Caravan

About

Caravan calls itself San Jose’s best dive bar and it’s probably right. Everything is poured heavy at the ‘Van and local regulars, college kids and San Jose punks soak up the cheap cocktails and the dive bar scene at a steady pace. You can hear virtually everything on the jukebox or come in on Thursday’s and catch some local live music from up-and-coming San Jose punk bands. You can shoot some pool and down a brew almost 24 hours a day. Seriously, the Caravan is open from 6am to 2am.

Here's a weird thing about the Caravan: those who don't go there sometimes complain about its 'hipster' crowd. Um, sorry, but the Caravan has nothing to do with trends of any kind. These regulars have been dressing that way for 20 years, some of them. It's just that trends have circled around to embrace the Caravan's scruffy rock look once again. The live music's still free and the crowd is still a blast. -- Metro Bars & Clubs, June 16, 2010

2007 BEST OF SILICON VALLEY Staff Pick and Reader Survey Winner - First Place

Best Dive Bar
There used to exist a chain of Caravan bars housed inside Greyhound stations decades ago, and this one used to be too. But now it functions as a counterculture mecca for club-goers, punks, tattooed vixens, young boozers, misanthropes, cheap dates and everyone of all ages who basically abhors mainstream society.

— Metro, Silicon Valley's Weekly Newspaper, September 26, 2007