Interesting spot. I walked over here from the downtown Marriott, wanting to get away from the…read moreconference folks. It's a little tucked away with the entry at the back of the building. The entry way is a little ominous, with a flight of stairs into the below street level space.
Once you're in the space, it's cavernous, and a bit of a split personality. The majority of the space is dark and has several clusters of large tufted couches with nailheads, seeming like they'd be nice, intimate spaces, except for the wall mounted TVs in each space. One corner of the space is brightly lit with a round table and some board games on a bookshelf. There's also a toy pool table in the space - I call it a toy, since it's one of those cheap, small pool tables you'd put in a kid's play area. I lined up take a shot, and clearly people have been sitting and leaning on the table, as the top moved about 2 inches to the left before the legs angled back and the table shifted back. When I went to take another shot, could feel the rail was misaligned and caught the sharp edge of what felt like particle board under the thin felt. I wouldn't be surprised if on a busy night in the future, the table doesn't end up losing a leg or collapsing while someone is leaning against it.
The bar area is also a little strange, with it being super brightly lit compared to the dark lighting in the majority of the rest of the space, and a bright white counter top. Felt a little awkward drinking at it solo since it was so brightly lit.
The second night I stopped in with two other folks and sat in one of the nooks with a coffee table and comfy chairs, as well as the glow of the TV, which was better.
Didn't eat, but the split personality of the place shows through there as well, with hot dogs on the menu (which sounded fantastic).
All that being said, while the bar seems to be deciding if it wants to be a dive, a speakeasy, or something else, it somehow works, and I could see the place being packed on weekends.
