Eastside Bar And Grill

I stayed one night in Crawfordsville and wanted to sample the night life in the area. Searching Google and other sites did not turn up very many options for a good bar, and since I didn't want to endlessly roam the town, when we saw Eastside Bar & Grill we went in. The bar is a standalone building near a shopping center and is pretty large inside. The bar has a nice Internet jukebox that allows you to create your own playlists either from the kiosk itself, or through your smartphone. I know this is pretty common these days, but some smaller town bars don't have these yet. There were several rooms in the bar offering a couple of pool tables. There was even a set of bags (cornhole to some) setup for people to play. The staff was reasonably friendly, and the bar seemed clean. I didn't notice any sticky floors, chairs, even the bathroom was decently clean. Based on the size of the bar, and the offerings of pool tables, a decent jukebox, and no major cleanliness complaints, my issues with the bar was more with the selection of alcohol. It is clear that the bar owners are aiming low with this place. The only beer on tap was Coors. They had a nice selection of beers, as long as you wanted Bud, Miller, or Coors products. They made no attempt to cater to craft beer, or even many import beers (I think they did have Heineken). Even the liquor selection was pretty basic. Order a drink with vodka, and I noticed they poured it from a plastic bottle. Jack Daniels was the only whiskey they had. Glancing through the liquor bottles in the well, it was clear the bar makes no effort to upsell top shelf liquors. The fact that this is a small town bar catering to modest people doesn't automatically give this a 3 star rating. Theres more. The food is pretty much all frozen stuff heated up in a microwave (or at least thats what it tasted like). I ordered chicken strips with fries, and some hot wings, then later we ordered some cheese sticks. Their special of the day was a hot pretzel with cheese sauce. Everything we ate tasted like it was straight from the Walmart freezer. Again, just like with the booze, the owners of this bar are clearly aiming low. Even the staff, which was friendly, just didnt seem too professional. The bar tender we had at first was probably in her 30s and was friendly, but once the bar got a little busier, she stopped coming over to us despite the fact that we had a $90+ tab going. While I acknowledge thats not necessarily "high roller" territory, if I was a bar owner, I would teach my staff to recognize the customers that are spending money. Instead, as the night went on, we got a random rotation of "beertenders" who asked us several times if we had a tab, despite the fact that we had already told them several times. After 9pm, the jukebox shut off, and a DJ started playing a strange rotation of rap music and Led Zeppelin. None of the music was anything you could dance to (not that there were any people dancing), but it just seemed like the DJ had no interest in getting people moving. It just seemed like they hired some kid with an iPod, a PA system, and some DJ lights to play random music. Everything about this bar, from the choice of beer, lack of top shelf liquor, entirely frozen menu, odd DJ, and amateurish staff reeked of lost opportunity. Overall, we didn't have a bad time, and maybe in Crawfordsville, Indiana, this type of bar is all that you need, but I can't help but wonder what this bar could have been like with a little more effort. They have a good location, a large building, and some nice pool tables. It wouldn't take much to elevate this bar to something much better.

Failed to tell me featured attractions included a dirty strip club right next door. Witnessed drug activity right outside the window. Breakfast was a joke! Every town has those on or two hotels known for being trashy AF. This is it!! I will say the night clerk was extremely nice and professional. He should leave immediately. pay 40 more and book the Best Western across the street.