Cooters

This bar is an interesting, and very local-filled addition the the Cedar Rapids bar scene.  It is a tiny building, about 400 square feet I would guess, and half of that is taken up by the bar.  There is little parking due to its location on 1st avenue, and limited space behind the bar.  The place has an older decor, and has not been updated in some time.  Both times we visited this bar we were served promptly, but we also experienced some of the most awkward interactions with the other patrons of any other bar we have visited.  The first visit here started with a very strange interaction wherein we were asked by a regular if we were lost.  The second visit was a little more comfortable, but still resulted in regulars coming over to us and asking what we were doing there.  The bathrooms are not very clean, and are falling apart.  They do have live music from time to time, which we experienced in the first visit, and that greatly changes the experience here.  Overall it is not a bad place to visit, but you will need to make yourself a regular here before you feel comfortable.  The average person walking into this bar will not feel welcome at first.  Drink prices were fair, and I believe they had a drink special both times we went.

Coopers Mill

Coopers Mill is, and will always be, a weird bar.  It is a hotel bar, that is really trying to expand into the "F Avenue Bar District" to increase its clientele.  I respect what its trying to do, and they don't fail, but it just feels like a hotel bar.  The bathrooms are down the hall and into the hotel area, and the bar is surprisingly small.  They do participate in F Ave bar crawls quite often, yet I have never seen a crowd here.  They have a 36 inch tall bone shaped beer glass that is fun to drink out of...it comes with a wooden stand to prop it up and everything.  She made us give her our IDs in case we broke it I guess, a credit card might have been a better thing to hold, but luckily, we didn't break it, so no problems there.  I really don't know what else to say about this place other than its a tiny room, with a bar stuffed in it.  Go here if you are on a bar crawl, or really like hotel bars, but other than that, its probably not going to be the hangout spot for anyone.

The Grades:
Atmosphere: 5
Weird
Service: 8
A little awkward with the server we had, but good service.
Food: N/A
They claim to have food, appetizers especially, but yet every time we were there we were told there was none that night.  Not sure what that's all about.

Cocktails and Company

Well, the name here pretty much says it all.  Cocktails, and company.  This place is always great for gatherings of all kind, but it definitely fits into a specific category for a bar.  First and foremost, this bar is welcoming to anyone.  There are surely regulars here, but no one cares when new people wander in, and you don't get a local, cliquey bar feel here, ever.  That is great for someone who is looking for a new watering hole.  The bar is a little dated inside, and dark, but its not really a huge problem, as it is fairly well kept.  There are quite a few pool tables in the side room, somewhere around 8 I think, and I have known many people over the years who play pool league here...so if thats your thing, check it out.  They have a raised area off to the right when you walk in that is used for live music quite often, and they are known pretty well for their live music selection.  Warning to those who want to chat with friends; don't come on live music night.  The building is pretty big, but when they have live music, it is often very hard to communicate with anyone you came with.  If you are there for the music, you will love that.  The service has always been hit and miss, found a few wonderful servers, and a few that get too busy and forget about you.  On really crowded nights it can be a struggle to get the bartender's attention too.  Overall this place is well rounded, because they offer hole in the wall feel many nights during the week, but a bumping live music and hangout venue on the weekends.  Then as an aside, you also have the pool hall feel if you want to hang out over on the other side.  Top all of that off with some pretty decent bar food and good lunch specials and you really have a home run in offerings.  They have remodeled the outside in the last few years and have increased their outdoor seating quite a bit.  If all of this sounds up your alley, check it out.

The Grades:
Atmosphere: 7
Its nicer inside, but it is dark and can sometimes get crowded due to the layout and/or the crowd that comes that specific night.
Service:7
Service has been fine in years past, and I didn't have any problems when we visited a few weeks ago, so they get a solid 7.
Food: 7
Going for lucky sevens across the board here, they have pretty good food for bar food, and have a pretty robust line up.  No fine dining, but you won't be disappointed popping in for lunch or a casual dinner.

