Nebraska: Home to Best College Bar in the Country?

ABC News on Campus reporter Andrew Mach blogs: Category: the best college bar in the country. And the winner is…Duffy's Tavern, in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Of all the watering holes in the country for college students, Duffy’s gets the nod as the best according to a somewhat mysterious website called Complex.com, which describes itself as being “dedicated to 20-something culture.” Just how the website chose Duffy’s is a mystery – the methodology isn’t outlined on the site, and nobody at Complex.com responded to numerous telephone and email inquiries.
Even Duffy’s owner, delighted as he is with the selection, doesn’t know what put the tavern over the top. Scott Hatfield says he wasn’t contacted about the possibility of his bar being included in the list of The 50 Best College Bars in America. Instead, he read about his bar earning top honors in the local newspaper.
In citing the bar, Complex.com says, "Duffy’s has a fire pit, live music (Nirvana played there once), fishbowl-sized cocktails and it’s…in Nebraska? Wait, we’d better double-check this…yep. It rules."
“Duffy’s means a lot of different things to a lot of different people,” Hatfield said. “We’ve been a constant fabric of the downtown bar scene for years, so we’re thrilled.” But some university students in Lincoln, Nebraska have a different reaction to Duffy’s taking the top spot.
“I think that list is pretty silly,” said Delaney Wessel, 23, a recent graduate of the University of Nebraska. “Duffy’s is kind of a dive bar.”
The list elicited even harsher comments on the website – nearly 300 within the first 10 days.
“Duffy's might be the worst bar on O Street,” said one commenter identifying himself as John. “It doesn't have anything that would appeal to anyone in college. People who go to college at NU certainly don't go there.”
Still, others like 22-year-old Danielle Shoda, a senior at UNL, likes the bar.
“Sometimes I feel like I’m on ‘Jersey Shore’ when I go downtown, so I prefer (Duffy’s) to some other (bars). I like a more casual environment, there are places to sit, nice music, an outdoor patio. I feel like you can go in there and have a conversation with someone, and Duffy’s is perfect for that.”
A commenter on Complex.com agrees.
“Sure it's a dive bar, but, if nothing else, it provides the best cross section of the college population than any other bar I've come across: frat, rockers, hipsters, and anime geeks are all there,” said one commenter identifying himself as No Alias Tyler.
Regardless of patron opinion, Hatfield said as one of Lincoln’s oldest bars, (it acquired a liquor license in 1936), Duffy’s has regular customers, ages 21 to 70, who enjoy the bar together.
“We don’t have a specific focus,” Hatfield said. “But when you combine all the music, the college atmosphere, Nebraska football, the weekend crowds, our really friendly staff – I think that’s what makes us so special.”
While Duffy’s was the only Nebraska bar to make the list, Pennsylvania, New York and Florida bars appeared most often taking up four or five spots per state. Other cities like Berkeley, Calif., South Bend, Ind., Boulder, Colo., Lawrence, Kan., and Madison, Wis., were also home to multiple bars that made the list.
The website mentions that “the best college bar is the bar that's closest to your (current or former) college, with the cheapest drinks, that all your friends go to…” and the list is a compilation of “every type of establishment that serves suds and cocktails: fratty sports bars, nerdy popcorn-and-board game havens, and the finest places to have all the puke-out-your-nose fun you can handle.” (Photos by ABC News on Campus reporter Aaron James)