Our group numbered 9 this evening, the most since we began our review process. Our stumble began at Dooley's Pub which is located on the corner of 5th Avenue and Water Street. Probably the most notable feature at Dooley's Pub is the non-smoking atmosphere. I could be wrong, but I'm probably right in saying that Dooley's is the only non-smoking bar in Eau Claire. There are also many other things to do besides drinking at Dooley's. You can play cribbage, pepper, and dominoes, or you can even bring your laptop and use their free Wi-Fi. During the summer they have their volleyball courts open as well. We chose to head upstairs and bought a pitcher of Miller Lite for $5.
The menu at Dooley's includes the normal Appetizers, "Emerald Isle Greens" otherwise know as salads, 7 different burgers including a Veggie Burger, 10 different sandwiches such as the Ribeye Sandwich, and even dessert options including different cakes and cheesecake. You may want to drop in for their Happy Hour which runs from 3pm to 6pm Monday through Friday as well as Every Night from 9pm to midnight! I had to read it twice too when I saw that their Happy Hour runs that late.
Upstairs at Dooley's Pub you will find 8 tables and 3 TVs that are usually playing news or sports. Downstairs they have around 7 booths, 2 dart boards, 5 TVs, and a video machine. There is also a separate room in the back with a Big Screen TV that looks like it is used for private parties so if you need to schedule something for lots of people you may want to consider this space.
Since we were intending to hit more than one bar along the north side of Water Street, we decided to do just one Sausage Factor and Attractiveness Rating for each of them. It was 10:30pm when we took the readings at Dooley's Pub and found a total of 30 guys and 20 girls for a factor of 1.5, not too bad. The guys with us rated Attractiveness at around 7/10, but the girls with us said it was more like a 5/10... Hopefully they weren't biased! Our quick take on Dooley's is that their Beer Rating would be a 4/5, yet very close to a full 5 beers.
Beer Rating: 4/5
Sausage Factor: 1.50
Attractiveness Rating: 7/10
The next bar we went to was the Grand Illusion. We arrived around midnight and started with our readings to find 61 guys to the 31 girls present or a Sausage Factor of 1.97, not the greatest, but certainly not our worst. The Attractiveness Rating seemed to fall right around a 7/10. While taking these readings we met some great people, one young lady made sure to let us know that the Grand Illusion is "The best bar in Eau Claire" and that everyone needs to "Pound it!!!"
The Grand Illusion is a nice bar for getting together with friends and there were a lot of you out there this evening doing just that. We got to know a few people here at Grand Illusion, including 3 girls that we coincidentally run into for much of the night. I'm sorry that I don't remember all of your names, but I'll give a special hello from those of us at EauClaireBars.com to the one I can remember, Jenny!
The Grand Illusion is known for their Delusion which is the House Drink and involves many different liquors and pretty colors. A number of our party ordered up some Delusions, all of them noting that they were very good. A bonus is that every time you buy a Delusion you'll receive a ticket and once you've accumulated 10 of these you can turn them in for a free shirt!
There isn't a kitchen at the Grand Illusion, but popcorn and peanuts are readily available. We also took note of the layout which includes the main bar with barstools and booths, an upstairs area or mezzanine with more booths, and a back area near the restrooms with 2 dart boards, a pool table, and a foosball table. The restrooms aren't really spectacular and you won't find a mirror in the men's restroom, but the toilet does have a seat. The 2 bartenders working were kept busy most of the time that we were there. Our short take on the Grand Illusion would be another 4 out of 5 beers, our experience this evening was a good one.
Beer Rating: 4/5
Sausage Factor: 1.97
Attractiveness Rating: 7/10
Next on the docket was the House of Rock. A friend of ours, Noel Hanson, sings in a band named the Jaggernauts and they were playing here this evening. We made sure to get plenty of pictures of the band while we were there, we also took a few of the crowd.
When we arrived there were 27 guys and 14 girls present and it was probably around 12:45am. Sausage Factor = 1.93 and Attractiveness Rating = 6/10. The bar itself is in the center of the building with seating on both sides. The restrooms are ok, but the men's is kind of cramped. Our female perspective noted that they have a "friendly girl's bathroom". There are tables set up throughout the bar and a stage in the back right-hand side of the building. The music pumped out on this stage is definitely loud, so loud in fact that they offer ear plugs at the bar! This is definitely the place to hear Loud and Local Bands. We enjoyed the music right up until almost bar close. The House of Rock was a good experience for us and the consensus was they came in at a 4/5 for a Beer Rating.
Beer Rating: 4/5
Sausage Factor: 1.93
Attractiveness Rating: 6/10
The last bar of the evening would end up being Brothers. We didn't have a lot of time to review them since we arrived just after 1:30am. We did, however, find some nice TVs to watch sports and news on. Brothers also has 2 dart boards, a pool table, and a foosball table for those of you interested in recreation. The Sausage Factor at Brothers was pretty good, we took our reading at 1:44am and found 15 girls to the 18 guys present for a factor of 1.20. The Attractiveness Rating was an 8 out of 10. We were unable to spend enough time at Brothers and are undecided on the Beer Rating, but hope to do a more extensive review of their bar soon!
Once bar close came along, we all ventured over to Buzzy's Pizza Emporium to get something to eat. Buzzy's is open from 4pm to 3am Monday through Thursday and until 3:30am on Fridays and Saturdays.
With so many bars in such a small area, it is definitely easy to patronize more than a couple of them when you are out on Water Street. We were able to spend some quality time at 4 of them this evening and all of them weighed in at pretty much a 4 out of 5 on the Beer Rating Scale. We were definitely happy with all of our experiences this evening.
Averages for our Water Street Stumble are as follows:
Beer Rating: 4/5
Sausage Factor: 1.65
Attractiveness Rating: 7/10
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