Anyone here ever hang out in any rough bars?

[NNN0LHI]

Used to spend my evenings during the early 1970's in one called The Bucket Of Blood. I am not kidding, that was the name of it. And the name was appropriate.

Knifings, shootings, you name it were a regular occurrence. Just about every single night. It was a little mob operated place in the south suburbs of Chicago.

Mostly bikers and dope dealers hung out there. I was neither. But I still hung out there. The bartender/manager used to sell shots of prescription cough syrup over the bar. It was called Citre Forte. He used to have this shit by the gallon sitting behind the bar. I have no idea where he got the stuff. I think it took the World Health Organization to get Boyle to finally stop making the stuff it was so popular during that time.

At any given time there were more joints burning than cigarettes. They used to have a stereo with a reel to reel in there that would kick ass. The mob put a stop to that because they wanted their jukebox filling up with quarters every night.

People would openly snort coke, MDA and any other drug they could get their hands on right off the bar like it was perfectly alright.

Cops wouldn't even come into the place unless someone got killed outright and they had to do an investigation. But they didn't want to.

Weird place, eh?

Don

[Forkboy]

1. Nope, nothing that rough lol.

Seen and been in some crazy ass things at times, but nothing that blatantly open and nightly. Crazy ass 70's!! :)

My friends and I never hung out in any one joint much anyways. We tended to wear out our welcome pretty quickly.

[struggle4progress]

2. Used to go to a biker bar in Big D to drink beer and shoot pool in the 70s.

Never went alone: always with a couple of friends who vaguely knew some of the regulars. We were all reasonably fit, quick-witted, and not much inclined to provoke people, so we stupidly thought we were immortal. The friendly advice was sometimes kinda off-putting, though: See that chick? Don't talk to her. See that guy? She's his girlfriend. If you talk to her, he may beat the shit out of you. Went for a while, then started asking myself why-the-fugg-would-I-want-to-go-there?

[cloudbase]

3. Yep.

A by-product of having a career as a merchant seaman.

[gratuitous]

4. Went into one once with my boss, a lawyer

He had just gone to court, so he was in his lawyerly finest: Suit, tie, London Fog overcoat. We strolled into the Inn Cognito late morning, virtually empty. He boldly walked up to the bar where one of the more dubious-looking persons I've ever seen not in jail was waiting. My boss said, clearly and authoritatively, "Liquor Control Commission. Lemme see yer license." The guy behind the bar stared for a second, and my life flashed before my eyes as I figured he was weighing whether to shoot us individually or just pop my boss in the ear and let the slug go through his skull and into me.

Instead, the bartender turned on a dime, fished behind some beer display behind the bar and brought out the framed license. My boss grinned and introduced himself (he was a very long-ago acquaintance of the owner/bartender, who didn't recognize him all suited up). The bartender shook his hand and said he had his license handy because the liquor control folks had just done an audit the week before.

After I changed my shorts, we passed a pleasant half hour talking about all kinds of groovy things, mother stabbing and father raping, before bidding adieu.

[HopeHoops]

5. This one bar was SO rough... (HOW ROUGH WAS IT?)

It was SO rough that you had to get beat up BEFORE you could go in.

[guitar man]

6. I used to

I hung out in some places that looking back on it, it's a wonder I survived some of them. Gigged in a lot of them and sometimes just wanted to hang out, places full of 1%ers and all manner of ruffians :crazy:

[Mopar151]

7. Everybody called it The Zoo

Legal name notwithstanding....
Anything you needed, you could find it there is 15 Minutes - video poker action, hustled out of $20 at the pool table, a little time with the "ladies" hangin' around the owner, some moderatley overpriced weed, coke, whatever, or your ass kicked and left behind the dumpster - whatever you need. The dealers paid off to deal there...Had a good band now 'n then, and a huge Christmas party for members' kids {licensed as a private club}. They had 2 bouncers - a slab of beef by the front door. and a litttle guy in a fatigue jacket by the back door - but his eyes never stopped movin'. I wouldnt'a taken him on with a howitzer.

