Lush Life : Contented and Coasting at the Crossroads Lounge

Contented and Coasting at the Crossroads Lounge

Posted by lushlife

Posted: November 30, 2007 - 9:44 am

I admit it. I have, on occasion, judged a book — and a bar — by its cover. Crossroads Lounge fell victim to this. I usually drove past the somewhat creepy structure — and its dubious neighbors, including the Black Angus Inn and the Carrs on Gambell Street — without a second thought, unless the thought was of that Bone Thugs-N-Harmony song.

Yet stories I’d heard about Crossroads included the phrases “where friends meet,” “cozy interior” “feisty bartenders” and “super-cheap drinks and inexpensive munchies.” All those sounded pretty good. I wondered if I was presumptuous with my prejudgment.

To find out, I met a few friends at the Crossroads one recent weeknight. It was tough to get them any farther than the slushy parking lot. Comments like “Are we in the right place?” and “It looks kind of sketchy” were bandied about. Still, we ventured toward the door, expecting a leather-clad biker to be thrown outside mid-brawl at any moment.

Inside, we encountered a smoke-free, well-lit wood cabin with a large bar, flat-screen TVs and a convivial but quiet atmosphere. The second we sat down, our waitress (definitely feisty) checked our IDs, then proceeded to remember our names the rest of the night.

We ordered drinks — Hefeweizen at $4 a pint and well drinks at $3.25 each. When I asked for a vodka tonic, the waitress replied, “Highball or bucket?” A bucket sounded great until she added with a wink, “Bucket’s bigger, but that just means more tonic.” Highball for me.

The drink menu was extensive, something I hadn’t anticipated. After a few flips through the colorful plastic menu, I placed my next order:I ordered a Grateful Dead Ice Tea — a cool name and just like a Long Island Iced Tea except with Chambord instead of Coke. For $7, it was a lot of liquor and not much else.

Luckily, there was plenty of bar food, including free hot dogs. The waitress said we could eat them now or wait a few minutes for them to soak up some flavor from the beer they warmed in. The idea seemed slightly unsanitary but proved scrumptious. They were plentiful, satisfying and — did I mention? — free. Other munchies included selections from gizzards to curly fries ($3 to $7) to pizza ($12 to $13).

But no bar is perfect. The big negative was the lingering smell of smoke, wafting in from the not-exactly-outdoors “smoking area,” a room next to the main bar. But the positives won us over: drinks that didn’t dent our wallets, TVs at every angle, quaint “Cheers”-style lamps on the walls and a hardwood, homey feel.

We finished our drinks, and the waitress took my friend’s beer and asked if he wanted another or wanted “to coast,” pointing to his forlorn coaster. We paid our tab and sat contentedly for a few moments, discovering the real best feature of the bar. It’s a crossroads — a place for different types of people that offers what everyone’s looking for: a place to coast.

See you at the Crossroads.

ä Contact nightlife columnist Jessica Bowman at adn.com/contact/jbowman or visit Play’s Lush Life blog at play.adn.com/lushlife.

-- by Jessica Bowman

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Contented and Coasting at the Crossroads Lounge

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