If I could give it a zero I would. I generally limit my clubbing to "Gay Bars" because of the ability for my partner and I to dance without men touching me. If you've been to gay bars in bigger cities, you will be severely disappointed with this trash can bar.
Came here on a Saturday night with my two girlfriends after 2 AM when other bars closed and alcohol is no longer served. Paid a 5 dollar cover. The music was loud and people were dancing, I was excited.
Long story short, two sober looking men began to team up and molest me and my friend in the crowd. I told the man to stop and he acted dumb like nothing happened. He continued to touch me near my vagina, he seemed to want to insert his fingers inside of me. Â My friend also told me that he dug his fingers into her body.
I pushed the man away and yelled at him to get out. A couple of IRV's staff stood around idly while I complained about the sexual assault. A minute later, the attacker and his buddy were shaking hands with members of staff like they were old friends.
We left in disgust. Irv's staff doesn't care about their guest's safety. Don't go here if you care for your safety. I feel sick recalling the night.
200000 thumbs down.
While I'm always up for a bar full of homeless looking people, I'm not sure I'm up for a place with straight up homeless inside. I've watched too many Criminal Minds epps to bait a dare!
This review is based on hearsay--all occurring while I was in the ladies' room. After a cool evening at Satelitte Diner (review pending), we stopped one stop over to see the sights.
Apparently, in the two minutes I was in the restroom, my friend was pawed by a toothless (literally) homeless guy.
Thus, this review simply concerns the handsy manner of some clientele.
Oh, Irv's. You're nailin' it.
Dance side with lasers: check.
Dance side has it's own bar: +1
Witnessing a single man make a friend and restoring faith in friendly people, even in Spokane: A+
Add it all up and that's a good bar. Oh, and the music was kicking New Year's Eve. Irv's was by far the coolest place to be.
Mentally subtract a tick for making weak drinks.
Oh, Spokane. What you do to a girl when she's on a 'business trip'
Irv's is the epitome of  a Spokane gay bar.
It's gay, but not TOO gay. It's cool, but sort of lame at the same time. K-A-R_A-O-K-E my friend, and open until 4am sometimes? FUCK YES.
And for that, I fucking LOVE Irv's. Â The bartenders are cool as hell, the drinks are strong enough to put hair on your (insert inappropriate body part here) and the patrons run from hot-hot-hotties to 'wow, no I didn't notice that Tasmanian devil tattoo on your ass, thanks so much for pointing it out to me'
Go there, have a drink- I think they said the Screaming Orgasm was the special there- or was that me in the bathroom?
I forget, but that's because it's all hazy and good in that way you want a night out in Spokane to be.
This was my last hope to find a spot in Spokane that wasn't totally dead on a Thursday. Â In fact, things were so dire that when we walked in to Irv's, saw the main bar vacant, and told the door guy we are from Seattle and looking for a place to kick it on a Thursday, his response was "go back to Seattle." Â Yeah, it was a dire situation.
However, one of our group heard what he thought was DJ'd music coming from the room next door, so we checked it out. Â What assaulted our eyes next was a total showstopper. Â The "nightclub" section of Irv's had a stripper pole right in the middle of the dance floor. Â Unreal. Â There was a girl on it, working it like it was her job. Â (By the by, I'd lay even money that it was.) Â To her credit though, it was an impressive show.
I headed to the bar because after the show I'd just seen, I needed a drink. Â Truth be told, I needed a shower, but that wasn't possible at the moment. Â I ordered a drink, watched the bartender pour almost an entire glassful of booze, then slide it down the bar to me. Â I've seen some heavy pours in my day, mostly when people order well drinks, but I was drinking the good stuff, and this pour had to be at least a triple. Â It was awesome. Â The bartender introduced himself as Todd, and he kept the drinks coming.
I turned around to see the same girl putting on another show, so I starting looking around and what did I see? Â Remember Rose? Â The hostess from the disaster known as the AClub? Â Yep, she was sitting at the bar. Â Small world, no?
This place saved our night for sure, and many thanks to Todd for hooking it up!
I'm nursing a hangover in the Spokane airport and chuckling over random recollections of last night between the headaches and urges to hurl. Yes, it was that kind of night and I have Irv's to thank for it.
My girlfriend and I were in town for the weekend to watch the Women's Olympic boxing trials, and we decided to check out the local nightlife. Coming from LA, we didn't expect much of gay scene (or any, for that matter), but Yelp seemed to promise a decent time here.
Irv's really surprised us. It's not comparable to a typical gay bar/lounge in LA, but for us, it was refreshing not having to deal with the LA pretentiousness and prices. The DJ kept the music hot all night with some of my favorite 90's hip hop and some modern club hits. An appreciative bartender poured a heavy goose and tonic for me after a small tip early in evening. The patrons were a mix of straight and gay, some wasted, but all laid back and friendly. Before we hit the dance floor, it was entertaining enough just watching drunkies have a blast and not give a f*ck about what other people think, especially when they decided to make use of the stripper pole in the middle of the dance floor. Special shout out to the dude that monkey climbed up that pole and attempted  an upside down split about 10 feet up without falling on his face. Oh yes, and a very special shout out to the smokin'go-go dancer that let us tip by way of hot pants and cleavage. Even the straight dancefloor creepers were polite enough to ask us for a dance instead of the persistent sneak freaking we've become accustomed to NYC and LA. Gotta love those small city manners.
