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The Anchor
Categories: Nightlife Bars Dive Bars Restaurants American (Traditional) Dive Bars, American (Traditional) [Edit]
272 College StNew Haven, CT 06510
(203) 865-1512
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 11:30 am - 1 am
Fri-Sat 11:30 am - 2 am
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Late Night, Lunch
- Music:
- Juke Box
- Best Nights:
- Fri, Thu, Sat
- Happy Hour:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- Outdoor Area/ Patio Only
- Coat Check:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
37 reviews for The Anchor
Review Highlights
37 reviews in English
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Review from scott v.
New Haven, CT
12/17/2011
The delightfully ominous atmosphere gets me every time; stopping in for an occasional drink is a must. The hot pastrami and burger were good, but would be suited better for after a Saturday night bender than for midday nosh. This establishment is indeed David Lynch approved.
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Review from Jenna D.
New Haven, CT
7/2/2011
Before I ever came here it was described to me as "It looks like a diner from a David Lynch movie only they serve you drinks and sandwiches"
Sold.
Cheap beer, good crowd, everyone kind of keeps to themselves which I like. Started coming here Tuesday nights after trivia so I don't really have a good concept of the weekend scene.
All I need is a narragansett tall boy and a booth and I'm good. -
Review from Mary B.
Norwalk, CT
10/9/2011
Another fine evening, our bartender was attentive and charming. Our beers were cold, the bathroom was clean, and I ordered a hamburger that was surprisingly excellent. See, me an my husband stopped at several New Haven establishments on my birthday night. By the way, the price of $6.50 with fries and a dressed burger, no additional charges for lettuce and tomato is greatly appreciated. The burger was done just right and flavorful. I've been a patron of Anchor's for 30 plus years. Never disappointed when I stop in, listen to the students and people watch. Good beer selection, decent food and clean facilities. I'm impressed!!!
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Review from Bryan Y.
1/13/2011 1 photo
Pretty chill bar.
Came here with a bunch of friends after dinner. Prices were decent. The crowd were pretty cool. The bartenders pretty friendly. Ordered a Newcastle which was a good end to a great night. Joke around with friends because one of us was suppose to walk a girl home and get some, but our other friend who was a girl inadvertently cock-blocked him hahaha.
They actually have another bar downstairs which is where the bathroom was too. For a bar, the bathroom was pretty clean! Will definitely come here again! -
Review from Ben S.
Westchester County, NY
5/16/2011
First thing I noticed as I walked in to The Anchor was the jukebox. It really gives the place an old-style, classic vibe. We came on a wednesday night, and while the place certainly wasn't packed, it was alive. Extensive beer selection and good food - buffalo wings here are heavenly.
Tiffany the waitress is hot. -
Review from Taffany H.
Berkeley, CA
1/11/2011
It's a lovable dive-bar that's not quite so divey.
My friends and I used to come here for a catch-up cocktail on a week-night during those cold dark years in grad school. Once in a while we'd be inadvertently crashing the Yale Drama or Architect crew party which, in all honesty, made the night that much better...these cute artsy boys, when drunk, just can't seem to turn off their charm.
Fast forward in time, the last occasion I had a drink at Anchor was on commencement day, all decked out in my graduation gown, we popped in for a quick Jäger shot that set us strutting in style across that stage to receive our graduate degree diploma. Not bad for our last hurrah.
Anchor, you will always hold such a special place in my heart. :)
Cash only though, so bring lots of dollar bills y'all... -
Review from David P.
Updated - 3/14/2011
This might be my favorite bar in New Haven. One thing though. How about hanging a sign on the broken jukebox before I load money in it? Not cool.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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5/31/2009
I've never been to Las Vegas, but this is the kind of funky little dive bar I'd imagine to find… Read more »
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Review from Steve W.
Milford, CT
2/17/2008
Used to hang out In New Haven alot and the Anchor was a regular stop. One time I was at the bar and I realize the guy next to me was none other then "Mr Lawrence Fishburn "
Turns out he was doing a play in town . I said hey (trying to be cool ) He was real down to earth.He was also alot slimmer then. I remember that he had a huge head. I mean his skull was humongous . I tried not to stare but it was hard(funny). I'm glad the place is still there.
It was actually the last place I had a beer with me Best Mate Frankie(RIP)having those beers listening to that great jukebox couldn't have been better. -
Review from Art S.
