The place has been slightly made over and is called "Craft" now as a nod to craft cocktails the bar is now serving up.
The dj booth has moved and the extra long bar table in the middle of dance floor is gone, but aside from that the changes seem minimal.
I've had fun here in the past but it really depends on who you are with and how willing you are to cut loose and partake in beverages. Drink prices are average.
I was here this past week on a Thursday and it was completely empty. Ended up here Friday and it was packed. Very rare for me to come here two nights back to back but definitely had more fun Friday with a larger crowd.
This isn't my first choice of places to go out, but the slight changes in decor and drinks make me more willing to give it a try.
Went here one Friday night (a friends choice) it was uncrowded and had this cool little room that used to be a wine cellar that we sat in and talked. Drinks were a little pricey compared to some of the other bars Friday specials. There was also a cover to get into this place that NO ONE was hanging out at.
When I had to plan a bachelorette party, I thought renting out the wine cellar would be a perfect place to do presents and cake. Wrong! I called 3 times before I ever got an answer. I left a message for the manager to call me back, a week later I called back and left another. I received NO calls back! I found another place, and a week before the party I called bars all over royal oak to try to get free or discount cover. This was the only place that wouldn't come down for a big group of women. I got free cover at woody's and 5th avenue, and a few places in ferndale.
F THIS PLACE!
On the 8th day god said "Let there be a shitty bar, the shittiest you've ever been in. It will be located in the basement of Bastone. I shall pack it 40:1 frat boys to women. They will come from far and wide to drink beer made of piss, listen to awful music, and drink in the dark. It shall be named, 'The Commune.'"
Seriously worst bar ever from top to bottom. Full of hair gel and too much cologne. I thought upon entering, "Hey this is not my scene but I'll have a drink or two and run up the stairs. What could possibly go wrong?" Well let me say I have NEVER left a drink behind having not finished it. Even if I wasn't a big fan. Until now. I ordered a Blonde. Holy crap it tasted like urine and wet dog. I took 3 drinks and walked out. I hope this place is smitten once god realizes what he has done.
Guys, guys, guys.. to all of you who are complaining about the skanks and ex-frat boyz who swarm this place on the weekends with their sweaty bodies, I'll let you in on a little secret... go early!
Yes, yes. Don't wait until those people come out from their evil lairs of hair spray and bad shoes! Come around 9 and stay til 11 and you'll have the place to yourself. It's glorious. No lines, you have that huge-ass couch all to yourselves, and then you get out before it gets too loud!
My only complaint.. well, I have two: the beer on tap downstairs is never quite as good as it is upstairs, don't know why.
And.. later in the night, they start having a bathroom maid?! Like, someone who squirts the soap into your hands and dazzles you with an aray of hair and body products you can borrow (which apparently come from this gal's own bathroom)... and expects a tip? It's something I've only ever seen at weird upscale places and in like, Mexico, so I was confused and pretty astonished. I felt bad, because that was apparently her job and she had to deal with girls primping and puking in there all night long, so I did leave a couple of dollars... but then realized I just paid money to use the bathroom at a bar? Huh..?
Weird. But I'll be back... and taking up that whole couch, so don't even think about it!
Review based on events from: 8/2009:
We don't ask for the world. Â We don't. Â We ask that you open your doors to our members, and that you stick to what we agree to. Â So, when we go back and forth and reach an agreement that yes, you will be honoring $3 "You Call It's" for the duration of our event...that doesn't mean that you suddenly invent a term called "call", that is somehow synonymous with the term "well" or "rail" and start charging people $5 to $8 for drinks. Â That's lame. Â It's lame, and it virtually guarantees that we won't be using you for a future event of any sort. Â I mean, maybe I'm wrong. Â Maybe the restaurant and bar industry has been virtually untouched in this disaster of an economy in Michigan, and so it doesn't matter to you if you have a few hundred extra people show up on a random Thursday night. Â If that's the case, then shame on me for not seeing that. Â However, I have a sneaking feeling that quite the opposite might be true, and that you're hurting just as badly as everyone else...and so you might want to make sure you keep your word, and follow through on what you agree to do. Â Particularly when you're dealing with people that are out of work, looking for work, or just otherwise generally feeling the pinch like the rest of us...backing out on your word in a situation like this is just wrong.