For those who don't want to dance, Irv's offers a conjoining room with billiards and a second bar. There are inexpensive parking lots within a block in various directions and there's a $5 cover on Saturday nights.
If you're a city dweller like me that somehow ends up in Spokane and is looking for a fun Friday or Saturday night out, definitely check out Irv's.
I came here on a Wednesday night which was their karaoke night. No cover charge. It wasn't a packed night either, mixed crowd which I liked - from young hip queer men, to country lookin folks to preppy bachlorettes, old and young.
You got shameless singing from the pros, to the most horrible to the shy; picking opera, to country, to 90s pop, to rock, to alternative songs etc.
Nice dive bar vibe.
I've been here only a handful of times but had a blast each and every time. I attribute this to the diverse, friendly and seemingly open-minded people who tend to go there. More recently, I took some out-of-town friends there on the Sunday of MLK weekend. It was Karaoke night, there weren't a whole lotta people there and the dance floor was closed, but the bartenders were cool and we ended up hanging out with some fun people. Yes, you read right, cool bartenders. I've read some negative comments about the bartenders, but I personally like a bit of diva in a bartender! Another plus, it's right next to the Satellite.
Review Source:Irv's. Oh Irv's. Bless your confused Spokaniness.
Here's why this bar is great:
- Open until 4am, giving you a solid chance to sober (or hook) up.
- Employs real DJs, who genuinely seem to know how to get people's boove on the move. Sometimes they stop playing hip hop.
- Smoking patio. Great for bumming a cig, chatting up a fella, or sassing a drag queen. I really love the little smoking alley.
- Weirdly busy on weeknights. I've been to Irvs on a Wednesday (or was it a Thurs?) where it was packed out.
- Heteroflexibility. For some reason, the mixed crowd really brings out the nellie in the straight fellas.
Here's why Irv's is... umm...
- The crowd. This is more of a Spokane thing, but you will never see so much shameless nasty bootydancing in your life. You will feel both vicariously shameful and thrilled. Don't join them, you'll get pregnant.
- Charging for water. No tap, only bottled. Chances are if you're there after last-call you're out of bills.
- Pole dancing? Cage-things? To my knowledge, they don't employ dancers. People in/on these things are doing it gratis.
- The staff. They're either manic or surly, nothing in between. I've kind of made it a point not to purchase alcohol here, since the interactions are such a mixed bag.
And a note to out-of-towners who end up at Irv's: Gay Spokane is trapped in 1999. They will not notice your clothes-that-fit and non-tragic vibe. Enjoy!
After the drag show at Dempseys we walked over to Irv's for some more fun. I admit that my pre-conceptions of bars in Spokane made me very pleasantly surprised by the experience at Irv's. We saw some pretty random, entertaining things here, including some guy who was apparently a gymnast doing athletic moves on poles. LOL.
Irv's appeared to be a very open bar, with a lot of different options and catering to a large variety of people. We saw both opposite and same-sex couples mingling happily together, which is more what I expected to see in San Francisco than here. The bar is also very large, with a variety of options for different people. The front room, my personal favorite, is the room for those who want to just chill and hang out. This room is quieter (it's easy to talk over the music from the next room), has tables to sit at with groups, pool tables, and arcade games. We played a few games of pool, which I'm happy to say was dirt cheap at only 75 cents a game, with the bartender happy to exchange dollar bills for quarters.
Move over to the other room and you get dancing! There's a large dance floor with a DJ (at least on Saturday nights) and dance poles, where dancers can get their groove on. There's also a platform with comfortable booths for those who want to watch, take a break, or don't mind having conversation above the loud music.
There is a cover on Saturday night, but it's only $3, and apparently regulars can get out of paying it. I don't mind paying $3 when the drinks are so cheap and there's hours of entertainment in the entire bar. Other than being exhausted in the wee hours of the morning from my whirlwind long weekend, I had a great time at Irv's.
My sister and her husband decided to stop in after dinner for her birthday. Nate, the disgruntled employee, practically ruined their night.
It started with him just being generally rude, but escalated when my sister began coughing and her husband asked Nate for a cup of water. The bartender ignored him, even though he wasn't busy. My sisters friend said this is ridiculous, as my sister continued to cough, and demanded a cup of water. Nate said fine- for a dollar. Then he looked at my sister and said "Happy Birthday" with a smirk on his face.
The only reason I give this place one star is because there is nothing lower. Â
Please folks, in an economic time when you want to have a good time for your money, don't waste it on supporting businesses like this.
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