I came here to see a friend sing with the live band. This spot is for grown folks. The ambience. YES! I ordered a margherita pizza and crab cakes to share. I recall the latter being well-seasoned... Made me think of my Maryland. But back to ambience. Come here for the music people. Do it. And there's plenty of street parking. I almost didn't wanna leave the car because I was shocked to be in a downtown area and in a parking space a skip from my destination.
Review Source:So I stopped here for drinks it a couple of friends, and I have to say this place was interesting.
It seemed like a pretty hipster hang out, but from reading fellow yelpers reviews the crowd may depend on the night. The bar it self was pretty cool, on the first floor there  decent about of sitting space to chill with friends, and there was pinball and ping pong which is always a plus, all they are missing is the skeeball machine lol. Down stairs they had live music and a dance floor, the music was cool, wasn't fist pumping music it was more so just regular dance music.
Overall, Sidebar is a cute little whole in the wall sort of place, def worth checking out with some friends. They do have a Schedule of what type of band/dj is going to be there so that may be worth checking out before you head over.
We've all got those friends that are really trying to be something; cooler, younger, hipper or whatever. Â A sometimes they pull it off. Â You're hanging out, having a good time and then all of a sudden they say or do something weird and you remember "oh yeah, this is just an act they're really a 54yr old real estate attorney that still has a flip phone and and wear loafers with tassels."
Here's the problem with SideBar, it is that schizophrenic friend. Â They have a bartender that often dresses like he is ready for a strong 80's resurgence. Â They play music that belongs in a Euro-Rave while the TV's are all on sports (dirt bike racing while I was there). Â Visit the SideBar early in the week and you can see the Cougars searching for fresh meat (not here my dear) while Buddy C. sits at the end of the bar reading his ipad. Go there on a busy night to witness the other personality, I wanna be just like The Spot Underground...only with $9 Jack-n-Coke(ouch), Â they get some good bands to play there and I heard Fungus Amungus is there soon so they are really trying hard. Â
I think if this bar chose a path and stuck to it then it could really do well but something tells me deep down this bar wants to attract those other real estate attorneys so that when it wants to slip back into those tassel adorned loafers it will be surrounded by friends
The crowd here can be very different depending on the evening that you go-- anything from local politicians, to J&W students, to artists, to young professionals. This place is always mixing it up, so if you feel out of place the first time her, try to come back on a different night or later/earlier in the evening.
The food is decent, but I think most people come here for either the drinks or for whatever live performer is here.
The decor is great-- the place always looks clean, and it has a very put-together atmosphere. Its comfy too-- their chairs are for sitting down and hanging out for a while.
SideBar has a great location -- close to a lot of downtown clubs, Â the theater, the university, etc. Parking can be tricky, but the same can be said for anyplace downtown!
It's a cute bar under street level with live music. A nice place for a drink. But the food is not worth it. My lobster ravioli was swimming in sauce and not that good. My date's angel hair pasta had overcooked shrimp. Definitely not worth the 15 dollar cost. And the wine menu is largely wines from the bottom shelf of the liquor store. Not bad if you're looking for an off the beaten path drink downtown with live music.
Review Source:The space is small and cute, and has a lot of potential. The padding on the back of the bench seats is just weird, and ends up making you sit in a very strange position, especially for those of us who are tall. You're literally on the edge of your seat, because that's all that's really possible. The decor is eclectic. Lots of styles of paintings, and a small, clear sculpture of a woman's torso with pointy nipples on purple breasts.
There isn't a real wine list. The waitress, who did mention she was new, had to un-tape a piece of paper from somewhere to bring it to us to tell us what they had to offer. But a lot of people seemed to be drinking wine. It was just a little strange.
We happened to be there on a night where they have a buffet. And if you're female and have 2 or more drinks, the food is free. (It was a Monday, not sure if it's a weekly deal.) A lot of the folks in the restaurant seemed to be regulars who were there for the buffet.
We decided to go with items off the menu. We ordered the Bruschetta, which, while good in its own way, wasn't quite what we were expecting since it came out hot. Because of the temperature, the bread underneath was a soggy mess by the time it got to us. A couple hints, mention on the menu that it's hot, and serve the bread on the side so it's possible to actually get the topping on the bread with some crunch.
The Caesar salad was good. As were the gnocchi. I'm always a fan of a good gnocchi in a pink sauce.
It's been a week, and I'm still not sure how to rate this place. My experience here was slightly bizarre, but with obvious nods to most of the food we had. 3 stars it is.
Very good! While attending Waterfire, we decided to go out to dinner as well. Just by luck we happened to find this place in a list of area restaurants. It's down the street from McFaddens, and it's a basement restaurant. If you didn't know it was there, you most likely would not find it. The address is Dorrance St, but you actually walk down another street to get into the restaurant. Their menu was very eclectic. They had calamari, catch of the day, crab cakes, pheasant, french onion soup, salads, chicken parmesan, etc etc. I would list most of the choices under the Italian variety, but definitely a very mixed menu.
It wasn't very busy when we went and our waitress was very attentive. The food was great! I ordered the french onion soup and chicken Parmesan over pasta (there is also a chicken parm sandwich option). The soup was HUGE, so my roomie helped me eat that. It was delish - onions were perfect, broth was tasty, and they had a nice crusty piece of garlic bread w/ cheese in the middle - mmmm mmmm good. The chicken parm was good also, but not the best I've ever had... still very tasty, however. My roomie ordered the crab cakes that arrived on mixed greens with sweet potato fries. I heart sweet potato fries, had a couple, and definitely remembered why I heart them.
Prices were very reasonable - average about $10-15 for an entree. Also, from the looks of things the bar was well stocked - so this could also just be a place to go grab a few drinks.
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