We're up front and honest with you when we're booking the event and all along the process leading up to the event taking place...and so we sort of expect the same from you.
Yes, you might want a bunch of high-rollers to walk in willing to drop hundreds of dollars each on bottle service...but if you're up front and honest with us, and deal with our members in a decent manner and help them enjoy what is most likely an extremely rare night out...then you just might find that you'll get what you need - loyal, returning customers that have good things to say about you, generating good word-of-mouth buzz for you.
For the record, we still haven't gone back to this place...and also another venue that never touched base with us after the event. Â Fail.
Disclaimer: I do not typically go to bars/clubs that feature dancing and loud music.
That said, I had a pretty decent time with friends last weekend. I bought drinks for my friends -- 6 drinks in total -- and spent less than $40 including 20% tip. Pretty impressive.
Not the fastest service, but they were a bit swamped when we were there. Not exactly the place for me, but I'd go back if my friends made me.
Ewe...When did going out to a lounge involve skanky outfit-coordinated girls staring at themselves in the mirror and flirting with guys so they can get their picture taken to upload immediately to Facebook?
Besides that, the drinks were too much effort to buy and the music was awful.
The people watching was just about the only fun I had there. I saw what looked like a Lawerence Tech instructor dancing with braless tubtop wearing super drunk girl. Â I wonder how that night ended for them.
I never realized that pilsner could have flavor - a little hoppy for my taste but easily the best pilsner I have ever had (I have not had many unless you count the cheap stuff). Â The DJ is fun, and I enjoyed how the music went from classy to ashy (from dubstep to rack city b___). Â I had no issues getting a drink and did not even have to break my stride. Â Good times . . .
Review Source:Whenever i go to Royal Oak and someone asked me where i want to go my answer is "not Commune." Somehow i have ended up here twice. Its just not my style (and i even have a fohawk and button up shirts).
I hate this place so damn much. But if listening to crappy music straight from 955 that is blaring so loud you couldn't hear a fire alarm going off and fighting you way to the bar for a bud lite is your thing then knock your self out.
I would rather stick a glass thermometer up my cock then ever going here again. Imagine every repulsive frat boy trait you can think of and chances are you will see it in this cess pool of foul shit: vests, lots of hair gel, generic techno music, striped shirts..
Chances of getting a sexually transmitted disease: 37 percent.
The service is decent, the drinks are strong, and the VIP rooms have a cool vibe to them, but those are really the only good things I can say. There always seems to be a line to get into this place, which I don't understand. It is just a poorly-lit basement, people!! The dance area is also the standing area, so prepared to get stepped on by drunk chicks in stilettos who are convinced they can dance. The music is nothing special. Still don't understand this place. Have only been here on bar crawls.
Review Source:Went last Saturday with a good friend of mine. Â I guess they were at capacity when we got in line because we were waiting for about 20 minutes just to get inside. Â To my pleasure, the wait was well worth it. I loved the Underground feel of the place. Â The lighting was intimate. Â The DJ was doing his thing. Â It was a lot of fun.
The dance floor is pretty small, so don't think you're gonna walk in this place and start B-Boyin' -- it won't work. Â The people were cool; my girl and I got a couple free drinks ;)
Overall, it was a good time. I'd definitely go back.
Why do people do this? Â Why do people stand in line to enter a dark, sticky, disgusting space to pay too much for watered-down well beverages? Â Why do people flock to spaces to dance clumsily with strangers? Â Why are the bartenders curt and the bathrooms disgusting? Â WHY CAN'T I MOVE MY FEET without getting stuck to the floor?
Ugh. Â If this is the "best" lounge in Royal Oak, why do people even bother?
DISCLAIMER This review was written after a sober night there on NYE:
I would rather have the creepy old guy from Family Guy give me a pap smear than EVER set foot in here again. Â Packed, packed, packed full of inebriated
d-bags. Â Note to bartenders-when patrons cannot articulate their chosen libation maybe they're cut off? Â I don't know just a thought. Â This place would haves dram shop lawsuit written all over it if the patrons could remember where they were earlier in the evening.
