We’ve reached the point where every bar is a proven champion of character, and the stakes are higher than the price of a cocktail at Social. We are visiting and rating these heavy hitters on busy nights, Thursday through Saturday. This is where we see who truly embodies the spirit of the FoCo dive on the most lively of nights.

This week we were joined by guest judges – Ellie joined us for both West End and Trail Head. Ellie is another Connecticut kid with an 860 area code. Eastern CT has some of the best dive bars out there (and THE best pizza), so she was a great addition to the cause. We also were joined by Janelle at Trail Head, who brought flare, style, and astute observations.

Oh yeah, and Charlie from the block. 

Another new addition for the semi finals – new categories!! We learned in round one that no one in Fort Collins has a sticky floor. The closest we found was actually Trail Head in the previous round. And that was only because we spilt a drink on it ourselves… So we have replaced that with “Most Questionable Decision” to rank the most questionable thing we, or another patron, decided to do on our visit. We also have replaced the food category, as half our semi finalists don’t offer it and we frankly didn’t feel like ordering food. This will now instead be a “bartender’s choice drink” where we put ourselves at the mercy of drinking whatever the bartender chooses for us.

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. Trail Head
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. Bartender’s Choice
3. Staff
4. Patrons
5. Location
6. Activities
7. Entertainment
8. Decor/theme
9. Bathrooms
10. Questionable Decision
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 matchup one, Thurs for matchup two, Wed again in matchup three, and Thurs in matchup four). 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

“Keep up the good work, you dweebs”

“HELNYEAH DIEVE BAR CHELENGE”

So, without further ado, our third matchup: West End Pub vs Trail Head!

West End Pub

1 – Pricing: 4/10

My tab ran $56 for three drinks and five shots. While not an egregious price point for a Thursday night, it was high enough to keep the rating low on value. I think it was the shots that raised the price, as I ended up buying for several people (see why below) and they all had their very specific liquors of choice.

2 – Bartender’s Choice: 6.5/10

Charlie asked for the Bartender’s Choice, and the bartender asked if he wanted “fruity or manly.” Charlie replied he “went both ways.” The bartender made a decision at that point and that decision was fruity. Probably some soda with liquor in it, we’re not really sure, but tasty. Overall, this was a strong new category score.

3 – Staff: 6/10

The one person managing the entire place was a machine. He knew all his regular’s shots and checked on patrons from a distance. We didn’t have seats and he made sure to make an effort to come check on us as well. No real dialogue or interactions of note, but a solid bartender.

4 – Patrons: 6/10

There was a larger crowd this time around. I would say about 30 people in all throughout our time there. There was a mix of ages but it trended a bit older. Everyone was friendly and it was easy to butt into conversations. Nothing much really stood out but a good group to hang out with.

5 – Location: 4.5/10

As a “destination” location, it’s one we had to drive to. It’s still in a decent spot with ample parking, but it requires effort (and a car) to get to for most FoCo residents.

6 – Activities: 4/10

We were able to play bar dice (I learned, I lost, I bought strangers shots). Unfortunately, we couldn’t access the pool table due to a league and therefore couldn’t play pool or Hot Wheels, as they were blocked by pool. This meant Charlie’s dreams of a Hot Wheels tournament died on this evening. This didn’t leave a lot else for activities.

7 – Decor: 5.5/10

The score was bumped up a bit due to the Halloween decor (spiders and webs) being a nice touch. We also noticed additional small details this time, including beautiful white board art, a baseball signed by the Rockies and a stuffed skunk holding a beer. It all felt very divey.

8 – Bathrooms: 5.5/10

We received new intel from our guest judge Ellie: she was able to infiltrate the ladies room and found coasters tucked under the toilet, in what appeared to be a quick fix. We’re not sure if this is a feature or a bug, but it’s certainly new information and bumped up the bathroom score from last round.

9 – Entertainment: 3.5/10

The movie “Lost Boys” was on TV, which is a great classic, but not really designed to keep a Thursday night crowd going. There was no dedicated music or live entertainment during our visit. NFL was on the TVs, so we watched the Giants spank the Eagles. Guess it’s not always sunny in Philadelphia…

10 – Most Questionable Decision: 6.5/10

I decided to ask to play a game of bar dice. I thought I had a pretty decent turn, going first and having gotten a 6 and 5 on my first roll. However, the 4 never came to fruition and I bought five people shots. Most expensive learning experience of the blog so far… Very questionable indeed.