New Haven, CT
1/16/2008
I give the Anchor high marks for doing what they do. They are basically a dive bar/diner. The food isn't spectacular, but it's good enough. The service is adequate and genuinely friendly. The bartenders all have great personalities. The jukebox is truly classic. The atmosphere has a certain warmth, charm, and history that cannot be duplicated by a bar-in-a-box (e.g. Black Bear, Hula Hank's, etc.).
Now that they actually serve food past 8 pm, it's also good for getting a little late evening snack as well.
If you often think to yourself, "I always hear people talk about that place... I need to go there one of these days...", it's time to stop thinking about it and do it! -
Review from Steph C.
12/2/2008
I like Anchor. It's across from my house, it's cozy, unpretentious, and the downstairs especially is a great place to have a relaxing drink and catch up with friends.
That said, there are things I do not like:
1. The staff chases you out 30 minutes before the hour, and never politely. The first request always comes out sounding like it's the third or fourth.
2. They have got to do something about the grumpy old guy with the laptop and the Stephen King novel who sits downstairs and grumbles all night every night. I have gotten into one drunken argument with him, and I would not be surprised if it happened again. (He started it!)
3. The waiter once told me the next drink was on him and then totally forgot and charged me. Indian giver.
But things I love:
1. The basement.
2. Cheap drinks, quick service, no hassles.
3. If you stay long enough, you're guaranteed to hear Rudy Can't Fail, Billie Jean, and Under Pressure. Possibly multiple times each. -
Review from Zoe P.
Arlington, MA
7/17/2007
Drinks were a fair deal. Round booths are nice and I like that particular shade of green. We got there just after 9 PM and plenty of folks seemed to be having sandwiches, which came with one of those nice big crunchy-looking piles of coleslaw New Haven seems to be so fond of . . .
We agreed that the decor was somewhere between David Lynch and X-Files, a look that works well for a bar with this kind of history. -
Review from Michael E.
Dayton, OH
3/10/2009
Old-timey feel, yet
New-school crowd keeps it lively
And great turkey clubs -
Review from Matt U.
New Haven, CT
6/3/2008
Read the review by Michael H.
Read it again.
That is the most accurate review (stars included) that one could possibly write about The "Skanker".
So what do I have to add?
Best Juke Box in town, hands down. -
Review from Kiran U.
San Francisco, CA
12/30/2008 2 photos
I grew up in the New Haven area and once I reached drinking age really only went out to BAR or Playwright for summers or holidays home - I guess I didn't know any better. This holiday I went in search of some dives in New Haven so I stopped by The Anchor.
I like a bar with character and that's what The Anchor provides. Booths, an old-school feel, and a downstairs that really is like a captain's quarters - run by some dude with a laptop (I posted a picture of said laptop). Although I wish they had a couple of decent brews on tap, I'm not going to complain because it's a good place to head over with your friends, talk and hang out. The jukebox is choice as well. This bar is clearly a step up from places like Blackbear that are corporate bar-in-a-boxes. -
Review from Joe G.
Livonia, MI
4/27/2011
Interesting reading the reviews. The Anchor Spa was owned by my dad and a guy named Louis "Whitey" Mineri during WWII, when I was a puppy, thru about 1948. I can tell you that the decor and the existence of Mermaid Room is now as it was way back then. Need to get back there soon now that I am old enough to drink.
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Review from Andrzrej K.
Brooklyn, NY
3/15/2010
Tom waits? I think more like Warren Zevon type of place- a little more up beat once in a while-
but the place where you can get a crescent shaped booth, blow coke, and watch the rest of the world move around you - while remaining seamingly unnoticed.
Its a place to think and drink if you dont know anyone- have a conversation with some bartender you'll never see again if you just stopping through.
Its actually a really cool place, like many in New Haven- It shouldnt change. -
Review from Dave G.
New Haven, CT
5/28/2008
I don't know why but The Anchor and me never became friends. I went there a few times because it was convenient or because friends wanted to meet there, but I always felt it was lacking something. I think I just don't really dig the way the place is set up with the red plastic seats and the sea-theme.
The service is mediocre, the waitresses or waiters tend 'not to see' that your glasses are empty and spend more time chatting with the barkeep than waiting the tables. *If* they notice it, though, they tend to be really nice so it's hard to get all grumpy about it.
Beers are okay and reasonably priced, which is why I still drop by there now and then. -
Review from Justin L.
Brooklyn, NY
2/20/2010
Free
Jukebox
Was nice but
Dinner closed at
Eight and no beers on tap. Awful burger. -
Review from Jeff B.
