This time, we pit the Old Town favorite, Town Pump, against the geographic outlier and long-shot favorite, Matt’s Place.

We adjusted our methodology for this round to better capture the party experience, adjusting a few categories from round one. For this high-stakes matchup, we brought in a fantastic team: veteran judge Janelle for her second appearance (the only two time guest judge in FoCo Dive Bar Bracket Challenge History, and newcomer Ashley, whom I’ve decided I like despite the unfortunate fact that she’s a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan. Our guest judges were unfortunately unable to rate Matt’s Place, as they forgot their passports and were turned away at the Panama border, but they joined us for Old Town adventures.

This round presented a fascinating contrast. The Town Pump was absolutely bustling with energy, proving why it’s a downtown powerhouse. Meanwhile, Matt’s Place felt cozy and festive, they were dressed up for Christmas! However, despite being a more popular night, the crowd at Matt’s largely consisted of separate groups keeping to themselves at tables, creating a very different kind of energy.

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. We expect that a Saturday experience would be better than a Tuesday experience. 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 Semifinals, Round 1

None! Y’all are so dang polite!

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

Matt’s Place

1 – Pricing: 5.5/10

The cocktails here are $7.50 and a Heineken Zero was $4.50. Not bad, not great, just about middle ground. It was a Friday night so I think prices were a bit higher than our weekday visit last time.

2 – Bartender’s Choice: 3/10

This didn’t go well. And frankly it was likely our fault. Charlie took on the choice challenge, expressing that he wanted “anything not beer.” The bartender seemed worried that he was too vague and after some confused back-and-forth, offered a Jack and Coke. How was your Jack and Coke Charlie? “It’s fine.”

3 – Staff: 7.5/10

Outside of the above confusion, the staff are amazing here! There were three bartenders. We were served right away at the bar, checked on by a second bartender while waiting for our drinks and checked on every 10-15 minutes at our table. Consummate professionals at this joint and super friendly.

4 – Patrons: 4/10

Much like the “bartender’s choice” category, this was another “it’s fine” rating. There was a lot of people (maybe 40) in the bar, with a variety of ages and genders. However, no one was really mingling. A couple people at the bar seemed like they may not have already been in a group but the vast majority were sitting with friends at individual tables. If that is the vibe you want, this is your spot. For us… It’s not ideal. We like to mingle. We’re minglers..

5 – Location: 1/10

The location has not improved since the last time we came. The drive through Mexico wasn’t bad but jumping the Panama Canal to get here was a bit rough on my suspension. We did give them half a point bonus because Charlie’s car was being repaired directly across the street, so we did get to “kill two birds with one Stone IPA.” Charlie says we should say “feed two birds with one scone”, in case there are bird people reading this, but I get final edits, so i’ll stick with my original. Also. Sweet Dee, if you are reading this… you look like a bird!

6 – Activities: 8/10

This is where Matt’s Place continues to shine (along with the service). Not only are all the activities still available (pool, darts, arcade games, etc.) but all these activities were available for use on a Friday night. The sheer number of pool tables and dart boards allowed anyone who wanted to play to do so at any time.

7 – Decor: 6/10

We enjoyed the festive Christmas cheer throughout the bar! They added some hanging decorations, a tree and lights. Beyond that, things looked mostly the same and rather divey.

8 – Bathrooms: 3.5/10

Typical bathroom. Two urinals without a divider. A couple stalls. Three sinks that were used by zero of the other patrons. One guy came in and announced “looks like a bunch of dicks hanging out in here” then went into the stall and yelled “say it with me… SAUSAGE FEST!” we gave a point here and in extra credit for this guy alone.

9 – Entertainment: 3/10

Sports. That was about it. TVs with a variety of sports. They still got that Touch Tunes Jukebox but there wasn’t much as far as music or people watching on this night.

10 – Most Questionable Decision: 4/10

Ordering the “bartender’s choice” drink, hands down. Not only did we flub the execution, the bartender was audibly telling her regulars down the bar about how weird an order it was. Not our best dive moment. “Charlie, don’t be an ass” -Wayne Gretzky, probably.

11 – Extra Credit: 2/10

Obviously the sausage party gent above. Also, a dude was wearing an “OnlyDads” sweatshirt with a fat guy on a stripper pole image. So there’s that?

