Mac’s Bar

The staff is awesome and friendly. It’s your neighborhood grunge bar with tons of shows with local bands! The staff during the day entertains you with games and music. They’re awesome!

Great rap show. Guy with long hair striped sweatshirt disobeyed civil law to enforce his own Rule

What more could you ask for in a dive bar? Best sound in Lansing strongest drinks in Lansing. Best bathrooms in Lansing. Theios is next door

The best place in Lansing to see free stand up on Monday nights. Drinks are fast and cheap. Craig has won best bartender in Lansing for years and Cara can’t be hard behind. Mac’s is a staple in Lansing for me. Would recommend to a friend.

This is my favorite shit hole dive bar. It is a dark, strange place but the bartenders are great and they have the best bands in town. Just be sure to poop before you get there because it’s the type of place where you have to hover above the toilet even after it was just cleaned!

2 stars is pretty generous. Mostly because the drinks are cheap. I went there to see my son’s band. What can I say… I saw them. The place is dirty, smelly, and just all around gross. You can get bleach for 99 cents a bottle, a little poured in the toilets once in a while would go a long way. The restroom will make you wanna puke. It’d improve the smell in there a bit. I’m not a fan. I REALLY don’t want to go back… ever.

I’m not the sort to be so impressed with a bar, but I have been to so many good shows at this bar. They have a lot of local acts that are usually young creative kids trying to put on a show. Then the headliner’s are bands like Bob Log III, Captured by Robots…
(which is this amazing show that involves robots who have enslaved a poor man and make him do themed shows. I married my friend their once when there was a marriage theme. There was a guy who took a unicorn dill dough to the rear that was attached to a BMX bike unicorn. (It wasn’t as terrible as it sounds. Neither was Bog Log III’s boob scotch. Just a bit of spectacle and fun) They had a Star Trek theme one time. I got these «Wesley Crusher Sucks» stickers. The music is great. The whole set up is literally one guy and a team of robots he made (or enslaved him). OK, I have to stop reviewing how great Captured by Robots is, but the point is that you sometimes won’t see amazing acts like that in Detroit. Mac’s is special in this way and adds to a very cozy but rich Lansing scene.)
and Melt Banana. The place has never changed. Its super divey but definitely has enough space for most of the acts that role through.
They have a few pinball machines. I’m pretty sure they have an Elvis one or a Star Wars one, which are usually pretty good.
There is a nice big deck out front if you want to have a smoke or get some air. I’m pretty sure that you can bring your drink out with you, but I can’t be sure of that.
My favorite story about Mac’s bar is when a couple of friends of mine met Mr. Belding from Saved by the Bell up there. I couldn’t believe it at the time. I just thought they made it up because the name of the hang out on the show was «the max.» They told me that he had gotten fat, which ended up checking out after I saw his appearance later on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. It turns out he was filming some independent movie in the area.
Mac’s is a little off the beaten path of the main drag of bars in Lansing, but easily worth the trip for the shows. After that, head into Lansing. Don’t head east if you’re over 24. There are a couple of real Gems. Mac’s and a lot of other bars in Lansing are a bastion for certain types of bars that are disappearing across America. Mainly, the kind that cast members of Saved by the Bell drink at.

Here’s the thing. Macs bar is arguably the worst place in the western hemisphere. The place reeks of booze, piss, and cat litter.
You could analyze the walls for blood spatter patterns and solve every murder in the lansing metro area for the last 20 years.
The basement houses several illegal immigrants of Korean decent who manually distill their house rum from the piss of touring bands.
The green room smells of the sins of 1000 sex workers and is 1.5 cubic feet in total space.
I freaking love macs bar.

Worth checking out if there is a band you want to see playing there.