It was like a bad after school special about the dangers of roofies and date rape. Â To it's credit, however, at least Commune manages to diversify. Â The most irritating residents of the trailer park and various sororities were represented as well as pretty much every country in the middle east and eastern Europe. Â And every single one of them managed to spill their drink on me. Â
I cannot comment on the service as I was too busy being "that girl" scowling at the absurdity of it all. Â As far as the decor goes, I wonder if the glowing reviews would hold true once the lights were turned on? Â One last question, what happens in the event of a fire when they pack the basement like that?
NOW YOU KIDS GET THE HELL OFF MY LAWN!!!!
On the Saturday evening immediately following the trauma that is Thanksgiving, we decided to cab it to Royal Oak for some adult beverages. Since we always end up at Gusoline Alley when in town, and had been recently chided by my best friend for our predictability, I decided to take us out of our comfort zone.
I like absinthe. I'm not going to throw around words like connoisseur or aficionado. I just like the stuff. I hadn't enjoyed absinthe for well over a year, and a recent trip to Turkey had stoked a love/hate relationship with the weak sister of absinthe, raki. Faithful Yelp guided me to Commune, and we walked in around 9:30 PM.
The place is nice. Appropriately dark, with well-placed casts of light. Quite welcoming, as a matter of fact.
The female bartender was attentive.
The bar has a selection of 6(?) very middle-of-the-road absinthes. (It would be nice to have seen some of the superb American absinthes offered, e.g. Walton Waters or Pacifique.) Â Seeing Kubler Swiss absinthe, we ordered two with water. Now, normally, one would receive an old-fashioned glass with a good shot in the bottom, and a small metal pitcher of ice water on the side, similar to the metal pitcher of bogus maple syrup at a Waffle House. Maybe the slotted spoon and sugar cube upon request. This isn't to replicate some vampire movie, but rather to be able to personally modulate the water, while enjoying the louche of the water swirling into the anise. Here things varied from the norm, with the bartender shaking the absinthe/water/ice mixture in a martini shaker. Thankfully, she strained it and didn't serve it on the rocks. Tradition be damned, it hit the spot. Over the course of an hour, we ordered two more apiece.
This is where things went south. You see, I am an enormous brute of a man, but causing trouble is the last thing on my mind. At one point during the evening, one of the bouncers, just slightly less in stature than myself, decided to position himself across from me and give me hard stares. Now, I'm not certain if he thought I was going to be trouble, maybe go on some absinthe-induced psychotic lapse, or maybe he just felt threatened. Whatever the reasoning, it was pretty uncool.
Every asshole needs a henchman. When we arrived, I took my jacket off and checked for hooks strategically placed under the bar. No joy, so I simply dropped my jacket at the base of the bar to keep it out of the way. I know, I know, bar floors are filthy. But my jacket is leather, not cashmere, and it was out of the way. Midway into absinthe #3, the bouncer now known as "henchman" walked up and informed me that I cannot leave my jacket at the base of the bar. I asked if it was okay to keep it ON the bar, and he actually agreed!
My girlfriend and I looked at each other, nonplussed. We then turned around to take in the crowd that had been drifting in. Our gaze was cast upon every type of douchebag and slicky-boy that southern Michigan could conjure, from the outskirts of Ortonville to the depths of Dearborn. The dress code seemed to be 'Banana Republic flat front pant and shiny spandex shirt outletwear' for the gents, and 'I spend every penny at Somerset, but it still doesn't hide my muffin-top' for the distaff gender. I swear to Christ that I actually saw a Members Only jacket. Â I made the only command decision that would be deemed reasonable; "Lets bolt!"
We finished our cocktails and cashed out, leaving a solid tip. (Never screw over a good bartender for things which he or she is powerless to control.)
The time was now around 10:50 PM. Gusoline Alley was just getting started.
