Mark Twain Saloon

So. High level: grumpy, vindictive and generally weird. The service and attention given to me and my friends at the bar crawl (where they were signed up as a bar) was shit.
We showed up and waited 10 minutes for the two girls in front of us, then waited for 7 minutes at the bar without so much as a smile or acknowledgment of existence from the 3 geriatric bar tenders. We left, ordered nothing, not even the free drinks we were supposed to get as part of the crawl.

I’m Gail M’s husband. She’s right, we liked this place right until John started accusing Gail of stealing from them. He was a complete a-​hole about it. Worse still he was in the wrong. As Gail explained it was a misunderstanding that a professional could have quickly and easily resolved by simply asking why are you trying to collect on this voucher, it isn’t yours. But no, he was way out of line, ranting and raving like a maniac. I honestly don’t know how they stay in business. And just for the record I did win big at video poker in there and tipped the bartender 10% both times (total of $ 115) Gail bought a couple of their t-​shirts. We also both had money in the video poker machines we were playing that was left behind when he started acting like a dbag and told us to leave. If anybody should be calling the cops about getting ripped off it should be us. If you waste your time making the drive to Virginia City do yourself a favor and give this place a pass.

We liked this place. The bartenders were a little slow, but we weren’t in a hurry. My husband won at video poker, I bought two if the shirts they had for sale, the we went somewhere else for dinner. We came back after dinner because we liked the place. We sat down, ordered drinks and within 15 minutes, my husband won again at video poker, this time enough that one of the bartenders, John, needed to go to several different places to get enough money for the payout. Once that was done, I wanted to play, so I say down at a machine that stated «see attendant» for a $ 250 payout. It wasn’t mine, so I informed them they needed to reset it so I could play. They did, and a ticket saying $ 250 had been won & could be collected came out. I handed it to the other person behind the bar and started playing on the machine. I said nothing about them needing to pay me because it wasn’t my jackpot, but short time later John started yelling at me about how uncool it was for me to try to hustle him for $ 250 because I had handed them the ticket that said the machine had a payout. I had handed over the ticket without asking for anything and that really pissed me off so I yelled back that I hadn’t asked for anything and what an ass hole for accusing me of something I didn’t do. Then he said he was calling the police. I’m thinking I did nothing wrong and I don’t want to spend any more money at a place where I’m being accused of stealing when I didn’t, nor did I even try. He told me to leave and I was fine with that. We might have spent another $ 50 there if it hadn’t been for that. I guess they can afford it, eh? Bottom line: don’t go to this place of you’re in a hurry and do not sit down at a machine that says that’s a payout due and try to play. You might be accused of trying to hustle the bartender.

Great bar, very fun. But this review is for their employee Dar– what a wonderful gal! Spot on for our big group, fast and attentive, funny and just perfect. In addition to the regulars there, we all felt appreciated by her, drinks were quick and always right. Thank you Dar!

We ducked into this little place because they had a great deal on dogs & a soda. I ended up getting a salted pretzel-​nomnomnom. We were there visiting VC for my son’s 21^st birthday, this place was not crowded at the time and once I checked it out I thought it would be the perfect spot for his 1^st official mixed drink. The bartender, John, was so nice… he mixed up a gin & tonic, my son did not care for the sourness too much, so John then mixed up a Jack & Coke which my son loved. John said it was on the house! He even sent us home with a souvenir. We stayed and visited at the bar for a bit, he was busy though, he did take the time to tell us a few stories and give us a good tip on a place for records in Reno. Very nice man and made our trip extra special! 5STARS!!! The lunch deal was good too and they do have a handful of slot machines, also a few picnic tables to sit at as well as the bar. We definitely want to come back someday!
Also, the gal serving the food was very nice to us too, did not catch her name, but she was kind to our son.

Stopped in during the chili cook-​off, some of us were going to get drinks and others snacks. We were initially greeted and then couldn’t get any service. One of the bartenders was behind the bar with her back to everyone and the other was sitting at the bar visiting with people. I’m sure if we would have made a fuss we would have got some help (hopefully), instead we all decided to leave and go next door. Food and drinks may be good but service needs help.

Sat down for a Bloody Mary after taking a little stroll around the strip. The bartender was super friendly and was generous enough to comp my drink (which was just how I liked it, by the way) because my friends had been playing on the video poker machines at the bar for a while prior to my arrival.
They had a deal of $ 10 for beer with the souvenir Mark Twain Saloon logo beer glass… my friends tried to pressure me into getting that but I stuck with the good Bloody Mary. Overall a good experience; definitely smaller and less crowded in comparison to other saloons in town like Delta and Bucket of Blood.

I stopped in for lunch on my stroll around Virginia City because there was a woman outside handing out coupons for hot dogs. «The best hot dog in Virginia City!» she said. It was good. I haven’t tried all of the other hot dogs in Virginia City but these were good. The coupon was a good deal! I didn’t gamble but I sat at the bar with my food and diet soda and chatted with the owner for a bit. He was a really nice guy who I could tell enjoys visiting with his customers, and did a nice job giving all of us attention. I’m a Twain fan from back east, so it was fun to eat lunch at a saloon named after him.

The Mark Twain Casino is a tiny place smack-​dab in the middle of Virginia City. Mostly slot machines and video poker here, but the main draw seems to be the hot-​dog-​stand at the front of the casino. It’s cheap eats for Virginia City, but I still thought it was overpriced for what you get. (A hot dog and off-​brand soda can be had for $ 3.50; no refills.) Nothing bad about this place, but nothing really special either.
Thankfully, it seems that Unilocal has just fixed the map location… when I tried checking-​in last week, the Unilocal App told me I was too far away, but I was right there!
Funny side note: Everyone agreed, it seems like they stole their signs from a Costco food court (and just hiked up the prices a few bucks). Seriously! Check it out:

Unilocal has map and address incorrect. Zip is 89 440 and NOT in RENO but C Street in Virginia City. Other VC business show incorrectly on map as well.
Other VC bars & casinos (and some not in town) listed in «NIGHTLIFE». This is only ²⁴⁄₇ casino in town and should be listed as # 1 or 2 in «Nightlife» & «BARS» category. Usually this is LAST stop for locals and tourists when other bars and restaurants close. Very late or very early drinks, dogs, snacks & pizza… and of course, slots, video poker & keno.