Dude this place was sketchy. The lunch ladies were scared. Lady to lady (if you are one), don't go here. The smash bros was a cool idea tho.

Service was good and friendly. Ambiance was old school bar scene. Live music was good the night we came in

Shots beers punks bikes stickers randos darkness sticky loud screaming unforgettable neighborhood bar

The bartender was extremely rude he had no respect for me as a woman and treated my group very harshly he was coming off kind of racist. Brass rail is not recommended as a nice environment to go have a drink with friends. read more

It's a cozy bar with nice people, great bartenders, and amazing live music. I had a wonderful experience. Loved it

During the day the female bartender is extremely rude to customers. She needs to learn some manners. She is nice to her regulars but keeps you waiting at the bar to order a drink while she chats it up on her phone gossiping about people at the bar. She didn't even try to hide her conversation (gossip) about other people in the bar. I Waited a long time before she even got my drink order and there was hardly anyone at the bar. She even looked at me a few times. I am at a bar, ask me if I want a drink or how about a beer? I guess that's why she works the early shift. Rude child lady. read more

Pretty chill spot. If you're looking for great drinks and a chill vibe, I cannot recommend this more!

Name speaks for itself. Music, food and drinks! Awesome time, everytime. A must Go place if you've never been

Love this spot! I went there the other night. I have issues with anxiety, however I felt fine and the staff were very nice and friendly...crowd was COOL! read more

Super chill atmosphere that just makes you feel like you're right where you're supposed to be.

Something I miss from year-round travel is walking into the town's dive, hipster music hot spot and somehow with their plaid austerity they made me feel right at home (like in Denton, TX or Austin or Portland). As I carried on in my lack of something Pabst and Seattle-influenced in my life...up turned the Brass Rail. Up turned a night at a bar in Ft. Wayne that was holier than any recent bar experience in Indy. "Johnny" opened the bar when CBCG's shut down. It feels like he was the Quasimoto of CBGB's and replicated it in Ft. Wayne. Service: Weirdly attentive. As in...you notice the bartender needs to change a keg...and during the keg change he takes your order and hands you your drink during the tapping of the keg and he gives you your change so quick you forgot you paid. Sometimes a man and a woman feel like a tall boy of PBR. They have it. It reminded me of standing at a local Indy liquor store and a flipped-cap hipster roams in with all hope-lost asking for Pabst (but really...there's a strange paucity of Pabst in Indy, ya feel me?). Weekday specials of a Dollar Pints. Everyday stiff well drinks. Be prepared for loud music. They're able to draw impressive acts (we drove from Indy to see The Cave Singers). Impressive acts for Indy, and it's in Ft. Wayne; get it? If you've ever dreamed of feeling like what it felt like to be with Johnny Cash on any old Tuesday in his prime...go to the Brass Rail. Key note: the bands go on late, typically. Like, 10pm first band, headliner: midnight. According to bar owner...they want the bands to have people there, and people show up late -- so there you go. Locals, transients, the rowdy and the relaxed -- all are welcome. Plenty of space to sprawl and find your crowd. If it's not cash only...you'll be compelled to use cash only because it just feels right. read more

The Brass Rail is situated on Broadway next to Fancy and Staple. The block it is on boats art galleries, boutiques, tattoo parlor, and more. The vibe of The Rail is grudgey punk in my opinion. They have tons of shows and put on some of the best small scale live shows in the city. On those nights there is usually a cover charge - heads up. Bartenders are quick and nice from my experiences. Bathroom is so-so - but who really expects a great bathroom from a PBR bar? There is an outdoor space and on the weekends you can find food trucks parked outside so you can satisfy your drunk munchies. If you aren't a regular - the crowd at night is a little bit rougher than the day crowd. It is definitely two different bars from day to night. read more

this is pants down the best dive in Fort Wayne! punk rock bands from places like Chicago make an appearance, and its a friendly neighborhood old timers, bar during the day, well I was there during the day...so lets say a nice mix of ages, eh hem, ..so yes, moving on to the interior...it has ducked taped vinyl booths, pool table, a sweet selection of songs on the jukebox like Nick Cave, Tom Waits., and alt country selections.., a Queers album on the wall, a Johnny Cash poster, plenty of graffiti in the bathrooms PBR on tap, full liquor bar. and the cutest owner i was chatting up, i mean with..Johnny.. ,and friendly bar tenders! I love this place. wish it was here in Sacramento! This bar will be in heavy rotation when i visit Fort Wayne. read more

