The Hooch

O dear — I went there in, I believe April or May of 2012. It was not acceptable, although our server was quite nice. The most dreadful burger I ever tried to eat, and a very rude, mouthy older woman behind the bar. (Who I now realize was the owner!) Her language was apalling, toward both her staff and customers.
Just tonight, I sit down to watch «Bar Rescue» on TV, and there it is! I am SO lucky I didn’t get sick from that awful kitchen. Mold and other nasties everywhere!
ps: now called «The Proving Ground», post Taffer.

Being a bartender myself, I’ve worked with them all. the good and the bad. Last night, I had the worst bartender of my life here. No, really. I’m still kind of in shock/​laughing at how rude and clueless she was. The kicker for it all? She actually said this to me:
«I’d hate to be your wife. being that picky about something as simple as beer? Seriously, just order a Bud Light like everyone else and get over it.» O. O
Okay, yeah. there’s a story to all of this: (lmao)
Before I get to that, I should mention that yes, I know this bar is pretty bad. No, wait… it’s really bad. I knew that walking in, but it was a friend of mine’s birthday and she had a friend who said she’d be working, plus she could dance. We got there, and the place was pretty dead (but it was a Thursday and not a weekend, soo. it is what it is for that), her friend had lied and wasn’t even working, and there was no one on the dance floor. –_​–
I ask my friend what she wants to drink, and she says beer, but she wants me to find out what they have on tap. I walk up, and the girl who was bartending gave me a bad vibe from the beginning. I ask her if they have a beer list, and she points to a piece of paper taped to the wall to show her how to stock the coolers, which of course I can’t fully read from the guest side of the bar. I ask her what’s on it, and she tells me, «Uhm. I’m not reading you that full list.» –_​–
I try to look and see what draught handles are on display, but with the setup of the bar counter, it’s a bit hard to see. After moving around a bit to see them (and getting glared at by the impatient bartender with no other guests to serve), I figured most of them out. Trying to remember (for you Unilocalers who are curious about their ‘selection’), I think it was Bud, Bud Light, Miller Lite, Blue Moon, Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale, Angry Orchard Cider, Leinenklugel’s Oktoberfest, something from Griffin Brewery, and… Labatt’s Blue? I asked the bartender which Griffin Beer it was, and she said, and I quote, «Hell if I know.» I bite my lip.
Knowing my friend likes beers such as Fat Tire, Sam Adams, Magic Hat #9, etc. I ask if they have any of those in a bottle. She cringes, rolls her eyes, tells me she’s «never heard of those beers, why would they carry them?», and then asks the BOUNCER if they have those beers in the bottle. He says they should have at least one of them, probably even two, and he’d check (they didn’t).
I relent and just go for three Leinenkugel’s Okotberfest draughts, and the bartender tells me that jaw-​dropper line about how she’d hate to be my wife. Yeah…
When I tell the bartender that it’s my friend, the birthday girl’s favorite, and I was just trying to find her something comparable because she deserves something nice, she says, «Oh, well. then you’re good. She’s the one who needs to stop being too picky.» My jaw was kind of on the floor here… 0. o
Being a bartender though, I have to tip something — to not is just. bad karma or something, so I leave a dollar for each drink and walk back to the table with a look of bewilderment on my face. My friend sees this, asks, and. I hesitantly tell her. I probably shouldn’t have wince she was pretty toasty at that point. lol
She struts back up to the bartender, and goes to call her out on it, and the bartender looks her right in the eye and says, «Whatever… the bar got it’s money, and he tipped me good, so you need to get over it.»
When I told the bartender/​short little troll of a human that I bartend for a living, and I’d normally tip a lot more, but she sucked at her job, she just looked at me… confused.
We finished out one beer, and left immediately afterwards.

If I had a nickel for every blue-​collar bar I’ve been to (let alone the cash I’ve spent), I could retire to Palm Beach. So believe me when I tell you that some bars just give off a shitty, angry vibe. The Hooch is such a bar.
I was in the neighborhood and decided to give this place another shot. After all, I had a really good burger last time and I’m a sucker for hotties serving drinks.
Oh well. Bartender was super nice and offered up major cleavage, but otherwise just dressed normally. Still, she was a sweetheart and I appreciate the effort. I order a cheap beer and settle in. She sets it down and immediately heads outside for smoke, leaving the elderly barflies, myself, and three other guys alone at the bar.
A minute later, one of the «other» guys pipes up, «HEY! Where’s the bartender?» I assume this is a rhetorical question, but then I hear «HEY DUDE.…»
Oh shit, he’s talking to me. «DUDE! Where’s the bartender?!?»
I don’t want trouble. «I don’t know,» I say, but he’s clearly not satisfied with that. This guy is pissing me off. I ask him pointedly, «You want me to get the bartender for you?» He does. I awkwardly asked the elderly folks at the end of the bar to fetch the bartender but they couldn’t hear me.
The bigmouth drunk ended up bellowing at her, she finally came back and spent the next ten minutes calming the idiot down.
I wasn’t about to hang around so finished my beer and went down the street to the Traction Bar, which was equally dive-​y but much friendlier and happier.

i came back a bit more recently and its alot better the drinks are cheap and there wasnt any hanky panky at closing time…

Hmmmm… All five star reviews on 02/​28/​2012 from Unilocalers that have one review. I have been here and nothing special except alcohol and the unsuspecting fight you may encounter.