The Basshole

To those who went to The Basshole and rated it so poorly, I wonder what was expected?

I've driven past The Basshole at least a thousand times in my life going to and coming from Oregon, Mt. Shasta, Ashland, Castle Crags, etc. back to Redding. And then I moved to the East Coast...

So when my girlfriend and I were exhausted after hiking up Castle Crags on our way back to Redding, I explained why I needed to stop in for the first (and certainly not last) time.

The beer was cold, the bar was divey, the music was rockin' and trashy a la Alan Jackson, AC/DC, Kenny Chesney, and the bartender was cute and charming.

The Basshole Pale Ale was, much to my surprise, delicious. I was pretty impressed with the selection of beers on tap, ranging from the American Big Three (Coors Light, Bud Light, Miller Lite) to some fancier brews like Goose Island and Shock Top.

Maybe the people who rated this shining light of Northern California badly should look for places where they have to tip the bathroom attendant?

At first, I thought the Basshole deserved 0 stars, not 1. However, I now realize that they DO deserve 1 star.  They deserve 1 star because the food and service at this "establishment" is so atrocious that it is actually "Laughable, mang", as de Jesus would say.  My buddy and I were in hysterics by the end of the night because of how drunk the waitresses were, how soggy the food was, and how it took them over 45 minutes to prepare 6 fried cheese sticks.  Every time one of our 3 "waitresses" would stop by our table (approximately every 30 minutes), they would forget what we just told them and have to come back to ask again.  These ladies were SLOPPY drunk.  They were spilling things, dropping stuff, forgetting orders.  They charged us $7.00 each for Sierra Nevada in a plastic cup.  The food was awful.  Some other locals told us that they hear it every morning from people- the Basshole is just plain SUCKY.  Do yourself a favor- drive a couple of miles down to Tale o' the Whale at Bridge Bay- the food was fast, hot, and well-prepared.  And the staff was (relatively) sober.

I expected a huge crowd on the Friday eve of Labor Day weekend. There was a couple of guys playing pool and two couples eating on the patio. The place is very casual. Staff is extremely friendly and welcoming. I had a cheesebuger which was absolutely delicious. I was perfectly juicy with no pink in the middle. They didn't have homemade buttermilk ranch dressing for my fries (oh my!) but the fries were nice and golden, with a soft middle. Not crunchy or soggy, just right. My friends had chicken sandwiches, which they liked very much. There's a big fat river outside the parking lot and it's situated in a real forest. This place is in the middle of nowhere in California, in a town with approx 4 places to eat. I would choose this place if it was in the middle of San Francisco. I will be back!