The Davis Graduate

Came here on a Tuesday for salsa night for a friend’s 21^st birthday. I had a great time with my friends, no doubt, but this place isn’t the greatest.
Sticky floors, sticky chairs, sticky everywhere. It didn’t feel like the cleanest place. It was practically empty the night we came but I honestly didn’t mind. I was having a good time with my group. It was a little awkward though when you’d be dancing on the dance floor and there were men staring you down and constantly tapping your shoulder asking for a dance.
Other than that, the DJ had a good selection of music and gladly accepted our song requests. Salsa night was fun, no doubt. Creepers will always be there, no matter what. Might as well dance the night away!

Coming from the city, The Grad is one of the closest things Davis has to a club, as depressing as that is. If you come after 9, you have to pay a cover, and this place is not worth paying to be in. If you come before 9, well– why are you going out before 9?
If you’re coming to dance, only a select few who have mastered the dances by practicing, attending lessons, and perusing YouTube are welcome on the dance floor.
If you’re coming to drink, there are cheaper and better bars.
If you’re coming to socialize, you can barely talk with the volume of the music, and from what I’ve seen, males and females stay generally separated like a middle school dance unless there’s a partner dance and they have to high five or hold hands. I have been approached by multiple drunk older men every time I’ve gone, as this seems to be the place for them to congregate and do the electric slide. (It’s funny on snapchat, but depressing in person.) My friend described it best when she described the atmosphere as a cafeteria transformed into a high school hoedown.
For a select few who spend their spare time learning to line dance, I’m sure it’s fun. For the rest of us, I’d say it’s worth the thirty minute drive to go to Sacramento and do literally anything else.

Been going here since my undergrad days!
This is apparently the place for country line dancing on whatever nights … Great prices and love the ambiance especially on game nights, yeah sometimes there’s cover but it’s a reliable
Place to watch the fights, basketball, soccer, etc

Oh, the Grad… how I’ve missed thee (kinda, not really).
It was a great call to come here mid-​afternoon/​early-​evening on Picnic Day as it wasn’t crowded at all and we were able to walk on in. As usual, it was the low-​key crowd which was what we were seeking. None of this waiting in line downtown with puking 21 year olds nonsense for us!
While this isn’t the Grad’s fault, when did the Arco become SO ghetto? It looks like it was transplanted from West Sac. Eww.
Anyway, the Grad — low-​key, dirty, and somewhat overpriced. My now craft beer, slightly snooty self was less impressed than I was in college, but at least we didn’t have to wait in line for eons.

I love the Davis Graduate. It is my go to spot when a game is on and I am hungry! Okay okay… so the food is just alright but really it is about the company I am with, beer I am drinking and burger I am consuming at the time. My favorite will always be their sweet potato Fries! They are perfectly cooked and I love their selection of sauces. At one point they used to have a sauce bar – but sadly that time has passed and now you need to ask for what you would like (Besides the basics). The people that work here are great – they are always in such a great mood. I think one of the main reasons why I enjoy this place is because you can come here with family, friends, a date or even have a work meeting with co workers (which I have done before!). Cant figure out what to do on a weekend? just stop by and grab a beer with a friend and a burger –It is not luxury by any means – but – it will hit the spot when you need it most!

Was just in town on Picnic Day (of all days, right?). Kind of bro-​tastic, bartenders are snappy and they think they’re witty. I didn’t eat the food, but in the afternoon there was vomit in the Men’s restroom. Come here for convenience but not as a destination.

The layout and bar a pretty cool, plenty of seating and appears to be a great place to watch a game. Really good beer selection. Only bad thing was consistency. Ordered a Grad burger and GF ordered the undergrad. Although her burger was tasty, the grad burger was absolutely flavorless and had zero seasoning. Then tried some BBQ sauce which did not save this burger. The bread was not the same sesame seed bun as the undergrad and tasted stale. As well, when I went back to the counter awaiting the food, I saw a guy throw what appeared to be frozen patties onto the grill and the menu board clearly say that burger meet is fresh. So that was also a big disappointment.
Will likely give this place another try during football season, but might want to order a double patty undergrad next time and will have to make sure they do not use a frozen patty.

Love this place. One of the biggest beer selections in Davis, highlighted by Pliny the Elder IPA. For those that don’t know that beer, it is a world class, super rare beer, and the grad so just happens to have it regularly on tap!
This is also probably the best bar in Davis to watch sports games at. This bar has NBA league pass, which is huge for me. The fact that I can come here at any time and watch any game not nationally televised really makes this place special.
The food here is good, the ambiance is fun, prices are reasonable, selection is top notch, and the crowds get into it. Check this place out during happy hour, where they feature discounted prices on food and drink. This is a place that I will be back. The bartenders are usually pretty cool and the service is quick.

