The Ground Floor

This bar is far and away better than Big Daddy's, but still leaves something to be desired. They do have live music on occasion that is pretty rad though. The workers are really friendly as well. Drink prices aren't great, but they are no where near outrageous either. I am a cheap ass though. It's definitely worth checking out, and if it's not open Blue Agave is just right down the street.

For a Belleville bar establishment, this is one place that my significant other and I frequent when we feel like going out for few drinks.  We have had a couple of odd experiences there, usually on off-nights with the locals hanging around the bar, watching shows like for example, "Jack-ass".  Not the type of ambient to provoke stimulating conversation (for me at least!).  That was just one experience though and we should have made the choice to leave after over an hour of "jack-ass"; I just don't recommend going there when it's an off-night.   They do book some really great musicians though, and I highly recommend making it out to see a show every now and then.  

All-in-all, I like this place.  The owner is a good-humored guy and his dog can almost always be found wandering the venue or sitting in the front window to greet incoming people.  Last night, he was very quick to kick a client out that was belligerent which I was quite impressed with. We will be back, and I hope you try this place out too.  It beats the hell out of Big Daddy's and other loud obnoxious bar venues in the Belleville downtown area.

Before I came here the first time, I was apprehensive. After all, what kind of decent venue would be way out in Belleville, IL? I was wrong, it's an awesome club.

I've been out here to see a bunch of shows, and performed once as well. They book a bunch of really great stuff. I've been there to see local friends (and like I said, I've performed too), and I've also been there to see great out-of-town bands, like Captured by Robots (if you ever have a chance to see him/them, *GO*!)

The stage is small, and the sound system, like in a lot of clubs, is only as good as the person running the board that night. But the acoustics in the room are good, and there's room to dance in front of the stage.

The space is an art gallery as well as a bar, all local artists. It's definitely "coffeeshop art", but a lot of it is actually quite good (though there is the occasional piece that's a total head-scratcher) Anyway, it makes for a really fun, bohemian feel to the place.

I would, however, like to give the artists a little tip: Gas masks as disturbing-war-motif are totally cliche. Everybody's seen it in other artwork, you're not doing anything new with it. Also, they really, *really* freak me out. Please move on to some other visual shorthand for the atrocities of war and the rise of capitalism.

The bartenders rock, and mix good strong drinks. They also know their way around the espresso machine if that is your vice of choice. Unfortunately, they don't serve food. There have definitely been nights I would have jumped at bar snacks, or scones, or rice crispy treats, anything really.

It seems like once or twice a month something is going on here that inspires me to make the 45 minute trip from Chesterfield to Belleville. And that's saying a lot, since who wants to drive that long to get home in the middle of the night?