A must! Environment: this is a laid-back, pretty hipster, chill bar. It has more of a punk rock, soft rock, hard rock feel to it. There are stickers and graffiti stuff all over the walls. There are also very beautiful murals in the side and outside of the bar. It is small, but it makes for a more intimate connection with whoever you are with us. They have one bar and it sits in the middle of the building. Live bands all the time! Which is awesome Drinks:, they have pretty much anything and average bar would have! The pricing is very affordable. On tap they have about 10 beers. They also have a beer menu on the wall which I like so I can see everything. Service: this is easily the best part of the bar for me. The service is amazing! The bartenders always are very personable and they don't just serve you your drink and walk away! I had really great conversations with pretty much all the bartenders that has ever helped me here. Highly highly highly recommended read more

Was in town for like three week, and this was my friends' spot, so I was up in here a lot. First off I am not really into the whole punk (or whatever) thing. I am also not huge on drinking piss water PBR. That said I really enjoyed hanging out here and drinking giant mason jars of piss water PBR. Several evenings....well, afternoons.....well, late mornings....well all of the above really.....were spent hanging out in the back sitting around the picnic table getting pissed, discussing the typical things you talk about when you've just ingested a huge mason jar of diluted liquid poison. The picnic table was painted over while I was there.....I think I drew a cow on it. Keep a look out. All-in-all a damn good place to drink absurdly cheap beer, hang out with some interesting individuals and get your rocks off (or at least drown them) in Fort Wayne. read more

The Brass Rail is my favorite bar in fort wayne. GREAT GREAT GREAT jukebox. Cheap drinks that are not watered down.It's one of the few places where you can go listen to good bands play in the city. It certainly draws more of a rock and roll crowd during the evening. The staff is nice. The music is excellent. The drinks are quality. What more could you want in a dive bar? read more

Most people in the area seem to love this place. I am not a fan. Super sketchy, small, feels dirty. They usually have live music though, so if that's your thing, you might enjoy it. Just not my cup of tea. read more

My band came through here from Chicago last weekend and we were pleasantly surprised. We immeditately noticed all the band stickers and flyers on the walls and thought "all right this could be cool." The place ended up being pretty crowded by the time we played. Since the stage is in a smallish room and the bar side of the place is smallish, the place seemed pretty packed which makes shows fun. The crowd was very receptive. We were being fed giant mason jars full of PBR all night, and we had a few shots of Jameson as well, which were definitely bigger than regulation sized shots which helped the cause quite a bit. I would definitely make the drive to play here again and if I happened to be in town for another reason, I'd pop in for some booze. read more

Intimate bar with a small stage and backyard area. There is always a great variety of bands playing, and the silly photo shoots they offer around the holidays are a lot of fun. Love going here on the weekends, it's usually packed so heads up read more

If you could turn a Chuck Norris karate chop into an establishment, this is it. A dive bar among all dive bars: old, historic, cool architecture, great live bands, sick jukebox, solid bartenders, respectable beer list, boozey, salty, with hideous bathrooms. read more

The Brass Rail - You too can experience day drinking at its finest. - Bars Near Me - Fort Wayne, Indiana

Awesome place to come watch local bands! Seems very small when the better bands come in, but trust me and give it a chance. You will love it. read more

This place is one of the most alternative places in Fort Wayne. Great atmosphere and attracts all sorts of crowds. Live music on many days of the month. They also have a food truck at night for the late-night munchies. read more

