Cafe Lura

Maybe I didn't get a full experience or a good experience of this place because of the night I went.  But I just don't get how this place has 4 stars.

I was there Saturday night for a "black metal show" that my boyfriend wanted to check out.  Not my cup of tea to begin with but I'm usually ok with some drinks and people watching.  Let me tell you- you see some really interesting people at metal shows.  Like the couple who would not stop making out right in front of me for at least half an hour.....

I wasn't feeling too hot thanks to my Halloween party the night before so I wasn't feeling drinks.  My boyfriend had some $5 polish beers and seemed satisfied.  When we walked in the place was FREEZING.  Cold enough my boyfriend went back to the car to get his jacket.  
We sat at the bar all night and suddenly my stomach decided to do some cartwheels so I ordered a sprite.  I was sipping through the straw but that wasn't enough, I needed to guzzle from the cup.  BIG mistake.  The smell radiating from the ice, sprite, and/or cup was terrible.  Like if someone had mopped with dirty water, or used a dirty rag to wipe down the bar mixed with freezer burn.  I was done for the night at that point.  
On a trip downstairs to the bathroom- there was poop remnants on the seat, and other things.  Dirty toilet paper on the floor. Cmon is it really that easy to miss the toilet??
Also- I'm not sure why, but they had orange juice, cranberry juice, and coke liters sitting on top of the bar to mix drinks with.  I noticed my sprite though had come out of a drink gun.  I also saw them mixing OJ in drinks that had been sitting out all night.  That can't be good, right?  
I can say though the female bartender was accomodating to some chicks that wanted a tequilla sunrise.  Doesn't strike me as that kind of beer but she still made them.  

The bartender asked us if we were cold and said he had just turned the heat on (when we got there) but that the door being opened so much was making it cold.  How is a bar THAT cold with a ton of people in it??

I know I had been here many moons ago for some kind of techno something or another and I remember not liking it then either.  I guess I'd be willing to check this out on a normal night, if they have them.  But so far- haven't been too excited about it.

I do not understand you, Cafe Lura. I've read through the reviews that it is a Polish bar, but that's not the feel I got at all. The entry bar is dark and divey, leading into a room with a small stage, then into a back room that looks like a suburban basement where you'd go to get high that also happens to have a Legends of the Hidden Temple theme.

The music was a DJ that spun reggae, and spun it badly. Transitions and mixing are not concepts he had bothered to familiarize himself with, so after each song there'd be a really abrupt transition to the next. While dancing, people would just stop and stand awkwardly until the next song got underway.

The bartender was...interesting. She seemed annoyed that she had to wait on us, probably because I was with about ten ladies, none of who was going to tip her based on her insanely short skirt or pulled-down shirt. I had to explain to her the term rail (seriously?!), and my rail whiskey was watered-down and cost me $7.

Cafe Lura was dead despite it being a Saturday night, with maybe thirty people total. I didn't mind this so much, as we could all sit in the back room and talk to each other, and later have plenty of room to dance, but the low attendance speaks to the club. There are a ton of high-scoring reviews, but many are several years old - I think Lura has faded from its former supposed glory.

Great place.  During the weekdays there's not much going on.  Decor is cavelike, awesome.

Wednesdays - free drum and bass.  Expect some type of cover most weekends.  

Awesome place to just chill and shoot some pool or relax on their couches with some friends.  Tomek (a.k.a. Tom) is a super cool dude.

They mix some stiff drinks and the Polish ales are cheap.

Don't think it's some type of backwoods Polish immigrant watering hole - they play some sick music (cool reggae sets) and I've seen a very wide assortment of people across the racial spectrum go there and party the night away.