We travelled from Philly up to the Cadillac Ranch hoping to experience some good old line dancing and bull riding. They did have both, but what we experienced more was a bunch of rowdy locals with attitudes. The waitresses were rude, the people didn't take kindly to strangers. We had a drink, some over priced chicken fingers and then headed on our way. I have never felt so uncomfortable or so unwelcomed in a bar in my life. Usually I am the first one to talk to anyone and have a good time anywhere. This place just has a bad vibe. The only thing I really liked was at some point in the night they had everyone stand for the pledge of allegiance. I thought that was pretty darn cool! America! eff yeah!
Review Source:Huh, who would've thought...a country bar way up here in New England! :D
I was here Saturday night and had so much fun! Cover was $5 (I think) and dancing all~ night long!
I used to go to a country bar in VA all the time and a couple times in NJ, and I have to say I was REALLY impressed with crowd here lol. Apparently, yankees can out country-dance both southerners or jersey folks. I also love it that they have a few pool tables so I can switch back and forth from dancing and playing pool.
The dance floor here is very nice and pretty clean because I didn't see a single person bring a drink on the dance floor and spill it all over the floor.
My fav country bar in VA had only line dancing, two-step, and a couple other dances, but this place has a lot more variety of dances awesome dancers!
I hadn't been to Cadillac Ranch in almost 14 years when my friend invited me this past Saturday. Needless to say, I'll never be returning.
I paid my $5 cover to get & For starters, they charge you $1 to use your debit/credit card. In Connecticut, not only is that illegal, it's almost unheard of. Then, they tack on a $15 minimum on top of the $1 charge to use your card. The bartender of course offered me use of their ATM which comes with an even steeper "convenience" charge. (Not to mention the one I would have to pay Webster Bank for using say ATM)
When we arrived around 8:50, we went right to the bar. After waiting almost 10 minutes, we were finally acknowledged by the bartender. We were a party of 4, she took the first drink order & all of a sudden, The National Anthem came on. The bartender literally disappeared & while I thought I was at a bar, I was yelled at not once but twice for trying to figure out what was going on. I had no idea that the "bar" shut down during the National Anthem, and I paid for it by being told to shut up by a "body guard" & shushed by a waitress. I'm an American, I have no problem being respectful, but being "new" to the establishment, I just had no idea.
I not only felt ripped off for paying $5 to get in, I had to buy beers I didn't want to meet their minimum, had to pay $1 to buy the beer I didn't want to order, & I was treated completely disrespectfully by not one but 2 staff.
I would have spent at minimum another $300 there that night, instead, we walked out & will never return. Normal people, beware.
Here's the deal. Â This place is pretty cool and fun. Â I went there with about 20 friends to celebrate a double birthday on a Saturday night. Â I honestly can't remember the last time I paid a cover to get into a bar when there wasn't a live band playing....but since it's been so long, I didn't mind ponying up the $5. Â Also, I was drinking some light domestic beers and they were pretty cheap ($3.50). Â I do prefer better, tastier beers when I'm out for a shorter, tamer evening and this place did have some decent stuff on tap in addition to a HUGE domestic selection.
The staff was welcoming and very nice and the bartenders were attentive. Â A nice bonus for one of the birthday girls was getting an extra shot out of a bunch that one of the b'tenders was making for us.
As a boyish looking lesbian I was a little fearful that I'd get the usual funny looks in the bar and especially the ladies room but there was none of that. Â I felt completely comfortable there and that was huge to me. Â
If you decide to go here are my top Do's:
Do shut up if you hear the National Anthem playing. Â I think they play it every night at a certain time. Â I wasn't paying attention and was waving my money at the bar only to be reminded by a fellow patron that I must wait until the song is over. Â I felt like a total tool too.
Do ride the mechanical bull or encourage your friends to do it. Â I passed on the ride but enjoyed watching my friends flail about greatly.
Do try to get there by 8pm and take one of their free line dance lessons. Â We missed most of this but those who got there early seemed to be having much fun.
Cadillac Ranch is all I ever dreamed of and more. I have been hearing about this magical place since I was a child and my aunt used to go line dancing here regularly. I have always wanted to go, but as I usually don't have a car when I am staying with her in the New Haven area, it's difficult to get to Southington to indulge in pure cowboy glory. HOWever, my cousin, aunt, and I headed over this past Friday, and I was, as my great gramma used to say, tickled pink.
