Westside Station

I used to enjoy this place until I had my bill tripled by a snooty bartender. I ordered three beers the whole night with a bill that came to almost $40! I tried to ask her and another bartender about my bill and they just blew me off. Okay, it was super busy, but come on.
I frequented this place weekly for a good 6 months before this and although it was always blah inside and out, a lot of people I knew liked it for reasons I may never understand. I've only been back twice since the bill issue and I made sure to bring one dollar bills so I could pay exact change plus a tip.
They have karaoke but the whole layout of the bar is just a bit awkward. Nights that there is a band are much more entertaining.

On a side note, the girl that did the over charging doesn't work there anymore, or at least she didn't went I went back the first time after the incident. I asked.

Both my loyal readers (Mom and aunt Sadie) know that I am a devotee of dive bar Burgers.

I entered Westside Station about 2:30 PM. The place has been here since Jesus was an infant, but I've never tried it before. I liked it on several levels.

First it has the neighborhood bar feeling that always gives me that sensation of timelessness that is just comfortable. The bartender/server had the easy grace of one who had been there a long time and had seen it all. Her name is Liz and she's a very good server. (More on this in a moment) A young friend had told me the Burgers here are pretty good, "if you can get past the residual pre-ban smokiness and the stale Beer smell." I'm pretty odor sensitive but I detected neither today.

There were several patrons there who were well on their way to having a good time, but were well behaved.

Liz brought me a tall ice water and a menu. I asked if the Beef was fresh ground. She said: "No." I asked if the Fries were Shoestrings. She told me they are slightly fatter than that but not Steak Fries. I ordered a Bleu Burger with Crispy Fries. She said the Fries were of a type that precluded Crispy. I ordered a Garden Salad instead. Here's where the "very good server" part became obvious. Two minutes later, she came back with 4 French Fries on a small dish. She took the time to explain that fresh, cut-when-ordered Fries will not get crispy without burning. I think it has to do with greater moisture content. It makes perfect sense, when you think about it. NO ONE had ever bothered to explain this to me before. Countless times I have ordered Crispy only to have fresh cut Fries come to me, tasty (None are more potatoey) but soft and limp. I'd always assumed the servers or the cooks were space cadets!

The Burger was a good one. The Patty was a typical pub-grub pre-frozen 1/3 pounder. They employed the nifty trick, I've been seeing lately, of adhering the Bleu Cheese Crumbles to the Burger with a dollop of Bleu Cheese Dressing. This facilitates keeping it in your Burger, not on your plate. The Bun was a nice one and was stacked with Lettuce, Tomato and an aggressive amount of Sweet Onion. Liz brought all the usual condiment suspects and a bottle of Malt Vinegar, at my request.

It was a great lunch for $7.50 (Pre-tip)

Stop in sometime and have a good Pub Burger and say hello to Liz. Tell her Chuck sent you!

Good service! Fun times. Kind of homely looking. My friend ordered food and it looked good. Karaoke was fun.