Came here after a long exhausting day of picnic day and order the chicken strips and fries. The food was mediocre, I mean you can’t really mess up chicken strips. Except, I only got THREE strips of chicken and my buddies got 4 or 5 pieces so I was a little disappointed. And the sauce wasn’t all that great. The ranch was damn near like water. Best thing there was the super cold water.

I came here on a Sunday afternoon for drinks and appetizers and the place was quite empty. It has been years since I have been here and I stopped by just to quench my thirst. I ordered the chicken wings appetizer and it came out crispy as ordered. I wasn’t too hungry so I didn’t order too much. The service was good but I can’t comment too much on the service when it gets busier.
I ordered Jameson and the price was comparable to other bars. I also ordered some Patron shots and I was confused when I found out the shots were $R13 each. I had an open tab and I didn’t think Patron shots would be $ 13. When I got the bill, I was quite surprised at the price. I think it is overpriced for the establishment. I probably won’t come back for drinks unless it is a place that my friends insist on going to.
I would give this place 3 stars but they get 2 stars for the overpriced Patron shots.

Great food, staff, and games. And I love the seating! Bravo!

Great food and drinks, the place is ideal for people who like to hang out and listen to good music without the vanity of many other dance clubs. There are families and sport fans in the afternoon and dancing youngsters at night. The staff in friendly and polite. This place is a must go if you’re in Davis.

Soooo… I haven’t been to The Graduate since I was at UCD, YEARS ago. The burgers are still great! I wasn’t old enough to drink the last time I was here, and now the bar is beautiful … Huge selection of beers and a full bar (perfect for me). The BEST thing about my visit was Shelby, the bartender. She made everyone feel at home and poured great drinks. It was a nice way to come back to Davis.

NOT HAVE AGAIN: The Grad Burger was just OK. As I indicated in my 4÷26÷2012 review, there are much better places in Davis for a burger. Of course, if you like a sports bar, there are monitors everywhere — very impressive.
LAST REVIEW: Have again: the special California Grad burger came with bacon, cheese, guacamole and fries for $ 8. Good deal if you want a burger without a huge amount of beef, which is what I wanted. Very good onion rings. I hadn’t been to the Grad in 20 years. Very noisy. Much better burger places in Davis, so I may not return for quite some time since I’m not interested in large-​screen TVs, sports, dancing, crowded, noisy places. But the Groupon was great and the service at the counter was excellent.

Always great food– a bit noisy at times but a fun crowd — definitely a college town vibe! We used a Groupon and got 2 huge burgers with anything on them– bacon, avocado etc plus fries and 2 beers– $ 13!

This is a very dingy, old place with a strong need for new furniture and better indoor lighting during the day. You definitely don’t come here for the environment, and since I’ve never come at night, I can’t speak to the fun or events that happen here. When you step inside, it’s really dark and takes your eyes a bit to adjust. The chairs & benches are old, and the seating area outdoors has a filthy covering and a stagnant pool with a stone gator. It doesn’t scream «clean.» (2 stars for ambiance & environment)
What I loved: 4 stars for the cheap Undergrad burger that you can get for $ 3.95 at certain hours on Mondays. You can also add fries OR a drink for $ 1.49. They’re generous with the burger size, meat patty, and serving of fries. I enjoyed how they grilled the bun, and man, those onions were so strong that my breath smelled all day. The lettuce and tomato seemed nice and ripe; I opted out of the Thousand Island’s dressing. It was a very satisfying burger, and the fries were crisped to perfection. You pump your own ketchup/​mustard into paper cups at the front counter. For the drink, we got a Shirley Temple (they don’t have Dr. Pepper, which was my first choice). I’d definitely come back to have the burger again; it’s a steal!
Basically, you order at the counter on the left, get your drinks at the bar in the back, and wait for your name to be called. Then you pick up your food and sit wherever you’d like. Close your eyes while you eat; then you don’t see your surroundings.

I was told that I was «dancing too aggressively» my friends and I were dancing on the corner of the dance floor, doing our thing because we didn’t know the actual dances and a bar back came up to us and told us we could be kicked out for not knowing the bullshit pop country line dances. On top this I ordered at the bar and told the bartender to make me a stiff Long Island, and I tipped him double the price of the drink. There was no alcohol whatsoever. He tried to tell me that the alcohol was tapped into the soda dispenser, which is an absolute lie. I don’t care if I was dancing like a retard on bathsalts, you should not be told you will be kicked out if you continue dancing the way you’re dancing at a DANCING bar. The regulars are bullies, if the girl in the white tank top is reading this, you kick like a goddamn mule and take your bullshit dances too seriously.