The Brass Rail - The stage at night - Bars Near Me - Fort Wayne, Indiana

See all

I just played down in Indy a few weeks ago and got to talking to the people there and the thing I get from them is how the Indy music scene isn't that great and they conclude that Fort Wayne has a better scene. That kind of surprised me as Indy is a pretty large ass town. But then I think about The Brass Rail and I can get what they're talking about. The Rail as most call it living around here, they've transformed this tiny hole in the wall to a music highway truck stop for all bands across America. I'm a big ska/reggae fan, even some punk, and this is their specialty! They enjoy getting the bands of all music out there to stop by the Fort and play for us. Plus the get the local bands in to play with many up and coming bands to the bands that have been around for 20 years such as The Slackers! Yeah, The Slackers. These are the kinds of bands you would have to drive to Chicago or Detroit, or Columbus to see. Some big big city that isn't close to you. So for that Rail, I thank you for bringing amazing bands to our town for me to see! Plus many of the local bands have their own shows and bring other bands from the area for us to enjoy. Good way to find new music and see it live! So The Rail. It's dive barey so that is what you get. They have these massive lumps of bar stools that are square and actually quite comfy! Just hard to move around. So you sit at the bar and they do have quite the selection of beers, which I find great. I'm a hophead and there is always a variety of IPA's to choose from. So Mark happy. You could also get a mason jar full of PBR dirt cheap, but I've awoken to many of those with a massive hangover. PBR and Mark are not a good combination! But as with this bar, the hipster thing is alive and the preferred taste of the hipster is PBR. So much I heard they went thru more PBR than any other bar in Indiana, maybe the Midwest? LOL. They deserve a medal for that, or maybe they can get their own blue ribbon for that one!!! I just noticed they have 3 different sandwiches they are now selling. Food is key. I've always heard people will stay longer if you have food. Plus when the weather is nice, the food trucks will stop by the rail. I'm sure they make crazy money. Tons of PBR need washed down with something! If you get squirrely, they have a Foosball table back in the corner. Heard they are now doing tournaments there now. But be careful, the locals that hang there will probably crush you like Ivan Drago crushed Apollo Creed in Rocky IV. They are that good! Or you can sit at the bar and watch the TV's where they have a nonstop of goofy crazy videos for you to watch. Everything from those crazy Russian car videos to watching music videos from the 80's that should have never belongs on TV in the first place!!! Plus the jukebox, what can I say, it's not your top 40. It's actually a good collection of everything else that you don't hear on the radio, stuff that I like. 4 songs for a dollar. You can't beat that! Plus the people there are nice. No one is a jerk there ever. I've never even seen a fight break out, everyone is there to have a good time and you never feel like some clown is going to get in a fight because you talked to his girlfriend. You know, that drunk crazy eyed person that is looking to lay into someone! The owners are nice, the bartenders are. Not one mean bone in anyone's body there. So that is another great reason why I'll go out of my way to go and have a beer there and chat with anyone sitting around there. So look up The Brass Rail online and see what bands are coming thru. They're usually around 3-4 bucks sometimes up to 7 bucks for a show, which even at 7 bucks, you're going to get at least 2-3 bands and a full nights showing of live music. read more

I went here with a friend the other night not knowing what to expect. I had heard a lot of good things but figured I should check it out for myself. It is definitely a dive bar, but the atmosphere is very relaxed and fun. Everyone there was really nice and just there to have a good time. I will definitely go back. Plus they had Guinness on tap! read more

A dive bar that has live bands. Beer selection is average dive bar, but I found the crowd to be super friendly and cool, none of that BS 'tude that you find in so many 'rock friendly' venues. Not much to say...a bunch of booths, a smallish area where the band plays, fast no-bs bartenders...not much else to say. Ees gute. read more

This bar is full of the coolest and nicest people I've ever met. The drinks are resonably priced, and the live music is fairly good. A very awesome crowd. Enjoy! read more

If I lived in Fort Wayne this would be my local every night of the week!!

If you want a dirty martini, do not stop here. If you want a cheap beer served in a dirty glass, this is your spot. Their saving grace is that they showcase some amazing bands, both local and non-local acts as well as some cool theme nights. read more

Stopped here for a drink on my sibling-in-law's 21st birthday. Good atmosphere, pretty quiet. We all enjoyed ourselves

The Brass Rail or "The Rail" is the perfect place for live music and jars of PRB. America. Am I right? I've never had a bad experience at The Rail regardless of what people say about its location. The bartenders are always quick and helpful and the people are friendly. The only negative is that their restrooms are slightly on the dirty side, but that's to be expected for a bar that's often swamped on weekend nights! read more

We stopped in here briefly, and this was a fun little bar. It reminded me of the sort of place you find in Austin. A lot of 30 somethings or 40 somethings that were once the alternative crowd seem to come here. The bartender was pretty cool who served us. read more

Oh the rail. I've met some of my best friends here. I'm an early goer for the cheap drinks, great staff, and excellent jukebox.

I visit the Rail every so often.The atmosphere is not your typical bar.I would recommend you to visit.

Nice bartenders. Good drinks. Great music. It's a great spot - but let's call a spade a spade here-- it's not a date destination and not a place to go for quiet conversation. It's where friends go to get fucked up and regret decisions, where you go to sulk alone, or laugh and play foosball and enjoy merriment amongst young whipper snappers. My fav. read more

Could use a little work on attention to some customer's needs. But all in all this a wicked awesome place.

It can be fun here they get some good bands. The venue is a little run down so be prepared.

I had a great time at this joint and I don't even drink. Plus I was old enough to be everybody's (old hippie) mom and they didn't care. Super friendly and fun. I loved the decals/album covers/posters/ collage/ menagerie on the walls and the video montages on the screens starring friends of the bar. The band and jukebox were great. The bartenders were very attentive even though I was just drinking soda. That's impressive! read more

Best bar in Fort Wayne IMO. Awesome people, awesome music, awesome bartenders, awesome drink specials. It even beats some of these Seattle dive bars. A refreshing breath of fresh air from the d-bag filled Fort Wayne bar scene. read more

I love this bar. It's the best for live music. And the bartenders are always great. The bar is, of course, not the classiest, but a great environment, none the less. read more

The stage the music the vibes but of course. After a long day at work it's one of the best getaways downtown Fort Wayne