This place is huge, and the enormous parking lot fills up fast. If you have a hang up about parking, be sure to get there early - we did, though I don't care much about parking far away, so I can only tell you that I would prefer to show up later when the action starts, and I don't care about parking far away.
There are two different bar areas in CR, on two different (adjacent) sides of the dance floor. Apparently the younger crowd hangs out in the first bar (closest to where you enter the building), but since we were with my aunt, we hung out in the other bar - which actually has a better view of the floor. There is an enclosed outdoor patio off of the second bar as well, where smokers can indulge themselves. It wasn't terribly busy while we were there - there were a ton of people but the place is literally ginormous - but even considering this, our waitress was very slow at getting drinks to our table. If I had been just with my cousin, we would most likely have sat at the bar and not worried about this. We actually had some weird mishap getting our tab as well (they asked my aunt to track down the waitress, it was very strange), but again, sitting at the bar or ordering your drinks from the bar, I feel like you could just avoid this altogether.
Anyway, the line dancing is AMAZING. It's not that it's great in terms of showmanship - there are only a handful of people who are deft on their feet. Most people know the dances, but the participants range from unsure girls in espadrilles to lanky, geeky, white dudes in sneaks, to one gentleman with a giant mullet, super-spins, and highly inappropriate hip thrusts. It definitely did make me want to learn the line dances, though - I love to dance, I just don't know the moves here. My aunt, however, participated in all of her favourite dances - which have amazing names like the tush push. However, the reason CR gets four and not five stars is because of the weird-ass mix of contemporary country and off-brand pop music - even though I had been warned, I was hoping for a little more classic country. We heard Dwight Yoakham once, but that was as classic as it got, and that's stretching it. I would have even been satisfied with a little Alan Jackson. Oh well. You can't always get what you want... I was still pretty psyched.
There is a mechanical bull, and I have definitely seen pictures of friends of mine riding it - in fact, it was going when we were there this past Friday, but for some reason, it had no takers (likely it was too early). Also, the array of types of people here were amazing - from young dudes in Ed Hardy-ish cowboy gear to mullet man to Connecticut cowboys to just your standard, random people who like country music - CR had it all. They even had your standard sexy short-shorts wearing shots girls roaming around all night.
I would absolutely come back here... in fact, I want to live inside of Cadillac Ranch. I didn't have any expectations for amazing service or classy anything... and this was exactly the situation. Yeehaw!
In response to Sarah F's review on 11/29....What night of the week did you stop in? Â Try a Friday or Sat. night and you will find a huge crowd. Â No they do not offer to seat you...it's a bar. Â The Cadillac Ranch is a great place, we go all the time even though we live 90 miles away. Â Thank goodness for the hotel next door.
Review Source:I am giving this a 5 star rating because I like the IDEA of what Cadillac Ranch could be, and I don't want to be mean by giving it what I really feel it deserves, which is 1 star.
After a 2 hour drive from Somerville, MA, in heavy thanksgiving traffic, I arrived at the Cadillac Ranch only to find that it was completely empty. Â No one offered to seat me. Â The only person inside was a bartender, although he was dressed like a cowboy which was pretty cool.The mechanical bull was not working.
For a restaurant that doubles as a dance club, I was extremely disappointed. Talk about wasted potential.
First, I didn't realize what a long ride Cadillac Ranch was from Boston. Â I left the house around 10pm thinking it would take a little over an hour and was ready to turn back after an hour. Â But after the 1.75 hour ride to get there it was good to see it was full. Â
The music was a nice mix of pop and country and it was really cool to see the line dancing and attempt to follow the steps in a drunken state. Â And they have a mechanical bull! Â It was my first time riding one, and it was crazy hard, but something to try again. Â
I came to the bar for my good friend and it was definitely worth it, especially since we were staying in the hotel right behind the bar. Â I would try it again if it wasn't such a long ride from home.
Cadillac Ranch is an interesting environment. Country-oriented decor, of course, and heavy focus on line dancing (they do offer lessons an such) but I always went to The Ranch for karaoke, which runs on Wed, Thurs and Sunday nights. Things kick off somewhere around 9pm. The karaoke is not as country as the rest of the place, and there is a very well filled out catalog to choose from, but the bar management doesn't take kindly to showtunes, so if that's your thing I'd suggest finding somewhere else to sing. There's a bar menu, but the kitchen does mostly just fried stuff and nachos after a certain time (which are huge, btw.) and prices on food and drinks are comparable to any other bar. Lots of parking in the lot outside, and is handicap accessible.
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