[City of Mills]

8. So, what the hell was the appeal of hanging out there?

Did it make you feel tough? Were you just into people watching? Not sure what the appeal would be, but it seems to go against common sense to spend time someplace where you have a high likelihood of catching a bullet or blade even as an innocent bystander. Was it an adrenaline rush or something? Maybe I need to get out more... :hippie:

[NNN0LHI]

11. Pool player for money

[trof]

9. I used to go to this bar in Amsterdam. The Bastille.

They had bowls of roasted peanuts on the bar AND YOU JUST THREW THE SHELLS ON THE FLOOR!

That's pretty rough for Amsterdam.
;-)

[graywarrior]

10. I grew up in the City of Sin, so yeah, I have a dark past

[meegbear]

21. C'mon talk ...

The Blue Note? Cronins (which is now "The Fenix")? That bar under the Central Square train bridge?

[graywarrior]

27. The Cameo Lounge, Cronin's, The Tap & Grill and any other bar that didn't ban me

And you?

[meegbear]

29. No bans ...

but one of my close friend's family owned The Cameo. Forgot all about that place.

[graywarrior]

35. I can't tell you how many stabbings and beating occured in that place

on a daily basis. What a hole in the wall. Do you remember the band Hot to Trot or White Cargo? Those were my days at the Cameo. You are probably too young to remember.

[meegbear]

36. I was to young, but I remember the name White Cargo ...

and Revolver (well, they're still around).

[graywarrior]

37. wow, my ex was lead guitar of White Cargo

I haven't heard Revolver for quite a while....lol. Can't believe they're still around.

[meegbear]

39. Here's their Facebook page ...

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Revolver/114110648071

[meegbear]

38. Here's their Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Revolver/114110648071

[graywarrior]

40. What a riot

[oneshooter]

12. The Busted Chain. Worked there as a cook for about a year

Owner was a biker that got the place declared a "neutral area" for the local bikers. Hired bouncers from all 4 of the biker clubs, no fighting allowed! The front of the bar was 1/2" finished plywood, with 3/4" steel plate behind it. Served beer and mixers, had a jukebox and a small stage, with the proper netting across the front! I cooked behind the bar and would throw a handful of onions on the grill when sales were slow. The smell of those cooking onions got a lot of people hungry! beer was served in cans and plastic cups only.
Got to know quite a few "interesting" folks there.

Oneshooter
Armed and Livin in Texas

[MrScorpio]

13. No… And I'm not the biggest fan of movies about gladiators either...

[Old Troop]

14. Used to hang out in some in Colon, Panama

Conversation would quiet for a minute when a weapon was fired, but resume almost immediately. Then there was Rick's in Fayetteville. I bet some of the ABN/SF vets can talk about that one.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

15. Bucket Of Blood was the name of a rough saloon on Bonanza.

Craziest places I visited in the general area of your Bucket Of Blood were about that time were in Lyons.

[Initech]

16. I used to frequent a place like that in San Diego: The Star Bar

[RandomThoughts]

17. Cloud Nine Biker Bar in Tacoma.

And many other bars.

[MilesColtrane]

18. I've played a few in my time.

...including some bars on Jacksboro Highway where the band was threatened with a pool cue in one case and a .38 in another.

But, I didn't make it a habit to hang out in places like that.

[grasswire]

19. Tip: Don't order a frozen daquiri in Butte. n/t

[davsand]

20. The Rendezvous.

I was there with the guitar player for the Elvis impersonator. This was the bar you went to when you were barred from every other place in the county. The women were probably wearing chain mesh panties and the men had mis-spelled "Mom" tats. Not a full set of teeth in the place.

I started to wonder if we were gonna get out of there alive when the Elvis impersonator passed out cold in the middle of the second set...



:scared:



Laura

[Raffi Ella]

22. Not bars but some rough people in general,

in the process of getting and doing drugs and all...I look back on my teenage years and wonder what the HELL I was thinking.

[applegrove]

23. That is strange. I had a pal who used to go to a biker bar and said they

were the safest place because nobody wanted to piss off the bikers or have the police there.