Commune has a special little place in my heart because it's were I met my boyfriend. As far as lounges go, this one is pretty cool. The decor is old school but in a hip kind of way. And for as packed as this place gets, the service is on the ball. Lastly, it doesn't even bother me that it's in a basement. If there's any room for improvement, I'd recommend a dance floor. Busting a move in the regular bar area is fine and dandy, but I'm sure I've unintentionally inconvenienced people who are trying not to dance.....but then again sometimes that's what you sign up for at a bar at 2am.
Review Source:It's in the basement of Bastone. Upon entry, it's obvious that this place caters to the see-and-be-seen crowd of oh-so-trendy 20-somethings. Â Nevertheless, I wanted to check out Commune because it claims to be an "absinthe bar," and I am a recent devotee of the spirit. Â Commune is decorated in a fashionable Gothic Dungeon style... but you get the impression that the whole place is trying just a little too hard. Â We selected Lucid and Kubler, the only two real absinthes in Commune's selection, and I was optimistic in spite of the pretentious vibe of the joint. Â The deal-breaker came when the bartender, who was self-assured to the point of smugness, prepared our absinthe all wrong -- she torched it with a match! Â Any absintheur will tell you that this is the biggest faux pas in preparing absinthe. Â It should be properly louched with a slow drip of ice-cold water into the glass of liquor and NEVER set on fire. Â The custom of lighting absinthe is called the "bohemian method" of preparation and is a fairly recent, albeit popular, perversion. Â Still, you'd think the staff at an "absinthe bar" would know what they're doing! Â It's evident that Commune is all about superficial "style" and not about substance.
Review Source:Commune is located in the basement of a restaurant, and while chicly decorated, it still feels like a frat party. A frat party that you have to wait outside in line to get in, fight to get a spot at the bar, wait twenty minutes for a bartender to order overpriced drinks, and then have to jostle your way through crowd to find your friends.
It used to be lounge-y and kind of hipster with Absinthe and the brewery's own beers on tap, but in the past year it's just been jammed to the max with suburbanites sipping their Redbull and vodkas.
Typically, on a weekend night, it's overcrowded with obnoxious girls  who will elbow you to get space at the bar, and guys who mirror those on Jersey Shore. It's a shame, because this bar has a really cool space.
The "dance floor" is a small space by the DJ booth, usually surrounded by dudes with glazed-over eyes and a couple of girls trying to bust a move. While the DJ is pretty great, its impossible to dance or even have a conversation here.
The reserved booths and rooms are difficult to get, but are worthwhile if you're bringing in a big crowd. I'd call 2-3 days ahead of time, possibly a week or two beforehand if you plan on your party being there during a holiday weekend.
Overall, I go here if there's no where else my friends want to go, but I avoid it if possible. Since Fifth Avenue has re-opened, I probably won't be spending much time in the basement of Bastone's.
I recently celebrated my Birthday here on a Friday night with my family and friends.  The atmosphere was fun and exciting, the music was techno/dance which is my favorite! There was a great crowd that evening. I gave 4 stars because I did call to reserve a Table and they  said they were all booked, but there was a table that remained empty and reserved all nite.Not Cool!! Over all experience great Bar and My party had a good time dancing the Night away!!!
Review Source:Had a great time here on Friday! Got really packed in this bar around 11pm. Just like most other bars! The drinks are pricey, but kinda worth the not "overcrowded" feel most bars have.
The bar looks like it is someones basement and they hung small chandeliers, and added in some low black booths in it.
This place lets you reserve VIP sections. Not sure about the prices, but I am assuming it might be a little pricey. Doesn't look like they offer bottle service.
On the Friday night they had a section reserved for VIP and they wouldn't let anyone sit in it, I left the bar around 1:25 and there was still no one sitting in it. They should of opened it up to the rest of the crowd that wanted to sit down.
Overall I would definitely go back! Also I was so happy there was no smoking! Yay finally!!
I agree with others on reserving one of the side rooms, well worth it as a home base for your crew. Â The place gets packed and it is difficult to get drinks or your tab. Â
I drank Valentine vodka and cranberry here and the drinks were well done. Â Mine were $7 a pop, I think. Â At the beginning of the night the bartender charged $14 bucks for my drink and a Captain and coke. Â Later on the bill revealed numbers that did not equate to $7 per drink. Â Not sure what the deal was, but something I might pay attention to next time. Â
I love the dark decor, low lights, etc. Â The DJ keeps the party going. Bathrooms were well kept and the attendant is probably why. Â
Overall this place is a good time for partying and hanging out.
