The Century

Downtown Dayton used to have quite a collection of bars and cocktail lounges, at least according to the Sanborn maps and old city directories. There aren't too many old time bars left downtown. I think the Embassy, Bingers, and The Century might be it. The Century is probably my favorite non-music bar in the city.

It was a lunch counter orginally, then became the Century in the 1940s. A pretty basic place, with the usual mixed drinks & hard liqout (including those new single barrel bourbons) and about four or five beers on tap ('Stella', Newcastle, Blue Moon, and I think one or two others...I usually drink Newcastle or Blue Moon)
What makes the place is the absolutely fabulous back bar: heavy carved wood, decorative lights, stained glass, and mirror back, set in this very high ceiling space. It's like you're going to the communion rail and having an elaborate altar as the backdrop. The afternoon barmaid tells me that it was built for the Gibson Hotel in Cincinnati, back in the 19th century, and eventually found its way to this space.
But a bar is only as good as its staff and clientele. This place has very professional yet personable bar staff and the clientele is a real mix. I really don't come here that often, but I notice it seems to get a somewhat older early crowd (late afternoon/early evening), then a younger hipster crowd later at night. The place gets a mix of ages, genders, races and classes, so its not all one way or another, which keeps things cool...the vibe is usually pretty laid-back.

The "C-Bar" has a pretty good jukebox, too. Though this is not a live music place I stopped here after Celtic Fest and noticed they did have some live thing going on, so it does happen on rare occasions.

For more Century intel, check out the bar myspace page. Yeah, even bars have myspace pages now. It is definetly worthy a visit when in downtown Dayton.