If you want upscale drinks and high class atmosphere, I suggest you go next door. This place is gritty, tenebrous and pleasantly elegiac...and I love it!! The first night I went there was to watch a Monday Night football game. They have a newer 60in flat screen and theater sound system was amazing. The bartender was kind enough to everyone to turn down the volume during the commercials so that one could hold a conversation.The beer was cold and the price was right...$2.50 for a 12oz domestic, $3.50 for the big bottle. I met a few people and engaged in some thought provoking and intelligent conversation. I went there with $20 and I crawled home with $10. I had so much fun that I went back the next night for the open stage. I was absolutely blown away by the talent!! The participants are people who regularly play with other bands later in the week. They were not just practicing..they were straight up jamming and knocking out the hits. They played everything from Bluegrass to Stevie Ray, to Prince to Eric Church. The acoustics might not be the best, but they have a really good sound system to make up for that. I could here all the instruments and the vocals and the bonus is I didn't go home deaf. At least not that night anyway. The bathrooms have recently been remodeled and were very clean. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming and not at all annoying. If you don't want to be bothered, no one will bother you in this place. Being a female, sometimes that is hard to find. Whether you are homeless or you drive a brand new Mercedes...it seems everyone is welcome here. I moved to Rockford from Central WI, and while I don't get home as often as I would like to, this place is the next best thing. I will definitely be back!! read more

Mary's Place - For all the haters - Dive Bars Near Me - Rockford, Illinois

I have had so many unsafe and unwelcome interactions with men at this bar, and no one there will take your complaint or do anything about it. The owner called me a liar and said I was disrespecting her bar. read more

The music is great! Their new pizzas are phenomenal. as a regular hangout, it may not be the place for civilized people.

went to this Mary's Place to find our friend, and the bartender/owner managed to make myself and my girlfriend feel very unwelcome and wouldn't serve us. my friend was there a few hours earlier, she pinned her location... real. SUS. if you ask me. I never got the chance to even order anything read more

Tried to go there on a Monday night recently. Crowd was way over capacity for current IL covid restrictions yet they kept taking money for cover charge and letting people in, couldn't get a drink or get through crowd because of so many people packed in there tightly, rude staff. Will not come back to this dive bar. read more

I went here because a band from Chicago I liked was playing. They claim to be and probably are the oldest bar in Rockford. It sure looks and smells like it. This bar is tiny, especially for bands. When we walked in there was a bar area, that cramped the door and then a seating area with a pool table, 5 tables and a rail by the front glass with stools. The stage was in the back corner. The place smelled of mold, stale cigarette smoke and old beer. Considering Illinois has a smoking ban for over a year either they don't clean too often or they still allow people to smoke in there occasionally. I didn't see anyone smoking so I'm going to assume they just don't clean. From the look of the floors and the bathrooms, I'm pretty sure that's the case. The bathroom was a one-holer. (one toilet) When the bar got busy, it was a long wait for the men's room. My wife said the women's bathroom was worse and that the lock on the door didn't work, not because it was broken, but because it looked like someone kicked in the door one time too many. She said it actually looked like someone had kicked in the door, and they repaired it and it happened again. When she told me that, I kept an eye on her every time she went to the bathroom to make sure no one followed. The prices were decent. $2 for a bottle of domestic and $3 for a 24 ounce bottle. $3 shots. The staff was friendly enough. It was busy and there was no wait staff for the floor, or if there was I never saw them in the 6 hours I was there. Because the bar was busy, it was sometimes hard to find a place at the bar to order drinks, but when you did get the bartenders attention, they where quick about it. If I was to go back here, it wouldn't be to see a band. The place was too small. Too hard to navigate and the acoustics sucked. I might go back if I was just going to kill some time and I was in a dive/hole-in-the-wall bar mood... which I am known for doing. Hey, Dive bars need love too! read more

My husband called this a dive bar as we were walking in and a local outside was truly offended but I don't think that's a dis at all! I can love a good dive bar. Unfortunately, this place was super dark, super loud and just not the best place to try to converse with anyone. I did a lot of yelling during the half hour we were there. The good news is they have Three Floyd's Zombie Dust on tap!!!! Oh my god, as someone who lives in Denver and only gets to taste this beer once a year at Great American Beer Fest, I was just elated! read more

Another goodie for your dive bar pub crawl. I can just picture this place back in the day when smoking was allowed. A grey cloud of smoke hovering around an eclectic clientele while bad music is playing. I think that cloud of smoke might actually have improved the atmosphere by blurring the ugliness of it. Poor beer selection & skunky Corona only reinforce why I will never return. read more