Of all the bars in Royal Oak, this one may be my favorite spot to spend a night. Â This place really improved when it remodeled a couple years ago.
I like the fact that they have house brewed beers on tap, although I really only enjoyed a couple of them. Â The Dubbel is the best of the bunch. Â They have a variety of domestic and import beer in bottles if that is more to your liking. Â The place gets crowded pretty fast around 10:30 and it can be somewhat tough to get a drink, but usually you won't wait too long. Â I like how open the floor space is. Â Even though it gets crowded, you never feel like you are crammed in there. Â That is the biggest black mark I have against Blackfinn.
The DJ always plays decent music to keep the mood up. Â The bathroom was always clean, which usually at about 1am, they look terrible, so quite surprised about that one. Â The bathroom attendant isn't really necessary, but it's fine.
All told, I recommend coming here.
I've been here many times and have always had a decent time. Â The best times are when someone reserves one of the back rooms. Â I don't think it costs anything and is really nice when you have a big group and don't like standing around. Â You have your own private tables and a TV.
There is usually a pretty solid DJ there, always keeps the energy up.
I will say that whatever light house beer I got last night was awful. Â I've had a lot of different beers in my day and feel like I'm pretty seasoned on the topic, but this draft was just terrible. Â I tried moving onto bottled beer but they were just warm. Â Nothing worse than paying $5 for a warm beer. Â With long lines waiting at the bar I would recommend double fisting your favorite mixed drink. Â Long bar lines, yet another reason to enjoy the private room, your own waitress.
My favorite bar in Royal Oak - the city where I spend most of my money.
The girls are prettier and wealthier than the trash at Woody's and less pretentious and off-putting than the girls at Black Finn.
This bar can get quite expensive if you buy bottled beer $4.75 for a Corona and a Miller Lite and that's all they sell.
You can save a few bones by buying a 22 ounce pint of the house brew. I prefer the Belgian White. They also have an IPA, a Lager and some other brews I am afraid to drink.
The bar sits below Bastone, a restaurant right off main street. There are two entrances. One on the side, it's like a hidden back-door with no sign. The other is inside Bastone. This inside line is the best because you can buy a drink at Bastone and wait in line indoors, out of the cold.
The bar itself is rather small. There is only one bar to order drinks and the line can get intense. The D.J. is cramped under a stairwell, but somehow they make this place work.
The venue is dark with some candle-esque lighting, there are some small side rooms and booths you can reserve and lots of ledges to put your drink on.
Flat screen televisions are also scattered around the bar and tuned to sporting events.
We never would have known this place was here if it hadn't been for the awesome Yelp Elite event in December!
After a disastrous dinner at Katana, my husband and I were looking for a nice place to relax with a few drinks. Â Most of the usual suspects in town looked pretty crowded (it was about 8:30pm on a Friday), so we thought Commune was worth another try. Â It was actually pretty empty, mainly used by people waiting for a table at Bastone, so we were able to snag one of the cool mini-booths against the wall and hung out until it suddenly became super crowded right after 10pm.
The atmosphere here is very cool: lots of concrete, open ductwork, and some heavy wooden furniture, softened by a plethora of vintage mirrors and chandeliers. Â The overall effect might be slightly pretentious if the service weren't so gratious and friendly. Â We LOVE the little mini booth/nook situation against the wall at the bottom of the stairs, it's the perfect place for people-watching and a little canoodling!
Sadly, we didn't realize the absinthe would be so much fun so we just ordered up microbrew after microbrew. Â They were pretty delicious too! Â And STRONG. Â Holy cow. Â
As I mentioned, it does get crazy crowded a little later in the evening, so if you're wanting to see and be seen this would be a good place for that. Â We found it was also a really nice place to drink and talk and unwind a little earlier in the evening. Â I guess we'll have to go back and try out the absinthe next time!
The Commune is a fairly open space, with seating at the bar, in several booths, and in a couple private nooks that can be reserved in advance.
