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| - Had to close a bar Downtown to get prepped for my 3:00 AM Amtrak trip to Chicago, and Becky's fit the bill. I'd been before both decades ago and in recent years, but the decades-ago part was forgotten by the passage of time and the more recent ones, well, forgotten for reasons more directly related to time spent in cheap and divey bars.
But that's not an insult: I love cheap and divey bars, and if you want to show me a good time by offereing a good selection of beer (with some craft brews on tap) and liquor with stout pours at Midwestern prices, well, you could do a lot worse.
Becky's has free parking, although there's always an element of risk parking in the less-than-stellar area around Playhouse Square. Inside, it's a pretty big split-level space featuring a long bar and tables upstairs. It's a good noise level: you can hear the (pretty good and pretty cheap) jukebox while not having it drown out your conversation, and you can also spend a few hours passing the time without going broke. Good things, all around. Like many bars in Cleveland, it looks a bit like a 50's diner gone to seed, which, for all I know, it just might be.
The staff is super friendly and our bartender was quick to grab refills and chase aggressive panhandlers from the place (see note above on the neighborhood). I've heard that the food is surprisingly good, but had already eaten and so didn't find out. In any case, if you're looking for a strong neighborhood hangout near Cleveland State University, I'd certainly recommend this one, horrid bathrooms be damned.
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