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Mary's Place is where I go to get away from it all. A lively little joint on the river with eclectic music is always a welcome retreat from the corporate big wig establishments that so dominate the drinking wasteland of Northern Illinois. Nothing gets me going like a scummy Saturday with the gang that kicks off at Mary's. Nostalgia is a snowy Thanksgiving eve spent in the restroom of this fine establishment. read more

The bar staff was nice enough. The place is a "dive" bar, and they would be the first to tell you that. The drinks were cheap, and they certainly didn't hold back on the booze. So much so, that there were 10-12 completely hammered people hanging around after the band finished their show. I would guess that they were victims of the "heavy pouring" going on that night. read more

A pretty bad dive bar with really awful middle aged bartender and some really obnoxious drunk people. The bar is filthy and dark and the bathroom a pit. The beer is flat and the place looks Ike a bar that time forgot. Not really a good bar . read more

Ok, don't take my word for it, I'm just a businessman from out of town for a few months, but this is a great little local pub! Mary herself greeted me with a warm welcome (here for 28 years, she tells me). Lucked into a beer special on a premium IPA, and Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick fame will be playing here May 4th...does it get any better? I submit to you, it does not! read more

If you spend a bill over 5 dollars make sure you hold it up to the camera and declare the denomination--have the bartender confirm the denomination. I had to argue with the bartender, another bartender, then the owner via phone to get my money back. I was satisfied until the bartender told me they didn't believe me, they just didn't want to lose a customer. You lost me by stealing my money and not believing me. They refused to count down their drawer, or review the camera (they offered to review it the next day, when it would do me no good.) They also tried to insinuate that I was drunk in an attempt to discredit me, when I had maybe two swallows of the beer they served me before I realized I had been shortchanged. They employ thieves, and will back them fully. Any reputable business would count the drawer down to confirm it was accurate. Instead they just insisted they had no 50 dollar bills in their drawer, as if that was the end of the matter. They were also very dismissive until I mentioned I could call the police to report theft (a cruiser happened to be in the parking lot at the time.) I got my money back, minus the ten I paid at the door for my girlfriend and myself and the 5.50 for the beers. They can keep that I suppose, alone with the door and drink money of my 4 friends I brought. You could have had 6 people ready to stay at your bar spending money, instead we went next door to a real bar. So long Mary's, I hope it was worth protecting your employee. I'm sure when you review your camera you can see what really happened. Hopefully you'll prevent this from happening in the future. I can't say I'll be sending any business your way. read more

This place is old, very very old. I won't hold that against it, I take solace in the fact that 3 generations of my family have stumbled out of the place and have probably too complained about the terrible bathrooms, but have as well loved the cheap drinks and nights they do not remember after vistiting Mary's Place. So when you go you have to realize thats smell when you go in, thats not gross its history, remember that. read more

Was last here just a year ago. I'm from out of town, was looking for a karaoke joint. This place came up on my Iphone. It is in questionable neihborhood but I am not a terrified white guy. I went in and sat at the end of the long bar, I can sing. I could not and have had not, since, got a more welcoming and appreciative audience. This place rocks!!!! I can't wait to get the chance to return. This place will not make the yuppies YUP. But who gives a damn this place is filled by real people who appreciate music. Don't get any better than that. My reccomendation, give up your predjuduiced preconceptions, come and enjoy a real world good time. CANCEL read more

This is my kind of bar. Great prices, great people, and great music. It's incredibly diverse, both in the music, and the crowd. What some call a dive, I call friendly, welcoming, and cozy. It is the oldest bar in Rockford, and some things definitely reflect that, but personally, I would rather hang out at a place like Mary's, than a place that exudes pretentiousness. This bar is a hidden jem in Rockford, and is under appreciated. They bring in some huge acts from Chicago, Madison, and all over the country. I've seen bands at Mary's from Alabama, Ohio, New York, Cali, Kansas, as well as all the top local acts. They also have an open stage twice a week on Tuesday, and Thursday nights that bring out some heavy hitters in the local music scene. If you like live music, this is the place to go. The bottom line is Mary's has been my favorite place to hang out over the last several years because I always have fun, and always feel welcome. read more

Like a lot people that grew up in rockford I started coming to this place in high school In fact i think it was the first bar I got served the only thing that changed is that u can't smoke inside no more and this place used to be vary 420 friendly still is but have to go out side most of the time they have live shows there all the time can be a lot of fun some of the regs are cool to cool to stop in once and a while drink some brews puff a bad one by the river read more