We started with a glass of absinthe, prepared in the traditional way. A shot of absinthe is poured into a glass. Next, a sugar cube is placed on top of a specially designed slotted spoon. Ice cold water is slow dripped over the sugar cube so that the water is evenly displaced into the absinthe--typically one part absinthe and 3-5 parts water. Â
The end result is a smooth, mellow, delicious drink that tastes pretty much like licorice, but without the sweetness. Sip slowly and enjoy. Have a couple and don't plan to operate any heavy machinery. The mellow, somewhat blissful state, will stick around for a while.
We also tried the Bohemian Revolution, made with Absinthe Ordinare, blue curacoa, orange juice and fresh lemon. Green in color, this drink had a unique orange taste to it that somehow paired well with the absinthe's natural licorice flavor.
Definitely a fun experience.
I want to add a couple of other things I love about this place, which took me a little while to actually notice. I guess I have to update, since an edit didn't show this.
The setup and the management here are really phenomenal, and I was very impressed once I thought about it.
In contrast to a much larger "club" like Black Finn, with a huge bar in the middle of the main area, Commune makes very efficient use of their relatively small location. They keep all the tables/seats spread across two walls, with a few small end tables (and one long counter in the middle of the lounge) attached to all the support beams.
On top of that, this place is often at max capacity on the weekends (I think it's between 150-200), yet it somehow manages to retain order. Even if it will take you a few minutes to actually make it to the bar, you will get your drinks pretty quickly, and you can manage walking to the other side of the lounge holding two full pints without spilling any of it because of the setup here. it leaves enough room for people to move a couple of inches to the side and let you pass without too much trouble
The security is spectacular as well. They are constantly walking throughout the bar and reporting of any happenings to each other. I go here very often, and any time I've seen any provocations, or a drunken idiot who doesn't realize that no means no, a bouncer will end it within a matter of seconds. But at the same time, they are very friendly and do not impose on anyone who just wants to dance, grind, make out etc.
Other clubs, bars and lounges could learn a thing or two from the management here.
Apparently I have not looked at this review since I posted it.... My old review is for the old bar Cinq. Â Sometime between then and now, Cinq shut down and reopened as Commune. Â
I'm not sure what it is about Commune, but I LOVE to go here. Â It might be the absinthe (and I don't want to get into a debate about whether it's really absinthe or not bc it does not really matter). Â Maybe it's the placebo effect, but whenever my friends and I decide to order a shot of absinthe, the night is filled with intense feelings of happiness, and that's good enough for me!
As for the ambiance, we used to call it somewhat vampy. Â When this place first reopened, the crowds were fairly sparse and the mood felt more dark and mysterious than anything else... but now with a bigger crowd and a DJ, I'm not sure how I would describe it. Â However the decor is still unique and perhaps still somewhat vampy.
To be honest, I'm not sure this place actually warrants 5 stars, but given that my friends and I are regulars, I have to promote my club! Â I mean we go here all the time, so something must be drawing us in. Â Though I will say that I liked it just a little bit more when it was a little less popular, so feel free to stay away :)
I agree with Joe T. This place is a nice cozy little lair in the basement of Cafe Habanna/ Bastone and has a mystical ambiance when there's just enough people. I came here for a company party last year and it was really comfortable and relaxing. They even have a good amount of seating for non-VIP. But go here on a Friday/Saturday night, and it's a totally different animal. The crowd is really rowdy, and i might even beg to argue that they may be filling the place over capacity, it's like the club is constipated and you're all little sh*** trying to pass through. It's kind of ridiculous. But I still appreciate it for what it is. I wonder what it's like on Thursdays....
Review Source:a neat little bar below Bastone's restaurant, if you don't know where you are going you will probably pass it at least once like we did.
i was here for a private party so it wasn't overly crowded or smokey like i have read about. which is good because i don't really like 'crowded' and may have left if i felt this way.
i really enjoyed the cozy basement feel of this bar and as i walked around i kept discovering different seating areas and the room juston and i dubbed 'the makeout room'. the decor and lighting were very cool.
i liked all the different areas to stand and set your drinks down and i even sneaked a peek inside the brewery area. cool!
the bartenders were really nice and helpful, they told me all of the beers and helped me pick out the weakest one, the blonde and i really liked it.
i also tasted the dubble which was super strong! and the wheat beer which tasted slightly like oberon/blue moon but a lot stronger.
overall, very cool place.
