The Bourbon Bar

This place is pretty bad ass! I can't say that I was terribly impressed with the liquor selection but for a small (and new?) bar - they're really doing a great job. Aside from the awesome food - which I'll get to in a second - and the live music, I was most impressed by the bartender. He was super charismatic, super friendly and very funny. When I popped in with a group of 6 or so friends, he swiftly tended to us, made sure to introduce himself and took everyone's drink order. When it came time to get food I actually decided to opt out. It was nearly midnight and I had already eaten dinner hours earlier. But my friend next to me got a basket of fries and that's when it got hard to ignore the menu...The fries were AWESOME! In fact, they were so tempting that not only did I sneak a few, I actually asked to see the whole menu. Comprised mostly of about a dozen varieties of slider, I was super happy to see the variety. Suddenly my stomach growled and though I didn't want two sliders, I knew I could share with a friend. The only issue then was deciding which to get. I recall a buffalo chicken slider but only got as far as the fried bologna. HELL. YES!!! I ordered one and my buddy ordered another. (They come two to a plate.)My little slider was DELICIOUS! In fact, it was so good that I could totally envision making a trip all the way back to this bar just to have them again. So yeah... I'm a fan. The food is great, the bartender was totally rad, the live music playing in the theater was piped into the bar and the selection of beer and booze was just enough to satisfy. What a great little addition to the hood!

4 is the average between 3 stars and 5 stars: Why 4?3 stars: Meh. It is a cool, cute and subtly(?) intimate space for a hole in the wall. I had no drinks and drinks are not my forte, so I have nothing to contribute to with drinks (although I did get a water, more on that later). An interestingly mixed group of folks here (including the supposedly "local favorite", more on her later). =P Late Wed night, a bum can be met outside the front asking for crap... I didn't think this downtown-phenomenom could reach this far and late into Columbia City. o_ONow for the 5 stars: ENTIRELY for my fond memory of rockin' the mic with Sugarhill Gang's Rapper's Delight----and ALL fuc*ing 7 minutes of it! ----BAM! In addition to doing my thing up there, this "local favorite" chick asked me if she could join in---of course! Before I finish, let me fill you in on the intro deets. On occasion, one of the folks in our mini Yelp group asked me if I'd picked a song, yet. --No. --Nope. --Not, yet. --I'm kind of tied between between two... come almost-midnight, I'd finally settled on the one that's been bugging me all night, Rapper's Delight - Sugarhill Gang. Drop my card off and wait several songs until I'm called....wait for it.......dar-en ....dar-en ....dar-en ....dar-en ....dar-en--- (omg, ---WHAAAT?!). DUDE, both groups started *GASP* ---CHAN-TING & clapping(?)--- my name, when right then Kira *bowchikawowow!* took my hand and guided me up front.Rewinding back, the local favorite black lady joins me. I notice the screen.... someone says "wow, 7 minutes?!" I glance at the screen----hot diggity dam! Within 1 second, I thought of: why did I pick this song, 7 minutes seems long, I totally dig this song and the beat, I've heard it before but not the whole 7 min... and thankfully glad I asked for a glass of water prior to singing, because boy I tell ya, did I have a mouth drought in the minutes coming up to this (and slightly during, but I pressed on because, the more I sang/rapped it, the more I had tunnel vision on the lyrics screen and rippin' it in my own little world). I definitely heard the times the crowd join in during the good parts---most encouraging, hehe. All said and done.... wow (and phew!). Afterwards, the local lady came up to me and said something like, "Mmm Mm...that was ^fine^!..."I think I did come with my confidence, after all. 7 minutes... of rapping!?I think I just experienced a miracle... amazing.I think I want more karaoke (and drinking not even required! =P).

My first experience here was... Had a blast. Was actually on my way out after catching a burlesque show in the CC Theater and overheard some karaoke! I frickin love karaoke! So I preceded to pick a few songs to sing to my date and in turn she chose a few to sing to me. How awesome! We rocked it! Fun group of people at the bar- mostly it consisted of the burlesque dancers from the show we just attended. Just a warning: bartenders poured some very strong drinks! I wasn't drinking but I still got loaded off of my dates breath.

Live music and friendly staff! Small and intimate setting with very friendly people, great drinks and just an all-around great vibe!

The Bourbon Bar just opened in August 2010 in conjunction with the refurbished Columbia City Theater, and the owners managed to snag Kim Warnick (of the Fastbacks and Visqueen) from the Cha Cha. One might expect that a bar opened in the midst a cocktail boom and named "Bourbon Bar" would have a mind-blowing array of whiskeys, and some of the city's leading mixologists devoted to them. The Bourbon Bar is not that, although they do have a moderate selection of whiskeys and whiskey-based cocktails, which may not be particularly well made, esp. if you are in the middle of a surge of customers waiting to get into a neighboring show. But while the drinks are only average, it does have a pleasantly dark and woody decor and usually a pleasant crowd.

Of course being a non-bourbon/rye/whisky drinker, I end up somewhere called The Bourbon Bar. Makes good sense all around. Cute little space, little being the operative word. One bartender, so our big karaoke group (plus other patrons, but really, who cares about them?) kind of swamped her. She was obliging, though, and asked me unprompted if I preferred ginger ale or ginger beer with my gin. Good call, young lady! I will drink ALL of your ginger beer! "Where is our ginger beer? We have none left." - The barPrices were surprisingly good, managed to have 5 drinks and come out at an even $20. Thumbs up, guys.

I actually feel more 'meh' but this place doesn't deserve a 2 star review.I had fun, it was karaoke night with my favorite KJ group: Absolute Karaoke which almost always guarantees a good time but there was still much to be desired.I had 2 vodka/soda cocktails and ordered one beer, it was $24. I'm cheap I suppose, but that seemed pretty pricey to me. The space is nice, the staff were really great, the selection of alcohol was wide and they did have some specialty cocktails that sounded amazing - I had a sip of a friend's and it was pretty damn good and worth the $10+ it cost. Mine, although admittedly nice and strong, were, at the end of the day, just vodka/soda and at about $8/ea, seemed excessively priced.The rest was good too: clean, well appointed restrooms, fun atmosphere, mixed 'post -Angie's crowd with some other fun patrons thrown in and all in all, I'd go back anytime, but at those prices, I'd likely pre-funk somewheres else.

After one visit to The Bourbon Bar, I would have to say this is a spot you definitely want to check out. Even on a Friday night, the place was relatively quiet, but that only meant the group I was with could stake out a prime spot at the bar which turned out to be the perfect hangout spot for the time were were there. The bartender was a cool dude that joked around just as much as we did and especially since I'm sure he could tell we had already been drinking quite a bit.As far as the people here, there was a good mix of regulars and people dropping in to see the live music in the adjoining auditorium. To our benefit, the band that was on stage at the time's music was piped into the bar area so we got to enjoy it as well which was a nice change of pace over the standard muzak, ipod, or jukebox fare. To top things off, the food we tried was unexpectedly delicious with at least one full review star dedicated just to the amazing sliders we decided to order.

This place is a sad excuse for a restaurant. The food tasted old, reheated and far from fresh. The prices are out of control for the crap that they give you and the service is terrible. This place should be embarrassed and ashamed. I know what i am talking about as i have spent 20 years in the industry designing and perfecting food; google me!

They have local beers and spirits!! :-)No food :-/ but you can bring in out side door or have food delivered cool!!