Manhattan, NY
11/17/2010
Smells and looks like a bowling alley. The only thing missing: bowling. There is no beer on tap, and the mixed drinks are made with no discernable care. Come here if you enjoy drinks that have two ingredients. Go elsewhere if you want fresh beer or a real cocktail.
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Review from W. E.
NY
11/15/2008
The bouncer is a dick. MY group of friends come every week and we bring someone else, who is foreign and does not have a CT drivers licence. He kicks us all out. Please, bouncer, try to lose your bar money.
...And the waitstaff is probably the most ineffectual I have ever seen - Like they intentionally.avoid our orders. If it's going to be this divey, then why doesn't it have ultra divey prices? -
Review from Michael H.
Guilford, CT
4/7/2008
I give The Anchor 4 stars only because it's a dive bar and therefore to some degree it SHOULD suck. And that it does.
I had lunch there last week. It was raining, I didn't have an umbrella and I really wanted comfort food. The line was out the door at Clare's so I just wandered in to the Anchor expecting, well... dive bar food. I did pass the "smoking chef" who was having a cigarette in the doorway on the way in. For my comfort food I had a steak sandwhich. It came on a hard roll and was completed with a slice of American cheese and a slice of a cellophane tomato. It was what it was and I ate every morsel and every greasy french fry it came with.
On to the service. Other than "smoking chef" and "the waitress" there was "the guy" at the bar. "The guy" at the bar was such a distraction for the two employees that I had to walk up and get my own menu. I then had to walk back to the bar to place my order. If the conversation they were having about sharks didn't end I might have had to cook my own sandwhich. But alas, after 3-4 minutes of me placing my order with "the waitress" the "smoking chef" went to cook my sandwhich. Suprisingly the waitress responded to the bell immediately and actually delivered my sandwhich to me. However, "the waitress" didn't ever refill my water glass. Ever. I did bring my glass to the bar a couple of times and poured a refill myself from the pitcher there. By the way, I LOVE water. I need a lot of it when I eat so I'm a little OCD about it. It REALLY pisses me off to have an empty water glass for too long.
I think the check was 9 bucks which was pretty fair. I left "the waitress" at this dive bar at least 20% tip because I got exactly what I wanted and what I expected. I mean "the waitress" in fact did not disappoint right? I passed the "smoking chef" who was having another smoke in the doorway on my way out. Neither he, "the waitress" or "the guy" at the bar said good bye. Dive bar fuckers. All of 'em. Oh, I'll be back alright...
By the way, if you cut yourself in shark infested waters, appearantly you're a goner. Just sayin.. -
Review from natashka o.
San Francisco, CA
7/3/2005
When complaining that lighting was too bright, waiter responds, "so, you're saying I'm ugly?" then turns the lights down. Natashka rarely finds this brand of humour on west coast, where waiter would very very caringly explain impossibility of dimming lights. Big round booths are sufficiently comfortable and private enough for long rambling conversations, though not quite private enough to protect from strange, frustrated philosophers' wandering eyes. Jukebox creates disarming feeling of being in a movie scene.
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Review from v v.
Philadelphia, PA
8/11/2009
If you can't find all 36 things wrong on your placemat just wait till the food comes; it all adds up.
A few friends and I decided to stop in New Haven on our way back from NH to Philly. We circled through the ghetto and Yale and I checked my Yelp* ap on my phone and steered us to THE ANCHOR.
Last time I was in New Haven I was 18, drinking gut rot liquors and making "films". I have a fuzzy recollection of that time, but I think I'd been escorted out of the basement mermaid room back in the day...in fact, I'm not sure I was there last night either.
The place is a dive by most any standard. There are old photos, holes in the seats, interesting paper placemats (see Oscar's in Philadelphia). The food was pathetic but edible. $2 Highlife specials on Monday. Other highlights include: mongoloid bartender, very cute yet mediocre waitress. and a portrait of a black Nicholas Cage between ones of John Lennon and Bob Marley.
I'd make this a regular stop if I lived in New Haven. -
Review from Stephen W.
Woodbury, CT
7/30/2010
This is such a great bad bar.
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Review from James R.
Brooklyn, NY
5/24/2009
this is the NH version of SF's Lone Palm. i love this place because
* you can almost always get a table, any time, any night
* staff super nice - e.g., i spllied my drink, next one was on the house
* warm atmosphere, great vibe
great place to spend an evening -
Review from Ivan E.
