Over cocktails, I’ll ponder the great questions. What is the sound of one hand clapping? And when is a dive bar not a dive bar? Who knows about the first, but a defensible answer to the second is: when it’s Ernie’s.
We’re talking about a snug little spot at 608 A St. in downtown Eureka, one that is no secret to Humboldt locals. Ernie’s has won several reader-voted awards in the North Coast Journal, for example. I sat down with Stacie Nunes, one of the owner/bartenders, to learn more about a place I visit regularly.
But let’s start with the case for Ernie’s being a dive bar: The sign outside features a logo of an old-school martini. The place sits comfortably between a motorcycle repair shop and an auto electrics place in what I’d call a scruffy but safe part of town. Folks play darts on the breezy enclosed patio. Also, the bar’s Facebook page prominently owns the mantle of “dive bar,” so there’s that. The only thing missing from the dive bar aesthetic is a poster featuring an old NASCAR driver, preferably an Earnhardt.
“Dive bars are the ones we go to when we travel,” Nunes says of herself and her business partners. “It’s such a great intro to a community.”
Credit: Photo by Aoife Moloney
Credit: Photo by Aoife Moloney
Arguing that Ernie’s goes beyond the standard dive depends partially on grapefruit. Let’s say you order a Greyhound. Nunes — North Coast Journal reader’s choice award winner for Best Bartender — pulls out fresh citrus and the company juicer. A friend, one who spent substantial time in her 20s in swanky clubs in New York and Europe, says this is one of the best drinks she’s ever had. (Her take on the bar’s interior: “so cute.”)
I’ll often request one of the shrub specials, which feature syrups made with fresh fruit, sugar, water, vinegar and sometimes herbs or peppers. Nunes says the term “shrub” derives from the Arabic word sharab, meaning “drink.” Mixing fruit with sugar and vinegar was originally a preservation method to keep the fruit from spoiling. Ernie’s usually supplies several flavors to choose from and/or pair with whatever alcohol you like.
But it’s not a situation where you wait 15 minutes and pay 15 bucks. You wait perhaps four minutes and turn over six to eight bucks. And if you want a lower-shelf shot and a Pabst Blue Ribbon, Ernie’s happily serves those up too, again for under $10. Overall, drinks lean toward single-dollar-sign affordable.
Credit: Photo by Aoife Moloney
To add to your local experience, ask for Humboldt-made Boldt Whiskey, Jewell Gin, or Jewell’s Citron Vodka, or maybe a pint from their local beer rotation.
It’s not really a wine place. Nunes says they supply one red, one white and “tiny bottles of pink stuff that one lady drinks.”
It’s also not the spot for a varied food menu, though sometimes food happens spontaneously. Once, I was drinking a hazy IPA and a customer passed around a box of coconut doughnut holes. That’s not a pairing I’d recommend often, but it suited my mood that evening. Maybe try Ernie’s famous salami, a years-long tradition. There’s always one hanging in the barback corner, and you order it for $11 with a cutting board and knife to self-serve.
Another tradition: If you drop the F-word, you’re required to flip a quarter over the bar’s top shelf. Affordability again.
A year or two ago, Nunes and her partners Jon Fisher and Amos Sobol were in the process of attempting to buy another place where Nunes and Fisher had tended bar for a long time. In short, as often happens, it didn’t work out. Ernie’s came up for sale and it seemed meant to be. The three divide management duties, with both Fisher and Nunes taking bartending shifts, and they employ a small staff of additional bartenders, some who have worked there for years.
Nunes calls her crowd “varied,” based on the time of day. At opening, you’ll find retired folks drinking coffee (perchance with some Bailey’s). The group gets younger as the day goes on. Then comes the happy hour crowd I tend to join. On weekend days, citizens stop for cocktails to break up errand running. Weekend nights get livelier, with bar-hopping folks on their way to and from events. Later on, you might find our local theater performers and crew tipping a few after a show.
At happy hour, I found the crowds to be amiable mixes of my people, including government staffers, cannabis workers past and present, a couple of visitors who found the place and a grizzled old character with his friendly, cold-nosed Corgi who suffered — the dog, not the man — from bad timing, having missed Doughnut Hole Night.
On my way out, I spotted a sign to the bottom right of the door reading, “Budweiser 29.” Earnhardt-adjacent NASCAR great Kevin Harvick piloted the Budweiser No. 29 Chevy. Dive bar cred confirmed.
Ernie’s opens at 9 a.m. daily. It stays open until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, 10 p.m. on Sundays, and midnight on weekdays.
Ernie’s
608 A St., Eureka
(707) 798-1747
facebook.com/ErniesEureka
Credit: Photo by Aoife Moloney
This article appears in Humboldt Insider Spring/Summer 2026.