This time we’ve left the comfortable confines of Old Town and headed back out to the fringes of FoCo, where the bars are tucked between laundromats and 80s-themed pizza joints. We’re putting two spots head-to-head that are well-known for their unique vibes and devoted regulars. These were the middle-of-the-pack voted favorites on Reddit. Both of these places had the most cumulative activities and patrons of any matchup so far, so we were excited to see how these similar-ish venues stacked up.

We have one more heads up competition in round one after this – Surfside vs Trail Head. After the first round is over, we will begin the semi finals and revisit all of the winning spots with hopefully more celebrity guest stars like Jen and Bort!

Before we get into the results, a reminder on how the competition works:

On July 6th, 2025, we asked the @FortCollins subreddit for help in selecting the top eight dives to be visited. We had over 100 comments suggesting and debating the best bars in the area.

We used ChatGPT (the only time it was used, this is all being typed directly by my clumsy fingers) to total and discern results and we came up with our top eight dive bars (in order of votes):

1. West End Pub
2. Town Pump
3. Surfside 7
4. Matt’s Place
5. Pitchers
6. Trailhead
7. Steakout
8. Swing Station

In classic March Madness style – we are pitting #1 vs #8, #2, vs #7 and so on. We also have 11 different categories we are rating them on (10 really, the last is “extra credit”):

1. Price of beverages
2. Food
3. Staff
4. Patrons
5. Location
6. Activities
7. Entertainment
8. Decor/theme
9. Bathrooms
10. Stickiness of floor
11. Extra credit

Lastly, one overall note on our rating system. Some of you may see our totals out of 100 and think back to High School where anything below a 60 is a fail. That is not the case here. We are attending these bars on random nights of the week (Wed for round one, Thurs for round two, Wed again in round three). We expect that a Saturday experience would raise all these scores. Also, we want to consider some of the best bars in America, on their best nights, as deserving scores of 90+ and that is near impossible to compare your local joints to. The scores reflected below are solid scores and our overall impression is we would absolutely go to any of these bars again.

Signed, your Director of Dives,

P.S. The scores reflected for this bracket are solid, with our overall impression being that we would absolutely go to either bar again. But part of the fun is finding a “winner”, right?

The Best of Reddit’s Personal Insults from the Previous Blog

“The roofiecolada boys are back!”

“I would bet at least one of them is a career coach.”

“One has to be a realtor as well.”

“Breaking News. Local men determined to be bros, despite their age.”

“Ass”

And the winner for Best Insult Award goes to…

“They look like three divorced guys trying to score at the Drunken Monkey.”
(Bonus points were awarded due to the fact that ⅔ of us were in fact divorced guys who have indeed tried to score at Drunken Monkey)

Congrats! 

So, without further ado, our third matchup: Pitchers vs Matt’s Place!

Pitchers

1 – Pricing: 5/10

Nothing special here really. Average to slightly high pricing for a weekday night but nothing too crazy. IPAs was $6.50 and the hard seltzers were the same. Heineken zero for the DD was $5.50. Lastly an order of ten wings was $17.29, which was the hardest price to swallow. However, the wings were each large and tasty. Across the board, it wasn’t as expensive as a cocktail bar but pricier than what you like to see for a dive.

2 – Food: 7.5/10

The bartender informed us that the wings here were the “best in town.” That’s obviously a bold claim, so we ordered both the Cajun dry rub and classic Buffalo flavor to put it to the test. While they were very good, we felt that places like Meaux Jos and Colorado Room still hold the crown for “best in town.” Still, they were a solid option, and we were very happy with them. Pitchers has a huge menu with lots of gluten-free options, which is a big plus.

3 – Staff: 6/10

The staff was great, they were all friendly and sweet. They checked in on us often and were very knowledgeable about the menu and allergy information. The bartender and servers were constantly cleaning up and keeping the place tidy. We didn’t have any over the top interactions but again, that is absolutely fine and we were perfectly happy with the interactions we had.

4 – Patrons: 5/10

There were about 45 patrons at the time, a big mix of ages, and a couple of well behaved kids were there as well. It was majority men. No one engaged with us, but we also didn’t try overly hard to engage either, so no fault. The bar seems a decent area to strike up conversations but the tables and pool tables are a bit more segmented. Despite this, the place had a much more lively and energetic vibe than we expected.

5 – Location: 4.5/10

The location is pretty similar to West End Pub. It’s not close to Old Town, instead in a strip mall off Shields Street right by Totally 80s Pizza and a Mexican restaurant. There’s plenty of parking, which is a bonus, as well as a bike rack nearby.

6 – Activities: 8/10

This is where Pitchers absolutely shines. They have ten pool tables, six soft-tip dart boards, foosball, Golden Tee, and Touch Tunes. The pool tables were being used but still with plenty of extras leftover and you can rent by the hour instead of $1 a game. You could easily spend hours here without getting bored.

7 -Decor: 3.5/10

The decor is very basic. There are a few random Eagles signs, which is a nice touch for fans (“Go Birds” – Charlie, basically the entire time we were there). The lighting is a bit odd. There was very bright light over the pool tables but darker in other sections. I get the point of this but it made it a bit offputting. It has a mix of neon lights in the windows and some of the tacky bar signs you expect. It feels like a very straightforward sports bar more so than a dive.