Austin, TX
2/17/2007
So i read the 3 reviews on this place, and when I arrived in New Haven, i had to make my way here. I have to agree that The Anchor is a nice "Semi Dive" bar. I live in SF and I see dive bars all the time, however, this place was a little too nice to be a real dive bar. The reason it gets 4 stars is because the place, the owner & the bartender (she remembered about the person she dimmed the lights for) were all really cool peeps. The beer we had was a local beer, but I have to say that the beer was not as Ice Cold as it should have been. Great place to chill and have a couple thou!
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Review from Claudette B.
New Haven, CT
9/30/2009
I mean, I seem to keep finding myself here, so I must like it a little. There is no beer on tap and that offends me. And yet, the cook always sends me out a little appetizer because me and my friends are in the bar so long (in the afternoon, embarrassed to say). It's a fun place, but again - no beer on tap - oh! but like any decent New Haven place, its not expensive. If you're paying a lot in New Haven, you are in the wrong joint.
Listed in: New Haven - at Yale
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Review from Laura B.
San Francisco, CA
2/10/2009
This is one of my sister's favorite spots, and if I lived in New Haven, I'm sure it would be one of my regular spots too. I've only been a couple times, but I had fun seeing what the local scene is like. It has a mellow college town dive bar feel and has comfy booths with a nautical theme. No beers on tap, but they have cheap can and bottle options. I was happily surprised to see that they had the Cal football game on their one TV.
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Review from Christian R.
Woodside, Queens, NY
8/16/2009
I grew up in New Haven and just never got around to coming here. I'm glad last fall that changed. It's got an Old-fashioned aura, something about the smell- maybe from the seats and/or the carpeting, which takes you back a few years. An old juke box sits in the corner and plays a great selection of classic cuts, the bar is secluded in the corner with great staff. It's cheap, it's fun, it's relaxing. I am going to make this place my number one priority on all future visits home.
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Review from Casey P.
San Francisco, CA
8/2/2006
My internal "best bar in new haven" award alternates between the anchor and rudy's depending on the week, my desired poison (rudy's for jack and well drinks, the anchor for bourbon and cocktails), and my desire for rocknroll. The anchor is comfortable, inexpensive, and totally memorable (especially the sea-themed kitsch and the pleather booths). the jukebox is merely acceptable, but other than that this place is a winner.
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Review from Jennifer S.
New Haven, CT
12/10/2010
seedy, dirty, with old booths that appear to be on their 5th incarnation, waiters & bartenders who just aren't getting paid enough to give a damn, cheap drinks with greasy bar food, old juke box stuffed in the corner and an odd combo of townies and students all under one roof. poetry in the walls because you know this place has seen its share of genius/crazy/cool/this is my barfly.
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Review from Dave W.
New Haven, CT
6/12/2006
Go to the Anchor for the classic cosey dive experience. A great neighborhood bar. Nothing on tap though...all bottles. Staff has personality. Best Juke Box in town.
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Review from Dan C.
New Haven, CT
8/6/2009
Awesome place! Good food. Miss the places that have toasted bread instead of buns for sandwiches. Had a great lunch here. The people who work here are great and very nice. Great place for a quick lunch with good beer. And free wi-fi!
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Review from a l.
Troy, NY
9/16/2010
Awesome dive bar and the guy who took care of our table was just amazing. So friendly and so helpful. Great place to just hang and have some drinks when you don't want to have to get all fancy and just want to have a good night out with some good friends.
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Review from Alexandra P.
Stratford, CT
9/26/2010
I have only ever been to this place at night for some drinks so I can't comment on it as a place to eat. However if you just want to have some drinks and hang out with friends in a quite not over crowded bar then the Anchor may be for you. It's one of the older bars in New Haven, my dad who is now 65 would go there in his twenties and the decor and feel are still the same. They have the old style 1/2 circular booths that everyone has to slide into. There is also a jukebox so people can pick there own music and a few TVs if you wanted to watch a game. Overall the service is friendly and the crowd is mellow.
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Review from joseluis a.
Miami Beach, FL
3/7/2010
confused bar. feels like your in a dinner. the jukebox was playing at a really low volume. why? kitchen closes at 8. why? friends who took us here said this was a nice starting point. i can see that. its cheap. its dirty and people are socially awkward! woo
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Review from Tyler D.
New Haven, CT
4/24/2010
I love this place. The Anchor is the least pretentious bar in New Haven, and it's a great place to go with your friends and actually hear them talking. The Jukebox is also really good.