Club Basix

Alright, so coming from a guy who refused to go to alternative bars in the first bar tour, I will officially eat crow.  We went to Club Basix and I didn't have a bad time.

That being said, this bar is obviously for the LGBT lifestyle, and so many people will not want to frequent or visit this bar unless that is the specific experience you are looking for.

On to the review.

This place is darkly lit, and well layed out despite the fact that it was long ago a Hardees that has not changed much since becoming Club Basix.  The bathrooms are pretty disgusting, but everything else was fine.  There was a cover the night we went, even though I think it was a Thursday.  It was only $3, so we paid, and continued.  The music is loud, so if you plan to talk, or don't like loud house music, then that will be a problem.  The door lady was great, the bartender was quick and personable.  Despite the fact that I'm sure we stood out as two poorly dressed men with two good looking women in an alternative lifestyle bar, no one seemed to care.  Maybe this is a general statement that can be made for the type of clientele that hangs out here...accepting of anyone, but either way, that was good.  We didn't feel the slightest bit uncomfortable, we had a few drinks and shouted conversation to each other, and then moved on.

If this is the type of thing you like, you will most likely love this place.  If not, you probably stopped reading after the first few sentences anyway.

The Grades:
Atmosphere: 7
Its nicer inside, but it is definitely not going for a specific look or feel, its just a converted bar.
Service: 9
No complaints, service was spot on for what it should be at a bar.
Food: N/A
Don't think they serve food here.

CJ's Sports Bar and Grille

This bar...most likely will not be a bar you will like unless you live around the area or know one of the bartenders.  It is not easy to get in and out of, limited parking, and less than desirable service.  I think in our previous review we went on an off night and with a large group of people.  The bartender had no interest in serving us, but was sure to intercept us long before the door to ensure we paid.  The second time we thought we would give it a more fair chance, and we went on a Friday night, and sat right at the bar.  Still, it took a good 5 minutes to get served, despite the fact that the bartender was not serving other people...(read: she wasn't busy)  When we finally got a beer, we started chatting it up with the people next to us, and they promptly stood up, and moved to a table.  Maybe that was coincidence, or maybe it was a sign, but either way, it felt weird.  We hung around for a second beer, and were asked to pay before we got it...even though we asked her if she could just keep our card open and run it when we got the first beers and she refused.  I understand that a lot of bars have problems with people not paying, but we were sitting right at the bar, and we offered our cards.  Maybe she was too busy to keep track of our card.  This place does accept cards by the way, as we were allowed to pay for both beers with our cards, just not allowed it keep it open.

The decor is modern industrial, and actually doesn't look too bad inside.  That is probably due to the flood and it needing an overhaul afterwards, but atmosphere here is pretty nice.  However, the people, the bartenders, the service in general are not good.  Add to that an overwhelming lack of visibility and parking, and this feels like a major letdown. They do have a pool table and a room full of dart boards. They also serve food, which we did not try either time we were there due to the unwelcoming nature of the establishment. It did appear that people were enjoying themselves, so that does indicate that some people enjoy the bar. For some reason.

Now its time for the preachy part.  We realize there are bars that are our type of bar, and bars that we don't care for, but that doesn't make them bad bars.  This bar, is a bad bar.  It screams local bar, and almost makes it obvious to people that they don't want your business.  If we had struck up a conversation with the locals and told them we had just moved in down there...we would probably have been welcomed with open arms.  But I am not going to lie to be accepted in a bar.  Often times Jen and I judge a bar on the ability for it to grow...we kind of think of this from a business owner standpoint...if I owned a bar that had mean-mugger regulars, and bartenders that don't really care about you if you aren't a regular, then I would find new bartenders and encourage them to crack down on the regulars until they learned to be more accepting, or simply ask them to leave.  Bars need new patrons to survive.  That is a fact.  This bar needs to seriously think about what its business plan looks like and what it plans to do when it wants to start increasing revenue.


The Grades:
Atmosphere: 6
Its pretty nice inside, but we take the overall feeling of welcome into atmosphere.
Service: 2
We did get beer, so theres a couple points there I guess.
Food: N/A
Didn't try it, probably never will, but they have it.