What a hole! What a strange and diverse crowd! Loved it!
Visited MACs for the first time to see Joe Buck Yourself, Those Poor Bastards, Black Jake & the Carnies, Rachel Brooke, Viva Le Vox, and The Devil. My visit was mainly to see Black Jake who did indeed rock the place.
MACs is hard to describe. It hasn’t seen any investment I’m sure in many years. The set up at first seemed strange but the room lent itself to fairly good acoustics Add decent drink prices and low cost admission and all was cool.
My complaints:
It is hard to know who is staff and who is not.
Many people seemed to be in charge of the door.
One out of control drunk chick who seemed to run the place was allowed to continue to molest patrons.
Children? Here?
But hey, what ever

Macs bar is a good place to hang out and have a drink… the place looks a bit run down but its still a cool place to hang out and meet people.
as a side note if you go on Tuesday nights they have neon Tuesdays and they have local DJ’s come in and it is a fun environment

I went to Mac’s bar to see a friend’s band play and it was a unique experience for me. It is definitely a dive bar, a trip to the bathrooms will more than confirm this. There isn’t a space on the walls not covered by graffiti or a sticker.
Cover was reasonable and the crowd, while eclectic, is very friendly. The drinks are fairly priced but be careful they are super strong, especially after spending most of my time going out in downtown East Lansing.
The venue is great for concerts and besides my friend’s band, the other acts were great as well. Overall, I’d suggest this place to come see up and coming bands. If you are looking for a classy and sophisticated bar, head somewhere else. This place is well worn and well loved.

The delightful dive. It is 4 parts rock’n’roll, 1 part home. I frequented Mac’s the most in the early-​to-​mid 2000’s during frequent owner changes. I liked it most when it was owned by a coke head and smashed guitars were carelessly bolted to the walls as a successful attempt at cheap décor.
Now, Mac’s run by a seemingly good owner who has done good things with the place– it is nicer looking, which helps Lansing, and it is now built as a bar instead of an oversized smoke filled filing cabinet just off 4 – 96 and 127. They pull good underground rock and punk bands and still support the local scene with opening local acts. I used to play music on that stage to a vibrant crowd busting the place at its seams… That totals to about 50 people. Its true, for that very reason, I hold Macs in a special place in my heart. Fights rarely break out as the crowd is generally accepting as long as you behave the same. Respect earns respect. The bathrooms are frightening and awesome. Every square inch is covered with sharpie, band stickers and dry piss. Mac’s can change and progress all it wants. It will still shake from the parking lot with the vibrations of live music, I will still walk in there and know 5 people and they will still offer cheap PBR… And it will always be home.

What do I like about Mac’s bar… well I didn’t ever have to wait more than two minutes for a drink and as drinking is generally one of the main goals at a bar this fast service was much appreciated.
This is a 180 from my general scene so I feel as if it is not really my place to judge it so I will just try and give non biased truthful statements about the venue.
Its a dive bar, perhaps the divest dive I’ve ever been to. The bar stools are worn down to their wood bases, gross. You may want to get a lip ring before you go so you fit in better (maybe is was just the crowd for the bands the night I was there). I heard the bathroom was so scary I didn’t even go in to check it out.
You can form your own opinion from the reviews on here but I will hopefully not be going back, ever. ekkkk.

if you can get past the dingyness & smokiness, it’s a great spot for drinks w/​live music. they have some cool bands playing pretty often; think lower east side crowd, cbgb’ish venue. super laid back, even when it’s crowded. we were sitting at the bar & after 10mins or so when the bartender finally got to me, the beer was on the house & he apologized for the wait… which is unheard of in ny. my friend knows a few of the bands that come through town so i’d definitely go back.

I worked here many moons ago… ah the good ‘ol days when Mac’s still had dried puke on the carpet. Does anyone else remember the Weedeater show in 2003? Nope, me either.

My first time to come here was last week to watch my favorite band.
Decent acoustics
lovely-​rockin posters/​stickers/​etc on the walls.
This place has alot of character, for instance, the dilapidated front porch steps to get in! The caution tape is a nice accent. lol

I’ve only gone to Mac’s for shows. The sound quality is pretty horrible. It is a pretty small venue. It is pretty hard to get ahold of a bartender. Every time I’ve gone there the girl behind the bar flirts with some guy and ignores a lot of people. The cover is pretty high but only for shows. The only good thing about Mac’s is that it is the last venue in Lansing. I would never call it the best venue or even a good one. I would call this place mediocre. And if you are looking for a good bar just drive the extra 3 blocks and go to P T O’malley’s

By far the most real bar in East Lansing/​Lansing.
Runner ups:
The Green Door and Dagwood’s.

Really small bar, decent beer on tap and cheap. Good place to watch bands.