As someone who doesn’t drink I guess the only thing I have to rate is the seating and the pizza.
I also visited on a Sunday nigth when there was football on the big screen.
The Pizza was pretty well made, the crust was crunchy and the vegetables seemed pretty fresh, however the atmosphere is somewhat oppressing if you’re not going there as a college student, or not used to it. As a one time visitor I’d have to say this is more of a local joint that people in the area go to hang out and get comfortable with.
There are televisions on every angle, so no matter where you are you can watch the game. There is plenty of seating, and both a bar a line for the food desk. You pick up your own order and bring it to the table, which means if you order a lot for a party you have to bring it all to the table yourself.
I’d suppose my main complaint here is just that the place itself, the seating and everything looks run down and dirty. It’s difficult to feel comfortable eating for me in such an environment, but I would still recommend those who like a sports bar to come here because the pizza is still good.
Don’t quite know about the drinks. You’ll have to see the other reviews about it.

I came here on a football Sunday around the afternoon… the place itself looks a little old, it has a wagon country feel to the place. The tables and seats are old, and the tables were very sticky.
Fortunately, they have plenty of tvs to show whatever sport is playing at the time. When I was watching, they highlighted the local team on their projection screen and played the rest of the games on smaller tvs.
For the bar area, they have a good amount of selection. I believe there was like 15 – 20 different beers on tap so that was a positive here. The beer went for 6 a cup, so it’s just your ordinary price.
The way I feel about this place is exactly how I’m writing this review, it’s completely bland. Although, a lot of performers come to this bar to perform which is a plus, the place itself is not welcoming and appealing enough for me to come back. This place is forgettable. I rather shop at the trader joes in the same plaza than spend my time here.

Great bar and great atmosphere! I just wish the security would walk around only if something is going on not all the time because I felt like I was being watched (even though I was doing nothing wrong) They should put a TV outside so if you are hot from dancibc and want to watch TV you should not have to walk back inside but overall it was a fun experience for me

Food is nothing special bar food and super overpriced. I’ve only gone there when I’m part of a group that wants to meet there. Otherwise I would never go. The only positive is the TVs showing a variety of sports that don’t get shown many places. Seems like if you go for the food, you’ll be disappointed. If you go for the bar and TVs, you’ll have a better experience.

FOOD wise:
For big ol’ burger for lunch, try the Grad burger. I’ve been coming to the Graduate since my elementary school days and it has always left me satiated. Up until this afternoon, I’d always ordered the Undergrad size burger (¼ lb.) which has filled me up to the brim. Today via a GroupOn, I got a Grad burger (½ lb.) with fries and a beverage.
The burger is a hefty burger. It’s got a delicious meat patty, as well as fresh produce and a thousand island sauce (?) which lubes the goodness.
The fries are thick cut and cooked to perfection, in my opinion. Not «well done» like some people get at the chain burger joint. I usually opt for skinny fries, but these pleased my palate.
The GroupOn specified two tap beers or soft drinks. As it was midday (hasn’t stopped me before!), I went with a soda.
Seating is almost cafeteria style, but with long tables and benches on what becomes a dance floor at other hours. It seemed like there could have been a great light show with all of the colored lamps at different angles.
It was also pretty dark inside so you could always tell when the door was opened by the bright light being let in. I left with half of my burger in a doggy box and look forward to chowing that down later.
Food menu–
Beer menu–
DANCING wise:
I have no idea.

I went to The Graduate for the first time on Friday night to watch The Ultimate Fighter Finale since my friend was in town from Chicago and we heard they would be playing it here.
I had heard previously that The Graduate attracted an under 21 crowd, so I was worried that it would be a bunch of rowdy college students. I happen to visit when UC Davis was out of session for Winter Break, so the crowd when I went was mainly families and just all kinds of people hanging out in a low key environment. I even saw a little girl leaning against the bar, which is not something I’m used to seeing in a bar like environment… I was happy with the crowd and atmosphere here.
The Graduate has a great beer selection which is a key part of why they deserve a 4-​star review in my book. I was excited to see that they had Pliny the Elder on-​tap and since it was still Happy Hour (Mon-​Fri 4 – 7 p.m.) when we got there, I even got a glass of Pliny on discount!
I always associate sports bars with being loud and rowdy, so I was happy that instead of making the volume of the televisions really loud, they had TVs playing a variety of things and you could ask for a personal speaker to bring to your table and tune in.
They had The Ultimate Fighter Finale playing on the largest screen in the room and we found a comfortable table to sit down and watch. I was surprised at how much I was enjoying being in a sports bar (unusual for me) and thought to myself how I would definitely come back here.