A 140-year-old tavern on the south side that was the last stop on the trolley line heading out of Indianapolis — which is why there is still a “Last Chance” sign in the window. Local bands on Saturday nights, and one of the few rooms in the city where the music is genuinely all ages.
Quick Facts
- Where: 2535 S. Meridian Street, Indianapolis (Bates-Hendricks, south side)
- Music: Local and regional bands, tributes, DJ nights
- Open stage: Every Tuesday, 7–9 p.m., hosted by Paul Rippy — 30-minute sets
- Live music: Bands every Saturday, 8–11 p.m. The venue lists the night as recurring and posts the specific act to Facebook rather than to its own calendar
- Hours: Monday to Wednesday 11 a.m.–midnight; Thursday to Saturday 11 a.m.–2 a.m.; Sunday 11 a.m.–midnight
- Phone: 317-384-1027
- Website: barringertavern.com
What to Expect
An old dive bar brought back rather than reinvented. Five partners reopened it in 2019 after the building sat abandoned, and they kept the wood backbar the owners believe predates Prohibition. A life-size Spuds MacKenzie stands over the pinball machines, there is a vintage cigarette machine that now dispenses candy smokes, shuffleboard, and a patio tucked away at the back.
The food does more work than it needs to for a music room — hand-pattied burgers, house-cut fries, a tenderloin people drive for, at prices you remember fondly.
The History
The property has been in use for over 140 years and at various points held a bathhouse, a barber’s chair, a bowling alley, a farmers market and a boarding house. Because it was the final stop on the southbound trolley, it was the last place to get a drink before leaving town.
Through Prohibition it stayed open selling ice cream, candy and meals. There is a black window with a slot in it where, the story goes, you could get something else. Al Capone and John Dillinger are both said to have eaten here.
Good to Know
The Tuesday open stage is the thing worth knowing about. Paul Rippy hosts, sets run 30 minutes, and it is one of the few weeknight open stages in Indianapolis that runs on a fixed schedule rather than appearing and vanishing. It is also the only listing on this site that falls on a Tuesday, which says more about the rest of the week than it does about Barringer’s. Saturday bands are a standing booking, but the venue announces who is playing on Facebook rather than on its own calendar, so the calendar will tell you there is music without telling you who. Check the Facebook page before you go.
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