AS OF 4/30 THIS BAR HAS CLOSED!!!! Â Â WHEN/IF THEY MOVE OR REOPEN I WILL POST INFO HERE.
I love this bar! Â Not the song but the bar!!! Â Staff and patrons are friendly! Â You don't have to drink. Â Bartender is happy to see EVERYONE that walks in. Â Out-of-towners who come to town for Cactus League often stop here. Introduce yourself to the bartender and you'll have a friend forever.
They have fun, offbeat things to keep you entertained. Â From the Blues Brothers statues behind the bar, to the bartender trivia challenge of the day. Never a problem and always a good time.
Live Music Fri and Sat nights.
Old school fun too...
2 pool tables
1 Fooseball table
1 Pinball table
2 Bar Video games
Touchtune Jukebox.
Divey - CHECK
Awesome bar games - CHECK
Well Priced drinks - CHECK
Music - CHECK CHECK
Overall, great hangout place to do just that - hang out! Â Good live music on the nights they have bands playing, otherwise great jukebox selection. Â Broad range of people and broad range of bar games; overall, a good place to hang out and unwind.
Once upon a time I had a ton of car trouble (so lots of stress) and nowhere to go since I'd just moved to Phoenix. Â So I walked off the stress and finally stopped at Donna Jean's because it looked like a friendly, non-chain dive on Bell Road and I was thirsty for booze.
It was maybe 3:30 in the afternoon and I walked into a crowd of middle-aged locals enjoying their afternoon beverages and 70s and 80s rock and pop and old country music on the jukebox in this big, dark bar. Â I sat down and the bartender asked me about my day... so I vented about the car trouble, spilling coffee on my laptop, being new in town, not having a place to live and no job. Â Instant friends! Â She brought me a PBR on draft and a shot of Jim Beam, and the daytime regulars proceeded to make a list of where I should apply for gigs, gave me the card of a regular who fixes computers, and recommended a garage for beaters like mine.
So the friendly afternooners really made me love this place and I've been back several times since, usually in the late afternoon and evening because they warned me about the rock bands that play there on weekends (more later).
Donna Jean's is located at the right end of a little strip mall with a few other stores (maybe a florist?). Â When you pull open the heavy wooden door covered in band flyers, you'll see a stage to your left, darts and bathrooms straight ahead, pool tables and high tables with benches to your immediate right and the bar all the way on the right of the space. Â It's dimly lit, and if you're an early drinker like me you'll find a friendly crowd talking about their day, playing pool, and cranking out tunes on the jukebox. Â These guys remember your name (as do Jamie, the daytime bartender, and Tyra, the weeknight bartender) and they know what you like to drink. Â There are a couple of video crack consoles on either end of the bar if you're hanging solo and don't feel like chatting.
On Fridays and Saturdays, the bar plays host to mostly rock, metal, and punk bands, and Donna Jean is known to hop onstage and rock the house. Â She's really trying to make this place a hotspot for local live rock bands and it looks like she's pretty successful so far; they're hosting a couple multi-band shows in February. Â The weekend bartenders hustle to get cocktails for the crowd but know what you want before you catch their eye because these girls don't usually have time to wait for you to hem and haw about what you're drinking. Â The music isn't really my style, but the acoustics are pretty good for rock and roll and there's room to dance near the stage or just mingle around the pool tables and high tops.
Drinks are pretty cheap ($2.50 for a PBR draft, $4.00 for a shot of Jim), and there is no food available but plenty of restaurants in walking distance if you need something to soak up the booze. Â I'm a fan, and if you swing by around 4 or 5 on my day off you'll probably find me here!
As the flashy stage suggests, this is more of a music venue than a dive bar itself. When I'm just coming here to knock back a bottle of cider, it's alright, but when there's an act on, they do a great job of letting everyone have fun!
It's really loud, too, just how I like it. With the gnarly decorations, reasonable covers, and knowledgeable bartenders, I look forward to coming here for local shows!
I have only been here 1 time. Â It sucked. Maybe it was because I went when they had a band. I thought my ears were going to bleed. Â This band played for like 2 hours! Every song sounded the same and they were all horrible. Â I was so happy when they got off stage I clapped. I am not sure if I will ever go back here. My friends say the like it and to come back because most the bands don't suck that bad.
Review Source:I enjoy dives. When I'm in the mood for a "dive". And this can't be more of a dive.
But hey it's cool, usually good live local music. I hear they are trying to get more and more bands to play. Buddy of mine works for kwss 106.7 independent radio here in the valley and has sponsored some shows here.
Mostly punk and metal which i get into.
This place has NO KITCHEN. Which in my opinion a bar with no kitchen. It's a true bar. Kinda cool. They have like a original house freezer where they keep their mugs. That i think it's pretty damn cool.
Very cheap shots and cheap beer. My kinda place, when im in the mood.
OK, here's the deal. Donna Jean's is not my kind of hangout. But that doesn't mean she hasn't met the needs of her regulars and neighbors.
When we pulled up, we could hear the opening band covering "Beat It" with a decidedly head-banging guitar solo during the bridge. There were some pickups in the parking lot, and a long-haired, white cowboy boot wearing rocker unloading equipment.
I was nervous.
See, my good friend's band was scheduled third, or would never even have traveled so far North and West for drinks. The crowd was full of several Westside rollergirls and their entourage. They were there (according to the onstage shoutout) to listen to the country-rootsy-metally opener. To be honest, I expected the kind of cool service at the bar that one can expect from "locals-only" types of hangouts, but Donna Jean--I'd like to think it was the real DJ, even if it wasn't--was friendly, if a bit reticent.
Once my friends got on stage, many of the rollergirls left, but the locals stuck around. The sound guy was a bit pushy, resulting in an over-fuzz that was distracting, but otherwise the sound was good. The stage seemed roomy, and was even decorated with many intense black-light posters, which took me back to my stoner youth.
The beers are reasonably priced, the drinks seem strong (if the wheeling around and crazy-eyes of the other patrons are any indication), and there are a lot of things to do in this trim little Glendale bar.
Libations has pool tables, darts, videogames, even a cigarette machine. Plus bands, many of whom are actually good, and a ton of high pub-style tables and stools with a good view of the stage.
They definitely lose a star for the curtains-instead-of-doors decor in the ladies room.
Will I be back? Probably not unless my guy's band plays there again. But I'm not going to hold that against Donna Jean and her regulars--they've got their thing going on.
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