5 for corner dive bar! Cozy atmosphere, good people watching. Cheap cheap specials everyday! Pool…read moretable, jukebox, gaming machine and plenty of TVs for sports games. Bartenders are friendly and fast!

This place had a decent atmosphere to it. Solid set up with a pool table, darts,quite a few tvs,…read moreand a good crowd. The drinks were cheap and I could see my pals and I hanging around there for quite some time. But then came the bartender... A twenty-something brunette with a full sleeve of tats was on duty when I strolled in with four of my pals around 11:50. We had roughly 40 minutes til last call so my buddy went up and ordered two pitchers. The bartender told us she would not pour us two pitchers because we "would not have enough time to drink them". Immediately I felt bad. The poor thing must have had vision problems. I mean, obviously instead of a squad of college bros she had witnessed a group of prom queens stroll in. God forbid each of us try to take down 16 ounces of beer in 40 minutes, we might get HAMMERED. Anyways, we obliged. We took the single pitcher back to our table and slammed it, not to prove a point, but because we are not an ensemble of ballerinas who nurture a single beer for 20 minutes. So our friend goes up to order a second pitcher with a solid 25 minutes before last call. The bartender seems very annoyed. She clearly walks past him half a dozen times pretending not to notice him. After strolling by him a handful of time sand ignoring him she finally asks what he wants. She begrudgingly pours him another pitcher after he asks, and he returns to our table. With about 15 minutes left before last call our DD goes up to get a glass of water. He also waits a solid 10 minutes as she walks around the bar finding anything to do but go up to him. Finally, having run out of bs tasks to do she walks up to him. Before my boy can even ask for some water to quench his parched sober throat, she straight up says " NO, I'm done, seriously I'm DONE" and walks away super flustered. As if he just spit on her and called her a broad. HE SIMPLY WANTED A GLASS OF WATER. If you are having a bad day, no need to bring it to work and take it out on your customers. My friends and I were nothing but courteous. Anyways we slammed our beer and left that S**tshack pronto. Consensus: The bar has potential. The bartender who served us made our experience about as pleasant as getting teeth pulled by Micheal J Fox in an earthquake.

Love the outdoor patio for live music. Great service and such a cool old bar. I love that. It was…read morefamily owned still and the history inside the small community was really neat.

Love this bar! I have my picture in my wedding dress on the bar. They are so fun and friendly.read more

Came to this bar in Bloomington. Diggers is a basic place to get a drink. It for sure isn't…read moreanything special from the looks of things. Good place to meet up for some fun. They have some cheap prices and specials. A bar with the basics. It's about $6 for a cocktail. They have the usual kind of stuff. Classic brands. Jack, Jim, whatever. For sure not the place to get a martini or something fancy. There's also local beers if not wanting to get liquor. For a local bar it's okay to be honest. It's cramped at certain times but usually there's plenty of room inside. There's no real food but they have free popcorn.

Stopped in for a beer traveling through town and this place showed up as a good dive bar. When I…read morewalked in I was surprised it was just a cool old bar-no dive at all. A lot to look at but the wall with album covers is very cool. Bartender was nice and chatted with us. Also offered us popcorn from popcorn machine near the bar. I'd stop through again if driving through.

OMG! I just happened to visit the Wooden Duck for my first time, during Blackburn Colleges…read moreHomecoming. The restaurant was packed and the staff hustled to provide good service. Lucky for me, I was able to get a seat at the bar. My adult beverage was a draft Flight by Yuengling. For lunch, I went with a Pork Tenderloin Sandwich with a side of Fries. The tenderloin was crisp and had good flavor. However, it had a perfect shape, so I could tell it came from a bag and was not done in house. I enjoyed the thin crisp fries. A roll of Paper Towels served as your napkin. Typically I prefer linen, but for a dive bar, paper towels do the trick. I also liked that the Wooden Duck has hooks under the bar. Hooks provide a safe place for purses and jackets. I got a giggle when I used the mens room and the owner showed his political views by having a caricature of the governor in the urinal. They even had a witty disclaimer, so you shouldn't be offended. I got a second giggle when I looked around the bar and realized, about 60% of the guest were an alternative lifestyle. So everyone is welcome at the Wooden Duck.

