Rose Bowl Tavern Ltd

I've only been to the Rose Bowl on one particular night, Tuesday.  They have bluegrass music.

I don't know about any other night, but Tues there are quite a few laid-back grad student types.  It's always been fun, pitchers are cheap.

It's dark and has a dive bar feel.  The only food available is tater chips.

If you are wondering whether you should go to the Rose Bowl, then you probably should not. This is a redneck townie bar for redneck townies, to the exclusion of all others. This is the sort of place in which the record skips* if anyone not fitting this precise description walks in. If you are that intrepid adventurer seeking a new experience, you will find yourself in an uncomfortable paradox: all attention is on you, yet the bartender is not aware you exist.

The bar is dark and a little dusty. Decor is of the promotional variety, with some pretty interesting stuff from back in the day, as well as a good representation of Nascar hoods. They usually have a good price on drafts and even pitchers, but only of bland domestic macros. There are a few video games and even a Megatouch. Live bands playing both kinds of music (Country & Western) stop by several times a week, and I have heard that some of those bands are pretty good.

Before you write this off as a typical Chambana-by-way-of-Chicago student snob poo-pooing the local scene, please know that I appreciate dives as much or more than most, and can swallow swill as fast as you can pour it into a plastic cup. In my book, genuineness is a turn-on, dirt don't hurt, and grits is good. However, that does not mean that I like going places where they don't make you feel welcome. If you want a great laid back joint nearby, try Bunny's. If'n you be wantin' a snarl, the stinkeye, and mebbe a stabbin', try the Rose Bowl.

*They don't actually play records at the Rose Bowl, they play mp3's off a cpu with WinAmp.

The Rose Bowl is a dusty, hole-in-the-wall bar that nonetheless has charm.  It also has pitchers of PBR and Oldstyle for cheap.  It has the wood paneling, dartboards, and signs of any of a bajillion divey bars across America, but I like it.  Even more fun is the live music performed when I was there this week.  The guy with the guitar performing played pretty much anything the increasingly drunk patrons could throw his way, and I will freely admit that I sang along with everyone else when he played Marcy Playground's "Sex and Candy".  I can't believe that song is ten years old, WEIRD.

Anyway, nice divey spot.  I'll be back.