City Beat

City Beat is an interesting kind of bar. Most of the people we talk to around here don't even know what it is, or where it is. When we went the first time, there was almost no one there, and the bar tender chatted us up. We liked the friendliness and were intrigued by the promise of good food, but really weren't blown away by anything else at this place. To me it feels like a post-flood remodel that has a nicer interior for an old building and a following of locals who have discovered the bar, and not told anyone. The second time we went, on a Sunday, they were closed. The third time we went, there were quite a bit more people. The bar was full, the outside patio was being utilized, and a few of the tables were occupied. The bartender hopped right over from the bar to our table to get us drinks and offerend menus. We opted to try the food since it was hyped up last time. It is expanded bar fare, sandwiches and wraps mostly, but they were pretty good. It all felt a little hodge-podge in the sense that food isn't their main business, which I guess is good for a bar, but I was hoping the food would be outstanding to match the hype. Maybe I set myself up for failure, but I thought it was just mediocre. The beer was good, and so was our bartender. On a night with a full bar, I don't expect them to constantly come to a table to check for drinks, but he was over before we even thought about walking to the bar. Props there, we tipped accordingly. This, like most bars though suffers from the neighborhood bar syndrome, but also suffers from a lack of immediate neighborhoods to pull from. If this bar was on 2nd street a few blocks on the other side of the river it would probably do well, but with a much different crowd. They do advertise live music, and have a spot designated for it inside, but in the few visits here, we haven't seen any. If you are looking for a chill spot without much going on, check this place out. This is a bar that definitely knows it needs to serve anyone who walks in the door to stay afloat, and it definitely felt reasonably welcoming to newcomers.

The Grades:
Atmosphere: 8
This place is bar first, restaurant a very distant second.  It is remodeled well post-flood, and is fairly well kept.  Dark lighting, and a classy looking bar area.
Service: 9
The service was great.  I think probably the most attentive of any bar we go to.  I have yet to find an all elusive "10" server, but this is a solid 9.
Food: 6
Appears to be bar food with a little bit of an expanded lineup.  Might be good for lunch or for an early evening quick meal, but definitely not the type of place you take a date for dinner.

Chuck's Bar & Grill

Chuck's, Chuck & Dales, Chuck's Bar & Grill, Chuck and Dale's Bar & Grill... The bar of many names... We are pretty sure it used to be called Chuck & Dale's Bar & Grill and now it is just Chuck's Bar & Grill. Not sure what happened to Dale but it appears that he is not part of the name anymore. Or is he?

Anyways... we stopped out to Chuck's as the first stop of our night. The only seats taken were the ones at the bar and the whole rest of the place was open. So, since we couldn't sit at the bar we sat at a table near the bar. The bartender got us a beer and a menu. I was jonesin for some motz sticks (it happens!) so I ordered some. Unfortunately, they had only one left! AH! Disaster. So, I settled for cheese bites--close enough. But they were out of those, too. Eventually, I ended up with one motz stick and broccoli cheese bites or something. That whole situation was weird, but we were ok. We ended up only staying for one beer because the bartender never came back to ask us if we wanted anything else. That's fine, too, we have legs and we can walk to the bar, but it was also weird. I don't know much more about this bar. It probably would be a good time with a group and maybe if they had a band. It's pretty small and doesn't have any bar activities except eating and drinking...and maybe a mega touch. The place has a good vibe, but honestly if we were talking about where we should go for a night out, Chuck's would not come up. It just isn't memorable. Much more of a neighborhood spot, for sure.

P.S. we went on a Sunday, so that could be part of the reason we had this type experience.

The Grades:
Atmosphere: 6
Feels like a restaurant and a bar, and a restaurant. It does feel a little bit confusing. It just seems strange. Not sure why.

Service: 6
The first time we went and sat at the bar the service was ok, not great. This time the service was fine but again not great. Trend?
Food: 6

Appears to be bar food, but that's what I was looking for, so there may have been other options that I overlooked.