[Recovered Repug]

24. When I was in the navy during the war,

I hung out at a rough place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLQWPgQMHhQ

[rbnyc]

25. My rough bar story.

So about 20 years ago I was on this long road trip with a friend and we stopped in this bar somewhere in southern Louisiana. This place was so isolated and in such an impoverished community that they didn’t even have pricing for their drinks. Seriously, people would come in and drink and pay at the end of the week with a bag of skinned possums. I ordered a Jack and Coke and the bartender was so confused by me. He asked me what I thought a fair price was. I told him 5 bucks. He said that was fine. He took out a water glass and filled it with warm Jack Daniels and gave me a can of coke. The jukebox played for free. There were about 6 people in the bar hanging out. It was sometime in the early afternoon. My friend and I sat at the bar and talked to the bartender who told us that this was a very insular community, that folks took care of each other and didn’t ask questions. If you say your name is Nancy, your name is Nancy. Most folks here are on the run from something. We should be careful. Stuff like that.

After a while these 3 folks came in (1 man, 2 women) and started talking to us. I grew up in the Midwest and am really bad at understanding accents. These folks were Creole and I couldn’t freaking understand them at all, but I somehow managed to figure out that they were inviting me to smoke a joint with them in the bathroom. My friend did not want to go, but I was up for it. So we’re all four crammed into this dingy dive bar bathroom smoking a joint and the man starts rolling up his sleeves and pant legs and unbuttoning his shirt and showing me all these really intense scars. He’s talking the whole time and I figure he’s telling me how he got each one of these scars but I can understand him even less now that I’m totally stoned.

Trouble is, I’m way more than totally stoned. I’ve smoked a lot of pot in my day and even some mighty fine pot but something else is clearly going on here. I am really disoriented and am pretty sure this joint was laced with PCP and I’m getting kind of scared.

I managde to excuse myself from the group and leave the bathroom. When I do, my girlfriend grabs my arm and says it’s time to go. She pretty much throws me into our truck and tells me while I was in the bathroom with those folks the bartender warned her that she should get me out of there. Those 3, he said, had just the night before rolled some tourists and had a history of raping, robbing and leaving for dead folks like us.

I really don’t know if the bartender was just playing a role with us, but it seemed pretty authentic to me.

[Patiod]

42. yikes!

And I thought having some tiny little toughie from South Philly threaten to beat me up (when I'm a good foot taller than her) was rough. Just yikes.

[rbnyc]

45. I'm pretty sure I've told that story here before.

I'm old and settled now, but I've had plenty of adventures.

I also used to bartend on 10th st. and ave b. in manhattan many years ago. That neighborhood was on the brink of becoming gentrified, but was still pretty rough. There was a heroin problem there that was pretty sad and I saw some terrible shit.

One night someone ODed right in front of the place. We were a bar/restaurant. I was on the phone with 911 while one of the waiters was outside with the kid who was dying and another was running back and forth relaying info between the waiter that was trying to save the kids life and me on the phone with 911-pre cell phone days. In the meantime food was getting backed up in the kitchen and the cook was screaming let the fucker die and get this food out of here. Another time, someone threw someone through our plate glass window, from the outside into the restaurant right in the middle of a dinner rush.

We had special lighting in the bathroom that made it hard for people to see their veins.

[rbnyc]

26. BTW

What suburb, I grew up in the northwest suburbs.

[NNN0LHI]

28. Chicago Heights

[era veteran]

30. Zoom Club Frankfurt Germany

Off limits, hell the whole street was. Wilder than rough. Ahh misspent youth.

[LynneSin]

31. I use to hang out at Dirty Franks in Philadelphia

But it was nowhere near as bad as what you described.

My friend would also drag me to some nasty bars in Steelton, PA. But they were more just cheap trashy places then rough. I mean seriously, who goes to a bar with a housecoat and rollers still in your hair? But this one place would have 1-2 women who would show up to 'happy hour' (50 Schlitz) just like that.

