The Rolling Thunder Saloon

No longer open--lost liquor license.

Never knew how to be a small town business anyway--you have to cater to the locals.

The last time I was ever there, which was a couple years ago, the bartender kicked a bunch of customers out at midnight on a Saturday night because she wanted to leave--I'd say there were about 15 of us, still buying drinks. Bad business.

This place recently opened on the site of a 100 year old bar in downtown Odessa, Washington. The new owners are from the Seattle area and they have put in a lot of elbow grease restoring and updating the place. the ceilings are really high and there are new fans in place. They put in about a gazillion outlets to plug into their wireless internet which is a plus if you need to get online when you are between Spokane and Seattle and are diverted on highways 21 or 28 which pass right through the town.

The theme of the bar is based on motorcycles. The owners  themselves discovered the bar when they were visiting for the Desert 100 Motorcycle Race that happens in early April just outside Odessa. This will be "The Place" to visit for anybody attending the annual event or looking to take a long ride on their Harley. They have even suspended a few enduro and street type bikes above the bar.

They have the usual domestic beers on tap plus "Mac & Jacks" and Odessa's own Rocky Coulee Beer as well. They also serve mixed drinks and some food if you're hungry. They have a juke box and a pool table in back as well as darts and two big-screen tv's plus pull-tabs.The most impressive thing to me is the design on the ceiling that is at least 100 years old. Staring at it gave me a neck pain that I'm still trying to get rid of. The management is super friendly which gives the place a great atmosphere and makes you want to come back for more...