Total Score: 47.5/110

Town Pump

1 – Pricing: 6/10

A bit more on the affordable side than Matt’s, which is a nice treat considering the location. $14 for mixed drink and shot. $11 for a Jameson shot and a beer. I think $5 or $6 for fruity seltzer drinks. All in all, decent pricing!

2 – Bartender’s Choice: 8/10

Charlie asked Jess the bartender (more on her below, she’s A+) for her choice and she offered a Basil Hayden’s Dark Rye whiskey, neat. How’s this treating you Charlie? “She didn’t lead me astray.”

3 – Staff: 11/10

SUPERSTAR bartender. Jess saved me a seat when I was still five minutes out in an incredibly busy bar. When Ashley ordered a Rumplemintz shot, she said they had an equivalent but was honest that she wouldn’t enjoy it. She handled dozens of customers by herself and still was able to casually chat here and there. One of the most impressive bartenders in Fort Collins. Because this is our blog and no one can stop us, we’re giving our first ever 11 out of 10!

4 – Patrons: 8.5/10

There was a wide variety of ages and genders, without any college-aged students. Some were wearing JNCO jeans. It was super easy to strike up conversations with other patrons. According to Charlie: “stranger banter is the condition by which you talk to strangers. You need the atoms bouncing off each other.” Charlie reading this sober several days later: “I stand by it.”

5 – Location: 10/10

Doesn’t get much better than this. Charlie got parking right out front, by luck as well. Old Town has opened a few new street carts since our visits in the summer, all in this area as well. Location somehow feels even better, despite the cold.

6 – Activities: 6.5/10

This is not an “activity” bar, by design. However, we still got into some fun when we found the guest book on the shelf behind a table. Hundreds of people had signed it and written nonsense. We compiled a group poem by passing the book around the table and adding a word each. The illustration is not ours but we believe it’s the kindred spirit of our poem.

7 – Decor: 8.5/10

You could spend two hours just reading the bumper stickers and graffiti. There’s too much good stuff here to explain it all, go give it a look yourself. Our crown jewel bumper sticker though: “I found it but now my finger smells”.

8 – Bathrooms: 6/10

We had a gender divide of disagreement here. Charlie and I LOVE the bathrooms. The graffiti is great. TP is hidden throughout the room (which Charlie found when he went in the women’s). Phone numbers galore on the walls! The ladies however explained that it is a “tough squat for tall girls” and that this can cause one’s knees to hit the walls. Look at me in my thirties and still learning new things.

9 – Entertainment: 3/10

We spent a lot of time just looking at the walls and graffiti, as well as reading the guest book. However, those have already both been counted. Next, is the people watching. We watched an angry guy complain about an argument with his partner for a bit, with only mild entertainment for us. There were TVs on, not on sports but regular movies. However, no subtitles. We mostly had to entertain ourselves.

10 – Most Questionable Decision: 6/10

The person who wrote on the bathroom wall “send your poops to [phone number]”. What are the odds that person, whoever they are, still owns that number? What do you do when you get a brand new number, after the last person abandoned it, and you get a daily poop photo? Also, who’s pooping in this place??

11 – Extra Credit: 5/10

This is the oldest continuously operating bar in FoCo! And we love it for that reason.

Total Score: 78.5/110

This was a surprising beat down. For the semi finals, we expected nothing but close matches. However, Town Pump was one of our favorite bars in the entire bracket. This isn’t a knock on Matt’s Place. They are a solid bar for people down in the southern hemisphere, who are looking for a place to play games and hang out with their group of friends. I would imagine they also could be great on a live music night. But on this night, there was no contest. Town Pump not only won this round, to take on TrailHead in the finals, it is quickly becoming one of my favorite spots in town. 

The Winner: Town Pump

Next up, is the FREAKING FINALS! TrailHead vs Town Pump.

Reminder – for the last round we’re inviting the whole judging posse back and going with a straight democratic vote. No vetos, no electoral college, just people picking their favorites.

Bonus Materials!!

Earlier in the bracket, Surfside 7 barely lost out (by .5 points) to Trailhead. While that decision has already been made and cast in stone, we do have new information that is worth at least 1 point. Surfside 7 now has a pair of C*** Chairs (the kinda chairs you can sit in and watch things that… happen… in front of you, rhymes with luck). This is new information that certainly would’ve been the edge Surfside needed. While this is too late for the blog, it is good information for the people to know!