[NNN0LHI]

33. On the flip side of the going to a bar with a housecoat and rollers still in your hair

We would regularly have guys wearing high end suits coming into this joint. And they were professional people rather that cops. You could tell by their clothes. They were wearing hand made suits worth thousands of dollars. And they would often have their wives or girlfriends with them. First time I seen them coming in I thought they were lost. They weren't. They stayed and partied their ass off until the place closed at 4:00 AM and came back about every weekend.

They really stuck out in a place where I was just about the best dressed person wearing jeans with no holes, a pocket t-shirt and sneakers.

It was a weird place.

Don

[Patiod]

44. True Dirty Frank's story

So my SO's cousin was in town. SO grew up in West Philly, cousin in Upper Darby. Cousin now lives in San Diego, but agrees to meet us at Dirty Frank's.

Cousin is drunk and angry, with a heavy Philly accent, and every other word is the f-word. I figure, (in my stuck-up suburban bitch way) that he's a trucker or Teamster (like my SO's dad).

So I ask him what he does for a living.

He's a virologist. From the Salk Institute.

I say, "oh, I heard somebody from there talking to AIDS activists today on NPR. It sounds like they were giving your guy a really hard time". He just points to himself, and does another shot. He was the guy on NPR. Turns out the guy, like many people, has two "voices" - his home-boy voice, which I heard, and his Salk Institute Virologist voice, which I heard when I had to call him with a work question about AIDS vaccines.

SO says I got what I deserved for being judgey about people with heavy Philly accents. But at Dirty Franks, that's just essential cammo.

[bif]

32. Used to go to this pretty rough place in Detroit

They used to have fist fights there all the time. And a guy I went to high school was playing Russian Roulette one night and blew his brains out there. They left the bullet hole in the ceiling for years until the bar finally closed. The attraction? A shot and a beer for 90 cents.

[dawg]

34. No.

It's too obvious that I just don't belong.

[hunter]

41. Any bar I was in was a rough bar.

:scared:

A girlfriend of mine once handcuffed a pimp to a urinal and beat the crap out of him.

I stood outside and explained they were having sex. And it sounded like that too. Very rough sex.

That's all I'm gonna say.

:yoiks:

Never got into a situation like that again... Thank God. Worst breakup EVER. I jumped out of her moving car in Berkeley and left a lot of blood and skin on the street.

[Inchworm]

43. Once or twice, in different parts of the country

I like them because it feels like I can hide in them and leave when I'm ready... or forced.

:toast:

[many a good man]

46. Early 80's Cleveland

I moved back in with the rents while recuperating from a broken neck and back. I somehow landed a dream job - passing out free samples of cigarettes. Phillip Morris hired me to hand out free samples of Marlboro Red and the new Marlboro Green menthol. I was given a list of streets to canvass each week passing out the mini packs of samplers.

The job sent me into some rough neighborhoods and I spent a lot of time in rough bars. I instantly became everyone's best friend though whenever I walked inside. I got endless rounds of free drinks from the bartender and lucky patrons for the handfuls of free smokes I generously distributed.

One afternoon I was working the east side drinking and smoking and chatting merrily with a couple of working girls when suddenly a shot rang out from the back of the bar. Everybody instantly hit the floor so I figured I should as well, but not till I saw a dude running across the back of the bar and out the back door. About five seconds after hitting the floor, I peeked through my hands and saw a cop with gun drawn running the exact same path. Within seconds the entire joint was cleared out except for me and the bartender. He poured me a CC but someone apparently had swiped what remained of my case of free samples.

[Inchworm]

47. Benton Harbor, MI

Kinda wanted to kick thread and had a memory.

I remember this place in Benton Harbor that served 40s. It was right across the street from a "rival" bar and shit happened there all the time. One time I passed out at the bar and was carried out to my truck to "sleep." I was rousted early in the sunny part of the morning by a dude rummaging through my pockets. Man! could he run!!

Long ago.

:kick:

[Lil Missy]

48. There's that lesbian bar in Omaha ......

:scared: