Plainfield Station

Plainfield Station on the morning of 8/5/2006

Location

23944 County Road 98, Plainfield, (Woodland postal designation)

(Road 98 & Road 29, northwest of Davis)

Hours

Opens at 10am

Closes anywhere from 11pm-2am, depending on business

Karaoke on Tue Nights from 8PM to Midnight

Phone

(530)668-0207

(call ahead if you are heading out late in the evening)

Plainfield Station, sometimes described as "a rural version of Cheers," is a bar-and-grill joint that offers a pleasantly surreal experience for any college student and a nice local refuge for non-students. It is located in the middle of nowhere, shrouded by trees, a sort of oasis of life and activity. Besides the beer bar (no hard liquor is served), they serve reportedly amazing hamburgers and tacos. Plainfield's current owners, Pietro & Claire Fazzari, purchased the neighboring home along with Plainfield in 2002 and built out the roomy backyard with a stage and second beer bar. There have been attempts to establish it as the de-facto venue for the Davis area, and local bands have performed here — but it still remains more or less a locals bar on the edge of town. Because Plainfield Station serves food it is legally allowed to let people of all ages in, but 21 is still the drinking age, obviously.

Plainfield Station was originally established as an auto service station way back in 1934 for the long gone town of Plainfield [est. 1873]. According to a Davis Enterprise article, the station used to sell alcohol for patrons of the social hall across the road, then called Buckeye Road. The town post office went under in 1908, and when the social hall eventually closed its doors sixty years later, Plainfield simply continued to serve passers by.

Memorabilia covering the walls of Plainfield are the accumulation of many nights of drink. From bikers to skydivers, cyclists, pilots, and other locals and travellers, Plainfield keeps a bit of everybody who passes through. A small coin-op pool table and two real [not electronic] dart boards take up about a third of the main bar, PBR is always on tap, and the jukebox contains a proper selection of roadhouse music. If pool's not your game, belly up to the bar for a game of liar's dice with the bartend and the guy sitting next to you. Pietro and Claire have worked to attract more college students, with a wide range of music shows out back, more microbrews alongside Sierra Nevada and other popular Davis drink, and horror of horrors, vegetarian food! It is the venue for Operation Restore Maximum Freedom.

Karaoke takes place every Tuesday Evening from 8PM to around Midnight- Sometimes later if there is enough of a crowd there. The song selection is the same as the one available at the Grad on Sundays, and G St Pub on Mondays. The crowd is a very mellow mix of regulars, with a smattering of students and locals out to have a great time.

Plainfield Station is also gracious enough to host KDVS's Operation Restore Maximum Freedom twice a year.

In planning stages: Kitchen expansion to include a pizza oven and a repainting of the mural, which is flaking.

Plainfield Station Mural on the morning of 8/6/2006 Plainfield Station Entrance on the morning of 8/6/2006 Plainfield Station Sign The menu on 2007-06-02

The Plainfield Burger

Comments:

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2006-10-31 20:23:54   The food does kick ass —StevenDaubert

2006-11-25 13:18:36   Fun, low-key bar. Never been there when there have been more than 5 other customers. Good place to just chill out. —AcMach

2007-03-01 22:47:49   I have been bartending here for over a month now...its pretty fun. More people from davis should roll out here from time to time. —JessicaElb

2007-03-12 16:32:49   Noticed a help wanted sign out front the other day, if anyone needs a job.... —RocksandDirt

2007-03-13 19:28:01   Has potential to be a great bar and I agree the food is good, but current owners seem tired of owning the place. I like the atmosphere, but stopped going due to owner's complaints about lack of time off and "too many people last night". —DaveReynolds

2007-03-26 10:18:50   Good food, low key place, good fun — especially when full of skydivers on a weekend night from the nearby dropzone! —MuffIn

2007-03-26 10:51:16   There's something about run down and decrepit businesses that make Davisites say "oooh la la". Now I'm no fan of sparkly clean chain bars like Pasta? and Bistro33, but you know, sometimes a dump really is just a dump. —JeffSpeckles

2007-07-16 22:17:06   Must say i am a fat dude with manboobs and i loved that place there are people like me there and women to couple big ol girls man o man i like it bigtime —dickjones

2007-08-03 12:56:58   good taco's cool out of the way place kinda makes you think of that movie the roadhouse —Brians

2008-01-10 14:26:16   Wednesday's they have $1 taco's and $7 pitchers of Bud or Bud Light. The taco's were excellent and everyone else I went with agreed too. Their burgers are also very good. Overall it's a great place to relax and kick back at. —ScottStanley

2008-04-21 20:46:14   Come to think of it, yes it is like Cheers. We do at Plainfield have a "Norm", affectionally known as "Murph", good for a joke or help with "Sekudo". Of course there is Kendra, a comely lass, if only I were many years younger. —AlMingus

2008-08-11 08:59:22   For being out in the middle of nowhere, this place gives Davis exactly what it needs for a Pub. Warm, friendly atmosphere, decent brew, great food and always a friendly regular or two willing to talk, laugh and play games. The history of the place is pretty interesting too and it's filled with remnants of old planes and other knick knacks.