8 – Bathrooms: 3.5/10

The bathrooms were clean and basic, with no overpowering smell. The men’s room had two urinals and two stalls, and the women’s room was similar. Jen found a pair of shoes in one of the stalls. The shoes weren’t on a person BTW. That would’ve been less odd. However, we have theories on what happened to this barefoot lady.

9 – Entertainment: 3.5/10

Pitchers is a fantastic sports bar with TVs everywhere, including some massive ones in the corners. When it comes to football Sunday, this would be one of the best spots in town. They also have a stage for live music, though nothing was happening when we were there. There was a jukebox as well.

10 – Stickiness of Floor: 3/10

The entire floor is carpeted. While it wasn’t sticky, some sections felt like they might have been at one point. Or that they will be again in the very near future. Suffice it to say, our shoes stayed on. Which is more than we can say for the shoes in the women’s room.

11 – Extra Credit: 4/10

This place is an Eagles bar (“Go Birds gosh doggit!” – Charlie, doing his best to channel Brian Dawkins). They also have an in-house brewery in the back of the venue and they brew their own beer. They do have a patio, which is a nice perk but not somewhere we particularly wanted to hang out.

Total Score: 53.5/110

Matt’s Place

1 – Pricing: 6.5/10

The pricing here was cheaper than at Pitchers, which was a welcome surprise. We tried for continuity in our order. The IPA here was $6 and the Heineken Zero was $4. The hard seltzer was $5.25. All three of those were cheaper than at Pitchers. We didn’t want wings again and instead asked for Matt’s most popular food orders and nachos were recommended. A small nacho was $8.

2 – Food: 7/10

As mentioned, we got a small nacho to share (without olives, because we are not heathens). It was great! The chips were absolutely covered in chicken, cheese and vegetables. It was also a fair amount of food, even for a small order. We will come back to try a large and other things on the menu. The menu was smaller than Pitchers and had less GF options but plenty adequate.

3 – Staff: 7.5/10

The staff was fantastic. They were super friendly and helpful. They gave us great recommendations, chatted with us about the bar, and even talked to us about life, the universe, and all other things, even though we weren’t seated at the bar itself. I could definitely see regulars coming back to spend time with the bartenders.

4 – Patrons: 5/10

This felt like a classic regulars’ crowd. It was mostly men and the ages skewed toward 30+. We had one small but pleasant interaction, and there was less overall energy than at Pitchers. I think either of these bars could be rocking on a weekend and we’re excited to come back on a weekend night to the winner in the next round.

5 – Location: 0/10

This is, without a doubt, the worst location of any bar in the bracket. It is practically Loveland. Just north of New Mexico. There is nothing else around, it’s completely isolated. There is a parking lot but it is not well lit. While we rarely give out zeroes but the fact almost anyone would have to drive brings this down to an unfortunate zero.

6 – Activities: 8.5/10

Matt’s Place has a bunch to do, with four pool tables, Golden Tee, pinball, and both steel-tip and soft-tip darts. They even have a separate room dedicated just for darts, and they host leagues there, which is a huge bonus. The activities were similar to Pitchers but with a slightly better arrangement. Plus I like steel tip darts > additional billiards, so they get .5 points more.

7 – Decor: 6/10

The place is darker, with fewer windows and tinted glass. The lighting is dim, which adds to the dive vibe. The walls are a strange, middle school-style concrete with sound absorbing foam, which neither gained nor lost points but I think I like that it was an aggressively authentic dive. There are fun touches like plants and bicycles used as decorations throughout. A favorite was the “gross old booths” that are a staple of the dive bars of yesteryears.

8 – Bathrooms: 4.5/10

The bathrooms were clean and had a couple of funny posters, including a shockingly detailed step-by-step “how to wash your hands” sign. The men’s room had a slight urine smell, but the ladies’ room had no smell at all. Perfectly adequate place to take your pees and your poops.

9 – Entertainment: 3.5/10

Not a ton here on a Wednesday night. There is a stage and a Touch Tunes jukebox. There are a few TVs, but not as many as at Pitchers. The music was good all night though. The playlist was mostly metal, maybe by choice or through Touch Tunes.

10 – Stickiness of Floor: 4/10

The floors were not sticky. None of these bars seem to have sticky floors! However, they were a complete patchwork of carpet, hardwood, and tile. It was a variety show for our feet and while none of the textures were sticky, we did still give them the best score so far – a whopping four!

11 – Extra Credit: 5.5/10

For extra credit, there are a few things to report. They serve Rocky Mountain oysters, something we tried to trick Jen into ordering but she figured out there was some nefarious plan involved (smart as a whip that Jen). They have a “morning brunch” every day, and a punch card for regulars to keep attending, perhaps for daily Rocky Mountain Oysters? They have a really nice covered patio, the better IPA (according to Jen), as well as the separate room for darts and dart leagues. All this gave it a great community experience.

Total Score: 58/110

This round was a matchup of two similar but differently quirky places. Pitchers is a classic sports bar with a huge list of activities, while Matt’s Place is a homey, regulars-focused bar with a more secluded vibe. Despite the weak location score, Matt’s Place pulled out the win due to its stellar staff and extra-credit offerings.

The Winner: Matt’s Place

Next up, we’ll see another Old Town matchup of Trail Head vs Surfside 7.