I found myself on Water Street on a very frigid night. After my errands, I decided to visit a few watering holes.

First I wandered down to The Joynt. It is the only bar in town without any exterior sign announcing its presence. It is very clearly an established institution, and I did blog about its unique coasters.  However, you can’t beat the $0.75 drafts….even if the glasses are small. There was a regular crowd, and it seemed like it would get hopping.

Next I wandered the length of the street to Dooley’s for a quick draft. As a non-smoking bar, it is always a great place to stop.

Then it was back to the car. I was walking by She-Nanigans and decided to stop it. It was quite early and I was almost alone. I did notice that the place next door, Lucky’s was also open, and when I got inside, I could see that they were connected! Lucky’s has been under construction for a while, and I asked the bartender. He said that they are the “same place” and that Lucky’s plays different music (country, etc.). It is done in light colored rustic logs, and looks clean and bright. When I asked if the weather was keeping business down, he noted that the UWEC students return this weekend for classes to begin on Monday.

I had a quick drink at the Wigwam, and then home to bed.

The bar at the Ramada Inn, formerly known as Bistro, has opened under a new name. Today’s Leader-Telegram has a story on it. That inspired me to stop in this afternoon after my 4 pm meeting. It was happy hour time. I did not try the LIIT, but had a draft. However, no Leine’s. I had to settle for a New Glarus “Spotted Cow.”

It is a nicely appointed room, and the bar is separate from the restaurant, as the article points out. It has an intimate feel, and does not seem like a hotel bar, or part of a chain. Nicely done!

It was a snowy day, but there were errands to run. very late morning found us on Water Street, and we decided to go back to Dooley’s. It is very clearly an Irish-themed bar (witness the big Irish flag on the Fifth Avenue side of the building). It has an appeal as a smoke-free establishment also.

They do serve food, although we did not eat there this time — we had a luncheon engagement. But there was a party of 8 or so in the back corner there for lunch, and a group which was clearly a UWEC student and his parents who came and sat at a table as we were preparing to leave. At the same time, it is clearly a bar, and has an interesting mezzanine level (which is probably worth exploring some time). Good Long Islands, and Leine’s on tap!

Later in the day found us downtown, early for an event at Houligans [the next part of the post]. We slopped through the snow into Clancy’s. It is a typical smoky tavern with tropical paintings on the walls, and sports on all the TVs. They have good Long Islands, and several beers on tap. The occupants on either side of us were having an extended conversation about the NFL Playoff picture, and it was fairly quiet on a snowy early Saturday afternoon.

Then it was time for the party at Houligans. I have commented on Houligan’s before, but need to add more. They had several parties there that evening, some just for dinner and others in separate rooms. There was a pretty full bar in our room, but no draft. At one point I ordered a Honey Weiss for which the bartender headed to another room and came back with a draft. The Long Islands were “city-priced” at $7 each, but the drinking partner really liked them (I thought that they had too much sour and not enough cola).

The food for the party was great, and the staff did a great job of keeping the food warmers full. One of the women there told a funny story about having been at a bar to watch the Packer’s game last Thursday. [It was one of those NFL Network deals, so unless you have a dish you could not see it. Since many bars have dishes, they advertised heavily and drew large crowds.] It was a long, sad (for her), smoky night. The next day she washed her sweatshirt, sweater, and blouse. She did not wash her brassiere because, as she said, “I wear these for more than one day!”She then went to get dressed. Her husband said “You reek of smoke!” She realized that the smoke in the bar had penetrated to her brassiere! That is a smoky bar!!! Houligans appears to be smoke-free.

They are open! I had lunch and a beer there today, stay tuned for a full review (including the obligatory Long Island!).

Just when you think you are done, someone spoils your fun! There are now two new bars in town. Jersey’s is a clean, brightly lit, sports bar located across the parking lot from Famous Dave’s. I went out with a group, several of whom live in that part of town and a couple of whom live in my part of town.

The Long Island was good, and $4.50 (after a trip to a large US city, it was nice to get back to reasonable prices). They have Leine’s and lots of other beers. The waitress did a pretty good job with the after work crowd, and only screwed up once on the last round when she charged us more than she should have.

It is a real sports bar with lots of monitors (one wall has four!). It had a diversity of ages in the crowd, and it was a non-smoking bar!

Northwoods is a traditional micro-brew pub which has been in business for about a decade. I was surprised to see smoking in the bar, but I guess they must have enough “off-sales” to mean that they don’t get 50% or more of their business from the food end. The Long Island was good. They have no Leine’s, but instead they have a large selection of their own beers. In a way this more than makes up for it!

On my way home, I decided to try one last time for Brewski’s. It was open! It is a very small room (as the bartender said, smaller than many people’s basement bars). When I was there the only other people were a couple playing the “slot” machines. The bartender and I had a congenial conversation. The Long Island was good, if not generous. It was served in a plastic cup. Will I go back? Probably not, but it was worth stopping.

There are three places on the list of full liquor licenses which only serve beer and wine.

The first I visited was Cicones (or Ciccones). It is an Italian restaurant at the corner of Claremont and Menonminie Streets. It has marginal food, and only beer and wine.

The two  Pizza Huts are also only beer and wine places. I ate in one (standard chain food) but was wise enough to ask before even entering the other!

There were cars in the lot, the door was open, so I walked in and ordered a drink. After it had been served, Charlie came over and started talking. Well, it seems that this is a “private club” and I should not have just come in. They let me finish the drink, and gave me an application to join the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

The Long Island was from a bottle (clear, at that) and not very good, and they normally don’t have beer on tap.

On the plus side, it is smoke free. However, it is a very loud bar. The bartender was great, a real pro. I admired his work. They have the largest selection of draft beers I have seen anywhere in Eau Claire, more than a dozen. Another plus was that they had NESN on one of the big screens. (NESN is the New England Sports Network.) I got a little home sick for New England watching the commercials.

Thirteen open bars to go!

The Maple Lounge is attached to a motel, and is tucked away on a stretch of Hastings Way which has been cut off from the main drag by the rebuilding of Business 53. I find it fascinating that it is across the street and slightly south and east from Ole’s Southside Tavern which is in Altoona, but the Maple Lounge is in the City of Eau Claire. When I pulled in, it was hard to find a parking spot. I thought it odd that on a Wednesday night, it was so crowded. The bar is nice, with high ceilings, and lots of wood. (Are you surprised?) I hit the end of happy hour, and the bar was full. I then noticed that the next door restaurant was full also….but folks did not seem to leave very often. Then the light bulb went on — it was poker night! Decent Long Island, and Leine’s on tap.

Manny’s Cocina is a Mexican restaurant on the back side of the mall. It is a new building, definitely styled to reflect what people think is Mexican-style. Drinks were good. I had the beef tacquitos which were not bad. Drinks were expensive (for Eau Claire). It was very quiet on a Thursday night, and the bartender was quite friendly. A plus is that as a restaurant, it is smok-free.

Chuck’s is #1 on the original list of 30….back before I knew how many there were. When I first drove by, because of the A-frame style of the building, I thought it was a church which had been converted. Once you go inside it clearly is not a conversion. It can be a busy place, but it is smoky. It is, however, sometime convenient.