Next on our list was J. D. Hendersons Sports Bar. I had heard a thing or two about this place since I have an aquaintance that frequents this bar. On the night we went the bar was doing a thriving business and had attracted a fairly good size crowd for a Friday night. I couldnt see much “sports” however, I had expected banks of flat screen televisions with sports memorabilia on the walls but the inside of this place was pretty much standard fare. There were pool tables, a small seating area with hightops and a wrap around bar. We took a seat at a hightop one of our party went to the bar to order drinks.

The drink was pretty standard, tasted like a short shot meaning if there was alcohol in it, it was buried in the coke. I noticed they used those metering devices when making drinks. Nothing wrong with trying to pinch a penny in this economy but I vastly prefer the “free pour” method for preparing drinks. Some of us remember when a shot meant 1.5 ounces of liquor. That was (and is) the standard pour for a drink. When I was bartending back in ‘85 the bar staff were trained to free pour exactly 1.5 oz. into a glass. To test this, we would periodically pour the contents of a glass of liquor back into the jigger. Without fail the big end of the jigger would be exactly full. Today it seems that a shot means something different to each individual bartending staff. I am pretty sure the 1.5 oz shot was not the standard at J.D.’s.

The place was pretty lively, a mix of men and women, lots of laughing and drunken revelry. At first I thought the place was going to be a winner. We had been seated for only a few moments however, when a bad vibe settled over us. We noticed the D.J. and some hanger on with him staring at us with what could only be ill intent. Additionally, other patrons took turns staring and otherwise projecting a form of mild malice. At one point a member of our party asked me to look at a woman who was talking and laughing loudly at the bar. I couldnt see her from my angle so I peeked around a support pillar to get a glimpes. There was a very tall woman in shorts, nice legs at first glance, not bad I say to my friend. He looked archly in her direction again  and asks me to take another look. Ohhh, she is not only very tall but her shoulders are as wide as mine. The joke for the rest of the evening was we had a possible transsexual sighting. I doubt seriously if that was the case, she was probably just an Amazon, but it made for a fun running joke.

All of this was private and subtle, meaning we gave no one any reason to hate us in thier bar, but hate us they did. The vibe just got darker as we started to hurry through our drinks. The D.J. and his sidekick were still looking very sour in our direction and the music was urban rap, not my favorite genre. I started to get the notion that on weekends this place was probably a “meat market” or a pick up bar. Maybe the arrival of three new males upped the competition and that is why we got the evil looks. Thats ok boys, we arent after your women.

In the early part of the last century there were bars where the owner / bartender kept some “girls” around. They lived upstairs and their primary job was to “service” the male clientle. For a fee a dude could get roaring drunk and get laid. However, the times have changed and this sort of practice is decidedly frowned upon by the laws of the land. So now it is just given away, sordid trysts born in a drunken stupor. Men will always go to bars to meet women and women will always go to bars to be met, it is just striking the level at which this activity exists in some places. Thus the pick - up bar, and the alpha male instinct to do away with as much competition as possible.

J.D. Hendersons may actually have a different vibe on an off night. There was a long bank of hard point dart boards set up along a wall. It looked like league play happened here at some point. As an avid dart thrower in my past I was intrigued by the thought.

Since we felt threatened and the music sucked, we rushed through our remaining drinks and left. Outside there was a knot of men smoking and talking loudly. We imagined an insult threw our way upon parting. Thats ok, we will not leave our money at this bar ever again. Congratulations, J.D. Hendersons, three new customers you will never get. It is probably unfair to judge a bar by the clientle on any given night, but frankly if you do not feel comfortable drinking in an establishment, you are unlikely to return.

Ratings (scale of one to five)

Dive rating: 3

Drink Quality: 2

Atmosphere: 3

Cleanliness: 3

Picking up a “date”: 4

Scenery: 3