How did I get here. We retired to a small town that doesn't have a DMV office. So we drove the 20…read moremiles to the thriving metropolis of Carlinville (not really,charming for sure, but just big enough to have cheap plaza office space for a state govt. office). So of course although my wife had done extensive research on all the documentation we would need to pay a state to drive our car...we had missed one. So we went to the Wood Duck for lunch while we waited for our credit union to send us a lien release form. We had talked to the kind soul at the DMV and she was "all-in" on this place. She was so right. It is an intimate space, with a small bar out front, and then a few more tables in a back area. We took a booth right in front of the kitchen. It is a very "locals" place. There were some police having lunch (likely the entire force, at least by weight)...and one of them stared me down as if he had never seen a veteran, former DoD executive, in a collared shirt, and khakis in a public restaurant before. [Yes I was the only pepper in the salt]. The actual restaurant staff was excellent, and welcoming. Our server was a whirlwind of effecient hospitality. I got a pork tenderloin sandwich (and later the same day was invited to join a pork tenderloin sandwich group on FB)... ordered the fries, not clear if that came with them, didn't keep the reciept. My wife got a cheesburger that she was very happy with. My tenderloin was crispy, juicy and a bit too salty in a good way. This place is a definite keeper on the list of places we will be willing to travel to over time. Perhaps if I come back often enough, Barney will get used to "others" visiting his little fiefdom.

After enjoying dinner at a restaurant in downtown Alton, I wanted something else to do. So I did…read moresome Yelp, FB and Google searches and found out that Bubby & Sissy's was having their 20th Miss Bubby & Sissy's Pageant. Watching that would be something else to do and it would be totally different. The crowd for this evening show was almost as entertaining as the contestants and guest performers. It was an excellent mix of diverse individuals. There were multiple M/F couples, senior citizens, Bachelorette Party and of course many members of the LGBTQ community. I even saw my waitress from the restaurant, when she got off work. The bartenders were hustling making sure everyone had a cocktail, as they enjoyed the pageant. Two of the bartenders I knew from other establishments in the community, but they work at B&S now, because we all know gays are good tippers. Don't judge Bubby & Sissy's for being a bar supporting the LGBTQ community. Just think of it as a dive bar supporting the local community. I've seen wild deer out on their patio. So if deer feel safe at B&S, you can, too.

This is one of the last bars with acclamation of a Gay Bar. The best is that the bartendWes George,…read moreTrish, David Roni, and Bubby welcome everyone and ensure they have a great and safe experience. highly recommended, Great Female impersonators and shows on the weekends. .

Fantastic pizza! A historic building with amazing wood work and a beautiful upstairs lounge.read more

Great bartender and friendly patrons! Fine respite on the way north to Mayo Clinic!…read moreBring cash!

Great little place with friendly staff, great food, and cold drinks. Lots of fun events planned…read morethroughout the years.

Great local spot!! Out in the country just a few minutes off the "main road". Love Thursday night…read moreExtreme Bingo! Check their Facebook page for event schedule- live music, karaoke, trivia and much more!!

It's the best pork tenderloin sandwich around! That's it. That's all I got. Just the best pork…read moretenderloin sandwich around in a unique local bar.

You don't get more out of the way than Fat Annie's. The biggest pork cutlet sandwich that I have…read moreever seen. It was a little too thin for me. It made the pork to breading ration off for me. But, since everything it is homemade, I bet they could make it thicker if you want. Perfectly cooked though. Had the corn nuggets, again cooked perfectly. I came with ranch dressing that was by far the best I have ever had. Ends up, yep, you guessed it, homemade.