First off we were able to get a few words from the bartenders as well as the owners of The Buck Damon and Julie Anderson.
The Buck: At first glance, the Silver Dollar Saloon presents a rustic, historic atmosphere that metamorphosis's into a trendy bar with great music, stellar drinks and amazing people (Bartender).
We would have to agree that the two new owners have what it takes to push The Buck in the direction that they want to head. To address this opinion we'll move on to some more information about the bar itself.(Damon Anderson - Owner)
- 1909 - Pabst Warehouse
- 1920 - Pickadillees Bora "Speakeasy" through Prohibition
- 1946 - Giomona Restaurant opens in the basement based on the Camaraderie in Eau Claire
- 1996 - Bar purchased by family members of Giomona
- 2005 - In October the Andersons purchase the bar and keep making improvements onward and upward
Upon arrival I decide to order up some food to see how the service is. I ordered a Grilled Buffalo Chicken Sandwich and fries. I didn't have to wait long for my meal and enjoyed it while we started in on our first pitcher of beer for $7.50. Drinks for the evening would move from beer to Long Islands after we find out that they are the special for the evening at $3 for a nice tall one. The Long Islands are great at The Buck and the best part is they are not made from a mix! The drinks for the evening are not cheap, but not over-priced as well. Most of the guys and girls out tonight would be drinking the $3 bottles that were staged about the bar for the festivities.
The Buck sports a short menu with Appetizers & Munchies (we enjoyed the nachos later in the evening when more of our party arrived), Salads, 4 choices of Burgers or Build-Your-Own, 8 different Sandwiches along with 2 different Wraps, and Dinners such as Steak, Chicken, Fish, Shrimp, Pork Chops, and even BBQ Ribs. You can also choose from a number of Side Dishes and Soup. The kitchen closes at 10pm so if you're hungry drop in before then.
The layout of the bar is pretty basic. The main bar is lined by some pretty stable bar chairs. There are also a number of tables that you can sit at to enjoy their food and drinks. Downstairs you can find booths set up for a more private dining experience. There is a side room that normally sports two pool tables and some dart boards, but this evening the room would be cleaned out as they build the stage for the Carp Calendar Cutie contest. There are some older TVs in this area as well, but they were not turned on for the evening.
We noted the history of this building as it is fairly old with hardwood flooring and a very interesting ceiling. In fact, we actually started a conversation about what type of material was used for the ceiling, it was either stamped brass or colored tin we finally decided. Another thing we noted was that the ventilation and cooling for the evening was going to come from some ceiling fans and as predicted this side room became a sauna from all of us hot-blooded men enjoying the contest.
There are two restrooms for men in The Buck. One just has a toilet in it, but the other has an enclosed stall, urinal and so much gang-related graffiti that I have to wonder just how many gangs are operating out of the college town Menomonie... hmm.
When we arrived at 8:15pm we noted that there were 14 guys and 4 girls and that it was mostly an older crowd. Since the contest was set to officially begin at 10pm we took our Sausage Factor and Attractiveness Rating measurements at 9:30. Just before the 10 o'clock push we counted 59 guys and 18 girls for a Sausage Factor of 3.27, but I guess I would expect that at a contest like this... Right?! The Attractiveness Rating was actually quite good tonight and weighed in at a solid 9/10. Please note that this rating did not include the actual contestants for the evening so if you want to bump that rating based on the pictures for the contest feel free to do so!
Our bartenders were very busy for basically the entire evening. We were able to take just a quick moment for this picture of two of them:
Once the contest begins, there is barely any elbow room which may or may not be a pun based on the Eau Claire bar titled "The Elbow Room". The place is so packed that this secondary room has literally become a sauna and so I made sure to order up some ice water to take with me when I would begin taking pictures of the event. The contest began somewhere around 10 and ended at 11:15pm.
At midnight we took our second set of readings and found 17 guys and 8 girls. Things definitely died down after the contest ended. The Sausage Factor came down to a 2.13 and the Attractiveness Rating was still high at an 8/10 which we were happy to see. We were also able to talk to the owners and get some valuable information from them. You can see one of the owners here in this picture, her name's Julie and she's the lovely lady on the right.
Overall we give The Buck a 4/5 Beer Rating. We like the layout of the place, it's nice and simple. The staff is very friendly and though they were very busy for the majority of the evening they took time to answer our questions in a helpful manner. We were very satisfied with our experience and hope to be wow'd in the near future as they continue with their improvements. As the commercial states: You'll get good luck at The Buck!!
Beer Rating: 4/5
Sausage Factor: 2.69
Attractiveness Rating: 8/10
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