Bug Jar

The bug jar has such a cool vibe. There is a full bar with mini booths. The décor is awesome. There are giant spinning flies on the fan, band stickers everywhere, different art on the walls, and my absolute favorite — a full house on the ceiling! They legit have stoves, couches, dining room tables (with food) on the ceiling. Everytime I am in there I cross my fingers hoping it doesnt come crashing down causing my death, but I cannot help but look and love it! The stage and music room is small, but the sound is typically good and packs out for good shows. The only thing I wish I could change was a lot of their shows run late, and do not start on time, which is difficult if you are a planner, like me. They have good drink specials and everyone is really friendly. Just a tip, the girls bathroom is where the music/​stage room is, and the boys is where the bar is. I accidentally walked into the males without knowing lol. Check it out!

This place has been around for awhile and that speaks volumes for this town… I love the giant fly buzzing around the bar and the whole hipster cool thing never gets old at least for me… A nice place to check out when you’re in the mood for something a little different than the normal pub… Parking is where you can find it, so that sucks a little but not enough to piss and moan about… Cheers

Ahhhh the smell of sweaty leather jackets and dirty hipsters spritzed with pachouli oil. Breathtaking… literally and figuratively. I do enjoy my fair share of weirdos, being one myself. I missed this place. I shall frequent and enjoy my little free time here.

This place is legendary. I’ve played here five times now and am still scheduling more shows. Great selection of draft beers and full bar for cocktail lovers. Fair pricing for drinks, maybe $ 1 more than some other bars in the area. The cover ranges and always goes to a good cause. The scenery is splendid as you can read about in the other reviews. My main comment if for musicians who are thinking about playing here. The sound equipment is awesome, the lights are energetic, and there is a super convenient stage door that goes right out to Monroe Ave, which makes loading and unloading a breeze compared to most places.
The White Stripes played the Bug Jar. The Black Keys played the Bug Jar. Anyone who plays here can feel it’s aura and I love this place with all my heart.

Dive bar with nothin to prove. The cops were around but not givin a shit. Buncha GD Crispin Glovers walkin around… Considering the high chick-​to-​dick ratio favoring the former. Good bands. Cheapass fuggin beers and rad-​as-​fuck staff. My go-​to bar.
Fuck sports! –B2theJ
I want to talk about the bathrooms. Perfect club bathrooms. Kinda dirty, full of graffiti and stickers. You can tell a lot about place by its bathroom. Perfect! Just perfect.
Staff was great.
Vibe was on point.
— Josh.

Thursday Night… That is the only day of the week I have ever gone because thats the only night all the hipster college kids barely over 18 have invited me.
Considering the hipsters, moderate drink prices, and decent music (sometimes) The Bug Jar isn’t a bad place to drink and dance. Don’t try to dance with anyone you don’t know however, this place is frequented by kids who keep to their groups while dancing in circles facing themselves. It is like a tiny cluster of solar systems all keeping to themselves.
The dance floor features multiple home furnishings bolted to the ceiling that make you feel like you are in an upside down room. This is kind of cool and if you drink enough it feels like it is right side up again! (ba da tsh)
Bug Jar is absolutely a place for 18 – 20 year old hipster kids who want to stand around gossiping about each other. The people who are over 21 have either discovered better adult bars and clubs and stopped going… or are just trying to pretend they never grew up while they hang out with their underage friends.
The bar is well stocked and there is an almost hypnotic effect to sitting there watching the big plaster bugs fly in circles above you. The bartenders are always busy but move quickly. I have never been disappointed by the service.
Get a hardcore band tank top, fill up those arms and necks with tattoos, and get ready to sway back and forth in the same spot all night… because that is the real way to enjoy yourself at the Bug Jar. (and when you go outside for a smoke have a few extra bucks on hand for the homeless guys)

The Bug Jar is a really cool spot to see a show. Small but great sounding room. The separate bar /​lounge area is a great space to escape from the show if you don’t care for the band or just want a little break. The drinks were surprisingly cheap and the bartender was pretty proactive. The area is a bit quiet in the evening, but that’s no biggie. Parking was a breeze on the street.
If I lived anywhere near Rochester, this would definitely be the spot I’d be hanging out in.

