Stan's Blue Note has poured cheap beer on Lower Greenville since 1952, and it still grades out as the most honest sports bar in Dallas.
Blues player E.E. Stanley opened the place in 1952, and the Lakewood/East Dallas Advocate calls it the oldest continuously operated bar in the city. New owners took over in early 2026, but Hoodline reported they kept the cheap beer and the burger exactly where they were. For a bartender who came up in dive rooms in Chicago and New Orleans, that restraint is the whole pitch.
The room
Stan's runs 30 big-screen TVs across a long, worn room and two outdoor patios, with a pool table, shuffleboard, and dartboards filling the gaps. The bad-seat test passes because the screen spread reaches the patios, so a corner table on the deck still holds a clean line to a game. The room runs loud and full on Cowboys Sundays and Texas-OU weekend, then settles into a neighborhood pace by Monday afternoon.
What to order
Start with the Old Fashioned Burger and hand-cut fries, the plate the official site builds its reputation on. Drink the way the regulars do: Busch Light is the reigning favorite at the taps, and the bar runs 75-cent Busch Lights on the first Friday of the month. There are 50-plus beers on tap if you want to wander, and the wings carry Stan's Sauce, lemon pepper, and garlic-parm. The new owners have floated adding a smashburger, but the Old Fashioned Burger stays on the menu, which is the right instinct for a bar this old. At the $$ price level, this is the cheapest long afternoon on Greenville, and the kitchen keeps pace late into the night.
The crowd and best time to go
Hours run 4pm to 2am on weekdays, with a 10am Saturday open and 11am Sunday open for early kickoffs. The crowd is Greenville Avenue regulars, an industry set late in the night, and a college-football crowd on fall weekends. Come Saturday morning for a quiet pint and the full slate, or a weekday afternoon if you want the patio to yourself before the rush.
What regulars say
Reviewers on Yelp, where Stan's sits in the Sports Bars category, and the neighborhood Advocate point to the cheap beer, the burger, and the two patios as the draw. The recurring complaints are Greenville parking and weekend noise, which is the trade for a bar this close to the action.
Who it is for
Stan's is for the fan who wants a real neighborhood bar over a corporate sportsplex, the college-football crowd chasing an all-day slate, and anyone hunting the cheapest cold beer on Greenville. Skip it if you want craft cocktails or a quiet booth, because that is not what 74 years on this block built.
The verdict
Stan's wins on character and price, two things a new sports bar cannot buy. Thirty screens, 50-plus taps, a burger worth the drive, and beer cheap enough to keep you on the patio until last call. The honest caveat is the setting, where Greenville parking is tight and the weekend volume climbs. The 2026 ownership change kept the formula intact, which is the right call for the oldest bar in town. For another Greenville institution that leans on its patio, see Ozona Grill and Bar up the avenue.
For the rest of the city's game-day options, see our guide to the best sports bars in Dallas and the wider sports bars by occasion. The full local scene is mapped in the Dallas bar guide.
Sources: Stan's Blue Note official site (2026); Lakewood/East Dallas Advocate; Hoodline (April 2026); Yelp reviews.