11 – Extra Credit: 6.5/10

This is a combination of bonus points and pure spectacle. Extra credit for getting to watch an older patron loudly belittling another patron for having the same hairline as him, with a 35 year age gap. Yet both men had full heads of hair. Even more extra credit for the resident Frenchie pup hanging out and occasionally making the rounds for pets and scratches.

Also, as you can see, Charlie has a big fan!

Total Score: 58.5/110

Trail Head

1 – Pricing: 6/10

The pricing here was excellent for a busy night. Svedka shots/drinks were only $4. Plus they offered free refills on ginger beer (a DD bonus). Overall, the value was very fair for a spot in Old Town.

2 – Bartender’s Choice: 3/10

We went for the Bartender’s Choice and received “Jim Beam and coke back.” It was, quite simply, bad. I guess we are more fruity than manly…

3 – Staff: 6/10

There’s going to be a few quotes from Janelle in this section, as I cannot paraphrase something such as saying the staff is “efficient and non-offensive.” While I have never been offended by the Trail Head staff, this is not necessarily the very first adjective that came to my mind. But respect to my fellow dive bar judge. Also, respect to the guy who can stack dozens of empty glasses without breaking a sweat!

4 – Patrons: 6/10

The crowd skewed younger and more diverse than West End. A group of college-aged guys let Ellie take a photo of their map (she’s a map nerd) and even posed for the photo. Another lady helped me with duck claw machine strategy, to ensure I won my Halloween Scream duck.

5 – Location: 8.5/10

One month later and this is still a great location in the heart of Old Town. Nothing much has changed. Perhaps when it gets colder they will lose a point for having to walk a bit if you don’t get decent parking but on this date it was a beautiful evening.

6 – Activities: 6/10

We were able to secure a pool table to play a game amongst our group. Also, we played the claw machine and got one duck in our three attempts. It was the antagonist duck from the movie Scream. I think I need to rewatch that movie…

7 – Decor: 8/10

We love the decor here! It’s defined by the aforementioned maps everywhere. We also noticed new details this time: a deer wearing Mardi Gras beads, a totem pole, and a suit of armor. Serious visual ADHD fuel.

8 – Bathrooms: 7.5/10

Guest judge Janelle gave a review of the ladies room: “good place to meet a best friend, good place to catch staph.” I would risk staph for a best friend. Wouldn’t you? 7.5 out of 10.

9 – Entertainment: 5/10

The entertainment is mostly passive. Televisions and people watching. The people watching is excellent here due to the location, especially on the patio. However, the background music was noted by Janelle as “basic ass country music.” This was in stark contrast to the entertainment she received from maps on the wall, one of which was described by Ellie as a “bad f***ing ass map” – Four words that have never been said in succession in history.

10 – Most Questionable Decision: 6.5/10

Janelle led this one by asking a group of patrons, “Are you in a Southern rock or Bible band? Do you aspire to tour with Kings of Leon?” and got a full conversation out of that opener. I don’t know if it was truly questionable but it made for a great dive bar moment.

11 – Extra Credit: 2/10

Not a lot happened out of the ordinary this evening. We met a group from the Isle of Wight, which is rare even for England, let alone Fort Collins.

Total Score: 64.5/110

This was hard simply because of the goal we set out for. We are looking for the best dive bar in Fort Collins and the West End Pub may be the epitome of dive. They were our largest vote getter when we started this challenge and it likely is the diviest bar in town. However, when it came to scoring, they lost by a few points. From a “feels” perspective, Trail Head was more fun on this night. And they had far more to offer, especially with West End being filled with a pool league. So, while it is still debatable if “dive” is the correct moniker for Trail Head, it is not debatable that it was the more fun of the two for us on this night.

The Winner: Trail Head

Next up, is the second of our semifinals. We will pit Town Pump against Matt’s Place. Stay tuned for more!