Joe's Bar

This bar is a liminal space. Unassuming exterior. Regular smoking dive bar in the front. Super friendly bartender and really cheap drinks. Bathroom was ridiculously clean.
Nothing I can write will prepare you for what you will experience when you continue to the back of the bar. I don't want to spoil it. I will say, if you have a problem with hunting and taxidermy, do not come here. It is a feast for the eyes. Enjoy.

Joe's is the classic smoky dive - bent barstools and all - and an incredible display of preserved animals from African and other hunts. Ya don't see that every day! Worth a drop in for sure - go upstairs.

Very cool place. Unique taxidermy museum. Just wish they had a better selection of vodka and we would've stayed longer.

Ok ... Joe's is well worth the stop. It is odd though (Ligonier is odd in general, quaint but a strange little town). The drinks are cheap, place is cash only, the oval bar is in classic dive form and there's not much to see. It feels like most midwestern neighborhood bars. Until you get to the back room and the upstairs. WOW! The collection of taxidermy is really astounding. The place is part grandpa's den, part natural history museum, and part art project. It is fully bizarre. I don't know why it exists but it does and it's one of few places open til 2am in the town. Worth the stop.

Absolutely awesome. If you are anywhere near this place you must go there now. Classic dive bar backed up by the most awesome collection of taxidermy on Earth. I am a progressive liberal who doesn't hunt and I loved it. Most animals were hunted 30, 40, 50 years ago before they were endangered. I can't believe NatGeo or the history channel hasn't done a special on this place. Nothing else like it

As a stand alone bar, it's a 1.5 star- being generous!

It's bare open bar area with smoke caked into every aspect of the building. Beer is cheap- 2 beers off tap ran $5 and change!

However this is not just a bar!!!!

This place has more taxidermy than some museums!!! And not just typical animals... Many that are now endangered and probably would never see in real life. A rhino, giraffe, elephant, polar bear, lions, sea lion, snakes, bald eagle... On and on. Be sure you walk up the spiral staircase and see the THREE additional full rooms upstairs!!!

The display is so magnificent that I felt in awe and horrified all at once. Eventually, I reasoned that these animals are already deceased, so my looking at them is actually honoring their sacrifice... maybe i just over thought it. but hey! it was 9pm on a Friday in nowhere PA and I did NOT expect to see this...

If you happen to be nearby- GO and visit!!!


Please thumb up/comment if you liked this review and I would count it a privilege if you chose to follow me as I review places I travel and visit. Thank you for taking the time to read! ~mp

So my Uncle Chris took me out for a western PA outskirts style bar crawl and this was one of the stops. We walk in. 75 cent beers, $1.50 glass of wine. Our total bill was the cost of a drink anywhere else. They had some old school bowling skee ball game, and then my uncle tell's me there's something i have to see in the back. So we step back to see all these huge stuffed (dead) animals. I'm not talking like deer heads and a set of antlers, maybe a courtesy nittany lion, seriously, he had a whole elephant. Not to mention zebra's, polar bears, and wild bucks from africa. I was astounded. Not to mention there is a whole 2nd floor that covers the whole span of the bar with more animals. I had seen extinct animals i've never even seen before. It was incredible, and creepy, and that show was free. incredible. if it's still open, you need to see it.

I found this excerpt on Joe's:

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/roger/QueryTips.php?offset=210&tip_State=PA

Ligonier, Pennsylvania - Joe's Bar - Taxidermy Heaven

At first, Joe's looks like any other small-town bar. But walk beyond the pool table, and you begin to realize there is something unusual at Joe's. Sealed in museum-like glass cases you will find amazing accomplishments of taxidermy -- a giraffe, an elephant's head, rhinocerous, ibex, skunks, tigers, lions, and almost every creature you could possibly shoot to kill. Joe's collection probably exceeds a hundred different species, and you can view them all; no admission or drink purchase necessary. [Carolyn Kegler, 10/22/2001]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclectio/3169348/in/pool-wierd_pennsylvania/

nailed that one on the head.

Pros: cheap beer
Cons: cheap beer. No selection outside of the swill consumed in mass quantities. The front bar is all wood paneling, and the back is a menagerie of taxidermy. It smelled like stale cheap beer and cigarette smoke. Very very hillbilly. The only thing missing was a rebel flag and Boss Hog. Sorry, but there was nothing I enjoyed about this place.

After a rough dinner, Joe's was the perfect place to unwind for a great few beers! I did not expect them to have anything craft beer wise, but was pleasantly surprised to see Troegs, Erie and Victory bottles available. The taxidermy is always great to see! This little dive bar is always a fun place to go for a few cheap beers! The bartender was funny and very personable! My wife and I will return to this establishment every trip here!

If you are out in the middle of nowhere PA this is the best place to be! You must stop in, play some tunes on the juke box and admire the taxidermy. Must admire the taxidermy!!