordial with white women, which is very sad in this era.

The phyrst is the best bar in town!!!! Love it so much!

Best bar in State College. Good beer selection and the bartenders are amazing!

Wasn't even able to get a drink before being kicked out for being "too drunk". The bartender even told the bouncer multiple times i wasn't the right guy. Didn't even get my cover back. Phyrst and last time going to the phyrst.

Great band... diverse music... amazing ambience and friendly staff

Good bartenders and bouncers. I have to mention that most probably during the regular semester on a weekend, this place would be crazy (be prepared for that).

Great beer and cocktails and live music every night!

Fantastic night life. Great bands every night. Great drink specials and great service. Make it if you can!!

It's a nice place, but a bit too crowded for my liking.

I had an absolute blast. Drinks were reasonably priced, the music was great and when the band started (Lowjack), they were one of the best bands I've ever heard in a bar. I will definitely return on my next trip to Penn State.

A great subterranean bar with access to the kitchen in the restaurant above, featuring fish and chips, wings, and other good pub food. Beer specials throughout the week and different hours of the night, with an awesome 1 dollar yeungling draft on at least Tuesdays.

Crowded but fun spot to go when you're downtown. Live music is often playing and there are some pool tables as well.

The Phyrst is a local legend. On any given night you'll see current students partying side-by-side with wizened alums trying to relive the glory days. The Phyrst is steeped in history and in old alcohol. The floors are known for being sticky, the benches are old and wobbly, but the music is awesome and loud, the drinks are fast and cheap, and the crowd is high energy.

It gets packed on weekends, and if you don't show up before 9 expect cover and a line. Of course the party doesn't start until then. If you appear drunk, they will throw you out very fast. If you go on your 21st you get a hat to wear... Wearing the hat will also get you kicked out eventually.

Food is great, shockingly, because it comes from Ernie's upstairs. Ernie used to have a sing-a-long band way back when and evidence of that is commemorated on the walls. If you're upstairs, I recommend a cheesesteak, if you're in the Phyrst, get the fries. They come in a mountain on a baking sheet. The must-try drink is the Irish trashcan, but the daily specials are usually cheaper and tastier.

Awesome bar. Great vibe. Favorite place to drink in the whole town.

Underground bar that is old, smelly and if you are caught standing around, the bouncers will accuse you of being too drunk and throw you out. I will never give them my business again

Kid punched the bouncer outside. They held him down and he said he couldn't breathe. That being said, I'll probably be back.

It's alright, there are definitely better places to be.

If you haven't been to the Phyrst, you haven't been to Penn State

Dive bar with great drinks. A must visit for bar tours.

This is the only bar in State College, there is nowhere else

Can be very disgusting at times, especially when the place is crowded. The ambiance can be good at times but its definitely not a place to sit and talk to your friends especially when there is a band playing, unless you plan on shouting all night.

If you're in your 20's-30's and looking for a modern bar this is definitely the place to go.... If champs is packed. Good music, good service. Usually always busy. Definitely recommend it to you while you're enjoying state college.

Very cool place. I went here to see a band play. The drinks were at a low cost. The food was at a low cost and it was really good. This place has a cool atmostphere. It's dark inside and you have to go down stairs from the street to go inside. It's like a basement. They have bands or a dj almost every night of the week.

Awful bar. Flies all around bar area. Dirty and disgusting. Looks like they need to learn housekeeping. Beer was warm and when mentioned it to them they said I could leave if I didn't like it. Very rude staff. Also looked like they had a blocked Fire exit which is especially dangerous cause it's a downstairs location.

Will kick you out as soon as you spend money sober.

They changed managers and no longer have good live music.

got kicked out for having too many drinks when I didn't, retarded bouncers

At my hotel they called this place Whiskey Local. Great atmosphere, fun crowd, and good bar food. Don't go here if you're on a diet.

The Phyrst is a great bar for live music you can sing along with, especially LowJack on Saturday nights

Your quintessential dive bar atmosphere in a college town. Was a favorite hang out while going to Penn State and still a pleasure to go back as an alumnus. This is one of the few if not the only bar that actually keeps its happy hour deals on home football weekends, which is literally half off everything, from 7-9 every Friday.

1st bar I have ever been to in my life.
And I had such a great time. It got super packed and crowded. If they could upgrade that place to make more room that would help alot
Other than that, the prices seemed reasonable and the bartenders were quick with getting orders, using the register and handing out the drinks

Always a good time at the phyrst, even if it's just watching bros strike out with bachelorette and birthday party girl groupies.

Typical state college bar, a lot nicer since they remodeled.

Always great atmosphere (especially if you luck out and get a seat), fantastically cheap prices (unbelievably cheap during happy hours), draft Truly (grenadine lime is absolutely delicious), pool tables, nice bathrooms, great cover bands.
COVID 19 UPDATE: handled great, very clean, masks enforced. $1 fries offered to order with a drink. Happy Hours still in place unlike in many other places.

Easily the greatest bar of all time. Lines are long on the weekends for a reason. Between the stellar bands, the phyrst fries and the affordable drinks, you can't go wrong at the phyrst. Staff is a little aggressive at times.

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.

I really enjoyed this bar. The students aren't yet back in town and so the crowd might be a lot different in a few weeks. There was live music which was a very good 90s mix. The drinks were also well priced and the bartenders were quick to take orders and make drinks.

Google: "describe you're experience"
Me: that's a loaded question... Can I plead the Phyth?

There's no place like it. Forever my favorite bar in State College

How can you not love that everything is half priced during happy hour? Get the Stars and Stripes.

Great place for your first night out and whenever you want to listen to great live music. It's an all around great place to have fun

Great time. Too bad we missed the midget wrestling tho. 4 stars

It's a dark and deary basement bar, but that doesn't mean it isn't decent. They have live bands from time to time too, though, nothing to get excited about.

Pretty much the same story that's been mentioned here before: good bartenders, good food, and decent music, but the bouncers are rediculous. I spent a few hours there with some friends one night, and was having a nice conversation and enjoying the music when I was asked to leave for "looking like I'd had too much", despite having had only two measly drinks in 3 hours. For the record, I'm 25 and I've NEVER managed to get myself kicked out of a bar before. Upon leaving, I noticed a line of clearly far more intoxicated patrons being admitted. Given the plethora of (far superior) choices in State College, I won't be returning anytime soon.

Even though it's crowded, it's a very well kept place with plenty of bouncers to keep things going safely. There are good specials to take advantage of, but this is not a place to bring your parents.

Great for music. Most the bar tenders are snobby and make alright drinks. Just being honest. :)

I loooove the phyrst. Can't beat getting wild with the boys. What else are Saturdays for? Lawlz. Anyways, order some fries and beer here and your perpetual sadness will be delayed for a brief moment. Take an escape from your humdrum daily routine and drown your existential crisis in flat beer and regretable decisions. TGIF.

Large dive bar with good live music most weekends and two pool tables, kinda crowded but popular.

Kicked me out for no reason, I always tip well. I would like another go at it.

Best happy hour in town. Make sure you stop by bandcamp once or twice