Slow and smoky.

I've had another free pass burning a hole in my wallet for a while, so I decided to stop by Country Rock Cabaret for the first time in over a year and a half.

The first thing that hit me when I walked through the door was the stench of cigar and cigarette smoke. While other clubs around East St. Louis have a separate smoking lounge, CRC does not, and right off the bat, I knew I wasn't going to be sticking around for too long. However, seeing a few cute girls around, I decided to at least get a drink, so I headed to the bar.

While sitting at the bar, it occurred to me that there were probably about eight employees in the place - security, kitchen staff, servers, a DJ, and a restroom attendant. There was about a 1:1 staff to customer ratio... HOWEVER, it took about ten minutes to even be acknowledged by anyone behind the bar. One of the dancers said it might have been shift change... but still. I finally got my very overpriced bottle of water ($6.50!) and gave the server/bartender a $20. She gave back $13, because apparently there's an unspoken and unwritten rule that you don't get your quarters. I know it's only 50 cents, but this is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. Don't ask why. It just is.