This is place is like night and day depending on whether it's packed like a sardine can or elegant in it's sparsity of patrons. I was here on a Friday night from midnight to 2AM and it was so packed shoulder to shoulder, there was the classic line to get into the sticky, wet bathroom, and drunks were pushing through crowds and bumping into each other to get through. The crowd is cool - typical Royal Oak good looking folks - but it was so packed that it was hard to notice that it's normally a nice place.
I went here for a private event on a Wednesday evening from 7pm and I could actually notice the Gothic elegant decor and chandeliers, the intimate booths and lounge areas, the TVs placed just the right places, and of course the inviting bar.
All in all, I feel that this place is a more clubby and loud chaotic place in the nightlife hours on Friday and Saturday, and in the normal evening and after work hours it may be a little more tame, clean, and swanky experience. If you are undecided as to which flavor you'd like better - maybe go for an in-betweener time segment such as Thursday 10pm-midnight - that way you can have a middle point and see whether you like it busier or more sparse!
We had reservations here for my dear friends b-day and I was impressed - we had our own server all night and she was great. Plus, great beer selection (had brews from Bastone) and no cover.
This place is definitely a R.O. bar, complete with toolish guys and trendy girls rockin' bump-its. I left reeking of smoke and a major headache (they were playing BAD '90's house remixes).
If I was still 21 though, I would have loved this place.
Very cool decor, very vampire lair. I could've channeled Edward Cullen if I really tried, I'm sure of it.
Cinq, Commune, whatever...it will always be Cinq since it's pretty much exactly the same...someone mentioned better lighting-I guess so now that I think about it.
It's ok, am I dying to go back? no. Will I refuse to go there like I do Woody's? no. When it's crowded it's really hot and super smokey, as the basement bars tend to get....Sadly the 5 dollar vodka drinks won't come close to getting you drunk enough not to care....I basically paid 10 bucks for water...awesome.
A cool feature of this place...they do have a private area with a couch and TV for parties, althou have not experienced a private party since this fabulous new name of Commune has emerged...
Someone mentioned they only serve their own beer...they must have been referring to drafts because I know I wasn't drunk enough from this weak liquor parade to mistake the Corona's my friends were drinking....
My experience here is a bit different. Â I've only been here for group events which starts at 6pm. Â It's usually not open till 9pm.
They're usually open most nights for any group activity you'd want to plan. Â They don't charge any money to hold an event there.
They have a pretty good menu for groups as well. Â I recommend the pizza if you're hosting a group event.
The place is HUGE though. Â It might seem empty if you only have 20-30 people there. Â Larger group events are encouraged here.
Anywho, the bathrooms are nice and the floors aren't sticky so I give it a thumbs up.
I dock it a star for not carrying any other beer other than their own brand.
In late July Cinq closed, got a remodel, and reopened as Commune. Â Everything done was an improvement.
As Cinq it was cold and severe and had horrible acoustics (it is after all, a basement with cement floors). Â Well in the remodel it seems they tried to adjust that. Â They added softer lighting (really pretty modern-vintage type chandeliers) and billowy fabrics in mauves and burgundies to soften the lines of the place.
The drinks are still good and reasonable for Royal Oak. Â The only beers they offer are brewed upstairs at Bastone (try the Dubbel Vision... you'll want a mini-keg of it for later).
The crowd varies. Â But you're already hanging out in Royal Oak so you know that.
Kind of went on a whim. Â The well drinks were kind of watery. Â As far as lounge crowds go, it is not terrible, much better than Bosco, but it is sort of a bizarre experience, I think, too creepy for comfort.. Â There are flat screen tv's which were playing basic cable stations. Sort of strange. Â I wouldn't be against returning, but it is not a place I'd frequent. Â I prefer the upstairs bars: Bastone, Vinotecca.
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