4.5 of 5 stars for me. —kyle2008

2008-09-26 19:24:29   Now sports KARAOKE on Tuesday Nights!! Awesome! —AnotherBikeFreak

2009-01-15 16:28:36   I love this place!!! —Kaite

2009-01-16 08:25:51   We are trying to get the owner to install a real bristle dart board, due to the Davis ordinance against them. It would be great to get real Darts back in town! —donjumpsuit

2009-04-15 12:09:44   This place sucks so bad (is really awesome), and I suggest you never go (so it never gets too crowded for me). The beer selection is limited (to being totally great) and the prices are out of this world (for how cheap they are). Do yourself (me) a favor and never go here (so I can enjoy it all to myself). Thank you. Love, —-> —condemned2bfree

2009-04-18 20:48:54   I had a cheesesteak here, it was really good. —NickSchmalenberger

2009-12-05 16:30:27   I used to love the food and the atmosphere here, but if you go to Plainfield Station enough times and if youre not white you'll realize that every once in a while this place is filled with racist rednecks. One night my friend and I went to Plainfield to have a beer and we were verbally harassed by this drunk white dude who was making derogatory remarks about asians and mexicans (I'm asian and my friend is mexican). So unless you want to run in to some blue eyed blond haired minutemen racist douche bags, then I suggest you do not go to Plainfield station, one of the last safe havens for racist white people in california. —dannyboi

2010-03-24 19:52:28   I was bored so I rode my bike with my friends to this place. Long ass bike ride there...even longer one back home, especially after I wolfed down a Plainfield Burger. Just by looks, this place does give you a racist redneck biker joint vibe. Unlike dannyboi's experience however, my party was not subjected to any racist comments and the patrons and employees were very cordial and hospitable. The burger itself was a very delicious and artery-clogging adventure. It was neatly stacked with two patties, two kinds of melted cheese, strips of bacon and other good stuff. Fries were tasty as well, but nothing out of the ordinary. Prices are a a bit high, but it was well worth the experience. Will be coming sometime. —BenLee

2010-04-02 13:29:51   Does not look like much from the outside, but so much fun once inside :) —TrishW

2010-06-15 13:32:48   I just went for lunch today I had a plainfield burger and my friend had fajita tacos. Based on my experience I'll put it as my 2nd favorite burger place in the Davis area behind Tommy J's. The tacos cost about the same as but were many times bigger/better than Tacos and Beer. I counted 16 beers on tap there. I think that's 2nd only to the Grad. I wish I wasn't leaving Davis next week and had taken the time to come here sooner. It looks like a lot of fun.

One note, I'm from a rural area and this place reminds me very much of the bars where I grew up. If you bring big city expectations here you will likely not enjoy yourself. If the people here look "redneck" to you, realize that this isn't Davis. It's rural America, and if you can't handle it don't bother coming. —ARWENNHOLD

2010-06-19 15:33:29   Went there once with a friend. We both ordered jalapeno poppers, and we bit into the first one at about the same time— and we both spit them on our plates. They were frozen in the middle. Not a really big deal, but rather unpleasant. What was worse, though, was that when we mentioned this to our server, she took the remaining poppers and put them back in the microwave, then brought them back out; she didn't bother to add an extra one for the half-eaten, frozen one sitting on each of our napkins, or offer any kind of discount or anything. Other than that, the burgers were good, but they cost about the same as what you'd pay at Burgers and Brew, and aren't nearly as good. I'll be going a second time to see the amazing Yellow Jacket Motel, and hopefully I have a better experience tonight. —AndreWaymire

2010-07-02 16:57:07   OMG do not be put-off by the rugged feel indside the bar/restaurant. Just head straight out to the backyard. It could not be a better place to relax in the summer.

The tacos are to die for and are not too hard on the wallet.

You can play horse shoes in the back.

The only downside: it is a bit of a drive so make sure to have a DD! —smartgirl

2010-07-13 23:12:37   After two years, I realize that I'm likely going to spend the rest of my life in Davis, and have made peace with the fact that the best bar here — hands down, no contest — is actually in Plainfield. Honestly, if you're nervous around this place, you should probably never go anywhere except for the Chili's in an airport: the food is good, the tap selection is surprisingly large and generally well kept, the bartenders are friendly, there's people who aren't affiliated with UCD or Monsanto, and the bar is what a bar is supposed to be: not a crappy offspring of nightclub mating with sportsbar (which seems to be the preferred Davis model), but a mellow, worn-over place to talk, drink, etc. And play horseshoes out back, if the spirit moves you.

Not to sound too Davis, but... If you're worried about the designated driver or your carbon footprint, just ride your bike, as it's a very easy 30 minutes from downtown on a cruiser; just make sure you have lights for the ride back, because the roads are lovely but dark unless there's a good moon. —Swilltopower

2010-08-03 13:54:37   vegetarian tacos = excellent. atmosphere = to die for. karaoke night? best thing to do in Davis. —soledad101