Live music is my thing, and that’s what keeps me coming to the Bug Jar time after time. The space is small so the shows are intimate, loud, and in your face. I’ve seen big acts like Polar Bear Club and Now Now, to more local acts such as Pentimento, Innerriot and My Plastic Sun. The furniture on the ceiling and the rotating bugs above the bar give a cool vibe, but the excellent music lineups make Bug Jar a Rochester gem.
If you just want to drink, and aren’t into the shows (I’ll never understand: p), you still have to pay cover, and you’ll wait forever for the bartender. But you’ll always find interesting people in the Bug Jar, and their Thursday Night Shakedown is an alternative to the live music.
Bug Jar is hipster paradise and just a great place to come support local/​up and coming artists that are on tour, and to find a new favorite band.

When I was in my 30s I loved this place but now it is just filled with hipsters in a crowned space. Not my thing anymore. Beer choices are OK. I also don’t care for the room being split in half so you cannot see the band from the bar.

Bug Jar is a divey, quirky, little place where you can see some great bands. You have to watch the calendar and do a little research about who is coming through sometimes… you might have missed seeing the White Stripes or Silversun Pickups in this tiny venue. They host theme nights, too, I have only been to a few of those though.
Drinks are pretty cheap.
Not letting this affect my rating, but just a note to any ladies going to this place: bring a friend and stick to him or her like glue. I have had a few strange/​border-​line-​scary run ins with some men at the bar when I have been alone while waiting for someone else.

Awesome Place and staff!!! They manage to book the best bands around.

I have been coming to Buf Jar for years. Rochester does not have a huge live music scene which is sad because there are a lot of great bands making a lot of cool music. I was last in here on Sunday, the fast that Bug Jar always has a cover is not a big deal to me, I prefer it when it’s $ 3, when it gets to $ 5 and $ 10… Not such a huge fan. Drinks are ok price wise but also more expensive than most bars in the area. One cool thing they do on Sunday’s is they have 2 kinds of soup and in the chillier months of Rochester, a $ 3 bow of soup hits the spot. I tried both kinds this week and liked them both.
DO NOT go to Bug Jar if you want to have a conversation. There is no where in the bar you can clearly hear another person if the music is playing. That’s not to say you can’t yell or sit closer, it’s just not a good place for it. They have info online so take a look at their shows and go enjoy some live music!

The Bug Jar is a fun place and as a lot of people aptly say… it’s an experience. My first visit was to see Blue Cheer in 2007 with my now husband. He invited me up to see the band and his words were «just wait till you see the Bug Jar.» It isn’t a place we frequent anymore since my husband left the band Orodruin which is a band that plays there often.
We usually attend the semi-​annual DoomFest to check out the regular doom metal scene. Its a fun place to watch bands and have a couple drinks which are more expensive than one would think. But you can always go to the little shop across the street and buy some Jungle Juice to get you going.
It is for sure dirty, but charming, unique and for sure a good place for people watching. So enjoy.

Lordy I love the Bug Jar. After all these years, it’s still a great place to catch a show, hang out at the bar area and chat up some chums. Ask any music fan about a favorite live show and chances are he’ll tell you about someone they’ve seen there… and you’ll feel like a chump for not having gone out to see it. While it’s not the best venue capacity wise (it can be cramped), the sound man (usually Nick!) does a great job making the band sound right for the room.
Yes, the clientele can skew hipster… and for us older tots we feel even older for that. As long as you don’t creep on the younger tykes, however, you can kick back and enjoy the energy. Thank you, Bobby T!

Miss the 90s when they had more important (IMO) touring bands playing there. Still a good place to check out bands. Love the Bug Jar Brown beer.

