Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Excuses

Monday 1/21/13 (5 degrees)
It is so f’ing cold out!  Why did we go out tonight!  Terrible-life-choice. 

Last time A was at Excuses he saw an awesome 80’s throw-back metal show!  Full of head-banging and back-to-back guitar playing; every awesome heavy metal cliché that you can think of.  That is what we were expecting: dark and smoky and dirty.  That is not what we got. 
Being that it was a Monday evening on Hoth, not many people were out and about.  We walked in and were able to find seats at the bar immediately.   We were greeted by a perky and engaging bartender who had hurt her arm and had it in a sling (tending bar with an arm in a sling is as difficult task as you can imagine).   There was a steady stream of regulars in-and-out each who were energetically greeted and fondly fare-welled.  You could tell she was a well-liked bartender especially when she had to go change a keg  and the whole bar had a good laugh about how everyone wanted to help her because she was hurt.  It was a prime example of how a good bartender can go a long way to creating a comfortable environment.
This bar has great kitsch.  Little things are all over that catch your eye and make you smile: a self-made PBR mini-fridge, a leg-lamp standing on a leg table, a “suck my d*ck” box (no clue what that is, but hopefully it involves a shark), and a pretty cool Excuses t-shirt.  It is nice and dim, except for the back dining room.  A dining room!  In Excuses!  But that is where we saw heavy metal!    I do not know if they still do shows there, but there is now a 9 table dining room with what looks like new tables and chairs and menus.  
Now don’t get us wrong.  This is still a dive bar with smoking, it just now seems to have a restaurant attached to the back.  They also have an assortment of late-night food conveniently posted at the entrance of the bar.  They also have a giant lottery machine in the bar, but we don’t really have anything to say about that.
All-and-all, it is clean and expensive for a dive-bar.  But I guess when you are in the South Side your standards are a bit skewed.  We would go back.  We might even try the food.  In closing, if you are ever in the South Side surrounded by a sea of douche-bags and sorostitutes and need to escape, this is probably a pretty safe bet.     

Address:
2526 East Carson, 15203
www.excusesbarandgrill.com
Games:
Video poker, lottery
Façade:
Scary (for SSide)
Scene:
Dive
Parking:
Easy
Patio/Outdoor:
No
Kitchen:
Bar food (plus fuller restaurant in back)
Cleanliness:
Normal
Smoking:
1970s Pittsburgh
Jukebox:
Internet Crap
Hours:
M-Sat:10-2am, Sun:11-2am
Cig Machine:
Yes
Drink Prices:
Average (cheap for SSide)
# taps:
24
Bathrooms:
Hover
Specials:
Daily
Live music:
Sometimes
$8
ATM:
Yes
Cash Only
Yes
TVs:
4
Size:
Average











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