I'm a born and raised Clovidian (is that the right term? Sounds pretty cool, regardless) but in spite of the yee-ha George Strait and Alan Jackson upbringing that I enjoyed, I've always been leery of country bars because of their propensity to host drunken brawls and other forms of lowbrow behavior. Jimbo's, is, by all accounts, the pinnacle of lowbrow establishments in this part of the valley, so when a group of my friends invited me to go to Jimbo's with them on a Friday night, I was quite concerned. The group in question, male and female, are not above getting into a cue stick melee. Me, well, I'd rather not. I'll try anything once, so I didn't object. Thankfully, one of my friends was a DD.
$5 cover. The bouncer was surprisingly friendly, as was the bartender that took our orders. The inside of Jimbo's is hard to describe (and even harder in retrospect because of how the night went) but it kind of looks like it's one small building (where the bar itself is) with what amounts to a very large awning that covers three or four pool tables, a dance floor, and a stage. There's a patio out back but I didn't go out there. It's quite rustic, but it's not anything outside of what I expected. My buddy and I played some pool, which was great even though I stunk out loud because I haven't played in forever. I was expecting some of the rednecks that were watching to give me crap about it, but no. Everyone was very cool. Even the band was decent. Not great, of course, but it was nothing more and nothing less than you would expect from a dive bar.
We left at around 1130 to go get some food, and when we came back the bouncer recognized us immediately and ushered us in. Kudos to him for paying attention to his patrons. I get generous when I drink so I rapidly expedited the evening once I got back inside. We played some more pool, which I was inexplicably getting better at, and then I made the fatal mistake of sitting down at the bar. By now, all of the people in my group were sitting at the bar and having a good time. I had too good of a time; luckily I had already mapped out the location of the bathroom. I was in there at closing time, and I distinctly remember one of the employees very gently asking me to make my way towards the door. He even called one of my less-loaded friends over to help me out to the car.
I had a seriously bad Saturday but I was also seriously impressed with Jimbo's and the employees in particular. It's still not my sort of scene so I wont go back there by my own volition, but I wont be so apprehensive next time if I'm invited.
Would I come here again? No.
I'm originally from the Fresno area, but have been to many country bars in Los Angeles and San Diego. Given that the scene there is much different.. it was still like white trash here at Jimbo's.
I went with some friends.. we are all in our early 20's. Was definitely not the scene for me.
Went and tried it out. Would not come back again. Didn't think drinks were that much cheaper than the country bars I've been to in SoCal.. everywhere else in Fresno must be overpriced. & for those who did think that drinks were cheap here.. the scene is definitely not worth the cheap drinks.
Was also disappointed I had to pay a cover charge. It was only $5, but this place was definitely not worth it.
Gotta love "The Gym". Â Its been a Clovis landmark for many moons and holds a special place in my heart, even after their apparent switch away from country music and the Mason Jar's. Â Its just really good as a relaxing place to play some pool, enjoy some fairly priced drinks, and run into friends (and the occasional AGR alum, although I don't wear my letters there often). Â Its not fancy, but its perfect just the way it is.
Review Source:I am stunned they can get a cover charge to go to this train wreck. The band was horrible, I mean wow were they bad!
The crowd was really random. It was as if all my teachers from elementary school got to together to party. There was also lots of country western type people here. I am not a country western person and it didn't seem like they cared that I was there so that was pretty cool. I have been to some crazy bars in Arizona and Nevada where it was clear that they did not want you at their bar if you weren't their kind.
Cheap booze and not getting beat up were the reason for each star..
If the band was halfway decent, I could see me going here again but they were so bad that it's not gonna happen.
WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING?!?! This is a TEXTBOOK 1 star shithole- I must have still been drunk off my ass writing that last update...
Anyway- if I didn't make it clear enough in my first review- this is a REDNECK bar. I mean, I've been in here maybe 4 or 5 times in my life- (which is 4 or 5 times too many) and the crowd can range from "Toby Keith concert" to "The Hills Have Eyes" in 2.9 seconds flat.
I mean- you'll see every kind of hillbilly here. The kind that prefer trucker hats. The kind that prefer dirty overalls. The kind that wear belt buckles so heavy, their pants sag. The simple man-child hick that wears a beer-stained t-shirt with the sleeves torn off with their favorite NASCAR driver on the front. Even some random douches and wiggas manage to find their way here...
I know this place is an easy target, but tonight's experience was on the "not so good" end of my bar experiences.
My friend and his fiancee got in a drunk argument, and it got a little heated during moments. She got up with her girl friend that I was talking to and walked to the back...yard I guess (I swear this fucking place is a converted barn) and my friend went out to follow her. Â Now that I was good and alone at the bar, one of the patrons (maybe the owner, for all I know) comes up to me and says...
"You better handle yer BOY before WE do."
... and sure enough, every yippety doo-dah motherfucker in the place was staring my way. I got up, beer in hand, gave a silent nod, and walked outside to my friend being harassed outside by other hicks about him throwing his beer bottle in a garbage can. "THAT'S WHAT THESE CARDBOARD BOXES ARE HERE FOR, DUMBASS!" is what they were yelling at him about. Sorry, not everyone's familiar with white-trash "culture-" if you don't want people throwing their bottles away in a garbage can, why have it out there?
Anyway, got everyone the fuck out of there before Cotton Eye Joe showed up and the banjo started playing. Even though I'll never come here completely willingly (my friend's fiancee is a "Clovis Girl," which is why we were all there in the first place) I'll never flat out refuse, either. I'm a glutton for punishment, and strangely enough I like coming out of places like this with a story to tell. I'm just glad I was still sober enough this time to realize this was a fight I couldn't win!
Wow what can I say about this place that hasn't been said about Afganistan. It looks bombed and depleted.
If you are white go there if not, Stay home becaus the drink service for you my friend is horrilbe. I have taken my multiracial friends there. We like to switch paying for rounds so when it was there turn to pay. Fuck it took at least 15 minutes. I felt bad for taking my friends there and how they were treated. But bars do have the right to refuse you service.
As far as the women young and old. Â The older women are the way to go. Something must be in the water that women drink. Young Clovis girls are known for acting like prudes and act like they are too good for you. Reality check you live in a small town which means plenty of guys have been with you.
Drinks are cheap. Again cover charge not neccassary. The people are nice but be warned about the youngins
The outside of this bar looks like the bar in Roadhouse...and I hate to admit, but the inside isn't much different! (Complete with a greasy car-salesman sleaze sitting at the bar eyeballing everyone)
I was down in Clovis for an "administrative summit" and after dinner last Thursday night - the girls from work decided that this was the place to take me!
VERY CHEAP DRINKS.
3 shots of Patron (usually around $6-7/shot), 2 Rum and Cokes and a Beer for $14!!!!!!!!!!!!
They have a loud jukebox, and a few booths around the perimeter of the place - a big open dance floor that quickly filled up after 10pm.
Jimbo's isn't exactly a classy place - but it was fun for a night!!
(I'd give it 3 1/2 Stars)
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