The Bug Jar has a niche in Rochester. Frequently copied, never matched. You know that crowd at Lux? The ones with the tats and piercings and weed stuffed in their converses and the endless philosophical monologues? Yep, those ones. Well, they’re at the Bug Jar too. But they’re less insufferable because the music drowns out their musings. I jest. Kind of. I love the Bug Jar. It’s dirty, gritty, full of a mixed crowd, trying to be rough-​and-​tough and rocker-​band-​punky in such a fun way. The bands they draw are fabulous and I must say, would never come through Rochester if not for this place. I’ve played there as a band member myself a number of times and they do treat musicians well. Whether you’re young and confused or old and misdirected (I’m in the process of transitioning between the two) — the Bug Jar will welcome you with open arms. The Thursday night shakedown is a little more mainstream… but be prepared to be well-​versed in Indie Dance Hits from your ipod’s Pandora station. It’s a good time.

It’s an experience going to the Bug Jar. But one must frequent this place every once in a while. The times I’ve been to the Bug Jar it’s usually to see the Isotopes (who are fantastic!). I’ve encountered some strange individuals on those outings, but it’s all part of the dive bar, band viewing experience, right? Nonetheless, Bug Jar is a Rochester staple. Every time I’m there for a show I can’t help but find myself staring at the furniture on the ceiling and the unique (and I mean that) décor throughout the bar; great people watching too. There’s usually a cover, but nothing I don’t mind paying. (Support our local musicians!) I recommend sticking with canned or bottled beer, a PBR perhaps, you’ll fit right in.
BTW ear plugs are recommended to save your ear drums — it’s a small space where the bands play = LOUD

Loud, crowded, dirty, not as cheap as it looks, crammed with every Rochester musician (ranging from the 50+ year old rocker who just won’t give up, to rising acts like Matt & Kim and tweens shaking their bottoms during the Thursday Night Shakedown)…the Bug Jar is ESSENTIAL ROCHESTER… Meaning that if you’re in Rochester, going to school in Rochester, or just visiting your second-​cousins that live in Pittsford… you must visit the Bug Jar.
And no, don’t go there for the drinks. They are average priced, average poured and will take you more than the average-​length of time to get them because the bar area is ALWAYS crowded. That being said, pre-​game it.
Brace yourself, if an even moderately popular act is coming to play here… this place will be BAWLS TO THE WALL packed… and everyone will be rocking with a can of Pabst in their hand… so don’t get all bent out of shape when something gets spilled on you.
Dress lightly. Even in the dead of winter, you’re going to be pouring sweat in this place if you hit the dance floor.
Oh, and use the bathroom before you go… I mean, t he bathrooms in this place could be really clean, but it’s so freakin’ dark in there, there could be gold on the floor and you’d never know.
They’ve also got pool, local art, a few video games, great local DJs and more hipsters than the alphabet has letters.
So, if you want to run into everyone that you went to high school with (given you went to HS in Rochester or a surrounding suburb), while also haggling to get a bartenders attention, and then run into a moderately known (not yet famous) indie band, and then get your winter coat stolen because you put it down behind the bar while you were dancing… only to have it found by your best friend who reminded you to stick your ID in your bra so you don’t lose it… then GO TO THE BUG JAR.
Oh and please, cut a girl a break. Do not try to have a conversation with me inside of this place. It is WAY TOO LOUD. That’s why everyone runs outside between the good songs… to chit chat and shoot the breeze.

The Bug Jar (or «Chuggy Bear») is hands-​down the dirtiest bar in Rochester. I wipe my feet on the mat before I step outside!
I can’t describe in any sensible way why the Bug Jar is a great place to go, but I’m there two or three nights a week to see excellent musical acts, choke down some Canadian Club and pretend to dance using only the upper half of my body.
The cultural phenomenon known as Thursday Night Shakedown is one of those screwball events that, like a 12^th grade science class, constantly attracts eighteen-​year-​old kids trying to learn about reproduction, plus those of us who never graduated from it.

luff to Bug Jar for hosting AWESOME shows.
The interior is decent, the show area is a pinch small, but the quality of the music that plays at BJ more than makes up for any aesthetic flaws.
The cover is usually reasonable and the drinks are moderately priced.
I have yet to run into someone that makes me wanna kick them in their skinny-​jeaned shins. Everyone is friendly and open to nerding it up about bicycles, music or random other stuff.